Old School Sesame Street: Adults Only

[megoscott]

This week's sign of the Apocalypse Early episodes of Sesame Street are being released on DVD — with a warning that they are intended for grown-ups and may not suit the needs of today's preschoolers.

[jwyblejr]

Wha-? This has got to be the dumbest thing I've read in a long time. If it's not meant for kids,what the heck were most of us when we watched it back in the day?

[The Toyroom]

Sesame Street ain't what it used to be but I'll take the "old school" DVDs anyday over the current product...that freakin' Elmo's World segment ruins half the show!

[Hulk]

Did we really turn out so bad? I guess craptacular fare like Teletubbies, Barney and Thomas the Tank Engine might be more acceptable, but I'd trade them all in for Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mr. Rogers anyday.

I don't have kids, but I'd also be showing them Superfriends, 1960's Marvel Animated Superheroes and Spiderfriends before I'd allow them to watch The Batman, JLA/JLU or even the Marvel 1990's cartoons. I may enjoy them as an adult, but those all can be a bit intense for youngsters. I wouldn't hesitate plopping kids in front of our Saturday morning cartoons versus the stuff seen today.

[megoscott]

I like the funkyness of old Sesame. Elmo is so Wal-Mart/corporate to me.

One of the points they were making on that interview was that the pacing is a lot slower than kids are used to now. I guess that's valid, but the warning has to do with puppets smoking pipes and Cookie monster overeating. Oscar would never get green-lit today and that's just sad.

[ctc]

AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!

Seriously, I don't think people should be allowed to have kids any more. SERIOUSLY! Is everyone so afraid of their own children that they think Sesame Street is gonna warp them? OH NO!!!! Cookie Monster has bad dietary habits! HOW will my kids cope?!?!?! Point out that he's a monster and your kids aren't; so the rules work differently for him. And get on with life. *sheesh!* And WORST of all; you've got to WARN the people who GREW UP on this stuff about the content?!?!? Do people REALLY forget their childhoods THIS FAST?!?! (Sorta ties in with the whole "hoodie" thread.)

Don C.

[palitoy]

I bought the old school DVDs for my kids, I was horrified at how many times the "F Word" sneaks in there and the blood, my God, the blood!

I don't really understand why they felt the need to do that warning, it's educational qualities are still there. It's not like there was all kinds of humour kids weren't supposed to get.

Which reminds me, my wife and I were discussing a Canadian kids show that had a plant character on it. This was the early seventies and the large, leafy green plant guy had a thick Jamaican accent. It only took me 30 years to get the joke.

My kids get nothing but retro programming now, Fat Albert, Superfriends, Rocky and Bullwinkle. It's better than "Doctor Fart N Puke" on YTV. And you have not lived until your two year old daughter walks up to strangers and says "Hey, Hey, Hey!".

[Dave Mc]

Yeah, this seems a bit excessive, but then again, some kid walks up to a stranger and goes home with him for "milk and cookies" and they'll want to sue Sesame Street for releasing those videos without a warning. It's a sick world.

I'm just glad they put them out without editing the "offensive" stuff out. I can live with a warning, but not with re-writing history.

[HardyGirl]

Sesame Street ain't what it used to be but I'll take the "old school" DVDs anyday over the current product...that freakin' Elmo's World segment ruins half the show!

Amen to that! And let's be real here for a moment:

Did SchoolHouse Rock give a warning b/c Naughty Number Nine smoked a cigar, or does Bugs Bunny cartoon (if it's out on DVD), give a warning about all the gangster segments who also smoked? I think not. I guarantee most kids in this day and age, (despite all the warnings) know people, possibly even their own parents, who SMOKE!

Are children today more obese than ever b/c they watch Cookie Monster eating cookies, or Fat Albert, or any other sitcom rerun w/ a "fat friend" who eats too much in it? No. Kids today are more obese, b/c working parents find it easier to buy fast food than to cook dinner, and their children are allowed to sit hours on end in front of the video games, TV and PC screens while scarfing down junk food.

I swear there is no such thing as accountibilty anymore. Some of these parents need to get real, and take some responsibilty!

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

That's just sad. Oscar was my favourite, and I was devastated to find that they have turned Cookie monster into Vegetable monster....at least my Cookie monster still says "MORE COOKIES" :D

[BlackKnight]

I enjoyed Sesame street as a kid,.. however why do we let our kids watch this, or our parents let us ? The writers of this show were obviously & still are, wacked out in the head. It's like what Dave Chappel said. Oscar is a rude Bum. Snuffaluf***us is on Herion, or crack. Cookie Monsters a stoner, & The count was a Pimp.... Elmo's a selfish little Speedster,.. Anyone ever see Elmo in Grouchland ? MINE, MINE , MINE , MINE.... Is all I rember. I saw an eposide a few yrs back. There was this plant, that looked like a pot plant. His name was Stinky. Well Stinky was upset because none of the other plants wanted to be around him because well,... he infact did stink. Other than weed, pot, Mary jane,... what other plants stinks, to the fact that perhaps other plants would not want to be around it, & looks like marijuana ? I dunno,.. Junt not sure if any of this show was "age appropriate"... However I too did watch.

[The Toyroom]

My whole issue with Cookie Monster NOT eating cookies anymore is the fact that he never ate them in the 1st place...most of the cookies ended up all over the place with very little entering Cookie's mouth! Plus, he ate other non-healthy things, like telephones and manhole covers! I shudder to think children were trying to imitate him doing that! Puh-lease! He's a freakin' monster and should not be subjected to the same rules as children.

[The Toyroom]

I'm just glad I still know all the words to "Ladybug Picnic"!

[jds1911a1]

Did we really turn out so bad? I guess craptacular fare like Teletubbies, Barney and Thomas the Tank Engine might be more acceptable, but I'd trade them all in for Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mr. Rogers anyday.

I don't have kids, but I'd also be showing them Superfriends, 1960's Marvel Animated Superheroes and Spiderfriends before I'd allow them to watch The Batman, JLA/JLU or even the Marvel 1990's cartoons. I may enjoy them as an adult, but those all can be a bit intense for youngsters. I wouldn't hesitate plopping kids in front of our Saturday morning cartoons versus the stuff seen today.

My 3 year old daughter and I watch all these shows frequestly she knows the filmation Joker on site

[Hulk]

The more I think about this, the more brilliant I realize the strategy is. People will talk about it (i.e. us), and buy it exactly because we realize how much better this programming is.