Characters or ideas that lasted very long

[Hot Pepsi]

Sesame Street is 50 years old.

[Hot Pepsi]

My jam.

[G-Man]

You might enjoy this mix of musicians doing their thing on Sesame Street. Better to watch the clips, but quite lovely to listen to when watching is not an option. Lou Rawls must be the second coolest cat ever on Sesame Street.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Beowulf

[Guy Profumo]

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour

[Guy Profumo]

(Replaced on ITV by a fat Welshman singing in front of a castle)

[Hot Pepsi]

The Mandalorian looks cool.

[Jon]

You might enjoy this mix of musicians doing their thing on Sesame Street. Better to watch the clips, but quite lovely to listen to when watching is not an option. Lou Rawls must be the second coolest cat ever on Sesame Street.

Wow, that looks great G-Man. Many thanks. Am downloading now.

[Hot Pepsi]

You might enjoy this mix of musicians doing their thing on Sesame Street. Better to watch the clips, but quite lovely to listen to when watching is not an option. Lou Rawls must be the second coolest cat ever on Sesame Street.

That’s fantastic.

I didn’t know Bavaria banned Sesamestrasse. That’s sad.

[3 Colours Red]

I didn’t know Bavaria banned Sesamestrasse. That’s sad.

Seems to be for vaguely similar reasons as to why the BBC wouldn't take it on when the CTW offered it to them in the early 70s.

1 - We're already making our own - better - children's educational programming, thank you and...

2 - You Americans are far too brash and vulgar and you pronounce things wrong.

[G-Man]

Well, the pronunciation wasn't an issue in the German version. Bavaria's argmernt was that the depiction of the social realities Sesame Street did not reflect the German social realties. Which really means, the didn't want to expose the children of the Volk to racial mixing. Bavaria, under the firm grip of Franz-Josef Strauss' CSU, was also a keen suppporter of the apartheid regime.

[Hot Pepsi]

Seems to be for vaguely similar reasons as to why the BBC wouldn't take it on when the CTW offered it to them in the early 70s.

1 - We're already making our own - better - children's educational programming, thank you and...

2 - You Americans are far too brash and vulgar and you pronounce things wrong.

There is nothing better than Sesame Street

Sesame Street tries to make country-specific versions reflecting the culture and daily life of kids in that country. They even tried a Canada-specific version, but some countries that have already seen the original want that.

[3 Colours Red]

Well, the pronunciation wasn't an issue in the German version. Bavaria's argmernt was that the depiction of the social realities Sesame Street did not reflect the German social realties. Which really means, the didn't want to expose the children of the Volk to racial mixing. Bavaria, under the firm grip of Franz-Josef Strauss' CSU, was also a keen suppporter of the apartheid regime.

The cultural and social disposition between New York and most typical British towns of the 1970s was another reason the BBC gave for refusing it. I agree that this is not to the same scale as to what was going on in Bavaria.

Hot Pepsi I agree that Sesame Street is a wonderful, magical thing - I was just playing on the fact that the Beeb at that point was still very much tied to its Reithian vision.

[Patrick Thistle]

Kermit the Frog has been on TV since Sam and Friends in 1955. He then appeared in Sesame Street as a reporter. Then become the lead character in the Muppet Show and the rest is history. 64 years on TV.

Currently shilling for Facebook Portal.

[Hot Pepsi]

The cultural and social disposition between New York and most typical British towns of the 1970s was another reason the BBC gave for refusing it. I agree that this is not to the same scale as to what was going on in Bavaria.

Hot Pepsi I agree that Sesame Street is a wonderful, magical thing - I was just playing on the fact that the Beeb at that point was still very much tied to its Reithian vision.

I can't understand why British educators didn't like it's style or thought it was "vulgar."* Perhaps they didn't like the idea of that kind of children's TV at all. Sesame Street's philosophy is that kids are going to see TV - and probably a lot of it - whether we like it or not. Especially kids whose parents work late and can't afford professional care. So we might as well have something that they'll want to watch that is uplifting and teaches them things they need to know. It taught kids numbers and letters and how to respect differences. It also pushed multiculturalism and taught kids who lived in cities to feel good about their neighborhood. That was revolutionary at the time. Most children's programming and a lot of kids literature was about taking kids to magical places far away.**

But, as I've said, Sesame Street has long been keen to make country-specific versions. There was even a Canadian version called Sesame Park which got cancelled for some reason. I assume it had a lot of French content and references to bagged milk and muppets named Gord.

I can imagine a UK version with UK accents doing the same thing for UK city kids as the US version did for American city kids. There'd be more South Asian actors probably, along with Irish, Welsh, Scottish, etc, and they would talk about those differences.

Of course, the BBC could say "well, if you're just going to make a UK version, we could do that ourselves." But I'm not sure if they really did or not. Was there any kids programming set in a council estate?


* I'm imagining the people who didn't like it were of the "IF YOU DON'T EAT YOUR MEAT, YOU CANNAE HAVE ANY PUDDING!!!" school of education. Maybe that's unfair, but that's how imagine British education in the 60s.

