Need Info on 'Sesame Street Goes to Prison'

[Barry Lee]

Does anybody have info on this special?

 

[trekkie1701E]

SS Goes to Prison??????? What is that?

 

[Boober_Gorg]

Being the only Muppet Central Forum member (to my knowledge) who has actually seen this special (and lived to tell about it ) I feel like it's about that time for me to confess what I saw.

When I visited the MT&R in August '03, my eyes bulged at the variety of programs they had. Now I had the opportunity to look up a program which for months had boggled my mind (and the minds of other MC forum members): Sesame Street Goes to Prison. Unfortunately, the description I read was less than what I expected it to be. It is as follows (I copied it word for word in my notebook):

Filmed in Texas at the Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution in Dallas and the Federal Correctional Institution of Fort Worth, this documentary examines the successful joint efforts of prison inmates and the Children's Television Workshop to create child development programs based on the educational techniques used on the popular children's TV series Sesame Street. In a series of interviews, the inmates explain the programs which are designed to teach and nurture children who visit the prison, and point out that in addition to benefitting the children, the experience has helped them form stronger relationships with their own families. Highlights of the documentary include the inmates in training sessions with counselors from the Children's Television Workshop, inmates and children singing and participating in the games they view on "Sesame Street" and the inmates putting on a puppet show using Muppet characters from the series.

Of course, this was not the first program I viewed that day. I started out with SS episode #1141 (MT&R title: Big Bird's Insomnia, 1978), which was a hundred times more enthralling an experience than the torture I subjected myself to (in the name of research, of course) for the 27 and 1/2 minutes after that. When I say torture, of course I mean the realization of what a waste of viewing time this special is. It has NO CAST MEMBERS and NO REAL MUPPETS whatsoever (unless you count the footage of Chris & the Alphabeats' "Exit" as seen on a TV in a room in one scene). The only other Muppets we see are just cheap drugstore puppets controlled by people with no acting experience whatsoever. It gave me the same nausea I get from those god-awful Muppet/SS imitation Peter Pan records. Thank goodness I had some time left so I could watch two clips of Kermit lip-synching on the Steve Allen Show.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I say this special should be avoided at all costs. How it made its way into the MT&R's archive is beyond my comprehension. If this report prevents you from ever wanting to see it, then I have done my duty.

 

[trekkie1701E]

To be honest, it sounds, well, kinda scary. I can just imagine if it made its way on to DVD and young children bought it for the simploe fact that it's SS

 

[jediX]

Scary to me is the Star Wars Holiday Special.

 

[Philo and Gunge]

Filmed in Texas at the Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution in Dallas and the Federal Correctional Institution of Fort Worth, this documentary examines the successful joint efforts of prison inmates and the Children's Television Workshop to create child development programs based on the educational techniques used on the popular children's TV series Sesame Street. In a series of interviews, the inmates explain the programs which are designed to teach and nurture children who visit the prison, and point out that in addition to benefitting the children, the experience has helped them form stronger relationships with their own families. Highlights of the documentary include the inmates in training sessions with counselors from the Children's Television Workshop, inmates and children singing and participating in the games they view on "Sesame Street" and the inmates putting on a puppet show using Muppet characters from the series..

Wow, I always thought it would be like this:
Filmed in some NYC prision, the cast of Sesame Street pops by for a visit and learns about some prisioner's conflicts and relize how they shouldn't start a life of crime, etc., etc.

Gee, my version sounds better them that garbage. At least mine has REAL Muppets and not just a 6-second clip.

 

[Beauregard]

How about:

Big Bird comits murder and gets thrown into prison where he learns to be brave and beat the otehr inmates. Nasty as they may seem at first, he then realises that the horrable monsters are really cute bunnies like Bean, and wakes up screaming from a dream, before heading out to SS in search of bunnies!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Excuse me - remember I'm Canadian and don't really share the same view of criminal justice that many voters in Texas do - BUT WHAT THE #$@! ARE YOUNG CHILDREN DOING IN A PRISON?!?!

Honestly...children, prisoners and puppets. And the world is worried about Micheal Jackson.

 

[Beauregard]

He, he, he.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Honestly...children, prisoners and puppets. And the world is worried about Micheal Jackson.

Hey, children, prisoners, and puppets is what got Michael Jackson in trouble to begin with, right? I don't know. I can't stand to look at that ma--woma---thing. bleh.