Sketches and Songs on Sesame Street videos

[GonzoLeaper]

A New Review!!!

Hey- well, I finally got around to watching another Sesame Street video and so here's a NEW REVIEW!!!
(I hope to have a few more coming soon....)

This time around, I'm covering "Let's Eat! Funny Food Songs"- a 1999 video, released on DVD in 2004. The run time is about 30 minutes. And hey- the cover of the video notes that it was the "Parenting Magazine" Video of the Year Award winner! (for 1999, I would assume)

Plot- Grover is now working as a waiter at Planet Storybook, where Fat Blue (or Mr. Johnson- whatever you prefer to call him. I'm gonna refer to him as FB and you'll know who I mean.) is checking out exhibits of fairy tale memorabilia- like Cinderella's shoe, Jack and Jill's pail, the goose's golden eggs, etc. (The whole restaurant is obviously patterned after Planet Hollywood)
Fat Blue can't wait to have lunch there with the storybook characters who come there to eat too. In fact, he sees Cinderella and Prince Charming go by. (with the Guy Smiley puppet being used for Prince Charming, of course) FB freaks out when he recognizes Grover as his waiter. He even points out that Grover's the waiter from Charlie's Restaurant who never gives him any good service when he goes there. Grover explains that he's moved on from Charlie's Restaurant because now he can hobnob with famous storybook characters. (Well, I guess Grover's had many careers in his day- (though I can't believe he'd leave Charlie- LOL) does this mean that he's now employed at "Planet Storybook" in the Sesame Street canon? ;-))
Oh yeah- Grover states the Planet Storybook motto- "We serve healthy food so you will live happily ever after." Grover gives FB the menu but it's only a breakfast menu and he says he doesn't want breakfast. But Grover insists it's the most important meal of the day and shows him a video on it.

Song- "The Most Important Meal of the Day" (female Muppet cook and food sing about breakfast. Video includes scenes with kids eating in Hooper's Store with Mr. Handford running it. Ernie, Elmo, Telly and Big Bird are also all seen eating at Hooper's Store. Even Barkley shows up on the street during the song and then the cook is seen at Hooper's Store with Mr. Handford and a tiger and gray horse.)

Grover brings porridge to FB who refuses it and a bear going by growls at him. (Because we know how they love porridge!) Grover then shows FB a video about cereal.

Song- "Cereal Girl" ( Parody of "Material Girl" by Madonna- Awesome! Classic 80s! I loved this one as a kid. And I just realized that Sherlock Hemlock's dog is in the video too!)

and it's immediately followed by

Song- "Blueberry Mouth" (live film of kids picking and eating blueberries- Man, the blueberry cobblers look good!)

FB tells Grover it's time for lunch and asks for a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese- and then Grover points out that he's been ordering it a lot lately at Charlie's (and Grover even points out that he's getting a bit chubby!) Grover tries to offer him something different- Pasta Surprise! (and then goes to get it for him.)

Song- "Pasta" (live film of pasta being made)

Grover trips over Jack's candlestick on the way back to the table (references to fairy tales and nursery rhymes like that are made throughout the video) and then Grover offers the Pasta Surprise to FB, which turns out to be a hat with a feather in it. (Grover then explains that it's macaroni, according to the Yankee Doodle song!)

Song- "Telly's Lunch" (Telly makes a healthy baloney sandwich for lunch)
Then we jump to a video of 3 black girls doing a cheer about vegetables.

Grover then brings FB a big salad to eat. FB doesn't want it- and Grover even offers to feed him. (Wow- talk about service!) FB keeps insisting on a pepperoni pizza and Grover demands that he try some healthy foods- and maybe he'll forget about his "cotton-picking pepperoni pizza!" (Yes, Grover says "cotton picking"- Whoa! Grover's getting pretty steamed!) And then he forces salad into FB who then agrees that healthy food tastes good. Grover then asks if he'd like to see a video about healthy foods- FB replies "Not particularly." And Grover says, "Okay, watch." (Ha ha- classic Grover!)

Song- "Healthy Foods" (Classic late '80s Cookie Monster rap that actually made fruits and vegetables look yummy to me as a kid!)

