# Oh Lord, I'm now ranting about Sesame Street! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 30, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258 "2004-03-30T06:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/21 "2004-03-30T19:17:03Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > Having said that I think the show started to go down hill when Elmo took his first hit off the crack pipe. Shortly after that he started pimping his little sister Elma out to Grover for twenty bucks a pop. Later when Elmo found his dead sister in the sewer with a needle stuck in her arm he was forced to start pimping HIMSELF out to the ambigously gay duo that is Bert and Earnie to support his crack habbit. I’ve always noticed, in the FEW scenes shared by Elmo and Grover, a deep and well disguised hatred between the two. I remember when Grover was the ‘cute’ one who got to do skits with the guests, now it’s all Elmo. Grover as salesman–you always knew he’d grow up to be a disgruntled dope pusher. You never see the “We all Live in a Capital ‘I’” cartoon anymore. Musta been too psychedelic. I read somewhere that Roosevelt Franklin got the axe because he was always bustin’ on school and coming out on top: not something CTW wanted to endorse. I think they ditched him 'cause he was black. ---
**Author:** ![The\_27th\_Evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@The\_27th\_Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_27th_Evil)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/22 "2004-03-30T19:23:45Z")
The music! I loved the music growing up. Anyone remember the REM appearance? “Furry happy monsters laughing…” Priceless. Absolutely priceless. Sad to hear that it’s turned into a sickly-sweet mess. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/23 "2004-03-30T19:33:26Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Even Oscar seems to have lost his edge. Also the Count! Yeah, the Count needs to take a victim, to bring back the edginess. Maybe Oscar, to kill two birds with one stone. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/24 "2004-03-30T19:38:37Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > I think they ditched him 'cause he was black. Nah, he was [purple](http://www.muppetcentral.com/_images/sesame/roosevelt_franklin.jpg)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/25 "2004-03-30T20:06:39Z")
Was Sesame Street ever edgy in the first place, even among kid’s shows? “FIVE! Five fucking bats! Ah ah ah ah!” “Elmo has something to tell you! Elmo tired of explaining the fucking letter G!” ---
**Author:** ![Inoshiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@Inoshiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inoshiro)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/26 "2004-03-30T20:35:51Z")
> [@El Elvis Rojo](#): > > but when Elmo came out and became popular Wait, I thought Bert and Ernie were the gay ones. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/27 "2004-03-30T21:12:45Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > Fuck and Sesame Street do NOT go in the same sentence. Ahahahahahahahahaha. Now I’ve got the giggles. Ahahahahaha ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/28 "2004-03-30T21:56:06Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Heh, you guys should see _Avenue Q_. The sun is shining, it’s a lovely day A perfect morning for a kid to play But you’ve got lots of bills to pay… What can you dooo… You work real hard and the pay’s real low And every hour goes oh so slow And at the end of the day there’s nowhere to goooo… But home to Avenue Q… (Oh, and what CAN you do, with a BA in english?) ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/29 "2004-03-30T22:20:36Z")
> [@The 27th Evil](#): > > The music! I loved the music growing up. Anyone remember the REM appearance? > > “Furry happy monsters laughing…” Priceless. Absolutely priceless. Sad to hear that it’s turned into a sickly-sweet mess. Remember the REM appearance? Hell, I’ve got the song and I’ve played it on the air! Robin ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/30 "2004-03-30T23:13:28Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Heh, you guys should see _Avenue Q_. Have you met my girlfriend in Canada? Her name is Alberta, she lives in Vancouver. She cooks like my mother and sucks like a Hoover. And I can’t wait to eat her pussy again! > [@beajerry](#): > > Take Elmo and stick him up your ass! Yeah, see, that’s one of those, whaddayacallit, switcheroos. ---
**Author:** ![The\_world\_s\_most\_deadliest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@The\_world\_s\_most\_deadliest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_world_s_most_deadliest)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/31 "2004-03-31T02:37:27Z")
What I completely loved about old school (1970’s - early eighties) SS were all the slightly (or more than slightly) psychedelic cartoons. The pinball machine - “one-two-three-_four_, five, six-seven-eight-_nine_, ten, eleven twe-_e-e-e-lve_!” And the very strange story about a black boy that starts walking down the street in his neighborhood, and things get progressively stranger. At the end of the street, he meets this talking disco that looked like an urban Dr. Teeth on acid. “Just try to remember everything you passed, and when you get back, the first thing will be the last!” (or something to that effect…) It blew my 5 year old mind… I work with a guy who moved to America from Russia about 5 years ago, and he’d never heard of Sesame Street. I almost wanted to show him an episode until I realized the point so well put by others here - the new SS blows goats. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/32 "2004-03-31T03:31:44Z")
I have been traumatized by the baker that has never made it to the end of the stairs with all those cakes. But Grover just rocks. Hel-lo every body! There is a monster at the end of this book! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/33 "2004-03-31T03:35:05Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Yeah, the Count needs to take a victim, to bring back the edginess. Maybe Oscar, to kill two birds with one stone. One, two - TWO soldiers of the Undead Army. BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/34 "2004-03-31T04:13:50Z")
The Count and Bruce Campbell in: Army of Muppets. “You shoot Elmo! That not nice!” _menacing click_ “Nice. Mean. I’m the guy with the gun.” _boom_ “You’ll never retrieve the letter J and number 3! You’ll die before ya get it!” “Hey! What’s that you got on your face?” “Huh?” _thump_ ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/35 "2004-03-31T04:15:07Z")
> [@beajerry](#): > > What the fuck, you goddamn educational psychiatrists that fucked up Sesame Street and turned it into a fucking goddamn program for **ADHD shithead kids**!!!??? Thanks for calling me a shithead. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/36 "2004-03-31T04:18:16Z")
No, please tell me they didn’t screw with my SS!!! NO way! **Shirley** , that was my all time favorite book as a child. My mom and I used to read it every night before bedtime. What about Telly? Is Telly still around? I still feel a bit misty-eyed when I think of the episode where Mister Hooper died. _sniff sniff_ ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/37 "2004-03-31T05:44:38Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > You never see the “We all Live in a Capital ‘I’” cartoon anymore. Musta been too psychedelic. That line, at least, has been immortalized in the chorus to the song “L” by Andrew Bird. When I saw him play in January, he explained that he’d been looking for a chorus to the song and was watching Sesame Street one day when the answer came to him. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/38 "2004-03-31T06:45:47Z")
Aaargh! I fucking HATE Elmo! The Sprout is almost 2, and at my husband’s request, I’ve been putting Sesame Street on for him every now and then. Sesame Street totally sucks rocks. I’d rather watch a 24-hour Boobah marathon than another damn segment of Elmo and that fucknugget Mr. Nudo (or whatever the hell his name is.) And Caillou is a wanker. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/39 "2004-03-31T13:54:35Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > No, please tell me they didn’t screw with my SS!!! NO way! OH, yes. I knew there was going to be trouble down the road several years ago when they updated the opening theme. And it’s only gotten worse. There was a time, even into my early 20s, when if there was absolutely nothing else on I just might watch Sesame Street for awhile. Now, forget it. I can’t take the pain. I _will_watch Mr. Rogers if he’s on and nothing else is. Man, do I miss him. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258/40 "2004-03-31T13:56:13Z")
I forgot to say that I honestly feel personally betrayed by these people. It’s amazing how much it stings, seeing what they’ve done to the show. It’s like they’ve fucked with the _good_ parts of my childhood just because they can. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-lord-im-now-ranting-about-sesame-street/237258.md?page=3)