SS question.

[mikebennidict]

does anyone don't why in all the years it's been in existance it has been the only PBS kids show that has been and hour long?

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

please rephase the question

 

[mikebennidict]

sorry. i meant to say does anyone know why not anyone don't. darnwish I caught that earlier.

 

[Rosewood]

possible answer

does anyone don't why in all the years it's been in existance it has been the only PBS kids show that has been and hour long?

Here's my answer in a nut shell: Back in the days when it first came out, they used to focus not on just one, but two (sometimes more) letters and numbers in each episode. They also used to focus more on showing kids how to say and use them by showing clips and skits that were based on these things. Find an early episode and watch it and you will find it jam-packed full of educational stuff that simply couldn't be packed into a time frame of less than 60 minutes. It was a bold experiment, put together by Jim Henson and the public broadcasting stations back in 1968, that turned out to be an unbelievable success! Kids (like me) would sit, mezmerized, in front of the T.V. for a full hour of good, clean, educational entertainment every day. The people today of SW try to rationalize and back up their actions of "dumbing down" the show by claiming that the kids watching it today are of a younger, more vulnerable age group, usually around 3-4 yrs. old, who, by "proven research", are much more suceptable to being overwhelmed by to much data being pushed on them at one sitting, and whose attention span is "proven" to last not much longer than 30 minutes (which is why "Elmo's World") was inserted.
What they DON'T want you to know is this: most of the kids of that first generation were around the age of 3 when we started watching it, and we did just fine! In fact, the things that SS was teaching were carried right up to the level of first grade in the education system! I remember well the hour of class time when the teacher would bring in the T.V., give us all a carton of milk to drink, and turn on Sesame Street for us to watch while he/she used the hour to correct tests and assignments and such. SO: unless the entire population of 3 yr. olds today has somehow become infected with a horrible
case of A.D.D., their entire reasoning behind all that they have pulled off so far is null and void, IMO.

 

[Ziffel]

That sounds like a pretty plausible explanation to me, Rosewood.
As much as I liked The Electric Company, I liked Sesame Street even better. And the one hour vs. half hour was yet one more aspect I liked about SS. I was always sad how fast TEC would be over, whereas it would be so nice after having enjoyed about 25 minutes of an SS episode knowing that it still had more thna half way left to go.

 

[mikebennidict]

thanks for the reply. I do want to make 1 correction it was Joan Ganz Cooney who founded the CTW as it was known in 1968 and reading various stuff it was her that thought up of the whole idea. there were some experiental shows made in either 1968 or 69 before it's nationed debut in Nov. of 69. as for all those who say the audience has gotten younger and so on, I myself rememebr watching SS at age 2 and while I can only speak for myself 1 thing I don't buy into is yesterday's audience was around 4-6 and today's audience is around 2-4. sure i'm close if not exact. maybe originally they didn't think of kids that young watching SS and when they finally found out there were then they decided to make the changes they did. all of this is wild guessing. but of your children watch Between The Lions and if you watched The Electric Company BTL's audience is younger than those of TEC's. I say it's probably good if it works but if they're any flaws in this then you have a problem.

 

[Rosewood]

I stand corrected

I do want to make 1 correction it was Joan Ganz Cooney who founded the CTW as it was known in 1968 and reading various stuff it was her that thought up of the whole idea.]

Your right, and I gladly stand corrected. I wasn't quite sure about the specifics on that. I just remembered that someone had presented the idea to Jim Henson and, with his muppets and her ideas, they came up with SS.("I've got - more something than you've got; you've got - more something than I've got! Let's both get together and share!)