Sketches and Songs on Sesame Street videos

[GonzoLeaper]

Okay, here's my review of "Quiet Time"- a 1997 video release.

First off, here's a song list from the video.

"I Heard My Dog Bark"- Oscar the Grouch, Grundgetta, Grouchketeers, and Big Bird

"In My Book" - animated cartoon song

"Quiet Things"- Big Bird and guest star Daphne Rubin-Vega

"Naptime"- Bert and Ernie

"In the Quiet of the Evening"- Kermit the Frog

"Quiet Time"- Big Bird


All right, now here's the synopsis.
Big Bird tells the viewers that his Granny Bird told him that it's quiet time. (If you're wondering, Granny Bird does not actually show up in the video.)
Big Bird spends the whole video asking people for ideas on what to do during quiet time. Oscar, Grundgetta and the Grouchketeers initially refuse to help him, but Rosita goes to get a book to help him. After Rosita leads, Oscar offers to lead a song for quiet time and he agrees to let Big Bird sing with him and Grundgetta and the Grouchketeers. Of course, it's a Grouch quiet song- so of course, it's not a quiet song at all!!! (They sing "I Heard My Dog Bark")
Then, a Top Ten List of Quiet Time things to Do is displayed on the screen and we see #10 and 9 on the list. Then there's a quick Two-Headed Monster "Quiet" skit.
Big Bird then asks Zoey for an idea and she says to play an imagination game. They imagine driving a car to a car wash. Zoey then goes home for lunch.
Then we see #8 and 7 on the Top Ten list.
Big Bird then asks Telly for ideas. Telly says to read a book. Big Bird reads (and Telly enacts) "The Man Who Couldn't Sleep". (Gladys shows up in sketch, though not actually referred to as Gladys)
At the end of the story, Telly falls asleep.
-"In My Book"- animated cartoon song.
Suzy Kabloozie cartoon- Suzy pretends to be a pirate.
-Top Ten List- #6 + 5 + 4
Then Big Bird and Daphne Rubin-Vega are seen at a playground and they sing "Quiet Things".
Next, Big Bird is back on the Street and he asks Ernie for ideas. Ernie says he's not good with quiet time (really! ) and he's going to get Bert to go play. In the apartment, we see Bert singing "Nap Time" and Ernie soon joins him. (Bert sings about taking a nap, while Ernie is singing and cajoling Bert to go play.)
-Top Ten List #3 and 2
Then, Big Bird goes to his nest and decides to take a nap. Rosita shows up with her book, and wakes Big Bird up. Rosita says to sing a song, but Big Bird counters with saying that he's already done this and it didn't help. He drifts off again and then Rosita wakes him up and tells him to play a game. Again, Big Bird says he's done this and drifts off again. Rosita wakes him up once more to tell him he should take a nap and then she leaves. Big Bird gives us a frustrated sigh and falls back asleep again.
And then, we see Kermit sing "In the Quiet of the Evening".
(Note- I think I maybe vaguely remember this one from my childhood- it's a great Kermit song I haven't seen in a long while.)
-Top Ten List - #1
And then Big Bird sings "Quiet Time" as the credits roll. During the credits, Big Bird's pictures of him and Telly and 1 of Zoey are shown, as well as various clips from the whole video.


-It's a pretty good video with some fun songs- always great to see Grundgetta with Oscar and the Grouchketeers and there was a great Ernie and Bert song (And it was cool to see Ernie on the Street.)
And I love any Kermit appearances!
So I'd say it was definitely a pretty good video.

