Your Thoughts: The Street We Live On

[MuppetDude]

What I liked:
--They changed the 123 doors back to green. That red color was awful.
--The Mad Painter included in the opening montage.
--The cartoon typewriter. I'm glad they finally put him back on the show, even if it may be only one episode.
--"I Have a Chair". Not like the original, but still pretty good.
--THE BAKER'S BACK!!! After a 15-year absence, they finally broughy the clip back. I was really hyped when the numbers started to flash on the screen.
--The Old Woman who lived in a shoe in "Journey to Ernie": "USE YOUR INSIDE VOICES!!!" LOL!
--"That's how THIS peacock dances! Ha-cha-cha-chaaaa!"
--The fact that after so many years, both Cookie Monster and Herry have been given legs.
--"The Street We Live On" song. It got me teared up.
--The clip montage, especially when they put important moments (like Mr. Hooper's death and Snuffy's revealance to the cast) with completely random moments. ("AAAAAAAA-klahoma!")
--"Mah Na Mah Na!" "Pa tee, pa tee pee!"

What I didn't like:
--The new Rosita. She has no wings!
--Too much emphasis on "Elmo's World". They could've added more clips and reduce Elmo's appearances.

 

[GonzoPimp]

this thread has gotten out of hand. this was supposed to be about the aniversary special. lets bring it back to that and post the other unrelated stuff elsewhere. anyway, i wonder how what the SS cast would say if they saw this thread of so many of us criticizing the aniversary special?

wait...is it that you want us to stay on topic or that you want us to just all say, "Wow that Elmo is one heck of a guy!" Don't we have a right (and a responsibility on a discussion forum) to say how we feel? Even if its not positive?

anyway, i wonder how what the SS cast would say if they saw this thread of so many of us criticizing the aniversary special?

They aren't holy men you know-It isn’t blasphemous to say they did a bad job. Anyway, most of them probably agree-there are forces behind this that I'm sure the majority can't control.

 

[GonzoPimp]

Sesame Workshop continually does research testing to see what works and what does't work with the show.
...
SS made a conscience decision to now focus on this audience as they thought it would help them be more prepared for Preschool.
...

I think you are right, but...right now I work at a pre-school and we have over 100 kids. I've worked here just about a year and I have yet to hear one of them mention SS. Blues Clues and Power Rangers get talked about daily, but no SS. This disturbs me.

The other thing that disturbs me is how in the past parents could watch SS with their children and be entertained along with them( a la peanut butter sandwiches-that’s so funny!), and now that the show is so slow its more difficult for adults to watch.

Blues Clues, even though it aims at 3s just like SS, is an entertaining show.

Lets not forget the original mission statement of SS, and I'm paraphrasing here, but it was to narrow the pre-preschool knowledge gap between Inner city (poor underprivileged) children and their wealthy private school counterparts.
SS used to be edgy, intelligent, and cutting edge. It was fun and full of special effects that had never been used in children's television. Imagine Weta Workshop making effect for SS. Think about the things they could do, the places they could go and the monsters they could see? Instead we use (hold your breath now) blue screens.

oh ya--WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DEMAND QUALITY- SS RECEIVES FUNDING FROM THE GOVERNEMT-MY TAXES PAY THERE SALIERES (in the 80s MOST toped $200,000 a year-more to come on that later) -SO DO YOUR JOB AND DANCE MONEKY DANCE (*mad hatter crazy laugh)

 

[Philo and Gunge]

Did anyone besides me get annoyed with Oscar? He was WAY too rude in this! He said "Get lost!" 4 times and it got annoying but he only said "Scram" twice. All he seemed to say was "Who cares?", "Get lost!" and "Scram!". Are those the only things he's going to say this season?

 

[Censored]

Did anyone besides me get annoyed with Oscar? He was WAY too rude in this! He said "Get lost!" 4 times and it got annoying but he only said "Scram" twice. All he seemed to say was "Who cares?", "Get lost!" and "Scram!". Are those the only things he's going to say this season?

Actually, I'm grateful that Oscar's personality seems to be one of the few things that didn't undergo a major transformation. Although, he should have had more lines.

 

[muppet maniac]

I thought the special was really good.Lots of old clips were used.It was so cool that they had Jim Henson's Baker Falling Down the Stairs segment and the original version of Mah Nah Mah Nah.

 

[Jennifer12]

I think you are right, but...right now I work at a pre-school and we have over 100 kids. I've worked here just about a year and I have yet to hear one of them mention SS. Blues Clues and Power Rangers get talked about daily, but no SS. This disturbs me.

The other thing that disturbs me is how in the past parents could watch SS with their children and be entertained along with them( a la peanut butter sandwiches-that’s so funny!), and now that the show is so slow its more difficult for adults to watch.

I used to teach preschool and I too was disturbed that so few kids watched Sesame Street. I even had one parent tell me that they didn't watch Sesame Street. Her daughter was a "Disney girl." My head actually exploded when she said that. I kid you not. There were brains on the bulletin board and in the cubbies for weeks afterward...

I disagree with you that the problem is the quality of the show. I still think its fantastic. The world has changed and Sesame Street had to change along with the world or it would have perished long ago. It has managed to stay true to its basic intentions. That can't always be easy to do.

I think that if less children are watching, its because there are so many choices out there. When I was a kid we didn't have VCRs and our own library of movies. We had Saturday morning cartoons and on Sundays they showed several episodes of Sesame Street back to back.

I also think parents don't know the difference between educational and entertainment programming. If I had the money, I'd start my own media literacy program and bring it into schools...but that's another rant.

Jen

 

[mikebennidict]

parents don't know the difference between educational and entertainment TV. please! many parents grew up on SS and no parent is that dumb.

 

[Jennifer12]

Excuse me. Perhaps I should have qualified my statement and said that "some" or "many" parents don't know the difference between educational and entertainment television.

To say no parent is that dumb is over-reaching in some cases. Just because people have children that doesn't automatically increase their common sense quotient. Trust me. I've dealt with people who have pre-schoolers that are brighter then they are. And I've dealt with parents who are very active and encourage their kids to watch shows like SS and other PBS shows.

Jen

 

[Censored]

The "10 bells" was edited into that skit/song for the longest time, it's not new. In fact I had no knowledge of "10 Little Indians" until I saw it on Noggin. They must have realized how problematic it could be and made that change very early on.

It's curious that the "10 Little Indian" segment made the cut on Noggin. Noggin had edited a few other skits for content that could be considered controversial. The most notable was the deletion of the line "You sissy" from "Everyone Loves Ice Cream."