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capri0mniWarning: this post will have many video embeds, because I can't really explain what I've seen without showing what I've seen (plus, I'm planning on doing another post, later, that will take a lot of thinkifying and writing, and I'm budgeting my energy and time, or we'll just get a repeat of yestderday).
This is what I first saw, when I tuned in to my local "PBS" Station (the name "PBS" hadn't even been dreamt up, yet) on November 10, 1969, at 3:30pm (I was 5, going on 6).
In 1969, Kindergarten was considered "preschool," seperate from "Elementary School" -- it was an "extra" -- nice if you could get it, but poor kids from the inner city (ie Black) kids were not getting it. ...And they were suffering later, because of it. But 97% of all households had a television. So Joan Ganz Cooney got the idea* to bring the Kindergarten to the kids. The show's primary audience were 5 and 6 year-olds (The secondary audience was the parents and older folks, hearing the TV in the background).
In 1999, for the first time since the show was created, the producers went back and analysed who was actually watching the show. And they discovered that it wasn't 3, 4, or 5 year-olds, anymore -- it was 1 and 2 year-olds.
One of the things that surprised the focus group leaders (I remember reading this on Sesame Street's "For parents" webpage at the time) was that even the very young toddlers had long attention spans if you gave them a coherent storyline to follow (something that supports my theory that humans are hardwired to be storytellers and story-listeners). So Elmo got his own, longer, segment.** And even though two-year olds are not stupid, they don't have half the real-world experience of five-year olds, so a lot of the snappy humor and satire was flying right over their heads, so that got toned down, too.
So that leads us to the Sesame Street I saw last night:
The entire show is "long narration format," the entire hour is filled with four or five long segments, each with a different set of characters and on a different set, and in a different style; it's like a regular "primetime line-up" condensed into a single hour; each segment is a stand-alone show you can look forward to. The short, minute-long, clips are gone... and yes, I will miss them. But the show isn't being made for me, now. It's being made for my grandchildren (metaphorically speaking).
One of the new characters is Abby Cadabby -- a fairy godchild who's an emigree to Sesame Street from the land of fairies. This allows the writers and producers to introduce the ideas of cross-culturalism without exoticizing any actual human beings (some of whom may be watching, and not apreciate being "othered"). And I think I may really grow fond of Abby's new "show," which was introduced last night:
Oh, and for the 35th season, the producers introduced Traction Jackson, to educate people that Wheelchairs are Still Not a Tragedy:
Last night, TJ Led the Dancing for the number of the Day. Maybe the writers for Glee should watch...
And, for the sake of nostalgia, have another segment from the first season, that I remember, but maybe it was before you were even born:
"Cookie Monster" wasn't always "Cookie," you know... (in his pre-Sesame career, he was a spokesmonster for Frito-Lay, and ate computers in IMB corporate educational films ... he also starred in a few of my nightmares, as a kid)
*This is a gross over-symplification.
**The reason Elmo became so commerical -- being marketed every Christmas -- was because the federal government pulled out its public funding in 1981, and even kids' shows take money to make. You can stop blaming the Big Corporations, Internets.
This is what I first saw, when I tuned in to my local "PBS" Station (the name "PBS" hadn't even been dreamt up, yet) on November 10, 1969, at 3:30pm (I was 5, going on 6).
In 1969, Kindergarten was considered "preschool," seperate from "Elementary School" -- it was an "extra" -- nice if you could get it, but poor kids from the inner city (ie Black) kids were not getting it. ...And they were suffering later, because of it. But 97% of all households had a television. So Joan Ganz Cooney got the idea* to bring the Kindergarten to the kids. The show's primary audience were 5 and 6 year-olds (The secondary audience was the parents and older folks, hearing the TV in the background).
In 1999, for the first time since the show was created, the producers went back and analysed who was actually watching the show. And they discovered that it wasn't 3, 4, or 5 year-olds, anymore -- it was 1 and 2 year-olds.
One of the things that surprised the focus group leaders (I remember reading this on Sesame Street's "For parents" webpage at the time) was that even the very young toddlers had long attention spans if you gave them a coherent storyline to follow (something that supports my theory that humans are hardwired to be storytellers and story-listeners). So Elmo got his own, longer, segment.** And even though two-year olds are not stupid, they don't have half the real-world experience of five-year olds, so a lot of the snappy humor and satire was flying right over their heads, so that got toned down, too.
So that leads us to the Sesame Street I saw last night:
The entire show is "long narration format," the entire hour is filled with four or five long segments, each with a different set of characters and on a different set, and in a different style; it's like a regular "primetime line-up" condensed into a single hour; each segment is a stand-alone show you can look forward to. The short, minute-long, clips are gone... and yes, I will miss them. But the show isn't being made for me, now. It's being made for my grandchildren (metaphorically speaking).
One of the new characters is Abby Cadabby -- a fairy godchild who's an emigree to Sesame Street from the land of fairies. This allows the writers and producers to introduce the ideas of cross-culturalism without exoticizing any actual human beings (some of whom may be watching, and not apreciate being "othered"). And I think I may really grow fond of Abby's new "show," which was introduced last night:
Oh, and for the 35th season, the producers introduced Traction Jackson, to educate people that Wheelchairs are Still Not a Tragedy:
Last night, TJ Led the Dancing for the number of the Day. Maybe the writers for Glee should watch...
And, for the sake of nostalgia, have another segment from the first season, that I remember, but maybe it was before you were even born:
"Cookie Monster" wasn't always "Cookie," you know... (in his pre-Sesame career, he was a spokesmonster for Frito-Lay, and ate computers in IMB corporate educational films ... he also starred in a few of my nightmares, as a kid)
*This is a gross over-symplification.
**The reason Elmo became so commerical -- being marketed every Christmas -- was because the federal government pulled out its public funding in 1981, and even kids' shows take money to make. You can stop blaming the Big Corporations, Internets.
