Homesick

Her is a great song From Big Bird In China.

Moon, Moon

Here is a Beauitful song from Big Bird In Japan.  Enjoy!!!!

We All Sing With The Same Voice

I have always loved this song.  It is a great message.  The kids are amazing.  Enjoy!!!!

Coconut Counting Man

Here is a Summery clip for you with The Count and Harry Belafonte.  Enjoy!!!!!

  

Who Am I?

This is one of my favorite Sesame Street inserts.  I love the background music and the words are great.  It is performed by Alana Reed Hall who used to play Olivia on the 80s Sesame Street.  RIP Alana.  Enjoy!!!!

Sharing: OK on Sesame Street, not OK online!

If you're wondering where all the album and song downloads have vanished to, BigBirdFan (who co-owns this blog with me) has asked me to delete those links permanently.  Some of the album postings earned him a copyright-violation warning, which would force us to shut down if the Feds took the next step.  If you want to get hold of Sesame Street music legitimately, I urge you to buy from an official site like iTunes or AmazonMP3.  We'll still post links to short video clips on YouTube, since most of them meet fair-use requirements....don't expect whole episodes or feature-length movies here, but at least you can get your nostalgia fix a few minutes at a time.

All About Sesame Street (PDF E-Book)

Here is the first book that talks about how Sesame Street was created. Thanks to HooperFan for making the book available on the web in HTML (Internet) format. The PDF file here I made myself from the HTML files. I thought this way it was all in one file and easier to read. Enjoy!!!!!



DOWNLOAD

Sesame Street Episode Request

Does anybody have the FULL episode from 1997 where another bird wanted to buy Big Bird's drawing of Mr. Hooper that hangs above Big Bird's Nest and Big Bird explains to the other bird why the drawing means so much to him? Thanks in advance!!!!

Do you feel Luckey, kids?

Ever since Sesame Street changed its format drastically over ten years ago, the producers have been more and more reluctant to include any classic clips in new episodes--rationalizing that children would see them as outdated. For some topics, I can understand that logic; take this clip as an example--





So many technological changes have happened since then, that a newer version of the same film has appeared on Sesame Street--





I see nothing wrong with remakes in situations like that. But Sesame Street occasionally goes too far in trying to update its own classic material. During the early 1970s, Bud Luckey animated a series of musical cartoons for the show--each one using a silly song and unusual characters to teach a number between 2 and 12. Ask the average parent or grandparent of some toddler who watches today's Sesame Street, and chances are good that they'll remember these ditties well enough to sing a few bars:








Now, take a look at these versions of the same song-cartoons. The "Ten Tiny Turtles" remake appeared in the Season 40 finale; the "Ladybugs' Picnic" remake appeared late in Season 41--








Granted, I'm glad to know that some people at Sesame Workshop don't want to see a classic die out. I also appreciate the way that these particular animators tried hard to adapt Bud Luckey's drawings to a 3-D version. But would it have killed the producers to dub in the original music for these remakes? The musical style itself isn't outdated, nor are any details in the lyrics.

Speaking of lyrical details, I winced when the "Ten Tiny Turtles" remake changed "black-eyed peas" to "yummy peas." Did the original sound too racist to somebody on the staff, either because of the vegetable's name or its status as soul food? Either way, I suspect Bud Luckey felt a little upset himself. Come on, Sesame Workshop...you've done a lot to promote tolerance and integration for 41 years, without worrying about what some family thinks of black-eyed peas! If a classic isn't "broken" from details a 21st-century toddler wouldn't understand, don't fix it.

Happy Birthday, Dizzy Gillespie!

After a friend told me that today was Dizzy Gillespie's birthday, I decided to upload a clip of his guest appearance on Sesame Street. (Appropriately enough, one of the letters for that episode was D! :-) ) Unfortunately, I can't identify the piece Dizzy is playing; are there any jazz fans out there who care to help?

Delta Faucets features Sesame Street Song In Their Commercial

They use the song "Hands" by Count von Count. Usually these commercials use regular pop songs. This song really fits well with the commercial. I am glad they chose it.

