What Happened to Sesame Street?

Snuffaluffagus ultimately met his demise due to the fact that the Sesame Street creators starting having concerns that the adults' refusal to believe Big Bird's claims of his friend's existence would discourage children from sharing important things with their parents. Once he was "revealed" to the adults on the show, it was no longer fun to watch.

It was also a huge issue for the show' creators when the actor who played Mr. Hooper died. He was one of the primary characters on the show when I was a child. The creators had to explain to all the viewers (through skits with Big Bird...Mr. Hooper's best friend) that Mr. Hooper died and would no longer be around. That may be one reason why the human characters (Maria, Luis, etc.) are no longer a focal point of the show.

You must be young! I had never heard of Prairie Dawn until my kids started watching. I miss Kermit.

PS...any other old-schoolers around here who remember "Zoom?"

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it became politically correct.

Long gone are the characters we knew and loved! Bert and Ernie?! Big Bird?! No, it's about Brittany Spears (God forbid) or some other actor or celebrity going on!!

I miss the Count!!!

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I know, it feels like it should be renamed "The Elmo Show" doesn't it? I think Elmo is SO annoying, but I am not two years old. Apparently he is the BMOC for that age group. I think you can get the old episodes on DVD if you're nostalgiac. Oh, and on a different note, I picked up "Free to Be...You and Me!" and my five-year old has been devouring it. Same old pictures and everything.

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They too have changed some with the times, but I still love it and watch with my daycare children several times a week. I miss the old "format" with the song selections with live clips....remember "everybody sleeps" with the OLD fashioned car seats...LOL not sure why they don't just re-do the video parts of these to update them. And remember the counting songs...the fast and jazzy Pinball one..1,2,3,4,5....6,7,8,9,10...11, 12...eee..ee.lve..LOL...I can't type it the way it is now stuck in my head.. Thanks for that as it will be stuck there all day now!

I see less of the counting sequences and ABC'S and more of the social studies (jobs and different schools/classes) and topic learning like who can eat cake(choose one), how to wash your hands, can a plant be your friend (if not, who can be)..and celebrity sing along.

I too have the "Free to be, you and me" the old one (they did a remake to add a few songs and update about cyber bullying or something in the last few years..along with the old stuff..but mine is the orig 70's version. My daycare kids call it the "funny babies" movie, as it opens with the puppet babies sequence. Really ahead of its time on subject matter...acceptance...mommies and daddies are equals...its OK for boys to cry and play with dolls,, etc. Good stuff.

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I think on netflix there might be a couple episodes of the good stuff. Things weren't politically correct or mom's got paranoid that Burt and Ernie were gay and turning their kids gay. Dumb, I know. But Snufflofagus (sp???) is gone!!? WTH! Dumb. Elmo is cool and all, but I want the cool characters back!

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They're all still on...just different episodes. It's just like the daytime soaps: focus on different characters on different days.

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but dont you know they are trying to get the cookie monster to eat veggies now :) i think all of our kids are being influenced by the veggie monster :) NOT why cant they just let kids be kids. oh here goes the veggie count again while i am typing this. snuff was so cool. him and the COOKIE MONSTER HE MADE ME EAT LOTS OF COOKIES NOT i eat them occasionally and grew up with sesame street. i think they need a cake monster for people like me :) I WANT CAKE CHOCOLATE. LOTS AND LOTS OF ICING. :) elmo is cool though. and burt and earnie and the dude in the trash can oscar the grouch he was so crabby it was funny. i with you bring the old ones back. that and mr magoo. ROADHOG ;0

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They even went so far as to put parental warnings on the old episodes. :(

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They suck now...I remember reading or hearing a while ago they let go of alot of people on Sesame Street if that is the case it has effected the episodes.My kids will now only watch the Elmo's World,& Abby Cadabby

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I was just watching Seasame Street with my son as well. Everyone is gone!! Lol. I feel so old! I was looking for Maria and Felix and the rest of the gang! Lol. Even Bert n Ernie look different. I guess we have to face facts that nothing stays the same. Its still an educational show, but I love Nick Jr. I'm glad that network was created for the kiddies. :)

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When we unexpectedly had a 4th child, I jokingly told my older kids I was excited that I could watch Sesame Street again! Alas, my daughter had no interest. :(
But, I know what you mean- Snuffy, gone?? I happen to like Elmo, but I miss the other characters that are no longer there. And, personally, I think Zoe is spoiled brat. Just sayin.

