If you could change 3 things about Sesame Street today

[SwedishChefCook]

If you could change 3 things about the current Sesame Street that airs on PBS, what would they be? Remember you can only change 3 things and nothing more. (This post is somewhat of a parody to the Traditional 3 wishes, granted by a Genie)

Here are the 3 things I would change.

I would bring back Herry Monster, and include him in at least a few storylines a year.

I would bring back the original classic theme song that was used from 1969-1992. Even if new footage was used, using different kids doing different things in different places. Just as long as the old music and song was there.

The humans would be included more in the show, like they were in the 70's and 80's. There would be more humans appearing in each episode, and not just one or 2 per show.

Who else has some ideas?

 

[Andrew T]

1. Excise "Elmo's World."
2. Fund Sesame Street in such a way that it can sustain itself without help from commercial concerns such as McDonald's.
3. Set the end credits in something other than "Comic Sans MS."

 

[mikebennidict]

This should be in the Present SS section.

 

[SwedishChefCook]

I put it in the classic SS section because the present SS section is for fans of the current Show, and if I were to post something like this there some of the members might take it personally. So I put it here so us classic fans can talk about what we'd change about the new show, to make it more like the old show.

 

[PiLfan]

1. revert the opening and ending theme songs to the original music, instead of that ADHD version they have now...doesn't have to be the same old footage, but the old music is what made the show.

2. Dump brain dead segments like Journey to Ernie and Baby Bear's Hero guy, which are very repetitive, hold little educational value, and rank just above Barney in terms of entertainment (note, while I'd prefer the Elmo's world segment to be shortened a bit, i do think its format is both entertaining and is actually very conducive to learning).

3. Bring back more of the old classics...especially the letter and number skits, which have been reduced to just a couple of minutes a piece per show. They've got plenty of new bits to show, but they can intersperse an oldie here and there as well, instead of heaving them all on the collective junk pile so that they are lost to antiquity.

 

[ISNorden]

1. Make Elmo's World into a spin-off show in its own right: that would give pre-kindergarten kids AND nostalgic adults what they like.

2. Make the rest of the show less predictable: let other characters teach the Things-of-the-Day sometimes, and let segments appear in a more random order (as they did on the older show).

3. Show the opening and closing credits old-style: Big Bird leading kids through the park in the beginning, Barkley playing with the kids at the end. And yes, "old style" includes the original theme-song styles: two verses at the beginning, instrumental of the whole song at the end (arranged as they were in the 70s).

Of course, none of those wishes would come true without some of the other members' wishes also being granted...like enough funding to not waste the beginning and end on commercials.

 

[Boober_Gorg]

3 changes I'd like to see:

1. The return of a contemporary pop music sound to the show. Say for example, an AM boy band doing a song about the alphabet in the style of O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei."

2. More lessons about danger. Have PELIGRO be the Spanish Word of the Day.

3. More animation segments from today's top artists.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here are my changes:

1. Have more older characters who rarely get used these days appear more, even if only in classic inserts. If it means giving Jerry Nelson an understudy for his characters then do it. Have Herry Monster, The Amazing Mumford, Biff, Sully, Sherlock Hemlock, and Buster the Horse be major characters again. Show old skits with Guy Smiley, Forgetful Jones and Kermit the Frog again.

2. With the exception of the street story and the letters and numbers of the day (and perhaps the Spanish Word of the Day), don't show the daily skits in every episode. Have Elmo's World be shown only once or twice a week, same with Global Grover and Journey to Ernie. Spend the extra time showing older, classic skits, and don't be afraid about confusing kids with showing the muppets looking different (Sesame Workshop didn't seem to be afraid of confusing kids by showing older skits untill the last few years).

3. Like somebody else said, have more characters besides Cookie Monster introduce the Number of the Day every once in awhile.

 

[D'Snowth]

1. Make Big Bird the "star" again.
2. Tone down Elmo a bit.
3. Again more classic clips.

 

[ISNorden]

Here are my changes:

1. Have more older characters who rarely get used these days appear more, even if only in classic inserts. If it means giving Jerry Nelson an understudy for his characters then do it. Have Herry Monster, The Amazing Mumford, Biff, Sully, Sherlock Hemlock, and Buster the Horse be major characters again. Show old skits with Guy Smiley, Forgetful Jones and Kermit the Frog again.

I would back that change 100%, but Sesame Workshop would need Disney's permission to use Kermit as something more than a "crowd scene Muppet". (The last time I saw him on Sesame Street, it was a Season 35 rerun that included "Do de Rubber Duck".)

2. With the exception of the street story and the letters and numbers of the day (and perhaps the Spanish Word of the Day), don't show the daily skits in every episode. Have Elmo's World be shown only once or twice a week, same with Global Grover and Journey to Ernie. Spend the extra time showing older, classic skits, and don't be afraid about confusing kids with showing the muppets looking different (Sesame Workshop didn't seem to be afraid of confusing kids by showing older skits untill the last few years).

I'm with you on most of those changes: perhaps the new Muppet-centered skits could appear on specific broadcast days. (For instance: Journey to Ernie on Mondays, Global Grover on Tuesdays, and so forth.)

Spanish Word of the Day should remain a daily segment, with three changes:

1. Make the word relate to the street story. (Remember "Mexico on Sesame Street", the episode about Rosita missing her home and family in Mexico? She taught the word família that day...)
2. If older cartoons about the word exist, show one of them after a character introduces the word. (If no cartoon exists yet, well...Sesame Workshop could always hire a few good animators who speak the language.)
3. Include the Spanish Word of the Day at the end of an episode, along with the letter and number: "...brought to you by the letter ___, the number ___, and the word ___." At least two precedents support that change: The Israeli-American Shalom Sesame episodes always had a Hebrew word of the day in addition to a letter and number; in addition, three "standard" episodes of Sesame Street have officially mentioned a word of the day. (That might conflict with the "Trash Gordon" endings; however, the Workshop could always create a new ending that allows for a third Thing-of-the-Day.)

Elmo's World would need drastic shortening to follow the once-a-week rule, though; I still think that a fifteen-minute section which looks and feels like a different program should BE a different program. (The spinoff version could still air daily, and could still use Elmo's Muppet friends if Sesame Workshop produced it.)

Like somebody else said, have more characters besides Cookie Monster introduce the Number of the Day every once in awhile.

I assume you mean the Letter of the Day? *chuckle* Seriously though: Whoever wrote most of the recent LotD segments must be determined to make Cookie Monster into an Alphabet Monster who moonlights as a dietician (and turn Prairie Dawn into his arch-enemy). Just for once, I'd like to see some other character(s) teaching letters. An occasional Number of the Day intro without the Count would be OK too; then again, Sesame Street created him for the job.