Sesame Street Old School Question

[dinoboy]

From the old schoold DVD, it's true that the show was mostly meant to entertain more for adults than kids. However the street did turn kid freindly as the show developed. What kind of content did the show have that made it more apealing for adults back then? There was no nudity, or suggestive language, but I can understand on the human cast and the way they dressed.

 

[dwmckim]

It wasn't neccesarily that Sesame was ever "adult entertainment" but was a kids' show that adults could watch with their kids and be entertained instead of feeling like they were spending "tv watching duty" with their kids as they digested sacherine pandering. Like Rocky and Bullwinkle and early Loony Tunes, things worked on several levels with jokes going over the kids heads and reaching their moms and dads. The age level Sesame has been aimed at has gotten lower over the years but each season SS has still tried to maintain the concept of entertaining kid and parent (with varied levels of success each season)...the disclaimers at the beginning of the Old School sets (which get way overinterpreted by many) is a way of reminding people that political correctness, cultural attitudes, and educational cirriculums have changed a lot in the space of 40 years and that the target audience for the box sets are the adults who grew up with and remember these episodes (not that the kids won't love and learn from them...but that unlike most Sesame dvds, they weren't recently written for today's children but a nostalgic collection of something from 4 decades ago!)

 

[Drtooth]

Like Rocky and Bullwinkle and early Loony Tunes, things worked on several levels with jokes going over the kids heads and reaching their moms and dads.

Great mentioning Bullwinkle. I think that jokes that initially go over your head that you wind up getting later at a random time are the best jokes. The Ruby Yacht of Omar Kayam? Took me years to figure out that one. And I was at high school history class when I finally got that one. I laughed like an idiot, and no one knew why.

But then again, Bullwinkle and Looney Tunes DO have a very adult undertone to them. My favorite was the Bullwinkle line-

Rocky: What kind of games can you play with girls?

Bullwinkle: Boy, this really is a kid's show isn't it... Parchesi of course.

SS doesn't quite have that sort of adult humor. More of a sophisticated old school comedy teams of Vaudville - the age of color film. That's what Ernie and Bert have always been to me. Some sort of tip of the hat to Laurel and Hardy or Abbot and Costello...

I do think there is still the adult entertainment factor... it's just less present because of saccerine junk like "Do the Veggie" dance. Did you see that new clip "Preschool Musical"? It ends with "Coming soon... Preschool Musical 2, Preschool Musical the concert, Preschool Musical the ice show, and Preschool Musical the Preschool Musical." That wasn't just humor... that was Disney getting served!

 

[mikebennidict]

From the old schoold DVD, it's true that the show was mostly meant to entertain more for adults than kids. However the street did turn kid freindly as the show developed. What kind of content did the show have that made it more apealing for adults back then? There was no nudity, or suggestive language, but I can understand on the human cast and the way they dressed.

Thw show was always kid friendly and wasn't meant to be more for adults than for children.


Whatever gave you that idea?

 

[CensoredAlso]

It's more that the show was originally written so it didn't talk down to kids, and thus adults happened to identify with it as well.

 

[ErnieandTelly]

I don't know what they had to put "The Early Sesame Street episodes (Probably Seasons 1-24) is not for Kids", but in some case their for teens and Adults. There's is no Nudity,Cursing or even sex scenes when I was in kindergarden when the show aired on Noggin when I look at the episodes. there's no nudity,cursing or sex scenes even Strong Violence and Drugs.