History Repeats Itself

This morning, Sesame Workshop's official YouTube channel featured several clips with George Washington as a main character (in honor of Presidents' Day, I assume). This cartoon, based roughly on a famous painting of Washington, has him explain the difference between "all", "some", and "none" to his soldiers on a boat.

Back in the early 70s, though, Grover taught a similar lesson to a group of anonymous monsters; they kept tipping and sinking Grover's rowboat by sitting at the same end at the same time. Déjà vu all over again? I'd suspect that the cartoonist had the Muppet sketch in the back of his brain as he worked, at least.

Disenchanted with Abby Cadabby

If you thought parents complaining about Cookie Monster's eating habits was bad...new characters have inspired complaints that are even more bizarre. Some concerned parents in Australia have written to ABC (not the same ABC network that airs in the States!), claiming that Abby Cadabby's use of magic depicts "witchcraft" in an inappropriate light for young children.

Now, I'm not a parent or an occult expert, but there's a big difference between real-world witchcraft and the kind of magic depicted in fairy tales. Abby Cadabby's magic use is a playful, modernized version of fairy-tale magic; it's as different from occult practices as Mumford is from Aleister Crowley. So please, Aussie parents, watch some of the "imagination" skits from the old days of Sesame Street; maybe you'll learn about the differences between reality and childhood fantasy.

Get Well Soon Loretta

I just found out in a comment of my YouTube video that Loretta Long (Susan) was hit by a car in New Jersey. She is in stable condition with a head injury. Hope she gets well soon. This is very sad news. We all hope she can return to Sesame Street. Bob

Bert and Ernie: the Rumor Officially Debunked!

If you've never heard the ugly rumor about Bert and Ernie's private life off-camera, you're one of the few lucky old-school viewers. Another web site has debunked the rumor in detail, but here's a scan of CTW's official statement so you can confirm the source yourselves...

Olivia Sings "Nice People"

From the end of the same Hawaiian-trip episode, Olivia sings about human friendliness being universal. Gotta love her harmony with Bob and Buffy at the end...

Olivia and Boogie Share Poi

A little-known scene from the cast's trip to Hawaii in the late 1970s; how many Gen-X viewers remember her going there along with Buffy, Cody, Big Bird and Oscar?

Alaina Reed Hall: 1946-2009

Some old-school fans may have already learned that Alaina Reed Hall, the actress who played Olivia on Sesame Street, died on the 17th of December this year. A fellow fan on YouTube put together a short, but very watchable, playlist in her memory--enjoy yourselves!

Back to (Old) School

Today a close friend of mine shared a letter he'd gotten on YouTube. I'm wondering whether correspondence like this accidentally triggered last year's media hype about "classic Sesame Street DVDs are not for kids"...

I was wondering if you could help me with something. I am wanting to buy my 3-year-old son the volumes of Sesame Street, but I am not sure what the difference is between the "Old School" ones and new [DVDs]. I also was wondering if they are the same episodes only made over, or what.

Thanks,
[name withheld]

Dear [name]:

"Old School" is just the label that the DVD sellers use for older episodes of Sesame Street--roughly the first 25 years, before the show's format changed dramatically. The DVDs released so far include the premiere episodes for Seasons 1-10, a "test pilot" episode from mid-1969, and some other popular clips from the first ten years. If your son is a huge fan of "Elmo's World" or recently added characters like Curly Bear, he'll probably get bored and impatient watching older material. (Elmo didn't even exist until 1979, and didn't develop as a major character for another 5-6 years.) If he doesn't mind a slower pace and more random, spontaneous feel though...the Old School episodes just might grow on him.

If you'd like to check out some older episodes that didn't make it onto DVD (just to see how different the format was back then), I have a largish collection of my own. I can send them to you as movie files if you like, so you and your son can have a look together. Please let me know! [Editor's note: this is a private file trade; letting the general public download whole episodes could get us into legal trouble!]

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Happy 40th Birthday, Sesame Street!

I just want to wish Sesame Street a happy 40th! It was on November 10th, 1969 that the most succesful children's show first aired. I know many people think the show is going downhill with Elmo. They have to change to keep up to date with the kids. Here's to another 40 years! Please have Sesame Street help educate kids of MANY generations to come. It is a remarkable and fun way for kids to learn.