Old School DVD set ideas

[minor muppetz]

Just this week I've been thinking that a good alternative to the Old School sets, if we don't get volume 4 anytime soon (and I feel it would make a good anniversary release) would be of a set focusing on the best-remembered episodes, ones that the casual fans would remember as well as the die hards.

I'd make it a four-episode set with the episodes where Big Bird learns of Mr. Hooper's death, the adults meet Mr. Snuffleupagus, Maria and Luis get married, and Gabbi is born. Of course part of me would want to rule out the Snuffy becomes real episode in case there is a fourth volume, so perhaps the episode where Slimey lands on the moon would be a better choice. And there could be commentary on all the episodes or a special featurette about them, maybe some bonus clips related to the episodes (Mr. Hooper clips, clips of Luis and Maria's relationship before marriage, clips involving Maria's pregnancy, and depending on which other one's included, clips of Snuffy being referred to as imaginary or clips concerning Slimey's moon trip).

I'd also include a feature I'd call the "Sesame Street Scrapbook", showing up to five clips each from various multi-part storylines, like the trip to New Mexico, the trip to Puerto Rico (preferably some of the episodes that came after episdoe 1316), Big Bird's trip to camp, the Hawaii episodes, Gordon and Susan adopting Miles, Hooper's Store getting rebuilt, and the hurricane episodes.

And I feel it'd be most appropriate for a set like this to have many of the most popular clips as a bonus feature, which unfortunately would most likely be stuff that's been on DVD many times, but hopefully it could also include some of the most popular inserts not on DVD.

Considering Old School Vol. 3 only has two discs and 25 bonus clips, it'd be great if a special disc could be sold seperately featuring just segments from seasons 11-15 (though I'd also enjoy a set full of inserts from seasons 1-15). I would suggest maybe include it as an exclusive bonus to Old School Volume 3 at either Target, Wal-Mart, or Best Buy (Best Buy has never to my knowledge sold exclusive Sesame Street DVDs, but seems more like the kind of store that would include a bonus like this on a mainstream title), but since I have the set I'd rather they not do it this way.

 

[minor muppetz]

Lately I've wondered what it'd be like if there was a collection similar to the structure of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collections. I don't own any of those, but the discs structure seems to be: One disc of main characters, another disc of various one-shots and complete shorts of characters with very small filmographies (like volume 1 has every Marvin the Martian short in order, every Tasmanian Devil short in order, every Witch Hazel short in order, and so on...), and one disc full of bonus features.

I've thought of a few such options. Of course, one option would be a disc of several main character shorts (sort of like Best of Friends), the second disc being dedicated to old school characters (maybe even complete collections), and a bonus features disc. Other options could include showing every segment with certain celebrities who were in many inserts, or every installment of a recurring segment without many entries, or have several film and animation segments grouped by animator and filmmaker.

Here's one such idea:

Disc 1:
The Sound of the Letter A
Big Bird's Home Movies
Big Bird Rhymes Hooper
Big Bird holds a grown-ups hand across the street
Henson #9
Three on Lady's Lap
Mad Painter #10
Jazz #8
Bert and Ernie: Sandbox
Bert's bottle cap collection
Bert and Ernie search for Dr. Livingston
Ernie and the 8 Salesman
Rubber Duckie (season one)
Don't Throw That Trash on the Ground
Things That I Remember
Doin' the Pigeon
I'm Square
Stick Out Your Hand and Say Hello
Gloria says the alphabet
Celebrities sing the alphabet
Susan sings the alphabet
James Earl Jones: Alphabet
I Love Trash (season 2)
Nasty Dan
I'm Sad Because I'm Happy (original)
Garbage Man Blues Song
The Garden Song
Willie Wimple: Land Pollution
Rainy Day Song
Put It in the Trash Can
Every Bit of Litter Hurts
Grover counts blocks
Grover and John-John count to 20
Near and Far
Grover serves a burger
Super Grover: Boxes
Grover echos
Grover the messenger
Monster in the Mirror (preferably the celebrity version)
Alphaquest: B
Letter N Interview
C-cat
Sand Animation: P
Q Candles
Suzie Kabloozie hates the letter F
Typewriter: O-owl
Kermit's feelings lecture
Cookie Monster solves an argument
The Ballad of Casey McPhee
Breakfast Time
Monsterpiece Theater: Upstairs, Downstairs
Google Bugle
What Do You Do with a Fruit?
The Carrot
The Count and Cookie Monster Co-Operate
Grover and The Count's hot dogs
Kermit News: Three Little Pigs
Counting is Wonderful
That's What Counts
Geometry of Circles
The People in Your Neighborhood (original)
Surprise (with the cast)
Luis: Agua
When I Was as Little as You Are
Gordon preaches rain
Maria as Chaplin: ME
I'm a Big Girl Now
Bob's "before and after" photos with Buddy and Jim
Buddy and Jim: Sandwich
Buddy and Jim: Light Bulb
Larry and Phyllis: Poster
Wally and Ralph: Glue
The King's Nose

