Sesame Street Week - Day 5

I'd like to say that I was caught up in many of the kid fads of the late 1990's. I was there for Rugrats, Pokemon, Kenan and Kel, VeggieTales, the works. But with all of their successes came decline in popularity. Rugrats began to lose steam after the movie came out, we finally realized how ridiculous Pokemon was, Kenan and Kel grew up and began to embark on post-show careers, VeggieTales' production company went bankrupt. Why do I mention all these declines that made these shows go in 5 years or less? Because Sesame Street has managed to go strong for 40 years with no problems. The show has made to face competition from other children's TV and gimmicks have had to help the show, but it still manages to come out on top.

Even when I watched Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and the Odyssey Network (yeah? Remember Odyssey?) more and more frequently, Sesame Street was still my favorite show. I always made a point of watching it before school and, when I couldn't watch it in the morning, made sure to watch it afterschool. Big Bird and the gang helped me get through the boredom of August after a July of day camp during the summer in my elementary years. Christmas just wasn't complete without at least one viewing each of Christmas Eve on Sesame Street and Elmo Saves Christmas. Of all the audio cassettes I had as a kid, the Sesame Street albums were the ones I listened to the most (then again, all my others were book-on-tape or soundtrack for The Lion King). The half-hour Sesame Street videos I had a kid got just as many plays in the family VCR as Aladdin and The Lion King did. I was just as excited for The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland to come out as I was Pokemon: The First Movie or Toy Story 2.

There's something about the show, especially that nostalgia I have for it, that I adore. Maybe it's that more welcoming feel the street has over the school Barney hangs out in or the city Arthur lives in. On Sesame Street, fantasy and reality seem to hit a fine line. The characters' colors were vibrant and more appealing than one purple dinosaur and Arthur's humor was less slapstick and more subtle, sort of a Simpsons for the kiddie set. It's lasted as long as it has for a reason: Kids and adults both love it. It's a show for adults without being too adult, it's a show for kids without being to kiddie. It doesn't make parents want to leave the room pulling their hair out and I think that's part of the reason I never stopped watching it. Even 40 years later, the humor, the imagination, the music, the Muppets and the fun has never left the show even with the format change or a disappointed season premiere I ranted about yesterday, someday some 3-year old now is going to look back on this stuff with the same nostalgia I look at the Around the Corner with or what a now-middle schooler looks at Elmo's World with or what a 70's-80's child looks at the Old School era as. It's a different show for everybody, that's why it lasted. Happy 40th Sesame Street and thanks for the memories you've given me. Here's to 40 more.

Sesame Street Week - Day 4

In case you haven't noticed, Sesame Street is still making new episodes. I honestly have really lost track of the show over the past 7 years or so. In 4th grade I became a bit bitter about how they dumbed-down the show with it's format change from "magazine" format to more consisting "programming blocks" of sort format and really only turned back for the season premieres. Season 40 was one I had to see. I'm going to go through my views on each part of the show one-by-one.

Street Story: I'm going to be honest, I hate having the street story thrown into one ten-minute clump at the very beginning of the show. For a show called Sesame Street, it seems like they are trying to distance the show away from the street too much. Thankfully, the street story of Big Bird contemplating leaving Sesame Street was good. It was the closest thing we got to labeling the show as 40. The guest star (whose name escapes me at the moment) was pretty entertaining to watch and Big Bird getting his name wrong constantly was a nice homage to Mr. Hooper. I also loved that Big Bird's suitcase had Hawaii, Puerto Rico, China and Montana stickers. Plus, we got the return of Barkley.

Murray Monster as our host: I'll admit it, I love Murray. He's such a great character. Joey Mazzarino has made the character his own. Though I find it surprising that Mazzarino doesn't like putting the character on the Street (which gets me wondering, if Sesame Street ever does a third theatrical movie would Murray be in it if he doesn't really exist on the street?), he does make a nice real world host for the rest of the show.

Abby's Flying Fairy School: Abby's cute. That's all I have to say about her. This segment is long, dull and isn't all that entertaining. The CG is nice but this eats up way too much of the show.

