Oh no, not THOSE rumors again!

One of my friends at the nursing home noticed that I had Sesame Street on TV again, so our conversation eventually brought up the way Bert and Ernie are being phased out of the show. When my friend asked, "Didn't they make Bert and Ernie gay?" she couldn't believe that the official answer (straight from Sesame Workshop staff) was "no". This 1993 press release should have settled the debate once and for all, in my opinion:

Bert and Ernie, who've been on Sesame Street for 25 years, do not portray a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the future. They are puppets, not humans. Like all the Muppets created for Sesame Street, they were designed to help educate preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to children that despite their differences, they can be good friends.

When I denied the "gay couple" rumor, my friend asked: "Well, what about that Muppet with HIV?" She was worried about her daughter growing up too fast, and said there were some things kids that age shouldn't see on TV. I explained that Kami was meant only for the South African production of Sesame Street, where some younger children were born with HIV--and that there were no plans to include that character in the American version. (If some new Muppet character were created to represent a major problem that affected mostly American preschoolers, you wouldn't expect to see that Muppet in a foreign production...especially not if people in the other country associated that same problem with homosexuality and drug addiction!)

Good clean fun?

In honor of Mother's Day (in the US at least), I thought I'd post this classic clip. Many thanks to Mike Statz, an old friend on YouTube, for allowing me to use it: Sesame Street would never show a film like this today, because too many parents equate "nudity on TV" with "not suitable for kids". Never mind that the producers meant to teach preschoolers how mothers take care of babies--a perfectly reasonable lesson for someone who might wonder what Mommy's doing to their younger brother or sister. Never mind that the baby here is getting a bath from its mother, and that the camera never reveals anything too explicit. Parents and other "experts" today no longer trust a kindergarten-age child to figure out whether a TV film is supposed to be innocent and wholesome; at least the old CTW researchers had enough faith in their viewers!

Where have all the flowers gone?

If the rumors I've heard about next season's theme are true, these classic clips would be perfect for teaching about the environment and natural beauty. First, a short film from 1969; younger fans probably remember it as part of Mr. Hooper's death episode, but it's been on Sesame Street much longer than that...

Second, a cartoon from the 70s; I can't trace it back to one particular episode, but the animator must've agreed with the eco-tourist idea that people should "take nothing but pictures" in a naturally beautiful place.

Alphabetically speaking, she's OK!

I stumbled across this re-creation of a classic Sesame Street clip on YouTube tonight. According to the user who posted it: "Ever since my daughter saw the original, she wouldn't sing the alphabet without inserting random Cookie Monsters. We happen to have a Kermit puppet, so here you go... "