Should there be a Sesame Street Channel?

[Taco Wiz]

I thought this would be a cool idea to discuss. Should there be a 24/7 Sesame Street Channel? There are over 4000 episodes. It's one hour, which is twice as long as most TV shows, which are a half hour. So compared to other shows, Sesame Street has over 8000 episodes. That's obviously enough for an entire channel. It would probably get much higher ratings than PBS Kids Sprout, due to Sesame Street being the most popular PBS show. The channel would air Vintage Sesame Street, Modern Sesame Street, Play With Me Sesame, Sesame Beginnings, Elmo's World, and the various Sesame Street themed Direct-to-Video/DVD and television specials. The channel could air blocks with nothing but sketches related to one character. The Elmo block would probably get the highest ratings, with Elmo's World playing inbetween sketches starring Elmo. There would also be blocks centered around Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, Oscar the Grouch, and even Kermit if Disney wont sue. There could be blocks where only sketches and episodes from a certain era are aired such as the 1960s, the 1980s, the 1990s, you get the idea. There would also be a Sesame Beginnings-only block. Sesame Beginnings could air up until noon, and then the normal Sesame Street would air. Vintage Sesame Street would start during prime time, maybe at 9:00 PM. The commercials would be replaced with animated letter/number bumpers. So, who thinks this idea could work?

 

[MrsPepper]

Wow, that certainly is a cool idea! There's no doubt about it that Sesame has more than enough material to fill up it's own station without repeats for a long, long time!

However, in other threads we've had alot of very spirited discussion over whether or not old 70's SS is appropriate for today's children. Many people have an "it's fine, I grew up with it and I'm fine, why can't they?" attitude. However, I'm more in the camp of "the 70's episodes were catered to the needs of 1970's children; in today's day and age we should cater to more modern needs". Of course they are needs and themes that are universal whenever you were a child, but the treatment is often different - ex. SS today would never show kids in a construction yard, as they actually did back in the day.

So while a 24-hour Sesame Channel is a sweet idea, I think that too many parents would assume that everything on there would always be appropriate, and may end up being upset with what their child is exposed to.

 

[Oscarfan]

I think a "Sesame Network" would be a great idea! Though, I'd show other programs made by CTW & Sesame Workshop, like The Electric Company, Dragon Tales, PWMS etc.

 

[Drtooth]

There WAS a CTW channel. It was called Noggin. Of course, Viacom, greedy snots they are, bought up all of SW's interrest in the network, and replaced all their shows with inferior quality Nick Jr. junk, and screaming tweenybopper sitcom reruns (sure, like you can't see Fresh Prince and Sabrina a million times on local syndication).

Now, they partnered with PBS and HIT, and we have approximately 2 SW shows, and the rest would be stuff HIT owns and PBS's post 90's junk like Barney.

 

[Taco Wiz]

I think that less successful shows would drag down the ratings. No Dragon Tales. Plus, we have PBS Kids Sprout for those shows.

Wow, that certainly is a cool idea! There's no doubt about it that Sesame has more than enough material to fill up it's own station without repeats for a long, long time!

However, in other threads we've had alot of very spirited discussion over whether or not old 70's SS is appropriate for today's children. Many people have an "it's fine, I grew up with it and I'm fine, why can't they?" attitude. However, I'm more in the camp of "the 70's episodes were catered to the needs of 1970's children; in today's day and age we should cater to more modern needs". Of course they are needs and themes that are universal whenever you were a child, but the treatment is often different - ex. SS today would never show kids in a construction yard, as they actually did back in the day.

So while a 24-hour Sesame Channel is a sweet idea, I think that too many parents would assume that everything on there would always be appropriate, and may end up being upset with what their child is exposed to.

If it's absolutely necessary, there could be censorship.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I'd definitely be in the camp where, unless it's something completely outrageous, there's no need for censorship. Young kids aren't looking to see if something looks modern, they just need something well written. Studying the history of our pop culture and society even as far back as the late 19th century, it's clear to me that people have not changed as much as we think we have.

We all of us have a tendency to assume that the familiar sayings, pop culture, school lessons, and even merchandise we grew up with must have come into existence in our own lifetime. When in reality, they've been around for years, decades, even centuries.

Plus I think too many parents show their kids the modern version of the show and just assume it's fine.

 

[ISNorden]

I'd definitely be in the camp where, unless it's something completely outrageous, there's no need for censorship. Young kids aren't looking to see if something looks modern, they just need something well written. Studying the history of our pop culture and society even as far back as the late 19th century, it's clear to me that people have not changed as much as we think we have.

We all of us have a tendency to assume that the familiar sayings, pop culture, school lessons, and even merchandise we grew up with must have come into existence in our own lifetime. When in reality, they've been around for years, decades, even centuries.

Plus I think too many parents show their kids the modern version of the show and just assume it's fine.

To be honest, both older and current versions of Sesame Street have their flaws: The classic version was a bit too violent and scary, and repeated lesson material a little too often at first. The sheer number of characters must have been too much for average toddlers to keep track of as well.

The modern version feels like an extreme change in the opposite direction: it goes out of the way to tone down offensive or frightening situations, tries to cover too many concepts in 45 minutes, and is phasing out some characters that have been part of Sesame Street since the first season. (As for one character getting a 15-minute spot every day--Jim Henson would have died even sooner if someone had suggested giving Big Bird or Oscar that kind of treatment "way back when".)

Granted, Sesame Workshop is trying their best to find a happy medium between those extremes now: Season 38 was a decent attempt at balancing the old and new styles, in my opinion. But no TV show will ever be 100 percent perfect, as long as imperfect human beings write and produce it.

As for the original thread topic, whether an all-Sesame Street channel should exist: if I were as rich as Bill Gates, I'd finance the whole thing myself. The idea of scheduling different program blocks for different audiences makes especially good sense: that way, preschoolers and nostalgic adults could both see the material they loved. (Believe it or not, I even know some adults who swear their preschool kids/grandkids/nephews like the older Sesame Street better; those people could always record the retro stuff to show it the next morning!)

 

[CensoredAlso]

deleted, see my post below

 

[zns]

I really don't think that it is necessary for us to fret over the format of the older Sesame episodes from the 70's and 80's. If there was a Sesame Street channel, it would probably be easier for Sesame Workshop to air the older shows between the hours of 9:00 pm to 5:00 am, since most little children are in bed during that time. Maybe we can offer some ideas to Sesame Workshop, if they would listen that is.

 

[CensoredAlso]

. The idea of scheduling different program blocks for different audiences makes especially good sense: that way, preschoolers and nostalgic adults could both see the material they loved. (Believe it or not, I even know some adults who swear their preschool kids/grandkids/nephews like the older Sesame Street better; those people could always record the retro stuff to show it the next morning!)

I think it makes sense to show some of the retro material at night, because obviously that's when adults generally watch TV. However, I would still put the retro stuff on in the mornings for kids as well. If some kids don't like it, it's not the fault of the material. Especially when a lot of other kids clearly do like it.

At best, the old and new could share the time slots. But I wouldn't relegate the older material to the night time just because it's old, when it's clearly quality education and entertainment. We would be telling kids that if something's old, it's meant to be hidden away from their sight. Thus depriving them of genuinely creative and decent material that they might actually benefit from.

We don't hide important school subjects from children just because they're initially confusing or because kids might resist at first. We teach them to kids because they're important to learn. And many kids go on to truly enjoy them. The same with classic entertainment.