Sesame Street on Discipline & Manners

[Drtooth]

I have to respectfully disagree with you there. I am a big fan of the New Zoo Review and wish it was shown more. Even that show tried to get children to internalize values rather than scaring them straight. I don't recall ever seeing Doug or Emmy Jo smack the animals in the mouth to teach them a lesson. Besides, some things that work on one show may not work on another. I mean, it would be pretty boring if every TV show was the same. JMO

Not smacking, but those songs get just annoying as heck! I cannot stand the show, and I think the costumes are attrocious. It's on DVD now...

But besides the point. it's apples and oranges. Sesame is famous for wacky characters... NZR wasn't. The characters definately seemed annoyed with each other, and it did have some fun moments, but then the two humans sang a song telling them not to be mad at each other. Sesame always have Bert getting frustraited with Ernie, and then fainting...

 

[Censored]

Not smacking, but those songs get just annoying as heck! I cannot stand the show, and I think the costumes are attrocious. It's on DVD now...

But besides the point. it's apples and oranges. Sesame is famous for wacky characters... NZR wasn't. The characters definately seemed annoyed with each other, and it did have some fun moments, but then the two humans sang a song telling them not to be mad at each other. Sesame always have Bert getting frustraited with Ernie, and then fainting...

In many ways the two shows were apples and oranges, but I think you might want to review the New Zoo before you write the characters off as not being "wacky". The overall message of NZR, as on Sesame Street, was to be good to one another. However, there were many moments of humorous tension and personality conflicts on New Zoo as well. Charlie The Owl was a grumpy know-it-all who often collided with Freddy The Frog's naiveté. One episode ended with Charlie threatening to use Freddy for a football and chasing him off camera. Henrietta Hippo had a lot of hospitality, but was sometimes a bit unsophisticated. They were once expecting the Queen of England on New Zoo (she never arrived) and a British man asked them if they all knew how to address the queen. Henrietta said, "Hi, ya'll, Queenie!", much to the British man's horror. The show was more clever than it often gets credit for. Many times, when someone does not like a particular show, they are quick to critique it without having seen every episode or remembering the details. I know that I have certainly been guilty of doing that with other shows that I disliked or thought I disliked. Anyhow, I need to get with the times and buy a DVD player because it seems like everything is on disk these days. Good-bye, VCR, it has been fun.

 

[Drtooth]

Actually, it's an okay show, but I never got into it. I mean, the angry play between the costumed characters and a few jokes here and there were all right, but I've always preferred SS over NZR anyday... apples and organges aside...

 

[Mister Fred]

It is awful that Don Music isn't on anymore or Dr. Nobel Price. You are correct that parents need to teach there kids what is right & wrong such as eating like cookie monster. I know alot of parents do not believe in corporal punishment and that web page on parenting (sesame parents or what ever it is) is an excellent source of information on bringing up kids. I did get spanked with the belt but only 3 times in my life. A boy I went to school with had a strict step father. If he did not have his napkin on his lap before he started eating, he had to go to bed 15 minutes early. If it ever happened again, he got HIT with a HOCKEY STICK! (OUCH!) He also got hit with it again along with his brother & sister after some glass was broken & no one admitted to doing it as well as when they got caught playing with poisionous powders! That type of discipline is totally uncalled for. NO ONE should EVER hit there kid like that at all! On monsterpiece theather cookie does very good with his manners when he burps and says "oh,excuse me" as well as when there is some coughing at the end of one episode and he tells the bird "Hey, cover your beak". The bird does and he says,"that's better".

 

[Drtooth]

Then you'll no doubt remember the old animated "Cover your nose when you sneeze" cartoons...

and I have to say, they really have a knack for teaching Co-operation...

 

[PutDownDuckie]

I agree. Sesame Street is not, and should never be a babysitter. However, the people behind Sesame Street seem to realize that parents feel safe with leaving their kids in front of the TV for that show since they know that it's an educational show. My mom didn't let us watch anything but "Thomas the Tank Engine" "Zippety Zoo" "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" and "Sesame Street" until we were in thrid grade. Which was good because we learned how to get along without TV. But, back to the point, I know that my parent would never have let me watch the show if there was spanking or grounding. Because the adults on Sesame street communicate with the kids/monsters there's no need to discipline. The parents talk tot hem, explain why what they did was not nice/polite/good and then the kids understand and promise not to do it again. And then they hug. This also teaches parents as well as kids. Punishment without explanation teaches nothing.

 

[Mark The Shark]

Dude, you need to lay off the caffeene. This kind of thinking got rid of Don Music, you know. We shouldn't introduce some disiplinarian that comes over and spanks Ernie for eating too much of Bert's Licorice, or forces Cookie to eat only vegitables with a knife and fork. You do know that Parenting is needed in these situations. You can't learn everything from TV you know. If these cahracters were as tame as you wanted, no one would watch, Sesame Street would be just a forgotten kid's show from the 70's, like New Zoo revue and crap like that!

Cookie Monster is wild. Kids should know it's just a character. Oscar is standoffish to people. They should know it's just a character.

I mean, we can't homoginize classic characters into a mumbling bunch of Barney-oid ultra respectful lumps of foam. They need to be wild and crazy... they don't exist! Parents should distinguish the difference between reality and fantasy, not the characters themselves.

I mean, the reason SS has an adult fanbase is because they are outrageous characters. Cookie can eat whatever the heck he darn well pleases. Grover can annoy people by trying to please them without asking what they truely want. And Ernie has to con and aggravate Bert. if not, he's just an orange guy with a toy duck that sounds like Kermit.

I do not want to see Lobotomized versions of these classic characters who smash through brick walls, eat game show hosts, and disassemble TV's and Wrestle W's, just because Parent's won't take matters into their own hands.

It goes against my better judgment to reply to this, because I really have no desire to get into any kind of debate with anyone about anything--life is too short for that--but if you "do not want to see Lobotomized versions of these classic characters," then I guess you hadn't noticed that the horse left the stable a long time ago...I've tuned in to watch a few recent episodes in the last couple years and was not impressed with much of what I saw. Some of it maintained the spirit of the show I grew up with, but most of it was dull and ininteresting, with irritating and obnoxious characters. But that's just my own reaction as an adult in my mid-30s with fond memories of the show in its formative years.

Have a nice day.

And also: Hey, I liked "New Zoo Revue." I'm not saying it's a great show--it's a dated, preachy, goody-two-shoe show from the 70s--but I retain somewhat of a fondness for it because I liked it as a kid. It's still on in Chicago. The show has a website: http://www.newzoorevue.com

 

[Mark The Shark]

And since all parents don't believe in spanking, it would be too controversial. It would be like trying to impose certain cultural or religious values on everyone.

I'm not someone's parent, so I really can't take sides on that...but my own gut reaction is that spanking is only appropriate when practiced between two consenting adults.

 

[ssetta]

It's actually still on here, but not on a channel that anyone could look for it on. WMFP Ch. 62 airs like 4 episodes of it on either Monday or Tuesday mornings, but other than that, it's the "Shop At Home" network. Why do they air New Zoo Revue? I don't have the slightest idea.

 

[Mark The Shark]

It's actually still on here, but not on a channel that anyone could look for it on. WMFP Ch. 62 airs like 4 episodes of it on either Monday or Tuesday mornings, but other than that, it's the "Shop At Home" network. Why do they air New Zoo Revue? I don't have the slightest idea.

That's interesting. The station that runs it in Chicago (also Channel 62, WJYS) is also a Home Shopping station.