This jumps right into

Song- "You Don't Have to be a Grizzly Bear to Eat Some Honey" (animated/live action with kids)

Then we find out that Grover ate FB's salad during the songs and now he can't get any more food for FB because that was the last of the food at the restaurant. Grover informs Fat Blue that he should have ordered earlier! And of course, FB passes out in exasperation!
Miss Muffet then comes in to eat and since they're out of food- Grover suggests calling and having a pepperoni pizza delivered- because even if it's not too healthy- once in a while, we should splurge, as Grover explains it. He goes with Miss Muffet to use her cell phone in her car.

And then the end credits roll and the classic live action "Pizza" film plays!!! (complete with kids ordering pizza on the classic late '80s "Zack Morris" style cell phone! ) I remember seeing this one as a kid- cool!

And at the end of that, the scene jumps back to the restaurant where we see Fat Blue waking up just in time to see Grover and Miss Muffet finishing off a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese!!! ("Extra cheese is extra good!"- Miss Muffet) Fat Blue passes out in exasperation again- as a "Pop Goes the Weasel" riff plays.

And Maria's voice reminds us to visit Sesame Street on the Web at www.sesamestreet.com


Overall comments-
I liked this one pretty well. The storyline was really great- you can't go wrong with the classic Grover and Fat Blue at the restaurant jokes. And both Frank Oz and Jerry Nelson are credited- so it's cool that both of them were there to voice their classic characters. It's also nice to see a video that focuses largely on Grover- though we do have some appearances from a few other characters in there- Barkley, Big Bird, Ernie, Elmo and Telly in particular- as well as Mr. Handford- so that's cool. And some classic songs- particularly one of my favorites- "Cereal Girl". There's also some Jeff Moss and Joe Raposo songs in there- classic live action films like "Blueberry Mouth", "Pasta" and "Pizza". And I can't forget Cookie Monster's classic "Healthy Foods". As always, Sesame Street does a great job talking about healthy foods and making it fun for kids. And there's a nice selection of a few classic 1980s songs on here- and that's fun for me.
Though not as heavy on other character appearances- there are a few cool ones- and some great songs- so I'd definitely recommend it for that.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Hey- look what I found!
"Big Bird Gets Lost"

Here's my review of the 1997 video (though the video itself has 1998 as the copyright date)- which runs about 40 minutes. This is another of the entries in the "Kids' Guide to Life" series and this one has special guest star Frances McDormand.

(It seems all the "Kids' Guide to Life" videos start with a special theme song sequence, which includes a few scenes from classic live action films and some of the Muppets.)

This video also includes 3 new songs that I'll mention as they appear in the video.

Plot- Snuffy goes skating down the street and comes by Maria, Gabi and Big Bird as they meet outside the 123 apartment. Oscar pops out too and Snuffy reminds them of his roller skating party for his birthday. Snuffy then runs into Maria's trash can and falls over and breaks his skates. Apparently, Snuffy's still trying to get good at skating. (And at this point, Maria's store is still referred to as The Fix-It Shop, so that's cool to hear.)
As Maria tries to fix her trash can that Snuffy dented and fix Snuffy's skates, she realizes she can't do either one and they'll have to be replaced. Big Bird sees an ad in the newspaper for a sale on roller skates at the ABCD Mart and Maria takes him there to buy a new trash can and for Big Bird to get new skates for Snuffy's birthday present. They stop by at the 123 stoop to ask Gabi to tell her Dad that they were going out to get those items. (So there's Luis' mention- but he never shows up in this one.) Telly is there with Gabi and some kids and he warns Big Bird not to get lost because he did once and had to give his phone number to an employee to help him get found!

Song- "That's My Number"
Maria leads Gabi, kids, Telly and Big Bird in a song to learn your phone number.

Big Bird and Maria then take the bus to the store and some sheep run by. A bit later, Little Bo Peep comes by asking if they've seen her sheep. As she goes off looking, this prompts Big Bird and Maria to break into a song and dance number.