Disc 2:
Kermit's radio
Kermit and Joey sing the alphabet
Kermit News: Little Miss Muffet
Kermit draws a K
Kermit News: Christopher Columbus
Kermit and the earmuff salesman
How to Get to Yellowstone Park
My Pollywog Ways
Kermit News: Tinker Table
Kermit and the monster fix-it team
The Heart of a Frog
Kermit News: Elmo's Game
Prairie Dawn Invites Monsters
A Flower Grows
Prairie Dawn in a Haunted House
All by Myself
Food We Eat
all of The Adventures of Prairie Dawn segments
Monsterpiece Theater: Little House on Prairie
all of James Taylors appearances
all of Judy Collins appearances
Teeny Little Super Guy: Pets
Teeny Little Super Guy: Crossing the street
Teeny Little Super Guy: Danger
Mah Na Mah Na
Fat Cat
None Some All
Everybody's Song
Opposite Stuff
Scratch My Back
Air
all of Judy Collins' appearances
Bad Bart: Five Good Men
Bad Bart and Marshall Earp's Surprise
Sinister Sam and Doc Holiday
Doc Meets Mean Manny
Marshall Grover: Milk
Marshall Grover: forwards and backwards
Forgetful Jones remembers his horse
Forgetful Jones: Mirror
Write It Down (vaudeville)
Letter B
Thinking of U
Hey Food
Born to Add
Barn in the USA
all of the Miami Mice segments
all of The Leslie Mostly Show segments
all of the Deena and Pearl segments
Sherlock Hemlock: Half-eaten sandwich
Sherlock Hemlock meet Bob
Sherlock Hemlock: V
X Marks the Spot
all caveman Ernie/Sherlock segments
all Mysterious Theater segments
Roosevelt Franklin Counts
Morty Moop Mope
Roosevelt Franklin: POISION
Headball: Hard Head Henry Harris
all What's My Part? segments
The Addition Game
The Anything-in-the-World Prize Game
To Tell a Face
The Letter of the Day Pageant
Squeal of Fortune
The Crying Game
Biff and Sully share a drink
This is My J
We Coulda
Biff and Sully get angry
Biff and Sully: Alphabet
all of Danny DeVito's appearances
Mad
Sad
Telephone Rock
Mountain of Love
Nobody
Snuffy jumps on trampoline
Best Friend Blues
Bubble on my Snuffle
Five People in My Family
There's a Hole in the Bucket
Rebel L

Disc 3: Bonus Material
Brand-new featurette
This Way to Sesame Street
Banned segments (particularly the "crack-in-the-wall monster" and "I Want a Monster to Be My Friend")
Viral Videos ("Cookie Monster SNL Audition", "Can You Tell-y How to Get to 1 Billion?" and "Counting the Yous in YouTube")
Maybe also some bonus home videos (I'm thinking "I'm Glad I'm Me", "The Alphabet Game", and "Big Bird's Favorite Party Games" would be good choices, depending on how much disc space is left)

 

[minor muppetz]

It's been a while since I last did a wishlist like this, but recently I've thought up a few things.

One idea I've had for a while is an "Elmo and Friends" release, with each release featuring a mix of segments starring Elmo and another character. Next week will see the release of Elmo and Cookie Monster Supersize Fun, which seems like the idea I've had in mind, though I had the idea I'm currently referring to first. But if they want Elmo to headline most DVD releases, this would be a good way to make Elmo a selling point AND release a sort-of spotlight video for another character. Releases like "Elmo and The Count", "Elmo and Big Bird", "Elmo and Grover", "Elmo and Abby Cadabby", "Elmo and Bert and Ernie", and so on.

Here's what I'd do for "Elmo and Bert and Ernie": Sing After Me, Elmo and Robin Williams, Ernie breaks the vase, Elmo scares the pigeons, I'm Square, Be Doodle De Dum, Ernie plans his bath, Bert and Ernie: the blackout, One Fine Face, Elmo's Alphabet Rap, Don't Know Y, I Wonder, A Piece of Cake, Elmo's hands poem, some of the international Bert and Ernie segments, and Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures: Wizards (wow, that seems to be the only segment I can think of that equally stars all three... though it could include street stories like the episode where Ernie directs a movie with Bert and Elmo).

Additionally, in thinking about how in the last year or so Sesame Workshop has been posting old clips with the "'70s/'80s/'90s Old School" labels, those would make good concepts for a series of single-disc old school release. "1970s Old School", "1980s Old School", and "1990s Old School". Each release would contain one full episode, a street story, and a selection of bonus clips from the featured decade (of course, "1970s Old School" would also include some 1969 clips, "1980s Old School" some 1979, and "1990s Old School" some 1989).

 

[FunnyBear]

I was having a similar idea for a Old School type collection, but with the show's extensive library of music. With the show's 50th anniversary coming soon, it'd be neat to see a Songs From The Street type collection showcasing the best hits from the show. I'd imagine 5 discs, one for each 10 decades. 26 tracks on each, as there's 26 letters of the alphabet. Each disc could open with a different version of the show's theme, starting with the iconic 1st season theme moving though to the current theme on the final disc.

Of course there'd be the classics like "ABC-DEF-GHI" and "Elmo's Song" but there's opportunity to include some unreleased stuff too, like newer material. Also could be included are some more obscure tracks like "Sing Me a Silly Song" or "Sesame Street Fever". I'd also imagine the possibility of an Elmo The Musical segment, trimming dialogue to save time.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Well, frankly, a lot of their greatest hits and newer material has been on the internet for a long time- if they had a DVD set, I think it should consist of things we haven't seen before- things like rare segments from the vaults, behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes, etc. I'd also like to see the 16th season premiere, just because it's the only season premiere that hasn't resurfaced yet.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

Well, frankly, a lot of their greatest hits and newer material has been on the internet for a long time- if they had a DVD set, I think it should consist of things we haven't seen before- things like rare segments from the vaults, behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes, etc. I'd also like to see the 16th season premiere, just because it's the only season premiere that hasn't resurfaced yet.

At the same time, there are countless rare clips dubbed in a ton of different languages floating around on YouTube- if you ask me, ALL of them are EXTREMELY deserving of a commercial release!!