Traction Jackson: I don't get why the guys at Sesame Workshop love this character so much. Back in my day, Tarah was Sesame Street's resident wheelchair-bound child and she was a great character for two reasons: (1) she existed on the Street and interacted regularly with most of the main characters and (2) was just Tarah Schaeffer playing herself. With a CG character, it kind of loses a bit of that positive role model factor and there is just not much to his personality. Sorry, Traction. He's just not my cup of tea.

Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures: I'm a sucker for claymation, so I thought this segment was pretty cute. I honestly don't remember too much from it but the animation is nice and Bert and Ernie translate well to the claymation look. I would prefer the puppets but with Steve and Eric off working on Classic Muppet stuff at Disney, this is a great substitute.

Michelle Obama's insert: She plants a garden with Elmo and some kids. Not too much to it.

Elmo's World: Frogs! Normally, I fast-forward through Elmo's World but this time something too nearly everybody completely by surprise. For the first time since 2001, Kermit the Frog appeared in new material on Sesame Street on a piece on where frogs live. Very exciting stuff, but beyond that... nothing new to report. Elmo is still in his world.

Sesame Street has now been a mixed bag of various shows. The spark is still there but it's not used to it's full potential. It's here in bits and pieces throughout this episode. Barkley's back, Kermit's back, Big Bird's previous trips are aknowledged. But too many main Muppets are missing (Oscar, The Count, the puppet Bert and Ernie) or downplayed to ensemble roles (Cookie Monster and Grover). I'm sure this gets better as the season goes on but the show has become pretty unbalanced between the good and the bad.

One more thing, let me just say I love the subtle homages to the show's past in the street scenes. They are all great.

Tomorrow: I end the week with my own personal opinions on Sesame Street's 40 years as a whole.

Sesame Street Week - Day 3

As shocking as it might be, one thing I really lack is a lot of DVD's of Sesame Street's classic achievements such as specials. It's not that I don't want to have these guys in my DVD collection, I have a lot of Classic Muppets and Fraggle Rock DVD's, but as Sony Wonder was releasing most of the classic Sesame Street material fans of the early era would want, my mom began to develop a huge problem with me liking Sesame Street past the age I should. She tried to prevent me from watching the show, buying any merchandise that had any connection to the show, taking Sesame Street tapes and stuffed animals out of my room, she was relentless. Thankfully, she lightened up near the end of my middle school years, just in time for Old School, Vol. 1 to come out. But on the minus side, I missed out on the 80's specials Sony released on DVD and many of the direct-to-videos I remember from my childhood. 40 Years of Sunny Days is a compilation that fills that void very well.

It's at it's simpliest form nearly four hours of clips from every season of the show. Disc 1 is 1969 to 1989, disc 2 is 1990 to 2009. Everything from inserts to songs and street scenes are all seen throughout this set. Jerry Nelson has recorded new audio as The Count, setting him up to be the host of sorts for the program, but he isn't used very much. The clips range from the expected ("Rubber Duckie," "I Love Trash," "Bein' Green," a Super Grover skit, Sesame Street News skit, etc.), the unexpected ("If I Knew You Were Coming I'd've Baked a Cake," "Mad," Telly's first appearence as the Television Monster, many other treasures) to the head-scratching (does "Can't Say the Alphabet Enough" REALLY represent the very best of Sesame Street?).

One personal pet peeve that I have with this set is that they only show specific street scenes when they have to. I would have loved to see all the street scenes from the episodes represented, but it is nice that they are here.

Also of note is the fantastic behind-the-scenes footage they show on this set. Ranging from all eras of the show, this footage will blow you away. It's always great to see these guys at work doing what they do best. And more importantly, it looks like they were having a great time doing it. It doesn't get any better then that. Interviews are also present but the candid behind-the-scenes footage takes the cake.

This is one of the very best Sesame Street DVD's as it has something that'll appeal to everyone. So I say go buy it, just like all the other 40th anniverary troves coming out.

Tomorrow: The books and DVD's may be fine and dandy, but how is the actual show holding up?

