Classic Sesame Clips on YouTube

[Al Hempker]

I noticed that the Grover and the Inflating G video is cut short. The G getting really big used to scare me when I was little.

 

[fatblue]

Grover

They also have the Grover skit where he goes to bed at night and gets scared.

If you notice, his mommy is played by proto (green) Grover! The first time both have been in the same skit, old meets new I guess LOL!!

I saw the G skit too. I got scared by that as a kid also.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Hmmm. That's interesting, because I saw Grover's mom in pictures and she didn't look green. I guess the artists who drew those haven't seen that skit. I just watched the one where Ernie was talking to Cookie Monster about hope. That one must be pretty old since he said 'I' instead of 'me.'

Now, let's see what would I like to see. I guess I'm not to concerned with the E&B skits since most of them are still played on the show today and we'll probably see more of them next season, but it would be nice to see...

A. More Kermit News Flashes
B. Appearances by the other two Gordons
C. Anything with Brian Meehl's Telly (I know I remember a few of them, but I can't remember the voice sounding different, so I'd like to see those again)
D. Skits with old forgotten characters. They did a good job with Harvey Kneeslapper, but I would like to see more Roosevelt Franklin, Forgetful Jones, Don Music, etc.
E. Earlier opening/closing credits from the 70s.

It would also be good if they could include an entire episode. Though that would probably take a long time to load on my computer.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

You can see (and download) the full video of "Grover and the inflating G" online here.
http://www.macromataki.org/Multimedia/Video/miscellaneous.htm

And there's also another Sesame Street classic on the site- "The Frog and the Ox" (a classic Aesop's fable come to life) here. http://www.macromataki.org/Multimedia/Video/inflation.htm

 

[anythingmuppet]

Hmm, there haven't been any new updates for a couple days....I guess the uploaders are busy on weekdays...which is fine..

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Anyone else check out that hilarious sketch with the hippie guy and the "straight" lecuturer talking about shapes??? Absolutely priceless!! Look out big that nose is on the lecturer.

That one's on there. Wow, I read the transcript at toughpigs.com. It would be good to be able to see it and hear the voices, especially considering the hippie's voiced by the late Northern Calloway.

 

[ISNorden]

If only someone could convert those Flash bits to .wmv format; I'd love to see the Sesame Street I remembered as a girl.

P.S. For other people who think the show has gone downhill since Henson died, I wrote this song parody:

TV [Bleep]* (A Sesame Street Fan's Lament)
(sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells")

How I loved that show
from my early childhood days--
till fourteen years ago**,
when Henson passed away.
The genius he could bring
made my spirits bright,
but "Elmo's World" botched ev'rything
that he had gotten right.

CHORUS:

TV [bleep]:
can't they tell
Sesame's a bomb,
not the show I used to watch
curled up with my mom?
Actors dead,
so instead
Muppets steal the scene;
Wish I had a brick to throw
at my color TV screen!

Rumors I first heard
in a newsgroup on the Net,
old-time viewers' words
sounded quite upset.
Workshop writers said,
"Kids think Elmo's hot;
Let's give the red and fuzzy guy
a fifteen-minute spot!"

CHORUS

As the seasons passed,
more Muppet spots came on:
stories didn't last,
plots were almost gone.
Once the cast seemed real,
with histories and lives--
now all they seem to care about
is how kids count to five.


CHORUS
​

*The bleeped expletive is a pretty mild one, obvious from context; still, I didn't want to risk triggering a swearword filter!

** Yes, that line is outdated now; but it was accurate when I first wrote these lyrics.


​

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah. I'm guessing you meant to say '$ucks' there. Good song though. I'd really like to hear an audio file of that.

 

[DetGoran]

Sesame Street

I haven't sat down and watched Sesame Street since about 1988, but I've heard that it's not as good as it used to be.

I have seen parts of "Elmo's World". It's OK, but not as high in quality as the stuff I grew up watching.
Detective Goran

 

[ISNorden]

Yeah. I'm guessing you meant to say '$ucks' there. Good song though. I'd really like to hear an audio file of that.

Good guess, but the bleeped word is supposed to rhyme with 'tell'... If I had enough musical talent and a mike on this computer, I'd love to record that song.

Here's another one to sing when the new shows bore you to tears:

"Jingle Bells,
This show smells--
Elmo is a freak.
What a drag it is to watch
Reruns ev'ry week!"

On a more positive note, I agree with you that the EW segments have improved since they were first introduced. Still, they're a bit too predictable even for a children's program. First, the writers seem obsessed with birthday cakes (which usually get mentioned first in the 'What Else?' part). Second, the "topic ladies" on all those specialized channels look and sound exactly alike; wouldn't most children eventually think that was suspicious? Finally, the topic song at the end needs variation: if Elmo could sing to "Old McDonald" for the farm segment, why couldn't he choose another familiar tune when the topic called for it? (He could have done the "birthday" repetitions to "Happy Birthday", for instance.)

Since this is the "Classic Sesame" section, though, I should list the biggest reasons that I miss the show's older format:

1. The old episodes taught me the same kind of lessons (letters, numbers, social and safety rules) without feeling like a video preschool course. (Or worse yet, a video preschool course with no recess--with the "filler" clips dropped from current episodes, they come across as all work and no fun.)
2. The old episodes didn't tamper with their music. Every time I hear lyrics to a classic Sesame song rewritten, or hear new background tunes to old animations, something feels very wrong. (And when stations cut the theme song shorter to make room for more baby-food and diaper commercials... I wonder how many kids will ever learn the whole Sesame theme, the way Joe Raposo intended.)
3. The old episodes didn't reduce Muppet characters to their likes and dislikes, or even assume that every Muppet had to have a gimmick. Before Henson died and character rights got lost, even a minor Anything Muppet could feel as human as the flesh-and-blood actors. Nowadays, even the core Muppets feel two-dimensional; if they aren't teaching a topic-of-the-day, they're usually harping on their trademark gimmicks. Assigning Cookie Monster to the letter segments combines the two... Just once, I'd love to see him grumble, "Me no care what letter of day is! Who you think me am, Alphabet Monster?!?" Then he'd throw the letter-cookie at the camera: "Tell prop guy to fire baker--this taste terrible!" The sketch would end with Cookie literally chewing up the scenery, as in the "Hooper's store gets eaten" episode...
4. The old episodes had enough plot for kids to remember; problems didn't need to be solvable in fifteen minutes, and sometimes got the whole cast involved. (I especially loved the trip episodes, when the former CTW could afford them.)
5. The old episodes usually based their lesson material on the plot, not vice versa. Muppetizing letters and numbers is OK in a sketch or two. But when the central story focuses on an X wanting to quit the alphabet, or a 3 coming to meet its fan club... then even the human old-timers seem to have no life outside teaching the topic-of-the-day. (Besides, those sponsor-characters can give a kid nightmares; I'm 37 and still dream about being harrassed by giant foam-rubber consonants!)
6. The old episodes let the "street" live up to its name; it felt like a real inner-city neighborhood, even though some of the residents weren't even human. Take the entrance to Big Bird's nest, for instance: it was a grubby, unmarked door like the ones in a housing project. Or take the wall behind the basketball hoop: even the painted letters and numbers looked faded, like the ones on older buildings that get reused. Nowadays, with its bright-colored shapes and its letters painted in random places...the Workshop might as well call the setting "Sesame Day Care" or "Sesame Preschool".