Sesame Street-related PBS spots

[SkyeFan]

Would anyone happen to remember these PBS segments?

One I seem to remember seeing only once years ago (perhaps in 1994) had been haunting for me ever since, only because my memory sees it as somewhat unusual. I don't know if anyone would remember this one in particular, but here's how I remember it-
The segment starts out with the camera zooming up close very quickly into a human's eye. All we see on the screen is just a close-up of an eye, ALTHOUGH we can also see within the pupil (or else the iris) reflections of a TV screen displaying various examples of PBS programs. I can never remember what the first few programs were that we could see (probably some of the "prime-time" shows like NOVA, for instance), but I do distinctly recall seeing scenes of Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, Mister Rogers, and I believe Levar Burton. I know that this sounds kind of creepy, but that's exactly how I remember it. I also remember seeing this during the daytime, so this spot was very likely shown in between the children's programs, as well as those in prime-time. I think this segment just ended with a black screen with the PBS logo in the center, and some phrase written below.

Another one I had seen regularly before or after shows like "The Puzzle Place" or "Arthur", and have come across on home video recordings. This one may ring a bell.
This one is titled "PBS-Educator". It starts off with the camera panning slowly past a front porch of a house-turned daycare or preschool center with toys all around. A TV set in an upright black cabinet is standing in an open doorway with footage of the Count saying that he's "here to count people" (this is from the 25th anniversary musical celebration), followed by a scene of Herry Monster suggesting to John-John that they count together. Other scenes involve the TV set displayed in other locations, such as in back of the house (a school bus is seen parked on the opposite side) on top of a playground slide, or else in rooms with really nice murals of Cookie Monster (with a candy cane), Oscar, and Ernie painted on the walls. Kermit is singing his "alphabet in the swamp" song on the TV, as various segments involving letters of the alphabet are played in between (one of them is the Monsterpiece Theater parody of "The King and I"). A brief portion of the opening title for a Super Grover segment is shown on the TV placed in a sun-filled room with a wooden rocking horse moving by itself. The segment ends with the TV in the backyard of the house (with the school bus taking off in the distance) and Big Bird saying that "putting on a show can drive a bird batty" (also from that 25th anniversary show), and then Oscar says "The end" and laughs before going into his can (and getting hit on the head with the lid). It ends with a black screen with the PBS logo and their phrase "If PBS doesn't do it, who will?", while the calypso version of the Sesame Street theme song plays.

There was also a similar segment like this that I had seen quite often, as well, except this one included other PBS kids' shows.
This one is titled "PBS-Safe Haven". It starts off with a footage of two children swinging on a tire swing beneath a tree. Off in the distance is that same TV set (from the other segment previously mentioned) in front of a lake with Ernie saying "Hi there, you wanna play a game with me?" (not quite sure what segment this was). Cut to the next scene where the TV is in a field with Big Bird on it saying that he'd like to play a game, while children are running in the field carrying balloons on ribbons. This whole segment is accompanied with a lovely-sounding and very soothing piece of acoustic guitar and piano music that really sets an innocent mood for children seen playing. Other portions of this segment involve scenes from "The Magic School Bus", "Lamb Chop's Play Along", "The Puzzle Place", and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" shown on the TV. With the exception of the what's playing on the TV, which is in full color, everything else in this spot had a golden, almost sepia, tint to it. Incidentally, there were other PBS spots like this representing other genres of programs based off what's playing on that "upright TV set" placed in unusual (and mostly outdoor) locations. Many of these segments had that "golden tint" throughout.

The other segment I VAGUELY recall was just a promo displaying the scheduled time for the upcoming programs in the mid-afternoon.
It was on a pinkish-peach hued background similar to the PBS identification used around this time (1993 or else 1994). It showed a scene of Mister Rogers in the top left corner with the series' title and its time slot (3:30 pm) adjacent to it. Below that in the bottom right corner was, I believe, a scene of that singing orange clay ball with lips (Cecile) from "Sesame Street" with the series' title and its time slot (4:00 pm). I'm guessing variations of these were shown throughout the day referencing different programs at other times (although, the times may vary, depending on the PBS station).

As I had stated, the one with the close-up of a human eye sounds very strange, but that's how I remember it (both vaguely and clearly at the same time), but the "Educator" and "Safe-Haven" ones I had seen multiple times in between shows.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

Would anyone happen to remember these PBS segments?

