What would it take....

[Redsonga]

Agreed. Bird has always been--sans earlier years when he was the only young Muppet on the show--the voice of wisdom and could impart knowledge to Abby in a way that Elmo could not (no offense to Elmo, but his teaching methods need some work).

Elmo is good for certain things, but BB could teach her to do a bit more than write her name....Now that I think of it, if he was given the unofficial job of teaching others to read that would be great !

 

[wwfpooh]

Yeah. He could even help teach Elmo a thing or two. XD

 

[ISNorden]

I'm glad to see more of the Season 1 veterans back on Sesame Street (especially Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie). Giving Big Bird a specialty, though, doesn't fit the way he's been used all these years: even after the format change, he's remained a Renaissance bird who'll teach about any kid-friendly subject he's interested in. There is more to reading than identifying letters (the sponsor segments) or sounding out parts (the Two-Headed Monster clips)--but making an established character the main reading teacher seems as one-dimensional as relegating Cookie Monster to the "letter of the day" teacher.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

--but making an established character the main reading teacher seems as one-dimensional as relegating Cookie Monster the "letter of the day" teacher.

I was thinking the same exact thing.

 

[wwfpooh]

I always though the Crocodile was a girl..or nearly..

Nope. It's a guy. The fact that it spoke in a masculine voice (although it didn't dress like a dude) gave it away, as did the fact that the gator was named KING Gator.

The point is, we could deal with characters not being happy go lucky all the time and even death and he double hockey sticks when we were little. It may have scared us at first, but we still watched it, even if it, like Watership Down did for me, never stopped scaring us...

Heck, some of us even played MK at the young of age of ten (Guilty).

So why can't today's children be raised on showing even much more mild versions of not niceness on SS (and other shows, but that is another rant) in bigger amounts? And maybe at the same time raise most of the show back to 5-6 year old level in terms of teaching?

Because expectations and standards have changed, due to political correctness and FCC rulings.

 

[mbmfrog]

Agreed. Bird has always been--sans earlier years when he was the only young Muppet on the show--the voice of wisdom and could impart knowledge to Abby in a way that Elmo could not (no offense to Elmo, but his teaching methods need some work).

I agree the Bird has been through a lot for the past 39 years of public television.

 

[wwfpooh]

Which is why he's best--IMO--to teach the new generations.

 

[Redsonga]

Nope. It's a guy. The fact that it spoke in a masculine voice (although it didn't dress like a dude) gave it away, as did the fact that the gator was named KING Gator

I thought that he sounded like a sort of heavy set southern grandma singer...aw well...

but making an established character the main reading teacher seems as one-dimensional as relegating Cookie Monster to the "letter of the day" teacher.

Still, if you think about how they have been treating the characters lately, he might as well be, you hardly see him anywhere else :\. The same with BB and his books/nest/ etc ;.;

 

[wwfpooh]

Still, if you think about how they have been treating the characters lately, he might as well be, you hardly see him anywhere else :\.

Indeed. But at least, CTW/SW is trying to fix this problem.

 

[ISNorden]

Still, if you think about how they have been treating the characters lately, he might as well be, you hardly see him anywhere else :\. The same with BB and his books/nest/ etc ;.;

Sad, but true: Almost all Sesame Street Muppets (even the ones in starring roles) are being reduced to a gimmick or a favorite thing. When was the last time you saw Telly without a triangle in the script, Baby Bear without porridge, or Rosita without a "Latina stereotype" shtick? All three used to appear without gimmicks at least some of the time--they got three-dimensional treatment, personalities and histories that didn't always center on one part of their lives. The loss of that realism is harming Sesame Street's quality more than any other trend nowadays.