Scheiss Weekly

Oh No She Dinnit!

Mamacita says:  Last night in class we were discussing the original (excellent) Sesame Street and the present (sissy) Sesame Street, and the old seasons won, hands-down.

General consensus among twenty students, ages 18-56, was that Cookie Monster is SUPPOSED to be greedy and eat improperly, Oscar is SUPPOSED to be grouchy, the Count is a scary VAMPIRE, Bert and Ernie are little boys, Grover is cute and shares his voice with Yoda, and that Mr. Snuffelupagus is SUPPOSED to have a very, very deep, sonorous, sad, kind of creepy voice.  He’s also supposed to be invisible to everyone except Big Bird.  The new Sesame Street is toned-down, stuffed so full of euphemisms and political correctness, and so afraid of offending someone that it’s become bland and silly instead of vibrant and contemporary.  Condescending to children is NEVER wise.  Children always knew that some of the characters behaved in ways that nice people weren’t supposed to behave; it was a learning device.  Too bad so many adults don’t have the same contextual skills.

My contribution?  Elmo needs to grow a pair.

The summary?  Bring back The Electric Company.  And don’t anyone DARE dumb it down.  Sesame Street has been spoiled, but it’s not too late for some of the others.  And you know the others will be dumbed down too if the Political Correctness Monster (currently in charge of all the other SS monsters well as our government) is given his/her way.

Ah, dumbing things down.  It’s the American Way.  And it’s so much easier than requiring everybody to read and comprehend well!

Dear Political Correctness Monster:  you need to grow a pair, too.

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This entry was written by Jane Goodwin and posted on October 16, 2008 at 5:48 pm and filed under Education, Jane Goodwin, JaneG, Literature, Mamacita, MamacitaG, Oh No She Dinnit, Scheiss Weekly, schools. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment(Latest is displayed first) or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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11 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. We were spoiled by the original Sesame Street. Remember when Mr. Hooper died? I died inside a little, too. He was part of our FAMILY. He was a part of us. KWIM?

    And there was nothing like the SS/Electric Company shows back to back.

    Hey you guys!!!!

    1. Kris on October 24th, 2008 at 2:58 am

  2. In third grade, I loved going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays because those were the days that Mrs. Nixon’s class go to see The Electric Company. I loved that show. The rest of the days I loved going to school because Mrs. Nixon was tough but made learning fun and easy. (which can’t be said for my 4th grade teacher whose name escapes me.) Thank you Mrs. Nixon!

    2. Marnie on October 18th, 2008 at 9:24 am

  3. Ok I have something to admit here.

    My name is Hula Doula and I didn’t watch Sesame Street (to my knowledge) until I was in college. I didn’t have a tv nor a clue what Sesame Street was.

    Whew…glad that’s over and done with.

    3. Hula Doula on October 18th, 2008 at 4:39 am

  4. I usually lurk on your blog, but I actually feel I must contribute here because I was *just* talking about this the other day! Luckily they have released a couple of DVD’s of “Old School Sesame Street”, which I will buy for my kids someday (when I, y’know, have them.)

    Sesame Street was also instrumental in helping me understand death. I was 6 or 7 when I saw the episode in which the adults talk to Big Bird about the death of Mr. Hooper. You just don’t see kids’ shows handling those kinds of important topics anymore. Tis a shame.

    And I still totally cry if I see that clip from the Mr. Hooper episode.

    4. Jackie on October 17th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

  5. I absolutely loved the Electric Co.!!

    5. kenju on October 17th, 2008 at 5:45 am

  6. Old Sesame Street, always! And we’ve been buying the old Electric Company for our boys and they love it! :)

    6. jen on October 17th, 2008 at 3:20 am

  7. This is the first time I’ve commented in writing, but definitely not the first time I’ve said out loud (to an empty room) Absolutely! haha! From first to fifth grade, we lived in Germany (USAF family) and we didn’t get American tv unless it was taped and sent over. I remember Johnny Carson, Sonny and Cher, and Sesame Street. I was only allowed to watch one of those…bet you can guess which one! :o ) I am now an educator in search of a job, and have a hard time with all the politically correct stuff our kids are handed. Reality is life isn’t always fair, and you’d better ‘act right’ because while you may never seen those people again, they just might be your next job interviewer!

    Thanks for your reality checks here. I look forward to them everyday!
    Naomi

    7. Naomi on October 17th, 2008 at 1:44 am

  8. Electric Company — Easy Reader rules!

    8. lordsomber on October 17th, 2008 at 12:25 am

  9. My dad use to be politically correct, until he told everyone he’s going to vote for McCain, which wasn’t a good thing, because mom slapped him, which prompt him to drop politics when he came back from the dentist. He was so red!

    Nice to see you’re still blogging, Jane!

    9. Vid Digger on October 16th, 2008 at 11:39 pm

  10. Oh yes she did!

    “My contribution? Elmo needs to grow a pair.” = funniest thing I’ve heard all day!

    10. Kathy B. on October 16th, 2008 at 8:19 pm

  11. AMEN, Sistah.

    11. Mrs. Chili on October 16th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

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