A Word on the Street

I'm sure many of my readers are aware that this year marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. As a child born in the late '70s, I was weaned on the first decade of "classic" street, before Elmo came along and "RUINED IT FOREVER!", as the idiots on the internet would say. I'm also a big Jim Henson fan (a Muppethead? I'm sure there is a term.), including some of his more obscure stuff.

In honor of the 40th anniversary, I decided to suppress my Elmo allergy and actually watch a current episode. The results surprised me. Although (rather predictably) I was not fond of the current remix of the opening theme, at least it's still "Sunny Days". I doubt the current songwriters can top Joe Raposo's classic compositions. The fifteen minute segment, a feature unknown in my youth, featured Elmo, the little pink fairy, and Big Bird arguing who would play the roles in the story which Gordon (the core human cast sure changes slowly!) read to them. I have to agree with the statements of some of cast members that a solid fifteen minute segment allows a slightly more complex and memorable storyline - I certainly couldn't identify any of the narratives from my childhood, although I remember many of the skits.

It became that the theme of the episode was the Wild West/Cowboys. The Bert and Ernie skit was animated, which seemed peculiar until I reflected that the episodes I had watched contained many animated segments, just not ones which featured Muppets. I always thought Bert deserved a better rep - but I like watching pigeons too, even if I don't collect paperclips. The presentation of the letter of the day (T, which had gotten dirty and been thrown in the wash) was mildly amusing, but the song and dance number celebrating the letter T was in the vein of classic Street. The presentation of the number of the day (a chorus line of Ones!) had me chuckling. Since I had only watched Sesame Street on television as an adult, I had not realized how many jokes the show contained to keep the parents or nanny amused (e.g., a foal named Wilbur). My favorite was the announcement for the upcoming "Desperate Horseflies" on the Horse Channel. I wonder if it takes place on a horse named Bree! Although I do wonder what happened to Forgetful Jones. Did his performer pass on and Grover inherit his horse? (Ah. It's not Buster - it's Fred the Wonder Horse).

One of the changes my generation most vehemently protested (other than Elmo himself) was the creation "Elmo's World", particularly because the use of crayon creates a set which appears not just simple, but crude. I found this segment a bit blah, but maybe that's because I have no emotional investment in Elmo as I do in the classic Muppet cast.

Sadly, there was no Oscar in this episode.