One I seem to remember seeing only once years ago (perhaps in 1994) had been haunting for me ever since, only because my memory sees it as somewhat unusual. I don't know if anyone would remember this one in particular, but here's how I remember it-
The segment starts out with the camera zooming up close very quickly into a human's eye. All we see on the screen is just a close-up of an eye, ALTHOUGH we can also see within the pupil (or else the iris) reflections of a TV screen displaying various examples of PBS programs. I can never remember what the first few programs were that we could see (probably some of the "prime-time" shows like NOVA, for instance), but I do distinctly recall seeing scenes of Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, Mister Rogers, and I believe Levar Burton. I know that this sounds kind of creepy, but that's exactly how I remember it. I also remember seeing this during the daytime, so this spot was very likely shown in between the children's programs, as well as those in prime-time. I think this segment just ended with a black screen with the PBS logo in the center, and some phrase written below.

Another one I had seen regularly before or after shows like "The Puzzle Place" or "Arthur", and have come across on home video recordings. This one may ring a bell.
This one is titled "PBS-Educator". It starts off with the camera panning slowly past a front porch of a house-turned daycare or preschool center with toys all around. A TV set in an upright black cabinet is standing in an open doorway with footage of the Count saying that he's "here to count people" (this is from the 25th anniversary musical celebration), followed by a scene of Herry Monster suggesting to John-John that they count together. Other scenes involve the TV set displayed in other locations, such as in back of the house (a school bus is seen parked on the opposite side) on top of a playground slide, or else in rooms with really nice murals of Cookie Monster (with a candy cane), Oscar, and Ernie painted on the walls. Kermit is singing his "alphabet in the swamp" song on the TV, as various segments involving letters of the alphabet are played in between (one of them is the Monsterpiece Theater parody of "The King and I"). A brief portion of the opening title for a Super Grover segment is shown on the TV placed in a sun-filled room with a wooden rocking horse moving by itself. The segment ends with the TV in the backyard of the house (with the school bus taking off in the distance) and Big Bird saying that "putting on a show can drive a bird batty" (also from that 25th anniversary show), and then Oscar says "The end" and laughs before going into his can (and getting hit on the head with the lid). It ends with a black screen with the PBS logo and their phrase "If PBS doesn't do it, who will?", while the calypso version of the Sesame Street theme song plays.

There was also a similar segment like this that I had seen quite often, as well, except this one included other PBS kids' shows.
This one is titled "PBS-Safe Haven". It starts off with a footage of two children swinging on a tire swing beneath a tree. Off in the distance is that same TV set (from the other segment previously mentioned) in front of a lake with Ernie saying "Hi there, you wanna play a game with me?" (not quite sure what segment this was). Cut to the next scene where the TV is in a field with Big Bird on it saying that he'd like to play a game, while children are running in the field carrying balloons on ribbons. This whole segment is accompanied with a lovely-sounding and very soothing piece of acoustic guitar and piano music that really sets an innocent mood for children seen playing. Other portions of this segment involve scenes from "The Magic School Bus", "Lamb Chop's Play Along", "The Puzzle Place", and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" shown on the TV. With the exception of the what's playing on the TV, which is in full color, everything else in this spot had a golden, almost sepia, tint to it. Incidentally, there were other PBS spots like this representing other genres of programs based off what's playing on that "upright TV set" placed in unusual (and mostly outdoor) locations. Many of these segments had that "golden tint" throughout.

The other segment I VAGUELY recall was just a promo displaying the scheduled time for the upcoming programs in the mid-afternoon.
It was on a pinkish-peach hued background similar to the PBS identification used around this time (1993 or else 1994). It showed a scene of Mister Rogers in the top left corner with the series' title and its time slot (3:30 pm) adjacent to it. Below that in the bottom right corner was, I believe, a scene of that singing orange clay ball with lips (Cecile) from "Sesame Street" with the series' title and its time slot (4:00 pm). I'm guessing variations of these were shown throughout the day referencing different programs at other times (although, the times may vary, depending on the PBS station).

As I had stated, the one with the close-up of a human eye sounds very strange, but that's how I remember it (both vaguely and clearly at the same time), but the "Educator" and "Safe-Haven" ones I had seen multiple times in between shows.

Do any of these sound familiar to you?