Song- "Stickin' Together"
(Bo Peep comes back later in the song to join in singing)

Maria and Big Bird run over what sheep should do when lost and when Bo Peep leaves- the loudspeaker calls for her to meet with her sheep. (Yeah! They're found! )
Maria and Big Bird find a saleman to help with Snuffy's skates and he rather humorously uses his submarine sandwich to measure Snuffy's size, by eating some until it's the right size. Then when they're ready to go, while Maria's busy at the checkout counter, Big Bird drops one of the skates and chases after it throughout the store- when it finally hits a display of balls that go everywhere. (There's some pretty intense music playing when Big Bird realizes that "Maria's lost" and Maria realizes Big Bird's lost and they go looking for each other.)

Song- "Maria" (Big Bird sings this while looking for Maria and Maria sings while looking for Big Bird.)

-Cartoon (Boy with yellow face and pointy head (not Bart Simpson- LOL!) tells a police officer that he's lost and she shows him where he is on a map and how to get back to where he needs to be.)

Big Bird tells the lady at the ball display that Maria's lost and they go to customer service area to get some info to help Big Bird. He mentions Maria Rodriguez as her full name and mentions his Granny Bird's phone number. (For all the obscure trivia buffs, it's 555-6789)
Maria then hears the loudspeaker calling her and she goes to reunite with Big Bird.

-Sketch (Elmo is scuba diving and asks a police fish for help when he gets lost.)

Maria finds Big Bird and they go back to Sesame Street for Snuffy's birthday skating party. (With Maria, Gabi, Telly, Big Bird, Snuffy all skating and a honker or two.) Snuffy blows out the candles on the cake and blows Maria back into her new trash can and it gets dented again!

- At the end of the video, Frances McDormand gives parents a special message about how to help kids get found when they're lost and what to do to prevent them from getting lost.

Video ends with clips from the video and a reprise of "Stickin' Together".

Concluding Thoughts-

There really isn't much in the way of classic clips on this one. Though I was suprised to see that anything at all was included. I do recognize the cartoon shown from some years ago but I don't remember seeing the Elmo sketch at all. That one seemed to be perhaps a fairly early "Kevin Clash as Elmo" sketch. It was nice to see a video with a focus on Big Bird and his friendship with Snuffy- and again that mothering relationship Maria has with Big Bird. And the new songs in the video were fun. (The "Maria" song seemed to be a bit of a parody of a song from "The Sound of Music" (and NOT the "How Do you solve a problem like Maria" song!)- but I'm not positive on that one.
Overall, once again Sesame Street accomplishes what it set out to do with this video and made it fun and entertaining.
And I myself can testify to Sesame Street's good record at helping kids with these such matters- I remember a time when I was about five and getting lost in a mall...and making myself calm down and find a policeman to help me find my family and get reunited- because I'd seen it on Sesame Street!
So here's another fun and enjoyable entry in the "Kids' Guide to Life" series that definitely works!

 

[GonzoLeaper]

More Reviews!

This time I'm covering "Imagine That!"- a 1996 video that runs about 30 minutes.
(One cool thing about this off the bat- it starts with the classic Children's Television Workshop logo- the blue lettering on black background with that cool synthesizer-type music...radical! And then the Sesame Street logo with Cookie Monster eating it.)

Plot- At the park, Oscar's manning a newstand and Telly and Zoe are there to watch Gabi fly a kite, but it rains and so they run to "Finders Keepers" in the "Around the Corner" area- where they find a note saying that Ruthie will be out for an hour. (For clarification- Oscar stays with his newstand the whole time) Telly, Zoe, Gabi and kids are stuck waiting at "Finders Keepers" for the rain to pass.

Song- "We Hate The Rain" (New) - Stinky the stinkweed plant is seen singing in the rain in this song. Oscar gets a verse too- but he's confused because he loves the rain because it gets people depressed, but he hates the rain because it makes pretty flowers grow!

Cartoon- The cat who hated rain (and got 3 wishes to do something about it!)

Zoe wishes something interesting would happen and then Mumford shows up, but he was trying to get to Ft. Lauerdale. Zoe suggests he use tree, which rhymes with sea, to get him there when he says his magic words. He tries it, but ends up under a tree in the rain.

