Oscar the Grouch is married? What else?

[WarmNPrickly]

I have recently discovered the blessing of Seseme Street. That is, when I need to get things done around the house, I can plop the kid down and leave her for an hour. Honestly, I’m amazed that this even works at three months old, but I sure am not going to question a process that works.

Apparently, since the seventies:

Oscar the Grouch is married.
Oscar the Grouch is no longer relegated to life in the trash can.
They have claymation Bert and Ernie that visit weird places. (Pseudo caveman era (with dinosaurs) in the instance I saw.)
Anderson Cooper is an awsome host choice.
Is it me or has “Sunny Day” gotten funkier?
Maria is old but still way cool.
I knew about Elmo, but I kinda like his schtick.
I knew Snuffleupegus (sp?) was real, but whatever I guess. I’m a bit upset about that, and while I understand the change, I don’t agree that it was a good idea.
What else is new?

[Drunky_Smurf]

Cookie Monster now likes fruits and veggies and says that cookies are a “sometimes food”.

from wiki

In a June 19, 2008, appearance on The Colbert Report, Cookie Monster again explained that “Cookies are a sometimes food.” He also attempted to eat Stephen Colbert’s Peabody Award. Colbert had asked agitatedly why Cookie Monster had “abandoned the pro-cookie agenda” and thus caused fruit to become the favorite snack of American children, according to a study Colbert had heard.

I saw the episode where he was on the Colbert Report and it was very funny.

[KneadToKnow]

@Tahssa

Cookie Monster now likes fruits and veggies and says that cookies are a “sometimes food”.

Jebus, what’s next? Other people can see Snuffy?

[mobo85]

@Tahssa

Cookie Monster now likes fruits and veggies and says that cookies are a “sometimes food”.

Cookie Monster’s been promoting balanced diet since the 1970s. (He even rapped about it back in the '80s.) He still prefers cookies more than anything though. As Cookie pointed out to Matt Lauer, “you media blow story way out of proportion.” His appearance with Colbert also allowed him to set the record straight.

Oscar the Grouch is not married. He is a single grouch, although he has had a long-time girlfriend, Grundgetta, for the past 25 years or so. Although Oscar has sometimes been seen outside of the Street in the past, he still prefers his trash can to any other place- mainly because people don’t bother him there.

The clay Bert and Ernie shorts were added this year, Season 39. There is also a new human on the street, Leela, as well as a Muppet named Murray, who has a little lamb who, not surprisingly, follows him to school (although it’s the lamb who leads Murray to various schools around New York, as opposed to the other way around.)

The Muppet Wiki is a great text-based resource to anything you want to know about Hensonia, including Sesame Street. And Sesame’s official site has tons of video, both old and new, of all your Sesame pals. A great place to spend a rainy day…or even a sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away.

[wolfman]

@mobo85

And Sesame’s official site has tons of video, both old and new, of all your Sesame pals. A great place to spend a rainy day…or even a sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away.

With that non-objective cheerleading one might begin to think you were a corporate lackey deep in the pocket of the letter “J”

[WhyNot]

Prairie Dawn has all but disappeared.

At least three of the main Muppet characters can’t pronounce “disappeared” correctly (Baby Bear, Telly and Elmo).

WarmNPrickly, check out the Baby Einstein DVDs for your sprog. They’re similarly mesmerizing, but they move a LOT slower, which I feel (for little or no good reason) is gentler on developing neural systems. When the kid is a bit older (like 3), try Zaboomafoo! It’s a current favorite over here. (Thank goodness she’s over Caillou!) And, of course we all know the AAP recommends no screen time for tots under 2, but hey, sometimes you gotta take a shower, right?

[Don_Draper]

@mobo85

There is also a new human on the street, Leela…

Is that the Doctor Who companion who was a knife-wielding, janis thorn-throwing savage warrior with a robot dog, or is that the one-eyed mutant delivery currier for “Planet Express” who once thought she was from an unknown alien race?

[Olentzero]

@KneadToKnow

Jebus, what’s next? Other people can see Snuffy?

There is a whoosh here. But whose hair is it ruffling?

[GingerOfTheNorth]

@Olentzero

There is a whoosh here. But whose hair is it ruffling?

I recall hearing (sorry, no cite offhand) that they made Snuffy visible to adults in order to prevent children from thinking that adults would not believe them, in the event of molestation or something like that. IE, Big Bird and the kids can see Snuffy, but not adults, the adults think they’re lying; kid is molested, tells a grownup who didn’t see it, the adult thinks the poor kid is lying.

[WhyNot]

@GingerOfTheNorth

I recall hearing (sorry, no cite offhand) that they made Snuffy visible to adults in order to prevent children from thinking that adults would not believe them, in the event of molestation or something like that. IE, Big Bird and the kids can see Snuffy, but not adults, the adults think they’re lying; kid is molested, tells a grownup who didn’t see it, the adult thinks the poor kid is lying.

Right. From wikipedia:

For many years, Big Bird was the only character on the show who saw him since his introduction in 1971. The main adult characters teased Big Bird when he said he had seen the Snuffleupagus, because they did not believe there was such an animal, often despite evidence to the contrary (such as an oversized teddy bear that Snuffy had left behind or segments in which Snuffy interacted with other characters, such as a street scene where Snuffy was seen playing London Bridge with some of the neighborhood kids). This concept was meant to echo the existence of imaginary friends some young children have.
<snip>
In an interview on a Canadian telethon that was hosted by Bob McGrath, Snuffy’s performer, Martin P. Robinson, revealed that Snuffy was finally introduced to the main human cast mainly due to a string of high profile and sometimes graphic stories of pedophilia and sexual abuse of children on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. The writers felt that by having the adults refuse to believe Big Bird despite the fact that he was telling the truth, they were scaring children into thinking that their parents would not believe them if they had been sexually abused and that they would just be better off remaining silent. On the same telethon, during Robinson’s explanation, Loretta Long uttered the words, “Bronx daycare,” a reference to a news event on New York TV station WNBC-TV, in which there were reports of alleged sexual abuse at a Bronx daycare center. This was seen in the documentary, Sesame Street Unpaved.

