When I was younger at the peak of my elementary school years, I had an intense interest in the international co-productions of
Sesame Street. I tried to get my hands on as much international
Sesame Street as I could. I still remember the odd look that Toys R Us employee gave my dad when we bought two
Plaza Sesamo tapes. But still, out of that stage of discovering the world impact of the
Street, I discovered one of the more underrated
Sesame Street productions:
Shalom Sesame. My exposure to
Shalom Sesame is unfortunately minimal, I've only seen about 4 episodes (I'd buy the
box set in a heartbeat if it weren't so goddamn expensive. Seriously, even used copies of the individual discs are impossible to find for less than $10!) but what I've seen is some really great stuff. It really makes me want to visit Israel and learn Hebrew. Besides, it has Moishe Oofnik: easily one of the best international Muppets... and probably
the only Muppet to ever get drunk on camera.
But we cannot deny that
Shalom Sesame in 2009 is a bit dated. The
Rechov Sumsum it was adapted from has now been off Israeli airwaves for years and several other factors age it. When
Rechov Sumsum was revived in 2006 with a new cast of Muppets (Moishe Oofnik being the only one to return between the two), I have long hoped that
Shalom Sesame would come back with this new crew.
Now in 2009, wouldn't you know it?
New Shalom Sesame installments are on the way! This is very exciting stuff. It's great to see the Israeli
Rechov Sumsum crew willing to do this. It makes me even happier that there will be an American Muppet on the new set of
Shalom Sesame full-time, namely Grover, who is my second favorite
Sesame Muppet after Oscar (who also spent a little bit of time on
Shalom Sesame! Small world.) I'll certainly be on hand to watch these come Hanukkah 2010 and I'm not even Jewish. I will miss Kippi and the totally awkward 80's cheapness of the whole thing but, hey, new
Shalom Sesame in the 21st century. That's more than enough for me.
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