Cartoon- (Claymation)- Arnold uses his imagination and travels around in his chair. (This Arnold also looks very similar to the Nickelodeon "Hey Arnold" cartoon)

Telly, Zoe, Gabi and kids start pulling out items to be recycled to use for toys.

Song- "Imagine That" (Ernie classic!!! I love this one! )

Everybody's making toys out of boxes and stuff. Mumford shows up again and offers to help Zoe with what she's making (a house with flowers). Mumford uses his traditional magic words (a la peanut butter sandwiches!) but winds up bringing forth a mouse.

Song- "Box City Recycling Rap" (live film with kids making toys out of boxes and such)

Gabi then suggests Mumford try "bee" but that brings a bee to him instead of getting him to the sea.

Song- "Exploring in Your Closet" (I guess that's what it's called anyway- one of those animated/stop motion kinda things.)

Everyone's getting dressed up.

Song- "Let's Get Dressed Up" (New)

Mumford shows up again and offers Gabi a wish and she gets a pair of dancing shoes (but the shoes literally dance by themselves)

Song- "Dancin' Shoes" (Elmo, Bert, Ernie and The Count are all in this video- as are the singers- Christian Gospel singers BeBe and CeCe Winans!!!)

Telly suggests Mumford try using monkey for the rhyme (Mumford actuallys says "I'm a monkey" in his rhyme- probably a real stretch- but perhaps a slight reference to The Monkees' theme song?)
Mumford winds up stuck as a monkey in his book. (Viewers are invited to look for the hidden monkey in the picture in his book.)

Song- Cecile, the singing claymation orange, sings a song about imagination. ("The Game of Make Believe"- possible title?)

Finally Mumford tries just saying, "Please take me to the beach" and is gone. Then his disembodied voice says he forgot his sunglasses and and those vanish too. So he's finally there!

Song- "Happy Happiness" (live action film at beach)

Song- "Rainy Day Wishes" (New) (recaps clips from video)

Carlos then comes in and tells them it's stopped raining and everyone goes to play at the park playground.
-Credits run with a reprise of "Rainy Day Wishes"

(And then there's an ad for Sesame Street Magazine and Sesame Street Parents magazine- with a cool Twiddlebug Plush sitting in the background!)

Concluding Thoughts-
This was a really fun video, emphasizing the importance of using your imagination- and also fun things to do inside on a rainy day. There were a couple of cartoons that I remember seeing when I was younger that were cool. Probably the songs I liked best were "Dancin' Shoes" and definitely "Imagine That"- that one's just classic! The new songs were fun too- particularly the "Rainy Day Wishes" song. For fans of the "Around the Corner" era- this is a good video to see some of the playground area, Oscar's newstand, "Finders Keepers", and some characters from that time period- like Carlos. And of course, Mumford shows up a good bit, so that's definitely a plus.
It's also interesting to note that Carlos and Gabi are the only main human characters that show up on this video. Other than Ruthie being mentioned (but not seen)- there are no adult humans that show up. Anyway, this video wound up having even more than it advertised from the songs listed on the back, so that was a welcome treat.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Here's one more for ya!

Here's a review of "We All Sing Together"- a 1993 video, that was rereleased on VHS in 1996. It's technically a "Sesame Songs" video release. The run time is about 30 minutes. It starts off with that classic Children's Television Workshop logo and then the "Sesame Songs Home Video logo" (with Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie)

Plot- Herry is Anchor Monster for "The Monster Report" and it's set up just like a live news report. The Count and Telly's pictures are also seen as they're mentioned as the reporters on location. Today the news show is looking at kids and who they are and what they look like.
Reporter Elmo brings in breaking news that kids don't have fur (as Herry and the other generic monsters working there had thought) but rather have skin.

Song- "Skin (Kids at the Beach)" (live action film)

Elmo again tells Herry that kids don't have fur, but do have hair on their heads. (There's also an ongoing joke throughout the video- one monster at studio is always on the phone and another keeps interrupting him to ask him something.)

Song- "Fixin' My Hair" (live action film)

They go to Telly- the Monster on the Spot- who is there with a real live kid! Elmo then tells Telly that kids look different and not all are the same- and he brings in lots of kids to prove his point.

