Sesame Street--where to begin? Many different celebrities have appeared on the show throughout the years. I think that's what makes the show fun--all the celebrities making appearances. SS was very different back in the day. Some Muppets that used to be on were Forgetful Jones, Kermit the Frog, Prairie Dawn, and a few more I can't remember. There used to be a lot of segments with the Muppets sitting inside a gray room teaching children how to count, and learn the alphabet. One of my favorite is from 1972 with Kermit and a little girl named Joey. Kermit was trying to teach Joey the alphabet and she kept replacing the letters with "COOKIE MONSTER" which frustrated Kermit to the point of leaving, but then she said "I love you" and hugged him. I think some of my favorite segments are from the 70s, with Grover as the waiter in the restaurant much to the chagrin of this guy named "Fat Blue." Then there was an early one of Ernie trying to count some balloons. Then there was one of Cookie Monster in the library. Then there were some with Kermit and Cookie Monster. Then there was one with Ernie not being able to fall asleep and decided to count things in his head but they ended up being very noisy. Some of my favorite songs included "Telephone Rock" and "C is for Cookie." I haven't seen too many full episodes from the 70s but these are the only songs I know of. And there was that baker who kept dropping all the pies as he went down the stairs.
The 80s was probably my favorite decade . . . however there was some sadness. In December 1982, Will Lee (who played Mr. Hooper) died, and they made an episode teaching children about death and incorporated his death into the episode. Big Bird didn't understand at first and thought he was going to come back, but was told by the adults that he's not coming back which upset Big Bird plenty. On the positive side, the 80s SS had some really great songs, such as "Monster in the Mirror" (WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA) "Wet Paint," (used to scare me at the end when the screen would melt) "The Word is NO," "Healthy Food,"-a rap song sung by Cookie Monster and various healthy foods, "I Dance Myself to Sleep," featuring Ernie and the Boogeywoogie Sheep (I loved this one as a kid, lol) "Do De Rubber Duck," "Holy Moly 8 Balls of Fur," "Cereal Girl," and "A New Way to Walk." There were some great segments as well--such as "Teeny Little Superguy," and Kermit directing "Oklahoma," I don't know if this was the 70s or 80s but there were the segments of Bert and Ernie fishing, and exploring a pyramid in Egypt. In 1985 was the debut of the current star of the show, Elmo, the little red furry monster we all know and love with the orange nose. He was cute at first as a background character and in the occasional segment (he was in one with Julia Roberts, and another with Whoopie Goldberg) but in the 90s, he became the star. May 1988 featured the wedding of Maria and Luis, and May 1989 featured the birth of their baby daughter Gabby. It's fitting because it aired a few weeks before I was born and my sister who was 2 at the time watched SS so my family was excited. And they taught children about how babies are born.
The 90s . . . in May 1990, Jim Henson, the creator of SS and the voice/puppeteer of Kermit, Ernie and others passed away. They did find a replacement for their voices but it just isn't the same. The early 90s is the SS I remember the most. In 1992 Queen Latifah sang a rap song called "That's the Letter O" which is a favorite of mine. In 1996 Elmo became a huge star and the hot new toy at the time, "Tickle Me Elmo" went on the market. In 1998 Elmo got his own segment "Elmo's World," which takes up the last 20 minutes of the episode. I still think they should've just made it a spin off. The 90s was also the debut of Baby Bear, Baby Natasha, Rosita and Zoey--if not, they debuted in the 80s. I stopped watching in the mid-late 90s but I had cousins who were babies/toddlers at that time so sometimes I caught an episode here and there. We also used to watch the videotapes that were released--my aunt would run them for my cousins and that was fun. I can't remember any segments from the 90s because they mostly re-ran the old ones.