 

[minor muppetz]

I was hoping that you (or somebody) would write a review of Quiet Time. It sounds like it is worth seeing for the sketches. I knew that it included In The Quiet of The Evening, but didn't realize that it has Naptime. Too bad I can't find a copy of it in any of my local stores anymore.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is some information about The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street.

release year: 1998

plot: Grover is to present kermit with the "frog of the year" award, which is the biggest prize a frog can get. But first, Grover must read his poem about frogs. The three litte pigs come, explaining that they are close, personal friends of kermit The Frog ("He's talked to us twice on Sesame Street News", says one pig). However, The Big bad Wolf comes in, saying that he is on pig patrol, and tell's grover to just yell Pig patrol if they cause too much trouble. Grover starts his poem talkign about frogs. After the I love My Elbows clip is shown, Grover ask's a boy if he knew that frogs had elbows. Grover contineus his poem, saying that frogs have ears, a long nose, and teeth, and as Kermit tries to tell Grover otherwise, Grover shows some clips but then becomes convicned that frogs do not have those things, but says that frogs do have calmness, and never get angry or yell, but then he shows soem clips that also prove him wrong. However, Grover is certain that frogs know the alphabet. Grover goes on to say that when frogs are sad, instead of gettign the blues, they get the greens. Grover talks to a girl about what kinds of whether frogs like, and learns that frogs most likely don't like snow. He also talks to that girl about kermit's award, as well as Kermit's job as a news person. Finally, Grover finishes his poem and tells Kermit to come get his poem. Kermit takes a small trophy of Kermit and is about to make an acceptance speech when Grover tells kermit that the trophy is not the prize. Turns out that the actual prize is a giant Kermit The Frog statue, "the biggest prize a frog can get". As Kermit struggles to carry the award, Grover and the three little pigs sing a new song, "Frog of The Year", and Grover tells the viewers who Kermit wanted to thank.

segments (not counting clip montages):
I Love My Elbows
Carribean Amphibean
African Alphabet
Cookie Monster Alphabet (the sketch where a girl substitutes Cookie Monster for letters)
Do Op Hop (ending scene with Kermit hpping in the air cut)
Being Green (the remake)
The Weather Machine (with Grover)
Tadpole
This Frog
Do op Hop (repeat, shown during the end credits)

clip montages:
1. Kermit saying "I do not beleive this" in response to gettign ears, Kermit sneezing as he get's a nose, and Kermit chasing Grover after having teeth.
2. Kermit, with ears, telling Grover to get outta here, Kermit yelling about wanting his "Kermit The Frog T-Shirt", Kermit telling grover hat he does not have a nose, and Kermit chasing Grover out of the apartment after getting a pair of sunglasses with ears and a nose attahced.
3. [note: This order varies from the actual order, and might be incomplete] a few of Kermit The frogs Sesame Street News introductions (including his introductions for jack b nimble, humpty dumpty, and mary and her little lamb), a tree falling on kermit, pinnocchio lying and having his growing nose push kermit through the wall, cave kids walking over kermit, Kermit being blown away (probably by a wolf, though the wolf is not seen in this clip), a shrunk Kermit saying "Hey, Mumford! Look what you did to me!" (note: Mumford is not seen in this clip), a horse jumping onto a grandfather clock, Kermit shouting "Where is Peter Piper!", Rumplestilskin taking custody of Kermit, and a few clips of Kermit signing off (being followed by marys little lamb, covered in the snow, and wearing a purple dress in a horse-drawn coach).

