View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate. This week: Thoughts on the 45th anniversary of Sesame Street.
Different from the start
Right from the get-go, Sesame Street was a different kind of kids show. It was educational and entertaining and not just for the pre-school audience it was designed for.
I first became acquainted with the show in 1970, its second season. I didn't watch it regularly-I was already in Grade 1-but my younger brothers did. Although I never would have admitted it at the time, I have to admit in retrospect that on those sick days and snow days, I was not just acquiescing to my younger siblings.
Of course, the show fell off the radar for me completely by the time we were all in school.
I had my second round of familiarity with Sesame Street in my twenties when my own kids were young. The trick for any program that wants to dominate the kids' entertainment market is in appealing to moms and dads as well as children.
And that is something Sesame Street does in all kinds of ways. Just to name a few, it is not condescending, they use catchy current music, it is actually pretty funny and they produce great spoofs of popular movies and television shows.
It's been at least 20 years since my sons were of Sesame Street age, but I am a grandpa now and when my grandson came to visit this summer I got to sample a range of the new children's shows. They are, to a one, mind-numbingly painful to watch for an adult, all but one.
I don't remember it being quite so one character-centric-they could get away with renaming it Elmo Street-but all the great characters and segments that made this show a winner are still there.
I actually laughed out loud at the parody of Sons of Anarchy, Sons of Poetry. They even managed to stick in a little adult innuendo that would completely fly over the heads of kids
Finally, there is the controversy. Although the producers have tread carefully, they aren't afraid to take on touchy subjects such as death and divorce. In the African version of the show there is an HIV-positive character.
And, for me personally, I love the fact it aggravates ultra-conservatives because they see it as part of a liberal conspiracy to propagandize children into becoming socialistic, gay marriage-loving secularists.
-Thom Barker
Fond memories
Nothing says you are advancing in years more than your loved childhood icons themselves celebrating birthdays which require multiple packs of birthday candles.
So when Sesame Street recently hit its 45th birthday as a television show it was one of those 'Wow!' moments.
I was nine back with the show launched, and in no way do I remember that moment with any sense of clarity.
But I, like I would guess just about every child of the last half century, watched the show.
Sesame Street was part of an early childhood pantheon of TV which included Mr. Dressup (who I have had the pleasure to interview), The Friendly Giant and Chez Helen, and they were very much part of my growing up on a Saskatchewan farm.
But while the other shows went into retirement, becoming simply something of childhood memory, Sesame Street has prevailed.
On through the decades, a time of great change in our world, the show has prevailed.
In the process Bert & Ernie, Big Bird, The Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch have become among the most recognized of children's beloved characters.
Certainly the characters, both real and puppet, have helped Sesame Street endure, but it goes deeper.
The show softly educates the young viewer, reinforcing the understanding of numbers and letters, the need to be fair and tolerant. They are in some ways very basic building blocks of the growth of a child, but the show has helped entertain and reinforce those things for years.
Could I pick one thing Sesame Street did for me or for my children in their turn before the TV screen? In honesty, no. The show is not about dramatic moments of enlightenment. It is more subtle than that.
But I can say in a world where we almost all watch too much television, Sesame Street remains one show that deserves viewers.
May we long still be able to join the beloved characters for some time on one of the 'funnest' streets there is; Sesame Street.
- Calvin Daniels
From the letter Q
Sesame Street is 45 years old. Just let that sink in for a few moments.
That means that people who watched the first ever episode of the long running children's television show (that aired on November 10, 1969) might just be watching the most recent episode with their son or daughter as well as their grandchild (if that doesn't make you feel old, I don't know what will).
Sesame Street is older than roughly 66% of all NHL teams.
In fact Sesame Street has been running for so long that "today's show" has been brought to you by each letter of the alphabet over 166 times (and counting).
Bob McGrath, known for not only his role as Bob Johnson, Sesame Street's lovable music teacher but also for his appearance on over 30 Telemiracle events has been a lifetime human resident of Sesame Street.
However when he first appeared on the show in 1969 he had just two children. He now has five kids and a total of eight grandchildren, six grandaughters and two grandsons.
Feel old yet? If so, don't worry. For as popular as Sesame Street is, chances are it'll run long enough to make your children (or dare I say, grandchildren) feel just as old as this made you feel!
Today's "Cheap Seats" has been brought to you by the letter "Q".
-Randy Brenzen
