Why they don't show old Muppet sketches anymore

[Mark The Shark]

Well, you don't have to agree, but the child development experts and educators who work at Sesame Workshop feel it is best to stay current. As the parent of a SST viewer, I can tell you kids do notice. I'm not saying it causes stress, but it takes them out of the moment, interupts the educational process, and causes them to focus on the funny clothes or that strange guy in the store rather than learning to share, count, or say hello in Spanish.

Oh, for God's sake...

Doesn't anyone ever think that a situation like that might create an opportunity for some interesting discussion between parent and child? Imagine that! A parent who may remember a vintage skit from their own childhood might explain to their own kid how they grew up with the same characters, and how they looked, acted, why they dressed that way, how it fit into the popular culture of the time, etc. It could maybe even serve as a point of departure to discuss history and how it has evolved...noony, noony, noony, hey, by the way, we used to use typewriters before we had computers. It could be a starting point for some actual bonding and communication between a parent and their kid. Imagine that! I was very surprised and intrigued when as a seven year old kid, my father told me he enjoyed The Three Stooges as a child too, only they were in the theatres back then and not on television. (I'm *not* suggesting The Three Stooges are educational!) But that was fascinating to me at that age, and it kind of made me appreciate The Three Stooges even more, knowing my dad had enjoyed them. Same goes for the Muppets.

Right?

 

[Censored]

Well, you don't have to agree, but the child development experts and educators who work at Sesame Workshop feel it is best to stay current. As the parent of a SST viewer, I can tell you kids do notice. I'm not saying it causes stress, but it takes them out of the moment, interupts the educational process, and causes them to focus on the funny clothes or that strange guy in the store rather than learning to share, count, or say hello in Spanish.

For that matter, any entertainment mixed with education takes children "out of the moment" to a degree. They focus on a little red monster, instead of the educational lesson. However, the original philosophy of educational television was that getting children's attention was the way to help them learn.

As for a "strange guy" in the store, I grew up with Mr. Hooper, Tom, and David running the store on different episodes around the same era and it really wasn't a problem.

 

[Censored]

Oh, for God's sake...

Doesn't anyone ever think that a situation like that might create an opportunity for some interesting discussion between parent and child? Imagine that! A parent who may remember a vintage skit from their own childhood might explain to their own kid how they grew up with the same characters, and how they looked, acted, why they dressed that way, how it fit into the popular culture of the time, etc. It could maybe even serve as a point of departure to discuss history and how it has evolved...noony, noony, noony, hey, by the way, we used to use typewriters before we had computers. It could be a starting point for some actual bonding and communication between a parent and their kid. Imagine that!

Mark, you hit the nail on the head. That's been my position for a long time. Children don't live in a vacuum. They have households with people of previous generations who can share and explain things. No matter what children are watching, parents and grandparents should take notice and discuss it with them. Television should not be a babysitter nor should children's shows be designed as one.

Besides, you can't completely divorce the past from the present; it spills over from one generation to another. Sesame Street seems like one very good way to show that there was always common ground.

 

[zanimum]

If your best friend in kindergarten had different one shape of a face, colour of skin, and voice one day, and had a slightly rounder face with darker skin, and a higher pitched voice the next, you'd freak out, and question being best friends with them.

 

[mikebennidict]

Oh, for God's sake...

Doesn't anyone ever think that a situation like that might create an opportunity for some interesting discussion between parent and child? Imagine that! A parent who may remember a vintage skit from their own childhood might explain to their own kid how they grew up with the same characters, and how they looked, acted, why they dressed that way, how it fit into the popular culture of the time, etc. It could maybe even serve as a point of departure to discuss history and how it has evolved...noony, noony, noony, hey, by the way, we used to use typewriters before we had computers. It could be a starting point for some actual bonding and communication between a parent and their kid. Imagine that! I was very surprised and intrigued when as a seven year old kid, my father told me he enjoyed The Three Stooges as a child too, only they were in the theatres back then and not on television. (I'm *not* suggesting The Three Stooges are educational!) But that was fascinating to me at that age, and it kind of made me appreciate The Three Stooges even more, knowing my dad had enjoyed them. Same goes for the Muppets.

