TV on DVD for November 10th
Another slow week for the current big network shows, but there are a number of interesting packages hitting the store shelves this week. First up — complete with some very cool packaging — is the complete collector’s set from G.I. Joe. You’ll also see complete series sets from Dawson’s Creek, Justice League, and Show Me Yours. My pick of the week is a series of sets from late-70s British drama The Sandbaggers. The Cold War shenanigans of MI6 are always a good place to start. The rest of the list is after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Sesame Street turns 40 – Part 3: Star power
Welcome to part three of my four-part retrospective of Sesame Street on the occasion of it hitting the big 4-0. If you missed it, be sure to also check out part one and part two.
As I’ve mentioned before, Sesame Street is everywhere on television and in pop culture (Scrubs, The West Wing, Angel… need I go on?) but it’s pretty safe to say that Sesame Street is just as hip and relevant as the shows that allude to it are. After all, what other program that isn’t news can boast to hosting not one, but two different first ladies? Not only did Michelle Obama recently have a very publicized appearance talking about healthy eating and exercise habits, but Barbara Bush also appeared in the ’80s to promote literacy.
And neither of them are alone. Going through old Sesame Street episodes is like trawling a who’s who of famous people. Musicians, actors, and athletes have all showed up on Sesame Street for various reasons, most of them delightfully goofy and entirely undignified. Frankly, it sort of makes me wish I was famous enough to be on Sesame Street. Not that I have a goal or reason for why I want to be famous, it’s just on my bucket list: “Become famous enough to be on Sesame Street,” right under “become famous enough to be a crossword puzzle clue.” (Again, how will I become famous? Who knows/cares? The important part is that I will be on Sesame Street.)
Sesame Street turns 40 – part 2: All about the music
Welcome to part two of my four-part retrospective of Sesame Street on the occasion of it hitting the big 4-0. If you missed it, be sure to also check out part one.
I think, and you may disagree with me on this, that the absolute best part of Sesame Street are the songs. Yeah, the muppets are cute and the in-jokes are funny, but if you had to ask me (or, say, anyone) what they remember most about Sesame Street, what their favorite part of it was when they were little, they’ll probably cite a song. That’s certainly what happened when I e-mailed around to the CliqueClack staff. They all had favorite characters (the big winners being mostly Guy Smiley and Placido Flamingo, and a universal dislike of Elmo. Why is it toddlers like him so much? Wise up, toddlers), but overwhelmingly what people cited as vital to include were the songs.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that the songs are what put Sesame Street on that map, that its real moment where it became a part of our culture was when Ernie sang about his bathing BFF Rubber Duckie and rubber ducks, which before had simply been novelty items, skyrocketed in sales. (Sesame Street’s Blow the Hatch moment, if you will? I don’t know enough about the early show to say one way or the other.)
But I digress. To me the magic of Sesame Street is how it really, really sticks with you. Not just as a fond childhood memory, but as something you find yourself spouting off at utterly inopportune moments. If I had money for how many times I broke into “Mahna Mahna,” I’d be really rich, is all I’m saying.
Sesame Street turns 40 – part 1: television spoofs and goofs
When I learned that Sesame Street was turning forty, my reactions were roughly as follows:
- I love Sesame Street!
- Holy crap, I’ve only been alive for half of that and I still feel old.
- I’ve got to clack about this.
And then, of course, I went about doing so. But it’s a bit more complicated than that. Because when you write about Sesame Street, it’s not like writing about your average show. Sesame Street is more than a show, it’s an institution. It’s a universal that almost everyone I know watches and relates to. It’s something I still enjoy watching with the kids I babysit (more than they enjoy watching it, usually). It’s a visual representation of my childhood, and not just mine, but multiple generations worth of kids. It’s such a big deal that Newsweek had a great article exploring the cultural impact of Sesame Street, about its dedication to sending messages of peace and acceptance to children, about how for forty years they have faithfully depicted people of all races, ethnicities, and religions playing and living together as a peaceful community, and how groundbreaking that was to see, especially on a children’s show in 1969.
Ricky Gervais asks Elmo about necrophilia and other hilarity
By most standards, Ricky Gervais’s comedy isn’t exactly kid-friendly, so who in the hell let him hang out with Elmo? While on the set of Sesame Street, filming his appearance for a November episode, Gervais steered his interview with the red Muppet into different territory and, of course, some less than appropriate words came up. Thank goodness AP was there to catch it. Despite the fact that Gervais actually says, “Drugs, child abuse and the Holocaust” during the video, the clip is really delightful. And props to Elmo for not snapping! I know I would have lost it.
The whole thing’s a real treat and worth checking out. Leave the kids in the other room, though, unless you feel like answering some difficult questions later.
CliqueClack (for the older) Kids: The Electric Company
Morgan Freeman. Rita Moreno. Bill Cosby. Separately, these three personalities have contributed hours of entertainment to film, theater and television for decades. Combined, they put something quite wonderful together during the earliest days of children’s programming on public television.
It was these three stars, along with many more talented actors, writers and directors, that gave us The Electric Company. A sibling to Sesame Street, Electric Company took the letter and word skills developed by Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch and put them to good use for older kids by focusing on reading and grammar. The result was a huge hit that remained popular for years after the show completed its original run.
A bumper crop of bumpers of the ’80s
See that small logo attached to this post? If you’re a child of the ’70s and ’80s, it probably looks pretty familiar. It’s amazing, though, what happens when you put it into full motion with the brief but simple animation and soundtrack. Memories of youth smack you in the brain as quickly as with familiar smells. No matter how many times you see them today, you shake your head and say aloud, “Holy ship, I remember this from when I was a kid!” Yes, I said “ship” — just ask my son, right after he finishes the cookie I gave him for telling my wife that.
After seeing the Rankin-Bass logo appear before one of the Christmas specials this past holiday season, I set out to find it and any other intro/promo from my youth that strikes those same kinds of memories. Let’s start with the first one that brought this on for me, Rankin-Bass…
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