* I've seen some Sesame Street DVD's at consignment stores or Goodwill. It's hit or miss, but maybe worth a look.

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If you get PBS Sprout, you can catch old episodes there.

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Oh, I know what you mean. I am so glad I still have the vhs tapes from my older kids. My 3 yr old will not watch Sesame Street. She does not like Elmo, does not hate him but not interested. It has to chagne with the times but it is a shame.
The new Electric Company is not the same as the great one we had either with Morgan Freeman. My kids cannot get into it.

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Although PBC airs the "new" Sesame Street Episodes, the Sprout network often still airs older episodes of Sesame Street. We still see a lot of Bert, Ernie, the characers and Maria etc :-)

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I hear ya! Yesterday I was talking to my kids about SS and realized they had never watched it and I remembered why - because it is not the same and got kind of sad.
Check out TRUCE website they have a section on their site about how these shows traditionally used as teaching tools have morphed into a way to market toys and products to your children and that PBS doesn't necissarily get the $$, but it is playschool, manufacturers, etc.
FYI: this site is a little alarmist. I take it with a grain of salt, but there is some middle ground that is eye opening as a parent.

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I watch with my son nearly every day, and I grew up watching as well. The only character I really miss seeing is Kermit. Other than that they are all still on, just very occasionally. There are a few new characters, and a lot of cartoon segments. And they turned Burt and Ernie into claymation characters (but they still come on as muppets once in awhile). Kermit is gone because he wasn't sold with the Sesame Street package, since he existed before SS started, and was the main character for the Muppet Show. (I looked it up, my husband and I were having an argument over whether he was ever on SS... I won :P).

Yes, it's very different from the Sesame Street we grew up watching, but overall I think it is still a very beneficial, educational show for my son to watch. And he can't get enough of Elmo, which is common from what I hear, and probably why he gets the most screentime.

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Aww... I hope they still have Coooookie Monster! Ha ha!
D.

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I am totally with you.

Frank Oz is a comic genius. That's all I'm sayin'.

I remember being excited about watching Sesame Street again when my kids were old enough, and then seeing that Elmo had become the focus of the show. I'm not a big fan of Elmo (and my husband, who also watched Sesame Street when he was little, can't stand him; he thinks he's annoying). My kids didn't really seem interested in it, either; a little bit, but not as much as they liked Dora and Diego. I think that's probably why they put Elmo in there so much, and created Elmo's world, to try and compete with Dora and Diego and other Nick Jr-type characters. But I have a DVD that has classic Sesame Street songs (like "C is for Cookie") that my kids loved, so we watched that a lot. Oh, and Follow that Bird! I loved that movie when I was little, and it has all the characters in there. It's not educational like the show, but it's still a cute movie. :-) And definitely look for old episodes on DVD, I know they have some out there.

Good morning S., I'm with you, my kids grew up watching Sesame Street, they were born in the 80's so they got to learn by the old charactor's My oldest son is 27 now and he used to love big bird, she had a stuffed big bird that went every where with him. Elmo is big now I think cause of all the Elmo toys out there. The learning shows for kids are more modern now. My daycare kids love Imagination Movers, But my 5 year old in my daycare loves The walton's and little house on the prarie. Times are constantly changing some good some bad, I think more bad than good. but neither the less changing. J.

I LOVE sesame street, 40 years ago and today. I think they go with whats popular and what the kids want to see in order to slip in little lessons and education. I try to remember that its a sure fire sign that i am getting un-hip if i dont like or understand what the kids are watching.

Their still there, however SS has to keep up with the times or lose viewers. With the Disney channel and Nick Jr. It had to stay fresh. I've watched it for the past 24 years straight. (In home childcare) and a few years back it was getting alittle stale. Just stay with it for a while you'll find it's a fresh view on todays enviroment.

i've not read the responses, but i wanted to let you know they have some sesame street on netflix too. just a suggestion.