[Sesame Street] Um...

[John Crichton]

I think you would be more shocked by other changes to the show.

Do tell!

Getting worked up over something like this is what blogs were designed for I guess - Ive encountered 10 so far that rant about the change to cookie monster.

Curious. I wouldn't say I'm worked up over this. It's just interesting 'n all.

 

[reveal]

Do tell!

Curious. I wouldn't say I'm worked up over this. It's just interesting 'n all.

Here's an example of changes that were put in place 3 years ago:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/02/04/DD9808.DTL

And for me, the changes I noticed when I started watching it with my son were: Everyone could see Snuffy, a new character owned Hooper's store (I was the right age when he died and saw the Big Bird ep where he had to deal with Hooper's death; at the time, an old black man took it over), Elmo, Zoe and Lulu were new to me, hardly Bert and Ernie or Grover, no Kermit as the reporter, no Guy Smiley, no more "One of these things is not like the other," etc, etc.

 

[Desdichado]

That's my experience of watching the next generation; it's a bit more subtle because it's mostly things that you don't see anymore rather than things that are out and out new. With the exception of Elmo's World, naturally; that's a totally new segment that now takes up the last 10 or 15 minutes of each episode.

But like I said, my kids didn't actually show much interest in Sesame Street, and instead have mostly opted for other kids' shows like Dora and the like. I'm not sure why that is, but I can't help thinking that the removal of some of the classic sketches that I found most memorable as a kid myself had to have a part in it.

 

[MaxKaladin]

I seem to be unusual in that I didn't like Sesame Street when I was a kid. I always thought it was depressing because it was set on some urban street where everything was brick, concrete and steel and the whole thing seemed rather dingy. There was very little green in sight. I never really wanted to watch it. Of course, I grew up in a small town so my idea of what a street looked like was pretty different from some kid who grew up in New York.

 

[reveal]

But like I said, my kids didn't actually show much interest in Sesame Street, and instead have mostly opted for other kids' shows like Dora and the like. I'm not sure why that is, but I can't help thinking that the removal of some of the classic sketches that I found most memorable as a kid myself had to have a part in it.

Or it could be that there are so many choices now. When I was watching SS as a kid, there was it and Electric Company and maybe a handful of others. Anything else, like Schoolhouse Rock, was on Saturday morning.

 

[Desdichado]

Or it could be that there are so many choices now. When I was watching SS as a kid, there was it and Electric Company and maybe a handful of others. Anything else, like Schoolhouse Rock, was on Saturday morning.

That's a good point. Between that and all our Disney DVD's, my kids are drowning in options compared to me at their age.

 

[WizarDru]

That's a good point. Between that and all our Disney DVD's, my kids are drowning in options compared to me at their age.

You also have to consider that they've changed their focus over the years. They used to skew older, but changing education requirements and a different view of television in general means that 2-4 year olds are now their target audience. That's the motivator for changing the show's format to solid blocks of things (like the continuing story through an episode having been condensed to a segment, for instance). The Snuffy change came directly from the high-profile child-abuse cases of the late 70s and early 80s...the creators didn't want to think that kids hadn't told adults about abuse because they'd continually seen everyone disbelieving a very earnest Big Bird whenever he tried to tell them about Mr. Snuffleupagus.

As for why you don't see certain characters much any more...well, several of the old muppeteers have passed away, not the least of which is Jim Henson himself. Frank Oz remains, of course, but he works mostly in Hollywood now...however, he volunteers for virtually no pay to work for four days every season, to make sure that Bert, Grover and all the other characters he does are present in some form. Plus, you've got to remember that they just finished a new Muppet movie, the Muppet Wizard of Oz, and that Henson's studios are constantly working on stuff (even if it happens to be a series of Pizza commercials ).

 

[reveal]

Y...hey just finished a new Muppet movie, the Muppet Wizard of Oz...

I finally saw a commercial for that the other day. I'm really anxious to see it.