Noticeable Changes to the set over the years

[mr3urious]

Also, about the tire swing: I like to think if it as hanging from a fire escape.

 

[D'Snowth]

Also, about the tire swing: I like to think if it as hanging from a fire escape.

Okay... but how do you explain the fact that Big Bird has an overhead lamp and fan hanging down above his nest?

 

[D'Snowth]

Here's something I've noticed, soundtrack-wise...

In the early years of the show, it was obvious they tried to make the street SOUND like an inner city street, Caroll Spinney even wrote one time that in those early years, a sound engineer played a record with traffic noises and such over a speaker in the studio, and it's evident as you watch, you can hear horns honking, engines revving, trucks backfiring, traffic cop whistles, even a short occasional siren.

That continued throughout much of the 70s, though I THINK by the late 70s, it was more subtle, with only like an occasional horn blow, but you could still hear some traffic noises throughout the 80s, but it
's like by the 90s, especially the ATC era, all that was phased out, and the only background sounds you could hear were birds chirping and kids playing... BUT, it seems like since Season 39, they did a bit of an about-face, and even though you still hit birds and kids, you can hear faint traffic noises again, along with other sounds like dogs barking and oddly enough elephants trumpanting (must be Horatio, lol).

Also, has anyone else taken this into consideration: the corner of SST where the lamppost stands was supposed to be like a four-way intersection (before Season 30 where that corner was blocked off by a dead-end alley, and the other corner by the Fix-It-Shop was blocked off by the subway station), yet the street sign never actually pointed in the direction of Sesame Street, but rather, in the direction of the intersecting street? I never really understood whyit was positioned that way, but I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

[D'Snowth]

I was looking through Muppet Wiki, and found this:

It seems almost a little disturing, because anyone could be hiding in that little corridor/alley back there, waiting for Big Bird so they can ambush him with a sock full of pennies. Where does it even lead to anyway?

 

[cjd874]

I just realized that there's a short brick wall where the wooden fence in the Arbor area used to be. There appears to be a row of hedges or plants above this wall as well. Is it supposed to be a garden of some sort?
Like many other people, I have also noticed that the famous green fire escape staircase is gone, and replaced by Charlie's Auto Repair (wonder if Grover has worked there?). Not too happy about that, to be honest. I don't exactly understand why Sesame Workshop did that.

Not to mention the alleyway that stands where the Furry Arms Hotel & 456 Sesame Street used to be. Poor Benny & Sherry...

 

[Oscarfan]

I think the loss of the staircase was due to them moving into a smaller studio and some set changes needed to be made to accommodate.

 

[D'Snowth]

They've been in even smaller studios in the past and the staircase apparently wasn't an issue then.

Of course, that was back in the days before Elmo's apartment, so that probably has something to do with it.

Then again, I don't understand why they felt a need to actually build a carriage house by then anyway, it was always, for the most part, just a facade, and even in the years before Season 39, the carriage house building was like half the length that it is now. Maybe they wanted the community garden to feel bigger or something?

 

[D'Snowth]

I've recently picked up on something else too: from 1970 to about 1987, the amount of vegetation on the street slowly disapppears as well. If you look at the street from 1970, not only is there a number of trees growing behind the fence in the arbor, but there's also some trees growing behind the narrow fence between the carriage house and 123, and even a small tree growing in Big Bird's nest area - compare that to 1987, when all that remains of any of this are only a couple of sad-looking palm trees behind the fence in the arbor.

 

[D'Snowth]

I just recently started noticing something: during the mid 80s, the lattice around the lower landing of the carriage house staircase kept disappearing and reappearing.

Take Season 18 for example, here's a screencap from Episode 2257 without the lattice:

Then here's the lattice again the same season (Episode 2277):

 

[D'Snowth]

Watching some of the later episodes of Season 24 on YT, you can see evidence that they were already in the process of cleaning up and brightening the set for Season 25: the doors and windowframes of 123 as well as the doors and staircase are painted a brighter shade of green (as well as the remnant of those old number stickers on the barn doors are completely gone), and the Hooper's Store newsstand has been updated.