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?