So Snuffy went from a symbol of childhood imagination to an allegory of child molestation. Yay, progress.

[KneadToKnow]

@WhyNot

So Snuffy went from a symbol of childhood imagination to an allegory of child molestation. Yay, progress.

My point exactly, yes.

[friedo]

@The New and Improved Superman

Is that the Doctor Who companion who was a knife-wielding, janis thorn-throwing savage warrior with a robot dog, or is that the one-eyed mutant delivery currier for “Planet Express” who once thought she was from an unknown alien race?

You forgot the long-dead Trill host.

@Tahssa

Cookie Monster now likes fruits and veggies and says that cookies are a “sometimes food”.

Cookie Monster has always liked fruits and veggies (and a plethora of completely inedible objects) and cookies continue to be his favorite item of all. But, after his “crazy times in seventies and eighties” he now knows that cookies must be consumed in moderation.

[WarmNPrickly]

@WhyNot

WarmNPrickly, check out the Baby Einstein DVDs for your sprog.

I got all them, but the only last like 30 minutes each. At least baby Bach is that short. This is barely enough time to break away, much less leave the room and do something.

Also, Disney can suck my cock.

[KneadToKnow]

@WarmNPrickly

Also, Disney can suck my cock.

You know, for a minute there, I thought this was your sig.

[Hazle_Weatherfield]

I’m not a big fan of plopping a child that young down in front of the tube. I really don’t think a child under the age of 4 should watch (I read that somewhere, but can’t remember where.)

Not judging, just stating my opinion. I know that I watched tons 'o tv as a child and I most of the kids I know have practically been raised by it (including my niece and nephew whose eyes will glaze over no matter what’s on!)

Different strokes.

ETA: Looking back at the OP, my post seems like a hijack…sorry if I offended! I know, I know, I could just remove what I wrote…

[WhyNot]

@WarmNPrickly

I got all them, but the only last like 30 minutes each. At least baby Bach is that short. This is barely enough time to break away, much less leave the room and do something.

Also, Disney can suck my cock.

They have a replay function where it’ll keep going back to the beginning. That was a godsend when the baby would only sleep to the Baby Mozart DVD. I didn’t even put the TV on, just the sound, over and over and over and over…

You lost me with the Disney comment, though. Did they buy Baby Einstein or something?

[Malthus]

@Hazle_Weatherfield

I’m not a big fan of plopping a child that young down in front of the tube. I really don’t think a child under the age of 4 should watch (I read that somewhere, but can’t remember where.)

Not judging, just stating my opinion. I know that I watched tons 'o tv as a child and I most of the kids I know have practically been raised by it (including my niece and nephew whose eyes will glaze over no matter what’s on!)

Different strokes.

ETA: Looking back at the OP, my post seems like a hijack…sorry if I offended! I know, I know, I could just remove what I wrote…

Heh, I used to think that way. Then, we had a kid.

I think the key here is “moderation”. A no-TV rule isn’t to my mind practical, but we try to make sure they only get a moderate, limited amount [our almost-3 year old’s favorite is the Busytown series and Thomas the Tank Engine. I wrote a rather mean-spirited version of a Thomas script once, I think I even posted it here somewhere … ]

[Terrifel]

@WarmNPrickly

They have claymation Bert and Ernie that visit weird places.

…Haight-Ashbury, Greenwich Village, Boystown, South Beach, Canal Street, the Castro district…

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

@GingerOfTheNorth

I recall hearing (sorry, no cite offhand) that they made Snuffy visible to adults in order to prevent children from thinking that adults would not believe them, in the event of molestation or something like that. IE, Big Bird and the kids can see Snuffy, but not adults, the adults think they’re lying; kid is molested, tells a grownup who didn’t see it, the adult thinks the poor kid is lying.

That was the clear subtext of the episode in which Big Bird persuades his friends to believe in the faux-mastodon.

[WarmNPrickly]

@Hazle_Weatherfield

I’m not a big fan of plopping a child that young down in front of the tube. I really don’t think a child under the age of 4 should watch (I read that somewhere, but can’t remember where.)

Sure, my sister says the same, but I don’t know many parents that are up to hours of "Babababababa baby, who’s a pretty baby? You’re a pretty baby. Babababababah (raspberry). Inacaverninacanyon…Clementine…babababa…(raspberry). Do you see daddy? I’m daddy! Do you see daddy? I’m daddy! Do you see daddy? Daddy has to go clean the kitchen. Babababababa (raspberry). No don’t cry, I need to clean ktchen. Bababababab (raspberry). Do you see daddy? I’m daddy! Daddy needs to… no don’t cry. Babababababa (raspberry). Oh you like pretty pictures on TV. Great! I’m gonna go clean the kitchen, have a blast.

@WhyNot

You lost me with the Disney comment, though. Did they buy Baby Einstein or something?

Someplace in there I am quite certain I saw Disney, so I’m going with “yea they bought it”. Too bad, it was a pretty good institution in the early days I think.