This may come as a shock to some parents and kids, but the new Sesame Street: Old School DVDs that were released this week come with the following disclaimer at the beginning, read by a cartoon character:
"Welcome to Sesame Street Nostalgia. I am Bob, your host, and I want you to know that these early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups and may not meet the needs of today's pre-school child."
Um...huh?
A spokesman for Sesame Workshop says that the reason for the disclaimer is that many of the things the kids do in the old show, like playing in a dump, wouldn't fly with today's oh-so-careful world. And she also said that kids might be confused by all of the changes that have happened in the show in the past 30-40 years, such as characters looking different.
I think this is taking things a bit too far. If you want to remind parents that things are different, maybe put something on the box instead of an animation on the screen? And kids are smarter than this. Parents can explain why there's a different actor playing someone or a different color to Oscar. I mean, it's not like there were episodes where Big Bird pulled a knife on Gordon or Mr. Hooper was found out to be running a protection racket out of his store. Though it is quite disturbing that several of the Muppets appear on screen completely nude.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-26-2006 @ 7:24PM
jeff smith said...
The wussification of our children continues. Look at what they watch today compared to what the kids in the 70's and 80's or even before that time had to watch. Could you imagine "Lone Ranger" on T.V.today?..never would make it..every show on today is "nice" and everyone wins, with a lot of kids shows not to offend andyone which makes them so bland. Good Lord kids cant even play tag or dodgeball anymore. Another article written here said Turner was going through the old Avery,Jones and Barbara cartoons and taking out any smoking or drinking...now Sesame Street..is anything sacred?
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10-26-2006 @ 7:54PM
Dwayne Conyers said...
I guess that explains why The Electric Company never returned.
Hey, you guys!
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dwacon
http://dwacon.blogspot.com
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10-26-2006 @ 10:48PM
Carissa said...
This is all indicitive of the wussification of America, which sadly includes the horrific crimes that go along with it. If kids could play in a frakin dump and punch each other in the nose, then maybe they wouldn't feel the need to carry guns to kill each other instead.
But, then families wouldn't be so wealthy after making money suing little Johnny's family because Johnny kissed Betsy on the cheek on the playground or knocking that dumbass off the merry go round. Oh yeah! You're not allowed to actually play on the ground any more either, especially in on a whirling object.
I think all kids today need to sit the hell down in front of the tube and watch Zoom, After School Specials, Sesame Street (The Evil Years edition) and Electric Company. We need to emancipate the nation's children!
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10-26-2006 @ 11:58PM
erroneous_nick said...
I think I want a time machine so I can go back to when kids could just be kids. If a program had aired when I was a child that speculated on how the world would be in the first decade of the 21st century, and had it been 100% accurate showing just what we see and how we live today, absolutely nobody would have believed it. The program would have been dismissed as ridiculously bad fiction.
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10-27-2006 @ 3:30AM
Kevbo said...
More elements to the Old School Sesame Street shows that will worry modern children:
-Bert repeatedly refers to Ernie as "Ma bitch."
-Susan's insistence that Gordon never raise his "pimp hand" against her.
-Mr. Hooper sells foods with trans fat in them
-Oscar handles garbage without gloves
-Snufflupagus' obesity goes unchallenged
-Children blithely play without cell phones/pagers
-No stray gunfire heard along street
-Kermit walks about without pants but often in trench coat
-Grover referred to as "eccentric" rather than "gay."
-Abundance of plaid
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10-27-2006 @ 8:08AM
Boehmian Problem Drinker said...
Hey don't forget 3-2-1 Contact!
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10-27-2006 @ 11:49AM
jttv said...
Cookie Monster smoked alot of weed in those early episodes, which makes him a bad role model for today's sissy pansy kids.
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10-27-2006 @ 12:20PM
LC said...
I don't think it's so much about the wussification of kids as it is the "I'm afraid of lawsuits around every corner" mentality.
Sadly, it was probably prudent for them to put a disclaimer out there instead of having to deal with leeches sucking them dry because a kid was holding scissors the wrong way 30 years ago.
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10-27-2006 @ 11:42PM
Bob Baft said...
My kid will watch this, and if she want's to play in a dump, then SO BE IT! I grew up normal watching this stuff!
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10-28-2006 @ 1:41AM
Teresa said...
Oh man, I don't know what cracks me up more: the silly disclaimer on the DVDs, the article I'm commenting to or all of the previous comments. All I know is, I haven't been this amused by Sesame Street in years!
"No whirling objects"!
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11-13-2006 @ 8:45AM
KO said...
I cannot believe what our society has come to. It's Sesame Street for God's sake! People today need to get a life and quit worrying about a harmless show such as Sesame Street. Sesame Street was produced during a time when cartoons were actually funny instead of the shows they call cartoons today. Kind of sad in a way that our kids can't enjoy the things we did as kids.
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