Song- "One Thousand Faces" (video cycles through many faces- with live action film and drawings)

Jumps back to the Monster Report logo for a second.

Song- "I Want to Be Me" (Cecile, the singing claymation orange)

Herry asks how many kinds of kids there are (other monsters guess from 5 or 20, etc. I think one started to say "negative..." )
and it jumps to Count Von Count (the investigative reporter) and of course, he caught up with counting and Herry has to get his attention- Count reports having counted at least 4,535 kids!
Elmo comes in again to tell Herry that kids don't have blue skin as he was wondering (I mean, we're not talking Smurfs here ) but sometimes they do feel blue.

Song- "Dancin' Shoes" (Elmo, Bert, Ernie and the Count all show up in this one- as do Christian Gospel singers BeBe and CeCe Winans- who are also the singers!)

Herry says it's time to report on families- and his Mom, Dad and Granny all show up with him.

Song- "Mom and Me" (classic! - live action film)

Herry says kids are all different- but Elmo and Buster show up and tell him they are all different AND all the same. Elmo says you can hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

Song- "Different Yet the Same" (Classic- Buster the horse and Gladys the cow sing in the arbor area)

Song- "No Matter What" (live action film with kids)

Buster confirms again that kids are different and the same.

Song- "We All Sing With the Same Voice" (CLASSIC!!! - live action film)

Elmo and Herry and monsters go to play with kids.
Buster stays behind and says it's time for "The Horse Report"!
(Elmo, Herry and Telly and the Count all join in in a conga line in the park with instrumental version of "We All Sing With the Same Voice" playing while credits run.)

Concluding Thoughts- Wow!!! This is a great video! The plot was cool because it utilized Telly in his "Monster on the Spot" role- and brought Count, Herry and Elmo into the mix. Actually, it's one of the only videos I can think of where Herry is the main focus- so that was pretty awesome! And there's a chance to see fairly rare characters when his Mom, Dad and Granny show up! There's classic live action film songs in here- like "Skin", "Fixin' My Hair" and "Mom and Me"...And Buster even has a role in the video! And you can see both Buster and Gladys in a fairly classic song- "Different Yet the Same".

But the best part for me was seeing the all time CLASSIC song ending it- "We All Sing With the Same Voice". This was one of my absolute favorite songs as a kid- I still love seeing this one!
A lot of great songs are packed into this one- and we get to see Herry have a big role in the video- and lesser seen characters (nowadays anyways) like Buster, Gladys and Herry's family show up. I would definitely recommend this video!!! Awesome!

 

[minor muppetz]

Cartoon- (Claymation)- Arnold uses his imagination and travels around in his chair. (This Arnold also looks very similar to the Nickelodeon "Hey Arnold" cartoon)

That is the same Arnold. The sketch was animated by Craig Bartlett, who created Hey Arnold. Arnold had previously appeared in two earlier clay animated shorts, Arnold Escapes from Church and The Arnold Waltz. I never knew that this sketch was ever released on video.

This video sounds very good, but there are sketches that I wish were included, such as Kermit's imagination game, Little Bird's imagination game, and any Deena and Pearl skecth (I guess it would be a fat chance for Sesame Workshop to release Deena and Pearl sketches on video, unless it's a release for nostalgic collectors).

It's great that more videos are being reviewed. We're almost complete!

 

[GonzoLeaper]

An overview of the reviews...

Well, I was looking through the reviews on here- and I've compiled a list of the videos that have been covered so far. Two of these are links to reviews listed in other threads. Some videos have even been covered more than once, probably because we didn't realize it'd already been done. We've mainly been covering Sesame Street videos that include some classic clips from the show, but there are some reviews of videos that contain no classic content at all.


Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game
Rock & Roll
Count It Higher
Learning About Letters
Learning About Numbers
Play-Along Games and Songs (twice!)
Monster Hits
The Best of Ernie and Bert
Dance Along
A Celebration of Me, Grover!
Sing Along
Big Bird's Storytime
The Alphabet Game
Elmopalooza
The Best of Elmo
Quiet Time
The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street
Getting Ready to Read
Sesame Street Visits the Firehouse
Sesame Street Visits the Hospital (twice!)
Learning to Add and Subtract
Big Bird's Favorite Party Games (twice!)
Do the Alphabet
A Magical Halloween Adventure
Cookie Monster's Best Bites
Sing Yourself Silly
Sesame Street Presents: William Wegman's Mother Goose
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Sing and Play
Basil Hears a Noise
Kids' Guide to Life: Learning to Share (twice!)
The Street We Live On
Elmo Saves Christmas
Put Down the Duckie (1988 "Sesame Street Special")
The Great Numbers Game
Elmo Goes to the Doctor
Sing, Hoot & Howl with the Sesame Street Animals
Happy, Healthy Monsters
Get Up and Dance (twice!)
Big Bird Sings
Bedtime Stories and Songs (later retitled "Sleepytime Stories and Songs")
Five Sesame Street Stories (video version of books)
Three Sesame Street Stories (video version of books)
The Alphabet Jungle Game
I'm Glad to Be Me
Sesame Street's 25th. Birthday: A Musical Celebration
What's the Name of that Song?
Sesame Sings Karaoke
Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies
Bert and Ernie's Word Play
Fiesta!
Let's Make Music
Kids' Guide to Life: Telling the Truth
Ernie's Little Lie and Other Stories (video version of books)
Elmo's Magic Cookbook
1,2,3-Count with Me
Kids' Favorite Songs
Elmocize
Three Bears and a New Baby
Sing-Along Earth Songs (twice!)
All-Star Alphabet
Elmo Says Boo!
Guess That Shape and Color
Talk, Listen, Connect (online video- for kids with deployed parents)
A Sesame Street Christmas Carol
Let's Eat! Funny Food Songs
Kids' Guide to Life: Big Bird Gets Lost
Imagine That!
We All Sing Together



I've counted 68 reviews!!! That is really great!
We've just about covered most all of the Sesame Street videos with classic clips included. There are some Sesame Street videos that I've sort of avoided covering- and that would be mainly the "Elmo's World" videos. Now I have watched the "Elmo's World" segments on Sesame Street before- and I am pretty positive that no classic clips are shown in these at all. I generally tune out when the modern Sesame Street episodes get to that point- it's nothing against Elmo...but I do get tired of that "Elmo's World" format. Anyway- if any brave soul wants to cover those videos, feel free to add them- but I probably won't bother to do them.
Also, we haven't really covered many of the Sesame Street specials- "A Walking Tour of Sesame Street" (10 Year Anniversary), "20 Years and Still Counting", "Julie On Sesame Street", "Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art", "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street", "A Special Sesame Street Christmas", "Sesame Street Stays Up Late (AKA Sesame Street Celebrates Around the World/ New Year's Eve on Sesame Street)", "Out to Lunch" (Sesame Street/ The Electric Company), "Big Bird in China", "Big Bird in Japan", "CinderElmo" and the movies- "Follow That Bird" and "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland". There's probably others I forgot or aren't aware of.
If anyone wants to tackle those, they're certainly welcome to- though of course, most all of the specials don't include classic clips from the show- except for the Anniversary specials and documentaries like the A&E Biography special, etc.
And then of course, if anyone wants to tackle "Sesame Street: Old School- Volume 1"- that would be welcomed too- but Muppet Central has a pretty good overview of it already- and you can see the entry at the Muppet Wiki.
And then there's the newer release of modern episodes on DVD- the "TV episode Fun Pack". I guess we can review those too, if someone wants to.
And I suppose if anyone were ever to get a hold of those "Shalom Sesame" videos, you can feel free to cover those too.

Also, there's some videos like "A is for Asthma" and "Lead Away" that are created specifically as special projects sort of as warnings for kids. I doubt these have any classic clips from the show, but if someone has access to these, feel free to cover them too.

And there is a line of "Sesame English" videos that are used with "English as a Second Language" groups- and they mainly feature a new Muppet named Tingo and his human friend Niki. These videos do contain a few classic clips on them. I have seen a few- and these might be worth covering here too.