nitpicks:
*it's too bad that the majority of non-song clips had to be parts of clip montages. The clips go by too fast, we hear what goes on in the clips, and many of the things in these clips might seem weird to people who don't know what is going on (the same problem applies to the time line sequence from The Street We Live On). It would have been cool if the openign sequence had a clip montage (instead of just a photo of Kermit. This would have been a good opportunity to include Kermit's scenes from Subway and Do De Rubber Duck, since Kermit isn't important enough for those skits to be shown in The Best Of Kermit). A Celebration of Me, Grover! did a much better job with all of the clip montages.
*None of kermit's skits from the first season are included (the same is true for all other "best of" videos).
*Considering that Kermit's best-known Sesame Street appearances seem to be his news skits (I could be wrong, but 99% of the kermit section of Sesame Street Unpaved focuses on Kermit's news reporter role, and almost every Sesame Street special featuring Kermit had him as a reporter), it's weird that we only get a montage, instead of just a complete skit or two. Also, none of the early Sesame Street news skits (where kermit had a dark brown hat) are included.
*While it is understandable that none this video couldn't have any characters from The Muppet Show, it's a shame that Grover is the only other regular Sesame Street character included in this video. Kermit has done skits with other regular characters (such as Dr. Nobel Price, Don Music, Cookie Monster, herry, Elmo, Telly, Harvey Kneeslapper, and The Count).
*All of the songs included have either already been included on albums or on other videos (as far as I know, the version of Being Green included here was already included on I'm Glad I'm Me; Why not include the version with Leena Horne, the only version of the song not available on video?).
*oddly enough, Grover mentions that a frog knows the alphabet, and this line is followed by three segments in a row. However, only the first two of those segments have to do with the alphabet. It would have been more fitting to have included (although it's already been released on video) Alphabet In The swamp (or Bayou Alphabet, as many people seem to refer to it as) instead of Do Op Hop.
*while most Sesame Street videos at the time were 30 minutes long, I think that this video should have been an exception, and have been an hour long instead. Also, Grovers scenes with real kids are unneccessary (especially since kermit isn't in those scenes). Removal of those scenes could have saved time for more kermit skits.
*It seems like the producers of this video didn't want to confuse kids over kermit having a different voice in the new footage compared to old footage, as kermit only gets a few, short lines in the linking footage.

 

[minor muppetz]

I don't know if it is neccessary to rank these videos in this thread or not, but I'll rank all of the videos that have been reviewed (except for Quiet Time, as I haven't seen it, but judging by the description I'd give it 4 stars).

5 stars: Learnign About Letters, The best of Kermit on Sesame Street, A celebration of me, grover!, The Alphabet Game, Big Bird's Storytime, Sing-Along, Monster Hits, Rock & Roll, Count it Higher: Great Music Videos From Sesame Street, Play-Along games and Songs, Elmopalooza, and Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game.

4 stars: Learning About Numbers, The Best of Elmo, and The Best of Ernie and Bert.

3 stars: Dance Along.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is my review of getting ready to read.

year: 1986.

plot: Big Bird is the host of Big Bird's Reading hotline, where people call in for advice on reading. Some people also come to Big Bird's nest fr help, including a purple boy named Sam and his cat, Rocco. Apparantly, Sam comes with a box of cat food every day just to make sure he has the right stuff for Rocco. Big Bird suggests that Sam start sounding out letters in words as a way of finding out how to read. After some poetry skits are shown, a monster calls in asking what poetry has to do with reading. Big Bird doesn't know the answer, so he asks Maria for help. maria explaisn that rhyming words is a good way to know how something is spelled because of the difference in first letters. However, Maria takes so long explaining this to big bird that the caller hangs up and comes to Big Birds nest. Big Bird teaches a little green girl named Annie about rhyming by replacing the first letter in soem words to get a different word. A caller calls Oscar The Grouch's Reading Hotline by mistake, and oscar turns on his TV to show the viewers what grouch kids are reading these days. The Honkers help the viewers sound things out (no, they don't hav evoices in this scene). At the end of the day, Sam and Rocco come back with more pet food boxes and cans. Big Bird thinks that Sam wants him to read all of thsoe boxes, but instead, Sam just wants to show Big Bird that he can read.

segments:
Grover talks about the word WALK
The Rhyming Game (with Ernie and Bert)
a cartoon poem about animals taking parts of a man's clothing
Kermit instructs Cookie Monster to read a poem about anything besides cookies
Fat Cat (with Bip Bipodotta and the anything muppets)
the word family song: OP (with the anything muppets)
Gimmie Mud (with the worms)
Cookie Monster eats the letters that spell the word FOOD
That's What Reading's All About (with Same Sound Brown and Farley)
a night bright spells words that end with "en"
Two-Headed Monster: Run

nitpicks:
* I have only seen the original release of this from Random House, but I have seen the song listings on the back cover of the Sony Wonder release, and there is a song listed called Sound it Out. I am assuming that this is the song that I listed as That's What Readings All About, as that song is not listed. Hopefully I am right and that song wasn't replaced.
*on the original cover (this image is on the back cover of the re-release) Oscar actually wore his trash can lid on his head, something uncommon for live action promotional photos.
*Three of the skits in this video (both Cookie Monster skits and the one with grover talking about the word walk) have a red background.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Play-Along Games & Songs review- copyright 1986.

