I submit for your perusal three videos to compare.
The first is the debut intro to the television show “Sesame Street” (which aired in in late 1969):
The second is the intro as seen in the seventies:
Here is today’s intro:
Watch them for yourselves. No, go on. I’ll wait.
No really, go ahead.
OK, done? Now here are my observations.
The first two intros looked like actual kids actually playing. The third is clearly a set of actors.
The first two intros show children playing “dangerously” (by today’s mainstream standards) while appearing relatively unsupervised/free range. The children’s play includes climbing farm equipment, swinging and hanging upside down from monkey bars, unhelmeted trike riding (no-hands even), roller skating and running as a group, running some more, chasing farm animals, feeding animals at the zoo, rock climbing and tree climbing, more running (lots of running), jumping from some agri-industrial platform, siblings helping small children go down slides or run across concrete, two children riding a horse bareback (and unhelmetted), hanging clothes in a backyard, and even a little girl crying (which is awesome because hey, little kids cry and it’s okay!). There’s even a toddler holding what looks like a green glass beer bottle, which gave me a giggle (although I’m sure it wasn’t beer).
In the first two intros the kids are a variety of ages, races, thin-to-chubby, and wear a variety of real-life dress – or undress. The two horse-riders are shirtless and the girl helped on the slide is wearing a little dress so short you can see her bloomers.
In the first two intros, the kids’ activities are shown in relatively long shots; that is the camera follows the children in their authentic play.
The third intro shows by comparison almost child non-activity overlayed by frenetic cartoon/puppet character action. These (monolithically well-dressed, well-groomed, spotless and slender) kids are seen: coloring decidedly-grownup-and-therefore-phony-versions-of-“childish” art while sitting/laying on the concrete, riding in cars, playing stationary “pattycake”, blowing bubbles while standing in place, a single child riding a bike (helmetted), a single child jogging slowly, and finally two children dancing in place on some steps (stop me before I pee my pants with excitement). In contrast the cartoon/puppet characters fly, play, and overwhelm the screen with laughter and whimsy and *lots* of quick cuts to keep our attention span. (The puppets get to mail letters in a public mail box but apparently actual children do not).
One thing to the credit of the third intro: at least it includes a child using a wheelchair (altho’ I know the original Sesame Street was relatively inclusive of people with disabilities).
Given we are at the crime rate of 1970 according to Department of Justice statistics (crime rates against children are in decline), the possible reasons today’s version is so sanitized with over-the-top cartoon vacuity and “safe” and inauthentic childplay seem quite troubling.
Sigh.
H/t to Daniel Bigler for tweeting these videos.
We watch A LOT of old school Sesame Street at my house (all on DVD). The few times we have watched the new episodes on television, my 2-year-old son got bored (and so did I!). Half of the show was Elmo’s World, the other half involves a long narrative-driven story featuring whatever Muppet has a new product coming out. Bert and Ernie are now claymation.
I realize that some of my disgust at the changes to Sesame Street are rooted in my love for the old Sesame that I remember as a I child, but I think I can objectively state that the show has seriously gone down hill. My son learned the alphabet from Old School Sesame. He dances and talks to the TV and is seriously engaged by it. The new version is mostly entertainment and doesn’t teach much.
It makes me sad. There’s a sketch in one of the Old School episodes where a rag-tag group of dirty-faced kids run through a junk yard to illustrate the concepts of over, under and through with nary a helmet or tetanus shot in sight. Sigh.
@Lindsay
Well, you’ve nailed some more of the superior aspects of the old version.
I heard a terrible, terrible rumor that Cookie Monster now makes sure to eat his healthy food first (& talk about it) before eating a sensible amount of cookies. Good Lord. No.
My first thought watching the older intros was, “Man, thats so much of the stuff I engaged in during my youth.” It brought me glee. I was also brought to giggles at the crying girl. Playing sometimes rears some ugly outcomes.