And there's the "Sesame Beginnings" videos if anyone wants to try doing those.

But there are still a few videos that might (or should, anyway) contain some classic clips that have yet to get covered-

"A New Baby in My House" (I've seen this one- and thought I had posted a review- but obviously not...)
"Kids' Favorite Songs 2"
"Elmo's Potty Time"
"Getting Ready for School" (As soon as I get a chance, I hope to review this one)
"Elmo Visits the Firehouse"
"Eight Super Stories From Sesame Street" (video versions of books- we've done the others, might as well do this one too)
"Slimey's World Games" (Another one I need to do sometime- seeing as how I own this one!)
Start-to-Read video- "I Want to Go Home" (video versions of books- we've done some others-might as well do them all)
Start-to-Read video- "Don't Cry, Big Bird" (ditto)
Start-to-Read video- "Ernie's Big Mess" (ditto)
"Computer Caper" (another one that I plan to do sometime soon...)
"Friends to the Rescue" (I've got this video- it's sort of an amalgamation of the week's run of "Hurricane" episodes from 2001-maybe I'll write it up sometime too)
"Interactive Vision: Magic on Sesame Street" (http://www.amazon.com/Interactive-V...971232?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1173713185&sr=1-95)
(I'm curious to know what that one is!)
"Zoe's Dance Moves"
"Elmo's Musical Adventure"
And then there's this video
(http://www.amazon.com/SESAME-STREET...71232?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1173713999&sr=1-173)
(I'd like to know what that is too!)

And of course, any new Sesame Street videos that get released...

like for instance- this one-
("Kids' Favorite Country Songs"- being released June 5, 2007!)
(http://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Coun...9971232?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1173714476&sr=1-119)

 

[minor muppetz]

Also, we haven't really covered many of the Sesame Street specials- "A Walking Tour of Sesame Street" (10 Year Anniversary), "20 Years and Still Counting", "Julie On Sesame Street", "Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art", "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street", "A Special Sesame Street Christmas", "Sesame Street Stays Up Late (AKA Sesame Street Celebrates Around the World/ New Year's Eve on Sesame Street)", "Out to Lunch" (Sesame Street/ The Electric Company), "Big Bird in China", "Big Bird in Japan", "CinderElmo" and the movies- "Follow That Bird" and "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland". There's probably others I forgot or aren't aware of.
If anyone wants to tackle those, they're certainly welcome to- though of course, most all of the specials don't include classic clips from the show- except for the Anniversary specials and documentaries like the A&E Biography special, etc.

Many of those specials have never been commercially available on video.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Well, that's true. Of the Sesame Street specials, "Elmo's Musical Adventure", "CinderElmo", "Big Bird in China", "Big Bird in Japan", "Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art", "Sesame Street Celebrates Around the World", "Follow That Bird", "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland", and "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" have all been released on VHS or DVD. And "Put Down the Duckie" would also be in this category, along with "Sesame Street's 25th. Anniversary: A Musical Celebration"- since both were originally aired as specials on TV and then later released on video.
And I guess you could count "Muppet Family Christmas" in that list too, for that matter. The A&E Biography special on Sesame Street is available on video too.

As for the ones yet to be released- while I do hope they get released on VHS and DVD at some point- at least I've been able to view some of them through Youtube and trading.

 

[minor muppetz]

Yesterday I checked out a volume of Shalom Sesame at my local library. I've seen it there for awhile, but didn't rent it until yesterday. I read about the Shalom Sesame videos at Muppet Wiki, and looked at the few episode pages that were available at Muppet Wiki (and by renting this I added another page). The video is volume 10, Passover (listed at Muppet Wiki as Show 10: Passover, if you want to check that page for a full sketch listing).

The Shalom Sesame videos are basically co-productions between the U.S. Sesame Street and Revko Simsin (I might have gotten the title wrong), the Israel co-production of Sesame Street. However, it seems like these videos have more israel content than American content, and the dialogue alternates between hebrew and english. Surprisingly, there is more english than hebrew, but there are a few segments that are mostly hebrew. Most american Sesame Street sketches on this video alternate between english and hebrew.