Right?

theese experts i think don't know what they're talking about. i'm not complaining about staying current in a way that's good. showing a wholw SS show from 1969 since the format is so different. even before noggin i thought how it would be nice to see the older shows and that's 1 of the reasons why i've always suggested showing them form time to time. but the fact that they re-make some skits such as the alphabet film where they were looking for letter all over N.Y.C. i don't buy into the idea young kids will either be confused or even see the difference between the 1969 film and this updated 90s. alphabet film. sorry.

 

[Censored]

If your best friend in kindergarten had different one shape of a face, colour of skin, and voice one day, and had a slightly rounder face with darker skin, and a higher pitched voice the next, you'd freak out, and question being best friends with them.

Not me, I judge people by their actions, not by their looks. Children should learn those values too. Besides, some people do have friends who are up and down with their weight, have bags under their eyes some days when they don't get enough sleep, cut their hair short, grow their hair long, grow mustaches and beards, shave them off, etc. Married people often don't recognize their spouse in the morning, but they still love them (hopefully).

All kidding aside, when I was a child in the 70's, they were showing older skits from the first season and newer skits from the current season. I was well aware of the differences in the muppets; far from upsetting me, I found it quite interesting. I used to ask my Mom and Dad if they liked the old Bert or the new Bert better, the old Ernie or the new Ernie, etc. As for me, I liked them all. A true friend loves you in any form.

 

[Censored]

theese experts i think don't know what they're talking about.

No, I think the "experts" need to get out more and see real problems instead of creating them.

 

[Mr.Penguin]

Hear,Hear!

 

[Mark The Shark]

Not me, I judge people by their actions, not by their looks. Children should learn those values too. Besides, some people do have friends who are up and down with their weight, have bags under their eyes some days when they don't get enough sleep, cut their hair short, grow their hair long, grow mustaches and beards, shave them off, etc. Married people often don't recognize their spouse in the morning, but they still love them (hopefully).

All kidding aside, when I was a child in the 70's, they were showing older skits from the first season and newer skits from the current season. I was well aware of the differences in the muppets; far from upsetting me, I found it quite interesting. I used to ask my Mom and Dad if they liked the old Bert or the new Bert better, the old Ernie or the new Ernie, etc. As for me, I liked them all. A true friend loves you in any form.

You know, it's weird, I watched SS practically from the beginning until around 1975 or so. So I must have seen Orange Oscar every day, and the earlier, goofier Big Bird, and Brown/Green/Gray/Black Grover and Ernie & Bert with their different colored shirts and slightly different hairstyles, etc. My sister had the Sesame Street "Book & Record" album which has a lot of pictures in it from Season 1. But I didn't even remember Oscar or Big Bird having looked different originally. Probably, because the evolution of these characters was a gradual one (or as gradual as it could be, given that Oscar changed colors between seasons). I do remember seeing Season 1 Ernie & Bert segments reused over and over for years, and they were *obviously* Season 1 segments because the clothing looked quite different, and I even noticed that as a small kid, but it really didn't make any difference. Later on, I thought they must have stopped showing those earlier segments, but later on, when I saw the Season 25 shows on Noggin, I saw some of them were still running even as late as 1993-1994, so that shows you what I know. Additionally, there definitely was at least one case of a Season 2 episode (which aired on Noggin) which featured Brown Grover in a reused Season 1 segment *after* "Blue Grover" had begun appearing. All the Muppet stuff (at least through the Unpaved era) is great, but I still have a particular affinity for the look of the very early Muppet characters in the earliest shows. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's a "coolness" about the characters that gets lost as they get more fully developed.

 

[Censored]

All the Muppet stuff (at least through the Unpaved era) is great, but I still have a particular affinity for the look of the very early Muppet characters in the earliest shows. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's a "coolness" about the characters that gets lost as they get more fully developed.

I think I know what you mean. It's like with many comic strip characters; they start out with unique looks that were fresh creations right from the artist's mind. Yet, for some reason, over time, their appearances develop a type of "cutesiness" that undermines their original essence. That's the best way I have of describing it.

I've also often wondered why the Sesame Street characters have had so MANY make-overs. It seems like at some point, they would have hit upon the style they like and stayed with it, but the appearance of many characters, such as Ernie and Bert, seem to never stop evolving. Still, it's all good.