Almost instantly as the recent intro played I was turned off. For the following reasons.
* How DARE they instruct little Maria Carey inflections in the song vocals. They are children. Way to preserve youthful ideals. Apparently you cannot even he heard on TV as a child unless you glam it up. Gross.
*There were hardly any children in the clip. Not just the lame ass examples of children at play were very frequent. I seem to remember seeing about 10 kids per show, in almost every “bit”. Which makes me wonder about the actual show. But I was proven right reading your outline of the shows agenda in your post response.
* I also noticed the wheelchair. But more was disturbed at how little it was, in the back round of a very busy, character heavy, situation in the front. Almost as a distraction from what could have been an admirable attribute to the opening of the show. Almost a, “See, we included children with handicaps, don’t write angry letters.”
I would like to think that for the most part the clips we saw in the older openings are still the rule and not the exception. But I also see many stressed parents trying to show their kids how to play “correctly”. The summer program at Central Play Field was an ideal setting to capture that innocent natural playfulness and fantasy kids are born with. Even if it was my job to keep them off those death trap seals and whale. Very interesting stuff. What made you come to compare these videos?
Wow.
Number three was creeeeeepy. I don’t remember which into I watched as a kid, but I remember running, city scenes and green (plants/grass) and mostly kids, very few, if any characters. And I wouldn’t say the kids were doing anything dangerous in one or two, but by # three they are practically dead inside. All smiles and sunshine, their drawings being the only interesting thing that happens other than the slow bike riding.
But maybe that’s what we as a culture want from kids now – quiet, sunshiny voices singing fakely, memories of sidewalk chalk and imagination but no inconvenience – no falling, jumping, rambunctious behavior at all (because now that is ADHD, a problem to be medicated $$).
Kids now are supposed to be indoors and supervised at all times, every little second. And their energy (something we all seem to want as adults) is a difficulty. If I listen to what (we) parents (usually) complain about (won’t sleep when I think she should, won’t eat what I want him to, too loud, won’t come back when I call, too much energy, doesn’t understand the rules and won’t always follow them, whiny, cries irrationally or at great length, stubborn, argues with me and others) it’s just lack of control over their minds and bodies – which is what makes them individual people, and not us. BUt the third intro has eradicated those behaviors from childhood. The kids live in a special world with monsters, they are well behaved, cheerful. They don’t touch unless it is part of a game. They only draw, smile, share, ride in cars, ride bikes slowly, jog slowly and dance in place. Play patty cake. Ahhhhhh now that’s some fake-sugar living. A dream world where no one is sad or angry, no one ever gets hurt or scared or lost. Bright colors and imaginary friends to share with, all while drawing waaay better than is developmentally likely. But it does seem like what most moms I know want – no one hurt or sad or scared, nothing hard, everything easy and fun. Smiles! Hugs! but the same parents I know who fall most into this idea of childhood are also the most vehement about sending their kids to public school because “life is hard and school is a good preparation for life” – which seems the opposite of the happy no one gets hurt life.
The park on the island is boring. One play structure for kids 2-4, another for the 5-8’s. This isn’t enforced, but they are labeled. And pretty much nothing is dangerous or even challenging to anyone over three or four. So kids go on the roof of the structure (not the intended use) and get into trouble for trying to make things more fun/interesting/challenging. We generally just go to the woods or the beach where things are interesting for all ages of kid or adult and where the kids can play without a ton of intervention from adults.
I played outside unattended a ton as a kid, also spent tons and tons of time inside watching tv alone while my mom was at work. My kid plays outside alone a lot, but not usually with other kids (but right now it’s mostly because the other moms – and I say moms because they are who I deal with in every case- aren’t cool with it, or because the other kids leave the areas that I am cool with them playing in (it’s a lot of space, but I don’t let them play by the pond, the road or so far out of hearing distance/sight that I can’t help if they need me, and there is no one else near by to help if I don’t hear them and they’re pretty young kids). It seems like the only way for a kid to really play and live around here is to do it on private property, away from others or behind closed doors.