This video is mostly about Passover, with most of the Israel sketches being about Passover in some way. Since I doubt that Sesame Street has any passover sketches, all of the Sesame Street sketches on this video have nothing to do with passover, and it seems like this video is more like a 36 minute episode of the show (normally, if the american Sesame Street has a video release concerning a specific theme, it usually stays on that theme all the way).

The video begins with the israel characters, Kippi Ben Kippod (a full-body porcipine) and Moshier Oofnik, the shows grouch character, at a news desk, reporting for "Pey TV" (it's actually the israel letter for P, which sounds like pey, but I don't know how to put the alternate letter symbol here). Moshier asks how much it will cost, confusing it for "Pay TV". Kippi says that the show will focus on Passover.

Then we get the opening theme song, which features Ernie and Bert in animated form. Then Kippi announces the show, its stars, and its guest stars. Although Ernie and Bert are announced as stars (and a clip of them is shown), they only appear in the opening and closing themes. Guests include Sally Jessica Parker, Alan King, Mary Tyler Moore, and Oscar the Grouch.

The first sketch is called Cooking with Miriam, with a human woman named Miriam teaching viewers how to make bread. Halfway through the segment, Moshier Oofnik, posing as Pharoh Oofnik, takes over and orders Miriam to leave, with the bread. Since the bread isn't finished, the bread is flat, and Miriam invents matza.

This is followed by a matza song.

Then African Alphabet is shown, alternating between english and hebrew.

Then we get the question of the day, where reporter Peggy Peg asks the question "Why do we eat matza on Passover?". Moshier Oofnik says that it's because it's loud. Oscar the Grouch then answers, but I forget what his answer is, and then a boy answers, giving the real reason (which I forget).

Then Kippi introduces a word from the shows sponsors, which I think is Genga Indrustries (the logo is written in hebrew). Alan King appears as the spokesman, saying that the phones won't stop ringing.

Then there is a claymation sketch about a flower, cow, and butterfly, which all begin witht he same letter (in hebrew, of course).

Then there is the "Movie of the Week", Jerusalem Jones and the Lost Afikomen. This is a parody of Indiana Jones, with Sarah Jessica Parker in the title role, and is basically the linking plot (it takes up four parts). At a seder, Moshier Oofnik hides the afikomen, so that the seder can't continue,a nd gives Kippi and Jerusalem Jones one hint: Look inside the hagatha (I think that's the word... check the Muppet Wiki page for accuracy).

I'll just tell the whole story here, rather than going in order (you can check the Muppet Wiki page for this video for a complete sketch listing in order... I'm sure that I will forget some skits). Jerusalem Jones and Kippi magically go inside the hagatha, into a cave, where Pharoh Oofnik makes them his slaves. They break out when Kippi says "open sesame". They find the worlds oldest matza ball, which is meant to be the boulder from Raders of the Lost Ark, and it chases them out. They go back to the dining room table, tellong Moshier Oofnik that they didn't find it. But then it magically appears. Moshier wonders how it got there, since it was in his hagatha. Jerusalem Jones loses her keys, and the announcer annoucners next weeks movie: Jerusalem Jones and the Lost Keys.

During that tme, we get some more skits, like Monster in the Mirror (the non-celebrity version), Pinball Number Count, and Count it Higher, as well as a two-part skit where Mary Tyler Moore asks a boy to teach her how to count in hebrew.

The video ends with Kippi and Moshier Oofnik back at the news studio, saying that next week they will show a frog channel. Then the station gets plaiged by frogs (who look like the same frog puppets used on The Muppet Show, The Frog Prince, and other non-SS Muppet productions). It looks like they are chromo-keyed in.

The credits show clips from Shalom Sesame, probably clips from other volumes.

This video was good. I would have liked it to have more american Sesame Street skits that I don't have on video, though since most are partially dubbed, it's probably a good thing (the Pinball Number Count segment included is the only one to be completely dubbed, though it does begin with an american vocie saying "10").

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Thanks for the multicultural review!
I've been curious about those Shalom Sesame videos- nice to have the breakdown for one of them. Also, appropriate timing on doing the "Passover" video, seeing as how that's coming up soon, along with Easter on April 8.