Happy Birthday Sesame Street! And many more! For a wonderful series of posts marking the occasion, see here, here, here, and here. Also, if you’d like to share your favorite Sesame Street moment(s) in the comments, with or without links, that would be lovely. And finally, yes, I know the above clip isn’t exactly celebratory (and that we’ve talked about it here before), but for me it represents the essence of the show. Put another way: it’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to.
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The Edge of the American West 
17 comments
November 10, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Josh
If we’re allowed reruns…
November 11, 2009 at 3:53 am
Michael Bérubé
The force is strong with this one, but X had it comin’.
November 11, 2009 at 3:55 am
Michael Bérubé
Or covered, as the case may be.
November 11, 2009 at 5:01 am
Texas in Africa
I don’t think I ever really got over Mr. Hooper’s passing.
November 11, 2009 at 6:23 am
Jody
I’ve been haunted by this lost boy for decades now.
November 11, 2009 at 6:27 am
Bryan
Thanks for the bevy of links, Ari.
MB’s second link is pretty amazing. I don’t think I’ve seen that one before. Can you imagine that airing today? I don’t think so. My favorite one in that category is the Jesse Jackson guest spot. Things like “poor” and “on welfare” no longer exist, of course.
You also have to wonder whether Buffy Sainte-Marie could breastfeed in front of Big Bird in today’s media climate.
Do we blame the dumbing down on Elmo, Reagan, or Barney? All 3? And who decided to sweep Sesame Street? Giuliani?
November 11, 2009 at 6:28 am
kevin
Heh. I was going with the Richard Pryor alphabet too before I saw it had been claimed.
But for my money, this clip is the all-time best. Try getting that out of your head.
November 11, 2009 at 8:07 am
JPool
I also loved the lost boy. So many favorites, muppets and otherwise, but here are two:
A very responsible llama owner
The challenge of remembering what it was your parents told you
Bryan, Sesame Street has indeed changed over the years and we all love a good narrative of cultural decline, but it replayed the breastfeeding scene more recently with Maria, though she did use the stupid baby hiding blanket.
November 11, 2009 at 8:08 am
davenoon
Wow — I’ve never seen that clip before, though I was 12 when Will Lee died. Big Bird’s got a way healthier attitude about death than I do. Goddamn.
Maybe a little “Nasty Dan” will help me regain my composure.
November 11, 2009 at 8:52 am
Bryan
I haven’t been able to find a date on the Maria video. Do you know when it originally aired?
November 11, 2009 at 8:57 am
Bryan
I mean, Maria’s pushing 60. Nothing against breast-feeding seniors, mind you, but come on.
November 11, 2009 at 9:08 am
kevin
Not as good as “Nasty Dan,” but this clip does feature the improbable sight of Bert promising Ray Charles he’ll bring the heat.
November 11, 2009 at 10:42 am
Bryan
Found it. Should have just read Wikipedia. Turns out Luis and Maria marry and have a kid in 88-89. The birth features prominently in the show. Still, that was 20 yrs ago. That’s plenty of time to decline!
Also, the marriage to Luis was a safe choice after Maria’s earlier escapades with David.
November 11, 2009 at 10:43 am
JPool
I’m going to guess either 1989 or 1990, given when the narrative for Maria and Luis’s marriage and child brith took place. So, yes, twenty years ago, and we all feel old. The sho has apparently shifted deliberately towards a younger demographic, given more intense competition from other shows for older children, but it still addresses difficult issues.
November 11, 2009 at 11:10 am
bsci
I’m still trying to confirm if the dumbing down is real. Watching old clips on youtube with my daughter helps remind me how amazing the show was, but I’m not sure if I’m looking at the “best of” over 20-30 years or whether the older show really that much smarter.
One of my case examples is the repeated version of “Sing after Me”
The Madeline Kahn Grover version has a bit of edge to it as she starts to sing things that she knows he can’t follow and he tries to shut her up.
The Marilyn Horne / Ruth Buzzi has a similar dynamic where Marilyn starts to sing impossible-to-copy things and Ruth starts to mock the style and they insult each other.
The Elmo Ernie version is just painfully saccharine.
Of course, it is also a good time to give thanks to the miracle of youtube which actually let me re-see all these videos (and perhaps embarrass the current show producers to spend more time in the archives remembering what the show was.
November 11, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Western Dave
In all the history of television, there have only been two moments that dealt honestly with death: Big Bird and co. on Mr. Hooper, and Anya’s monologue on Joyce’s death which blatantly steals from the former:
“Anya: But I don’t understand! I don’t understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean I knew her, and then she’s, there’s just a body, and I don’t understand why she can’t just get back in it and not be dead anymore. It’s stupid. It’s mortal and stupid, and, and Xander is crying and not talking, and I was having fruit punch and I thought, well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch, ever. And she’ll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not ever and no one will explain to me why.”
November 16, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Urk
I don’t know if it’s dumbing down as much as cleaning up. One of the most noticable differences in the shows I was watchign with my daughter last year was that the set was soooo much “nicer” and cleaner and tidier, more “Sesame Court” than “Sesame Street.”
also that the songs got worse.