"Time For Big Bird To Die?"

This is of course due to Congress, and lack of funding from PBS. I don't think SS should have to be demonized because Paris Hilton needs another Tax cut.

Which is blatant hypocracy on so many levels. Elmo is annoying? How about a little girl shreiking in English and spanish like an obnoxious tourist in a foreign land. She speaks really slow and loud, and even if I hated Elmo (or the Muppets for that matter, perish the thought) I'd rather have Elmo sing Elmo's song throught eternity than watch one episode of Dora. It's so bloody annoying. And I agree. With SW, they at least use the profits to fund stuff other than a beachhouse in Malibu.

I do agree that SS doesn't have the same clout as 37 years ago, but think about it. SS was new. Nothing had ever been like that before. Sure, we had Capt. Kangaroo and Ding Dong school, but SS was a new animal. Now it's just taken for granted. Everyone tries hard to be like them, and fails miserably. Even in the 70's with the horrendous "New Zoo Revue."

I think I've seen the New Zoo Review before! Wierd stuff indeed!

I've seen The New Zoo Review, very bizarre! Though the episode I saw had a very good message.

Yeah! I know that message NZR was giving...

If you see a high quality show the likes no one has ever seen, ripoff the format and do it on the cheap to make a fast buck.

That's why Big Bird and Grover have balloons in the Macy Parade and NZR is seen only on home shopping channels at 5 AM to fill the FCC educational program requirement.

I'm sorry, I could have sworn there was a war going on in Iraq. Don't people have better things to do with their time? I mean, if you're going to write so passionately about making decisions, shouldn't it be something a little more substantial? This guy's a tool.

I dislike the ads cutting into Sesame Street's air time as much as any adult viewer does, and I too find it hypocritical that McDonald's (even with the nutritious choices on their menu--how many people order those?) has become one of the show's biggest corporate sponsors. But I haven't seen any cereals, sugary or otherwise, mentioned in those ads. The only names I've heard there are Beaches resorts, Earth's Best organic baby foods, the everydaykidz.com asthma-info site, McDonald's restaurant, New Balance shoes, and (originally) Pampers diapers. Of the sponsors listed, only two of those sponsors relate specifically to food; of those two, only McDonald's is guilty of pushing junk food.

Whoa! That comes on the shopping network?

I do agree it's unfortunate. It's a fact in the business world that sometimes companies need to take on sponsors no matter how controversial they are. At least SS does make the effort to preach healthy eating on their own show. And McDonald's isn't bad as a sometime thing, as long as it's not everyday.

Well, one of the crappy local Shopping networks, yeah.

Plus, Earth's best has a licensing agreement with SW, and there are Sesame Street Toddler Health food items. I really think half the reason why SS has gone to doing subjects about health was the bad press from having McD's have to sponser them because congress would rather spend the cash on a $5000 hammer or something.

Today's Sesame is just plain terrable!
But back in the mid 1970s - 1980s, that's when the show grabbed adults attention with parodies and hilarious Muppet humor.

I know that Jim wanted his creations to live on and stuff, but with Sesame, where's the legacy? Where's what Jim put in to them in the first place? Where's the parts that made The Muppets grab the attention of the parents?

_Eric

I agree. Though I think the adult humor and references were good for both the kids and parents.

Totally. I'm 19 and I still watch those classic bits, and I probably crack up at them even more since I understand the diologe and parody gags now then when I was a kid.