Premise- Big Bird, Elmo, Forgetful Jones and 2 kids are playing games. Forgetful forgets throughout video and Elmo has to give him clues during the games. Big Bird leans over his door to invite kids in to play games at the start of the video. Oscar is briefly seen in his trash can, but when Big Bird says "Hi Oscar", he drops back into his can and Big Bird invites the kids in. Also, this is one of those videos where Big Bird specifically addresses the viewer and invites him to play too.
-First game- Animated penguin beats out rhythm and everyone tries to repeat the pattern.
-Classic skit- Herry Monster plays game with Eric. Eric closes eyes and guesses that Herry has handed him a ball and after that, a feather. (Herry has purple nose in this clip). (Here's a funny thing to mention about this clip- at first Eric starts to call Herry "Telly", but stops himself and then calls him Herry. )
Big Bird, Forgetful Jones, Elmo and kids then play a game of rhyming words.
Classic skit- Guy Smiley hosts "Beat the Clock" with Cookie Monster. Cookie has to get 3 things that rhyme with "rain" before time runs out. Brings cane, chain (which Frazzle is tied up to as Guy finds out when he drags him onto the stage and then quickly shoves him off) and last of all, a train. Cookie does it in time and wins a cookie.
-Next, Big Bird makes shapes in the air and everyone tries to guess them.
Classic skit- An early Cookie Monster sings "One of These Things is Not Like the Other" (with four plates of cookies. One has 3 cookes while all the others have 2. I'm surprised Cookie Monster didn't offer to make all the plates the same by polishing off the cookies at the end! )
-Classic song- Humans off on steps behind Hooper's Store. Gordon leads singing of "I Heard My Dog Bark".
Bob and kid do dog barking sounds. Susan and kid do cat meowing. Uncle Wally and kid do horse neighing. Black girl does lion roar. (same one from "Jelly Man Kelly" song)
Tatyana M. Ali makes an early appearance on Sesame Street and does the bee buzzing. (She made at least 1 other appearance on Sesame Street- in a sound studio with some other kids and Stevie Wonder, if I remember correctly) At the end of the song, everyone does the dog barking sounds.
-Classic Skit- Lefty the Salesman sells Ernie a picture of 4 hidden elephants. Ernie at first only sees a picture of a tree and winds up agreeing to buy it for a nickel if Lefty can show him the 4 elephants. Ernie buys it for a nickel when Lefty shows him the elephants. Ernie then tries to pull the same trick on Bert, but instead of seeing a tree, Bert sees it as 4 elephants and messes up Ernie's trick, leaving Ernie feeling miserable. This must be one of the few times that Bert actually (albeit unintentionally) pulled the joke on Ernie.
-Classic animation- Red and yellow different-sized squares and triangles line up in 2 corresponding formations.
-Classic song- Grover sings "Around, Over, Under and Through" (original version).
Big Bird then plays the "Remember the Game" game. Elmo offers Forgetful Jones some help, but Forgetful turns him down. Big Bird asks him questions about the games they played throughout the video and Forgetful is supposed to try to remember all that he can within 60 seconds. Forgetful answers "I forget" to all of them. Forgetful thinks he won at the end because he forgot everything. Big Bird and Elmo tell him he was supposed to remember everything and of course, Forgetful Jones replies with, "Oh yeah! I forgot!"
Big Bird ends the video by telling Forgetful Jones that he and all the viewers can play again with them the next time they want to.


Okay, there's the breakdown. This video was totally worth it to me to actually see Forgetful Jones again!!! And there are tons of great classic skits and songs on this one, just about all of which I remember seeing as a child!
So, like all of them really, this video is highly recommended!

 

[minor muppetz]

Okay, there's the breakdown. This video was totally worth it to me to actually see Forgetful Jones again!!! And there are tons of great classic skits and songs on this one, just about all of which I remember seeing as a child!
So, like all of them really, this video is highly recommended!