Sesame Street Week - Day 2

Wow. That's the inital feeling after skimming through just several pages of Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street. Around January, I would have said that Street Gang was THE book on Sesame Street. Sorry, Michael Davis, this book tops Street Gang in every possible way. More like Of Muppets and Men, this is the Sesame Street book we've been waiting for. Compared to 1998's Sesame Street Unpaved, which suffered a strong amount of factual errors and head-scratching material despite some very comprehensive reading, A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street is a better book.

One thing about it this that the book is HUGE. This is more than just a coffee table book, it's the size of a textbook with elements of a coffee table book. When I bought it at Barnes & Noble, walking around with it really tires you out. OK, it's not that bad, but it's still a really big book.

Once you really get into it, a lot of the information is repeated info with occasional insight into stuff we don't really know. But the mass amount of pictures we see in the book more than makes up for it. Lots of pictures ranging from 1969 to 2009, behind-the-scenes photos, merchandise, it's all here. I'd go into details but that would deter away from the main point I'm making: buy this book! There's something in here for everybody. There's even a bonus DVD with the first episode on it. If you own Old School, Vol. 1, it's sort of pointless, but makes a nice companion piece anyway. This book may be $40, but it's worth every penny. Go check it out.

Tomorrow: We didn't get Old School, Vol. 3, but a substitute like tomorrow's item repairs the damage.

Sesame Street Week - Day 1

Note: This review covers the original December 2008 hardcover edition of Street Gang, not the 2009 paperback or audio-CD version.

Released very late last year on those merriest of days December 26, Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street was the kick-off to the 40th anniversary marketing buzz. And what a way to begin. Street Gang is one of the best books I've ever read. While a bit on the long side, it reads like a work of fiction and provides a brutally honest look at Sesame Street's history.

Initially, I was fully immersed by Street Gang. The book offers an extensive look at what it's like to work on the show and how all these people came together. A lot of information is given that has never really been repeated elsewhere. A lot of people were interviewed and it all intertwines together perfectly. Being a child of the 1990s, I was happy to see how the development of the Around the Corner era of the show (1993-1998) came about and the creation of the character of Zoe. Also interesting is the info on Northern Calloway’s extensive illness. When you watch the footage of Calloway in the 1980’s, it’s amazing that you can barely tell Calloway was so ill. It’s pure tragedy his life ended up the way it did.

On the minus side, the book is not some much The Complete History of Sesame Street but more The Complete History of Children's Television. The first near-100 pages of the book are devoted to the likes of Kukla, Fran and Ollie and Captain Kangaroo. This section tends to drag and the book only picks up steam when the pilots of Sesame Street start filming, it goes off without a hitch into the eras of the show from the beginning to the new era as the show hits 40. Stories ranging from funny to depressing (much time is spend focusing on the deaths of Jim Henson, Richard Hunt, Jon Stone, Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss).

When you get right down to it, Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street is a great text companion to Jim Henson: The Works and Of Muppets and Men. More wordy than the two coffee table books, obviously, but it is still a book just as filled with loads of information as any Henson book is. Pick it up ASAP.

Tomorrow: An even better Sesame Street book!

Long time, no post.

Are you still here?! My apologies for having not posted on here in a long time. What with college apps, Seussical [and discovering that the actress who played Mayzie in this production really doesn't like Grover] and my own laziness on the side, this blog seems to have become abandoned. Not anymore. Here's a look at what's coming up...

Sesame Street week
Yes, Sesame Street hit 40 a few weeks ago with much fanfare. Everyday this week, I'll be posting something pertaining to this big anniversary. Here's what I have planned:
Monday: Street Gang book review
Tuesday: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street book review
Wednesday: 40 Years of Sunny Days DVD review
Thursday: Episode 4187 (season 40 premiere) review
Friday: What Does Sesame Street Mean to Me?

12 Days of Christmas Specials
Christmas is almost upon us. What better way for a 90's kid to ring in the holidays then to break out some classic holiday specials from his childhood? I've selected 12 specials and ranked them. Thus, everyday leading up to December 25 I'll make a post about a new Christmas special. More about that when we get more down the road.

Catch you on the flip side tomorrow with my review of Michael Davis' Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street.