The 2000s--there were some major changes. Not only did Kermit the Frog and several other muppets disappear, but Children's Television Workshop was renamed to Sesame Workshop (and the little CTW on the SS sign was turned into 123) they had the same segments on the show every day--Journey to Ernie, Supergrover's Adventure, Number of the day, Letter of the Day, Spanish word of the day, and of course, Elmo's World. They even added that into the older episodes like the late 80s/early 90s. Also in 2005, it was rumored that Cookie Monster was being renamed to Veggie Monster because SS thinks his cookie-eating habit is one of the factors for child obesity. I think that is really dumb and nothing happened to us! They just made him eat healthier and even game him a new song called "Cookies are sometimes food." That's about it . . .
I hope if I have kids one day I will show them what SS used to be like. I know we're not the target audience anymore but it really was cool back in the day.
The 80s was probably my favorite decade . . . however there was some sadness. In December 1982, Will Lee (who played Mr. Hooper) died, and they made an episode teaching children about death and incorporated his death into the episode. Big Bird didn't understand at first and thought he was going to come back, but was told by the adults that he's not coming back which upset Big Bird plenty. On the positive side, the 80s SS had some really great songs, such as "Monster in the Mirror" (WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA) "Wet Paint," (used to scare me at the end when the screen would melt) "The Word is NO," "Healthy Food,"-a rap song sung by Cookie Monster and various healthy foods, "I Dance Myself to Sleep," featuring Ernie and the Boogeywoogie Sheep (I loved this one as a kid, lol) "Do De Rubber Duck," "Holy Moly 8 Balls of Fur," "Cereal Girl," and "A New Way to Walk." There were some great segments as well--such as "Teeny Little Superguy," and Kermit directing "Oklahoma," I don't know if this was the 70s or 80s but there were the segments of Bert and Ernie fishing, and exploring a pyramid in Egypt. In 1985 was the debut of the current star of the show, Elmo, the little red furry monster we all know and love with the orange nose. He was cute at first as a background character and in the occasional segment (he was in one with Julia Roberts, and another with Whoopie Goldberg) but in the 90s, he became the star. May 1988 featured the wedding of Maria and Luis, and May 1989 featured the birth of their baby daughter Gabby. It's fitting because it aired a few weeks before I was born and my sister who was 2 at the time watched SS so my family was excited. And they taught children about how babies are born.
The 90s . . . in May 1990, Jim Henson, the creator of SS and the voice/puppeteer of Kermit, Ernie and others passed away. They did find a replacement for their voices but it just isn't the same. The early 90s is the SS I remember the most. In 1992 Queen Latifah sang a rap song called "That's the Letter O" which is a favorite of mine. In 1996 Elmo became a huge star and the hot new toy at the time, "Tickle Me Elmo" went on the market. In 1998 Elmo got his own segment "Elmo's World," which takes up the last 20 minutes of the episode. I still think they should've just made it a spin off. The 90s was also the debut of Baby Bear, Baby Natasha, Rosita and Zoey--if not, they debuted in the 80s. I stopped watching in the mid-late 90s but I had cousins who were babies/toddlers at that time so sometimes I caught an episode here and there. We also used to watch the videotapes that were released--my aunt would run them for my cousins and that was fun. I can't remember any segments from the 90s because they mostly re-ran the old ones.
The 2000s--there were some major changes. Not only did Kermit the Frog and several other muppets disappear, but Children's Television Workshop was renamed to Sesame Workshop (and the little CTW on the SS sign was turned into 123) they had the same segments on the show every day--Journey to Ernie, Supergrover's Adventure, Number of the day, Letter of the Day, Spanish word of the day, and of course, Elmo's World. They even added that into the older episodes like the late 80s/early 90s. Also in 2005, it was rumored that Cookie Monster was being renamed to Veggie Monster because SS thinks his cookie-eating habit is one of the factors for child obesity. I think that is really dumb and nothing happened to us! They just made him eat healthier and even game him a new song called "Cookies are sometimes food." That's about it . . .
I hope if I have kids one day I will show them what SS used to be like. I know we're not the target audience anymore but it really was cool back in the day.