Thanks for pointing toward a media example that seems to really reflect changes in the culture of play and childhood in the United States over the last 40 years. I haven’t reviewed the samples yet, but your analysis speaks to some discomfort I’ve felt when catching snippets of the show in recent years. Highlighting the differences in screen time (then and now) appearance by children and characters and adding in the contemporary comparison of activity level (children vs characters again) shows that a prior oasis of highly appropriate children’s programming is not exempt from continued scrutiny.
When I was a wee infant/toddler, the 1970s intro sequence was the one I saw on Sesame Street. I remember a different (but similar) intro that ran either around the same time (mid-1980s) or a little later that included shirtless kids running through a field, at least one of whom appeared to be a girl. I have a distant memory of consciously noticing that detail.
Many aspects of today’s Sesame Street bother me: Elmo’s World, the constantly tutu-clad “girl monster” Zoe, and the fairy-Muppet Abby Cadabby. Every time I turn around it seems like they’ve found another way to be cutesy and condescending. I don’t think they’d air segments like this one or this one anymore 🙁
Maybe at this point I’m just reiterating things that you and your posters have already made, but there was a civic dimension to the old Sesame Street that is really missing from the new Sesame Street. The titular STREET was really important to the show, and a lot of the opening sketches (I’m not talking about the theme song, but the first part of the show-proper) were kind of panoramic. These sketches would “establish” the street, showing everyone on the street — adults and children– engaged in activity, and usually communal activity. I can think of one episode where a little girl in Mr. Hooper’s shop releases a balloon, and it flies up to the balcony where David is reading. David catches it, brings it back, passing Luis, who is ordering a mango from Willie’s fruit cart, etc. etc. etc. … and there was clearly no point to this segment except to show–kind of lyrically, actually–all these lives intersecting on the Street. It made a nice preface for everything that followed. I find that the Street itself is really what’s missing from the show now; it has been replaced by overproduced computer-generated backdrops. We’re seeing less of the Street and less of the community, in favour of seeing more of these new, individual, cloying characters. (Even Cookie Monster is less cookie-obsessed now and choosing healthier snacks… how irritating! It’s called characterization, for crying out loud!)
Everything for children these days is so moralistic. At the library, I find myself sorting through these absolutely charmless preschool-oriented books about tidying up and being a good listener– books that have hardly a veneer of narrative. The job of books, as I see it, is to nourish a child’s imagination. What happened to that?
I think part of the problem with Sesame Street, as your other posters have said, is that it reflects contemporary neuroses about the social and public competence of children. I know that these issues are close to your heart. Mine too, especially as my son gets older. But I also think that the difference between the Sesame Street we watched when we were children and the happy technicolour Elmo-centric Sesame Street of today reflects the fact that the Sesame Street of yesteryear was actually made to be watched by kindergarten-aged children, whereas the new Sesame Street pitches itself, as well, to BABIES, who are part of the new viewing public. Good bye, civic life; hello, bright colours.
@Jasmine
That is such a good question! What made me compare is, essentially, I am making it a subject of study, the cultural stressors and norms in American when it comes to parenting/caring for children, and their rights. I do think the uber-safe, uber-condescending and “cutesy” television shows are the rule and not the exception. Perhaps the most disturbing bit is television still sports heros and heroines who are out having adventures, while real kids’ lives consist of a lot of supervision and enforced inactivity (at school desks or video games etc). Oh and P.S. you’ll get judged as a parent if you let your kid out, and YES you’ll get judged as a parent if your kids are “couch potatoes” and watch “too much” TV or play too many video games. Thanks for weighing in, lady!
@Shelley
You win the “Get off my lawn!” award with your comment! By the way-I am viewed as a radical or nutter for saying this, but the level that adults (both those who raise children and those who don’t) want to have control over kids’ minds and bodies is so invasive many people don’t know our culture is steeped in it. Plan to read a long ranty post about it soon (prolly on ).