PBS promos

PBS promos are short promotional spots, often featuring appearances by the cast of Sesame Street. Similar to commercials on network television, they serve to advertise or raise awareness of the program and other ventures. Some promos feature the Sesame characters among characters from other PBS...

muppet.fandom.com

 

[SkyeFan]

I'm pretty sure I had seen that one for the 25th anniversary at one time. I do not remember any from the first season season, though.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

I remember seeing one with Rosie O'Donnell as well, but forget where though.

 

[datman24]

I actually have a vague memory of seeing this promo when I was little.

 

[YellowYahooey]

I do recall seeing the promo from the 1990s where it showed footage of Kermit and his "Swamp Alphabet" segment, and as he was about to go to "D", the shot cut to a small portion of a Consonant Sound Limerick segment, D for Dog (only using the portion where the narrator said "Dog"), and I also learned of a snippet from the Muppet segment "That's the Letter O!"

I was heavily into PBS kids' programming during much of the 1990s, but more drawn to programming designed for third and fourth-graders - mainly Arthur, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (better than "Where in Time..."), and Bill Nye the Science Guy. But Sesame Street was not an option (besides, I would have started to lose interest by the 1990s if I would have continued watching).

 

[SkyeFan]

YellowYahooey, I do remember that one promo you're referring to. It's the "PBS-Educator" promo I had described above. As I had said, there were several other PBS spots just like that involving scenes of a TV set placed in various locations, mostly very unlikely places to find a TV set. These promos would represent a different genre of the programming on public television based on what's shown on the TV. One I remember seeing had Ken Burns' "Baseball" documentary playing on a TV set placed in various locations in an empty baseball stadium, such as the center field, the dugout, the locker room, stands, and even the announcer's booth. I think there was another one like that, except it had that one basketball documentary called "Hoop Dreams" playing, and the TV was in an inner city basketball court. There was also another one I first remember seeing right before "Mr. Bean" came on (one of the nights when PBS would play British comedies) and it had to do with "concert hall" programs. It had footage playing on the TV of Luciano Pavarotti singing, with the TV placed in various odd locations. One of the scenes involved the TV placed right at the corner edge of the roof of a tall building! Nevertheless, the promos that involved scenes from Sesame Street are the ones that stood out the most for me, mainly because they ALWAYS seemed to be on.

 

[SkyeFan]

I just remembered a few other PBS spots that did include references to Sesame Street.

There's one that I had seen frequently during the daytime programming of children's shows. On a dark purple background, a yellow "clay" television set is formed (complete with moving dials) and on the screen is the PBS logo. Various children's shows of PBS appear on the same kind of TV sets as a child voice-over mentions how certain news and media sources critique these shows positively. "Sesame Street" was one of them, and it was rated to be enjoyed by parents as much as kids. Who can argue with that? Other shows mentioned were "Lamb Chop's Play Along" and "Shining Time Station". Another variation had a woman voice-over. In that one, "Sesame Street" was mentioned with the same review as in the other spot, and other shows referenced were "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and "Square One TV" (this was back when this show was still in reruns). Both spots ended with the clay TVs showing the word "public" on one set, and "TV" on the other.

Another promo didn't really have anything to do with "Sesame Street", but I do remember Big Bird appearing VERY briefly, as if he was shown on a TV screen. It was one of a few promos PBS showed first around either 1993 or 1994. They had scenes edited together so quickly of different kinds of people watching public television, either at home or else in school (if you blinked, you'd miss Big Bird in one of these spots). A male voice over would speak of how beneficial public television is for people of all ages everywhere as some very dramatic music would play. I mean these promos would be very "heart-pounding", because they seemed so intense with the dramatic music and the fast paced editing of scenes. One of these promos I know, for instance, showed children in school watching TV (Sesame Street, perhaps?), as another scene showed a black and white footage panning across a row of video cassette cases lined across a bookshelf, all of which were labeled with the PBS logo. I always remembered shortly after that we see a scene in a TV station's control room where a man is seen holding a clipboard and a pen, and behind him on a TV monitor is a blue/pink/orange PBS logo (one I've never seen before!). I also remember another spot similar to these that was more "toned down", showing mostly children playing, and people watching PBS programs. Then all of a sudden, we see a brief excerpt of the "Sesame Street" segment (from season 2) where Bert tells Ernie to put down one of his cookies.

Do any of these sound familiar?

 

[crackmaster]

I know the "If PBS doesn't do it, who will?" spot because I saw it on a tape of PTV stuff on YouTube. Forgot what the video was.