Your Thoughts: Sesame Street Season 38

[Drtooth]

Pretty good episode, great to see it comprised mostly of new things, unlike most episodes this season. Loved seeing Gladys again. Nice to see Jennifer is still working on the show (that's her name, right?)

Film: Kids pretend to be different animals, there's a classic Sesame song playing in the background can't identify it though.

I swear that it's the "take a closer look" song Raposo wrote that they used in the recent podcast, also with the lyrics cut out.

Anyway, I think that Pear was the best Dinner theater segment I've ever seen. They seem to have actually captured the play's spirit, and not just throwing a random song from the musical in it. Annie get your Gumbo was pretty well done too, but Pear was like something out of classic sesame.

And following it's streak, Celebrity word of the day featured a celebrity uncomfortably acting childish. I liked the John Stewart one... but this one was a clunker like most of them were.

 

[ISNorden]

Three observations about #4144

Please forgive my lagging 10+ episodes behind, but I've been playing catch-up all over the Net after switching to a new service provider...

1. Letter of the Day Game Show: I wonder how many kids noticed the JAR that Cookie's jellybeans came in...and thought "Man, he's dumb to throw away the jar instead of using it as one of the three J things!"
2. Dancing with Triangles: In my opinion this improved on the "American I" parody; the fact that two contestants didn't even choose shapes to dance with added to the humor.
3. Elmo's World: Feet? Come on...the way EW usually ties into the street story nowadays, they should've used "Friends" (because of the friendship being strained) or "Building Things" (because Telly builds a triangle) from Season 37.

 

[DTWolf]

Posting a day late

Episode 4157: Pretend

Let me add to the praise for yesterday's Sesame Street Dinner Theatre:
"Pear" was the most successful SSDT they've done so far. Usually the SSDTs seem to be holding back or play as if the writers weren't really interested in what they were doing. This one cut loose a lot more. Much fun was had by all. Did they let out ALL the stops? Maybe not, but they let out a whole bunch of them.

And to add to what Drtooth has said about the celebrity word-of-the-day segments, it's my sense that the celebrities are stuck in the mindset of "this is a kids' show, so I need to talk down to the kids." If they'd just play it straight and speak/act like they would on any other show, these clips would be SO much better. Brian Williams (on the first episode of the season) and Jon Stewart got close to that, but mostly the celebs have spoiled the clips by kiddifying them.

 

[ISNorden]

Recent Dinner Theater segments

"Annie Get Your Gumbo": Although I wish they'd stuck to the original show's Wild West setting, I was glad to see a segment that discusses family dinners without getting preachy about it...and without using half of the song as a nutrition lesson. My rating: 7 out of 10.

"Pear": The producers did a great job keeping the original show's "look and feel", and the characters acted more naturally than the ones in other Dinner Theaters. (Even the talking hippie pear at the end would have made Jim Henson proud; I can easily imagine this segment in a show from one of the early seasons.) If it weren't for the list of nutrients in the lyrics, "Pear" would get a 10 from me; as it stands, I rate it a 9. (Come on, how many kids are telling their parents "I need more vitamin C" at that age?)

"South Potato": Most Americans don't think of the Southern states as potato-growing country, even though I appreciate the pun on the old "South Pacific" title. The writers should have gone with whichever musical includes "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", since that song already mentions potatoes at the very beginning... Listing a lot of dishes with potatoes makes sense, because they're already a familiar vegetable to most kids; but a typical three- or four-year-old can't understand a chemical analysis of his food. He'd be better off hearing how all that stuff makes him healthy: building bones, helping him see better, keeping him from getting sick. Overall, "South Potato" rates a 5 out of 10: great in some respects, terrible in others.

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah, some of them were pretty weak. They either tend to be musical excuses to shove nutrition facts and the whole thing about family dinners into song parodies. Personally, I loved the Hamlet parody, and I wish they could do more play and less musical versions of this. I'd love them to try Death of a Salesman....

it's my sense that the celebrities are stuck in the mindset of "this is a kids' show, so I need to talk down to the kids." If they'd just play it straight and speak/act like they would on any other show, these clips would be SO much better. Brian Williams (on the first episode of the season) and Jon Stewart got close to that, but mostly the celebs have spoiled the clips by kiddifying them.

Not so much that, but most of them didn't seem to be enjoying themselves, or just committed to overacting. Al Roker (who's a friend to children's public programming, and has been on everything), Jon Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres, Brian Willaims, and Richard Belzer were the only really enjoyable ones. The Charlie Gibson one seemed very awkward especially.

 

[The Count]

My faves in this category so far have been the ones with Jon Stewart and Conan O'Brian, mostly cause I was able to recognize who they were.

 

[The Count]

OK... Let the discussion on today's street story begin.

Rundown.
Episode 4158: Emo gets jealous of Baby Marco.
Cold Opening: Word on the Street: Murray Monster asks about "sigh".
Street Story.
Animation: Traction Jackson: TJ's Grandpa explains jealousy as Traction Jackson's upset Bernie left to play with another dog.
Celebrity: Word on the Street Explanation: "Sigh".
Animation: Suzy Kabloozy and Feff the Cat, "Somebody Come And Play".
Letter of the Day: C, Cookie is reminded C is for cookie to Prairie's constant consternation.
Animation: Song: "C in Outer Space".
Animation: Let's Talk About the Letter C.
Muppets: Global Grover: Africa, Going to School in Africa.
Animation: Song: "The African Animal Alphabet".
Muppets: Song: "Show Your Feelings" with Ernie and Baby Natasha.
Film: Kids hand-clapping about being so happy.
The Count's Counting Organ: 16, with pageant winner 16.
Film: Counting to 16 in 2 by 2 fashion with the Austin Powersish voiceover.
Animation: 16, Numbers growing out of the ground.
Muppets: "Song: "Big Bear Hug" with the Bear Family.
Animation: Crab falls in love with an empty shell.
Film/Song: "Feeling happy and Proud".
Elmo's World: Birthday.
Ending Insert: Abby Cadaby presents the sponsors.

 

[MuppetDude]

I was hoping "Big Bear Hug" would pop up again! I haven't seen that one for years.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

What I liked about the street story was that for once, there was continuity. I remember the episode from a few years ago where Baby Bear was jealous of Curly Bear. They even had flashbacks from previous episodes. That's something I wish they would do more often. Another thought I had is that since Gina doesn't have a husband, who takes care of Baby Marco when she's at work or wherever. Lol. Maybe that's why Bob and Susan haven't been seen lately. Maybe they're busy babysitting. Not too much new material in today's show. But does anyone know how old is that scene with Ernie and Natasha where they sang about feelings? It looked like Henson's Ernie there.

 

[The Count]

Well... It may have looked like Jim's Ernie, but it was Steve's in voice.
Hope this helps.