** It was the opposite for me. For me, the urban multicultural environment of Sesame Street was strange and magical. Indeed, that was my first exposure to people who weren't white.

[Ginger Yellow]

Encino Man

[Jah Womble]

I can't understand why British educators didn't like it's style or thought it was "vulgar."* Perhaps they didn't like the idea of that kind of children's TV at all. Sesame Street's philosophy is that kids are going to see TV - and probably a lot of it - whether we like it or not. Especially kids whose parents work late and can't afford professional care. So we might as well have something that they'll want to watch that is uplifting and teaches them things they need to know. It taught kids numbers and letters and how to respect differences. It also pushed multiculturalism and taught kids who lived in cities to feel good about their neighborhood. That was revolutionary at the time. Most children's programming and a lot of kids literature was about taking kids to magical places far away.**

But, as I've said, Sesame Street has long been keen to make country-specific versions. There was even a Canadian version called Sesame Park which got cancelled for some reason. I assume it had a lot of French content and references to bagged milk and muppets named Gord.

I can imagine a UK version with UK accents doing the same thing for UK city kids as the US version did for American city kids. There'd be more South Asian actors probably, along with Irish, Welsh, Scottish, etc, and they would talk about those differences.

Of course, the BBC could say "well, if you're just going to make a UK version, we could do that ourselves." But I'm not sure if they really did or not. Was there any kids programming set in a council estate?


* I'm imagining the people who didn't like it were of the "IF YOU DON'T EAT YOUR MEAT, YOU CANNAE HAVE ANY PUDDING!!!" school of education. Maybe that's unfair, but that's how imagine British education in the 60s.

** It was the opposite for me. For me, the urban multicultural environment of Sesame Street was strange and magical. Indeed, that was my first exposure to people who weren't white.

BBC children's television in the late-1960s/early-1970s was still very much steeped in the 'be-seen-and-not-heard' Watch With Mother-tradition - the most 'maverick' you'd get would be something like Firmin and Postgate's Smallfilms output.

In terms of 'kids' TV set in a council estate', these started to proliferate a bit later with the likes of Grange Hill, etc - and a host of shows on ITV - but were all geared toward older kids anyway. The previous exception had been, however, the Children's Film Foundation, who made a fair few short movies based around kids living in cities - however only the very good Here Come the Double Deckers was developed into a BBC series at that point. (Watch With Mother had previously made the most token of gestures toward 'urban living' with Mary, Mungo & Midge and their high-rise flat, and Joe with his dad's lorry park.)

(I should point out that, unlike Sesame Street - which was of course first-rate - these were all 'entertainment' as opposed to 'educational' shows anyway.)

[Hot Pepsi]

How'd you learn to count to 12 without the Pointer Sisters doing the groovy pinball thing? I just can't imagine.

[Satchmo Distel]

There were acknowledgments of non-white people in children's BBC in the form of Paul Danquah (1966), Derek Griffiths (from 1971) and Floella Benjamin (from 1976) but it was tokenistic stuff by and large and they still spoke highly formal English (albeit not quite as strict as in the 50s to late-60s).

[Hot Pepsi]

Speaking of that, Thomas the Tank Engine is still doing massive business, in the US at least. He's been around since the war.

[3 Colours Red]

I can't understand why British educators didn't like it's style or thought it was "vulgar."

You underestimate the good old sense of superiority that pervaded (and to a large extent still pervades) this sceptred isle. Even our commercial broadcasters - who you'd think would be more open to importing it - took until the early 80s to fully win around.

That's right. It wasn't until 1982 that Sesame Street was broadcast to every region of the UK.

[Patrick Thistle]

Speaking of that, Thomas the Tank Engine is still doing massive business, in the US at least. He's been around since the war.

And had an amazing cameo in Ant-Man a few years back which makes him part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe now.

[Various Artist]

There were acknowledgments of non-white people in children's BBC in the form of Paul Danquah (1966), Derek Griffiths (from 1971) and Floella Benjamin (from 1976) but it was tokenistic stuff by and large and they still spoke highly formal English (albeit not quite as strict as in the 50s to late-60s).

Floella Benjamin presenting Play School and Moira Stuart reading the news were the first black faces I can ever remember being familiar with, growing up in the early '80s in suburban Nottingham. Both ladies still look astoundingly unchanged now, which is always a joy – as is the knowledge that Flo is nowadays Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham.

[Various Artist]

And lest it be forgotten, Thomas the Tank Engine and the rest of the Rev W Awdry's Railway Series are essentially the whole reason generations of kids since the passing of steam still instinctively 'know' that the sound of a train goes chuff-chuff-chuff or choo-choo. Awdry's creation has virtually single-handedly kept the sonics of steam trains enduring in the public consciousness for fully half a century after they ceased to be a regular presence on the actual rails.

[Patrick Thistle]

I remember a discussion on a railway forum after a sociology professor accused the TtTE books of institutional racism because the steam engines (heroes) produced white clouds and the diesel engines (villains) produced black clouds. There were a lot of middle aged men dissing academics who didn't know the difference between steam and smoke!