In my post here I kept my description of the three intros as clinical as possible (with one exception – my “pee my pants” joke). But you have illuminated the emotional response I felt. “Dead inside”, indeed.
You wrote,
It seems like the only way for a kid to really play and live around here is to do it on private property, away from others or behind closed doors.
I see a lot of that – semi-rural living setups like yours where parents let their hair down and let their kid out. We’re semi-urban and I admit it feels more fishbowl that I let my kids loose, but I’m not going to stop.
Thank you as always for your comments as I look forward to them every time.
@luckychrm
“A prior oasis of highly appropriate children’s programming” is right. This show and a few others (I think we discussed “Electric Company” and “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood”) were indeed lovely edifices. I would love to find a list of any such wonderful programming today. Or maybe I’ll just check out those shows for my kids from the library!
@Medrie
You absolutely aren’t reiterating and you’re bringing up an important part. Sesame Street was a REAL PLACE and the subject of living our lives together was so much a narrative in the show. You said it really well here and I hope others read and digest your observations.
I also agree with you children’s books – or the ones often shared by teachers etc – are often very moralistic and prim and teaching kids to be “good”. Fortunately through the library the old books are still there and some of those are pretty wild and awesome!
@maria
Those two video clips are amazing and yes, of course they would not show those subjects today – full stop. By the way there was an even more fierce and amazing bit the year I was born, 1977, featuring Buffy Sainte Marie nursing her son Cody. It makes me want to cry because of its simplicity and straightforwardness and inclusivity. Not only would this never, ever, ever make the show but I doubt they’d feature someone like Sainte Marie with her heavy duty work in social justice, feminism, and First Nations issues (maybe I’m wrong and maybe Sesame Street will still take on “controversial” guests). Her rendition of “Cripple Creek” is also stellar!
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So um. You who leave comments are seriously blowing my mind with your awesomeness.
Wow. I was going to mention the Buffy nursing Cody clip, because I remember it so vividly. It’s so straight-forward in its explanation of what nursing is and Big Bird isn’t ashamed or confused by it. Contrast that with a recent local incident where a mom (who just happens to be a lawyer) was at a mall and decided to nurse her child in the common play area. She was asked to stop by mall employees (from customer service, no less!) and by a mom who was there with her son. The mom said her son was asking what the lawyer mom was doing and said that it “confused him”, then asked what she was supposed to tell him. Lawyer mom told her to tell her son that she was feeding her baby the way women had been for thousands of years. Straight-forward, to the point and not in the least bit confusing, to my way of thinking.
I miss the old Sesame Street. I miss Electric Company. I miss Big Blue Marble (the marble in question being the Earth). All of these shows had real kids doing real things, unscripted. That’s how life is supposed to be. I don’t let my kids watch the new Sesame Street because I find Elmo annoying but also because I think Jim Henson would be horrified if he saw what has happened to his show.
There was an episode about Mr. Hooper dying after he died suddenly IRL that I bet wouldn’t make the cut these days. I’ll bet they aren’t even allowed to say “dead” or talk about dying now. CTW did do a program for kids whose parents were deploying around 2003-2004 that was supposedly designed to help kids deal with the separation and other issues that come up during military deployments. It aired on Armed Forces Network, not sure if it was national or not. Anyway, most of the parents I knew felt it was pretty worthless because it skirted the more intense issues that happen (like, my best friend’s dad is dead, etc.). Why do they think that kids can no longer handle intense subjects that still exist IRL?
As a test, I showed these three clips to my 2 youngest (ages 1 and 3). They laughed and smiled at the first 2 and the baby did his little bopping dance. During the last clip they both just stared at the screen and didn’t smile. Is this scientific? Hell know but it’s telling me that I’m right not to have them watch the new episodes.
Oops – that should be “Hell if I know”.