This video is also worth it if you want to see Guy Smiley and especially Lefty. I wonder if the skit with Cookie Monster was from the first season. After all, during that season his personality wasn't fully developed and he didn't eat the cookies in this skit. I guess it might have been made in the second season (if not from the first season).

i wonder if the skit wiht herry was made in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I never noticed the part where the kid almost called him telly. if he almost made the mistake because he knew about the character, then it was most likely during the early 1980s, since I've read that Telly wasn't a very major character during his first year (1979).

 

[GonzoLeaper]

If I'm not mistaken, another cool thing about the "Learning to Read" video is that this dude showed up in it.

http://www.sesame-encyclopedia.com/Alphabet/SesameF/FerlinghettiDonizetti.html

 

[minor muppetz]

Oh, yeah, I forgot about ferlingetti Donizetti's cameo where he keeps rhyming things. I think it was either the second or third linking segment.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Here's a slightly different one. This review of is Sesame Street Home Video Visits the Firehouse. copyright 1990.

Okay, first off- I'll go ahead and tell you. There are no classic skits or songs on this. But there are some other good things that make it worth reviewing.

It's a 30 minute long, live action video that fulfills its purpose of teaching kids about firefighters and what they do and what kids should do in case of a fire.

Oh, and by the way, Big Bird does still say the title of the video at the start.
We open on Sesame Street, where Big Bird, Elmo and a kid are playing with fire engines when they see smoke coming from Oscar's trash can. They call Gordon for help, and he pokes his head out his apartment window and when he sees the smoke he comes to help. Big Bird, Elmo and the kid literally call for the fire department and they quickly arrive on the scene. They think it's just a trash can, but then hear Oscar coughing. They ask Gordon if anyone lives in the trash can and he tells them the inhabitants of Oscar's trash can- Oscar the Grouch, 2 elephants, a puppy, a rhino, a goat and a worm. (That would be Slimey. I assume at least one of the elephants would be Fluffy. I can't remember if Oscar ever referred to any other elephant by name.)
Oscar comes out and tells the Fire Department that it's just a grouch barbecue. They give him a smoke detector, which Oscar is delighted with because it makes a loud noise. Then they offer to take Big Bird, Gordon, Elmo and kid to the fire house. They give them a tour of the fire house, show them the equipment and teach them how it all works and what they do at their jobs.
- Gordon calls Elmo down at least 3 different times throughout the video and tells him to quit messing with the fire fighters' stuff. A dog muppet also shows up- the fire department's pet.
When explaining what they do while waiting for phone to ring, the fire chief and Sesame Street gang sing 1 original song, which I'm calling "Waiting for the Bell to Ring". Bell rings at end of song and the Sesame Street gang go with the Fire Department to a real fire. Fire chief finds out from woman that there's still a monster in the apartment building. (Monster is a slightly redone orange Muppet used before on other Sesame Street productions. I believe he was seen in the Sesame Street 25th. Birthday Celebration- in the "Do Op Hop" song.)
Fire Department puts out fire. Most of the apartment is okay, but monster's attic (where was staying) is messed up and has to be fixed. Big Bird offers for him to stay in his nest and Elmo offers his sleeping bag and Gordon offers him his apartment. But then the monster's neighbor takes him in and they say farewell. Gordon goes over some fire tips and then they all come back to Sesame Street. Big Bird goes to Snuffy's cave to tell him about the fire house and Elmo goes to tell his dad, and walks the kid home too. Gordon then hears Oscar's smoke alarm go off and finds out that Oscar is having a fire drill. Oscar told all his pets to meet in a safe place and that safe place happens to be Gordon's living room!
Gordon tells Oscar they're supposed to meet outdoors as we see an elephant trunk, goat and dog wrecking Gordon's place and knock over the flowerbed from the window. (Hope there weren't any migrating Twiddlebugs in there! )
-Then we have the end credits with scenes from the video and original music from the video.

The video certainly got its point and message across, and as always with Sesame Street, did it in a fun and entertaining way. There's also another video in this series- Sesame Street visits the Hospital.