Like most Americans under 40, I grew up on a steady diet of Sesame Street, and like most of its "first generation," I'm somewhat disappointed at what the show's become since. But I'm not as skeptical of the "new Street" as many of you are.
True, both Kermit and the "special friend" whose hand was up his backside are gone, and we'll all miss Mr. Hooper and David. And many of our old childhood friends like Roosevelt Franklin, Don Music, and Forgetful Jones will never appear again on a new episode. But as long as we remember them (and the Workshop remembers us in their website and DVD releases!), they'll never truly go away.
Sesame Street, for its first 20 years or so, was nothing less than great television and deserves to be remembered as such. Even today, though, it's still head and shoulders above Teletubbies and that moron Barney. You must remember, the show has always been made, and will always be made, for pre-schoolers, not 20-, 30-, or 40-somethings nostalgic for their own pre-school years.
As for the characters and sketches, the old classics will be missed, and not all of the new stuff is worthy, but I don't want to get rid of every new character. I agree that Elmo is overused, but I don't hate him with a passion and do not wish to see him removed, just used less. "Elmo's World" ought to be a spin off series. If Sesame Workshop ever did that, I think the resulting show would be excellent, without that 20-minute dreck.
Indeed, I thought Season 38 (2007) was an improvement over the last couple years. In particular, Abby Cadabby (IMHO) is the greatest new character to be added to the show since the mid-Eighties. I especially liked how, even if for an episode or two, they had two letters sponsoring an episode and the horrible "Elmo's World" banished! That, plus the new opening sequence, is the most "old School" thing the Workshop's done for its signature creation in many years.
Rumors for Season 39, to premiere in August: Vince Carter, Neil Patrick Harris, and Sandra Oh will guest star, and Jim Henson's Creature Shop will get involved in some way. The last is great news for us old-timers.
In short, the early Sesame Street was the greatest kids' show ever, and still is one of the best, if not THE best, kids' show on TV today. It deserves to last as long as TV itself. And, as for the memories of the older, "classic" episodes and sketches, as my father once told me of old Peanuts strips in our papers' comics, "I wish they'll never end!"
True, both Kermit and the "special friend" whose hand was up his backside are gone, and we'll all miss Mr. Hooper and David. And many of our old childhood friends like Roosevelt Franklin, Don Music, and Forgetful Jones will never appear again on a new episode. But as long as we remember them (and the Workshop remembers us in their website and DVD releases!), they'll never truly go away.
Sesame Street, for its first 20 years or so, was nothing less than great television and deserves to be remembered as such. Even today, though, it's still head and shoulders above Teletubbies and that moron Barney. You must remember, the show has always been made, and will always be made, for pre-schoolers, not 20-, 30-, or 40-somethings nostalgic for their own pre-school years.
As for the characters and sketches, the old classics will be missed, and not all of the new stuff is worthy, but I don't want to get rid of every new character. I agree that Elmo is overused, but I don't hate him with a passion and do not wish to see him removed, just used less. "Elmo's World" ought to be a spin off series. If Sesame Workshop ever did that, I think the resulting show would be excellent, without that 20-minute dreck.
Indeed, I thought Season 38 (2007) was an improvement over the last couple years. In particular, Abby Cadabby (IMHO) is the greatest new character to be added to the show since the mid-Eighties. I especially liked how, even if for an episode or two, they had two letters sponsoring an episode and the horrible "Elmo's World" banished! That, plus the new opening sequence, is the most "old School" thing the Workshop's done for its signature creation in many years.
Rumors for Season 39, to premiere in August: Vince Carter, Neil Patrick Harris, and Sandra Oh will guest star, and Jim Henson's Creature Shop will get involved in some way. The last is great news for us old-timers.
In short, the early Sesame Street was the greatest kids' show ever, and still is one of the best, if not THE best, kids' show on TV today. It deserves to last as long as TV itself. And, as for the memories of the older, "classic" episodes and sketches, as my father once told me of old Peanuts strips in our papers' comics, "I wish they'll never end!"