# Watching Sesame Street now that I'm older has seriously made me depressed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986 "2003-03-17T13:42:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/41 "2003-03-21T00:26:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homebrew \* > \*\*He’s supposed to act like/be a _4-year-old_. They tend to _be_ dependent. \*\* IIRC, he’s supposed to be a perpetual 6-year-old, but it’s the same deal, really. He has a child’s mind, not an adult’s. **TwungTister** , are you talking about Gina? If you are, she’s still on the show, but not every day. She went back to school to become a veterinarian, and now she treats the animals on the show in her clinic–including Big Bird, I think. A bit of Sesame Street trivia for you: Did you know that Bob’s original occupation was _shop_ teacher? IMO, music seems to fit his personality so much better. ---
**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 21, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/42 "2003-03-21T03:14:55Z")
_Jump the Shark_ (the book anyway) lists Elmo as the point when Sesame Street…er…leaped the fish. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/43 "2003-03-21T04:32:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Especially Grover’s “Near and Far”. Correct me if I’m mistaken, but is the puppet who did the “In Between” song the same puppet who was the customer in the “Grover is a Waiter” bits? Those never failed to make me laugh. > [@](#): > > I remember a student radio session in my home town, where they played the C-is-for-Cookie song on solid rotate for an hour! And that’s good enough for me. > [@](#): > > \ I refuse to spoil it by watching now. They changed the theme song and made everything choppy. I was in a club a few years ago, and I heard a rave dance mix of the original Sesame Street theme song. Good times. > [@](#): > > TwungTister, are you talking about Gina? If you are, she’s still on the show, but not every day. She went back to school to become a veterinarian, and now she treats the animals on the show in her clinic–including Big Bird, I think. I thought Gina was the deaf lady who I remember from my sippy cup days? ---
**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 21, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/44 "2003-03-21T04:37:47Z")
Deaf lady was Linda. ---
**Author:** ![IamJunebug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/91b2a8/32.png) [@IamJunebug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IamJunebug)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/45 "2003-03-21T04:39:33Z")
The deaf woman (who always hung out with Bob) was named Linda. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/46 "2003-03-21T04:49:30Z")
Ooooh…thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/47 "2003-03-21T17:59:03Z")
> [@](#): > > **TwungTister** , are you talking about Gina? If you are, she’s still on the show, but not every day. She went back to school to become a veterinarian, and now she treats the animals on the show in her clinic–including Big Bird, I think. Gina? I don’t know her name. I sure haven’t watched Sesame Street much, trying not to watch any TV! One day in 1992 an episode was showing the new actress, who couldn’t get her hand out of the jar. She ‘tried to keep calm’ and realized that she should let go of the cookie. Then she and Maria sang about the word “no”. I thought it was nice to see a different actress (had only just noticed that everybody was hispanic.) Did she become a vet and do the “llama” scenes (treating real animals)? or is she a Sesame vet (treating only muppets)? I’d like to know if she was on a long time. I turned on the show about twice after that, just enough to notice the change in theme song, opening scene, and time with Elmo. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/48 "2003-03-21T18:30:48Z")
The rave remix is called “Sesame’s Treat.” if I recall correctly. I don’t know who remixed it. Actually there are probably many remixes, come to think of it. -M ---
**Author:** ![IamJunebug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/91b2a8/32.png) [@IamJunebug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IamJunebug)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/49 "2003-03-21T18:44:55Z")
Alison Bartlett-O’Reilly plays Gina, and she has been on the show since 1987. I can’t find any verification for her being a real veterinarian - I’m guessing she’s not. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/50 "2003-03-21T19:08:53Z")
She’s a “muppet animal” vet for the most part, although she treated Telly’s hamster, which was played by a real hamster. She’ll treat Baby Bear and Big Bird, but monsters apparently fall outside the veterinary practice. I’m not sure about Mr. Snuffleupagus :). Yep, that’s Gina singing with Maria in the “No” song. As I said before, Gina is still on the show. I believe that she was originally a “teen” character who helped out in Hooper’s Store. Later on, she ran a daycare center on Sesame Street. Then, she decided to go to college to become a veterinarian. They often showed her studying (I remember when David was studying as a law school student–until his academic career was cut short by Mr. Hooper’s death.) Now, I believe she’s opened a vet clinic on Sesame Street. She’s like Bob–still there, but you don’t see her often. Radio Disney sometimes plays the original theme song–complete with the “magic carpet ride” part! ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/51 "2003-03-21T19:28:13Z")
My favorite Sesame Street episodes were the ones wherein they went to Hawaii. This was before Snufflleupagus was revealed to be an actual entity, and not an imaginary friend of Big Bird. I also recall fondly the one where someone (can’t think who, it was a human and not a muppet I think) saw Snuffleupagus in his striped pajamas, and ran to tell Big Bird… who laughed at the man’s description (due to the pajamas) and didn’t think he’d seen him. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/52 "2003-03-21T21:49:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Man Who \* > \*\*The rave remix is called “Sesame’s Treat.” if I recall correctly. I don’t know who remixed it. \*\* _The Smart Es_. Came out quite a while ago now, '92, or some time along there… ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/53 "2003-03-21T22:02:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great One \* > \*\*Despite the wires I still can’t really force myself to believe that they’re not real. Even if cookie monster came up to me and said, “I’m not real” I still wouldn’t believe it. I mean the guy actually eats plates!!! Who could believe someone like that? \*\* Don’t think I didn’t notice that Cookie Monster didn’t _really_ eat those cookies and plates. I remember him chewing 'em up and all the cookie-bits falling outta his mouth. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/54 "2003-03-22T05:02:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Radio Disney sometimes plays the original theme song–complete with the “magic carpet ride” part! Didn’t Steppenwolf do that part? Ow! Stop hitting! 🙂 > [@](#): > > The Smart Es. Came out quite a while ago now, '92, or some time along there… Wow, now I really feel old. And yeah, even as a kid I noticed the cookie bits coming out of Cookie’s mouth, but I just thought he was a sloppy eater. Hey, I was four. Did anyone see the Daily Show bit about the dietician who wants to make Cookie into the Vegetable Monster? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Great\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_One)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/55 "2003-03-22T08:13:58Z")
## quote: ## _originally posted by LolaCocaCola_ **Don’t think I didn’t notice that Cookie Monster didn’t really eat those cookies and plates. I remember him chewing 'em up and all the cookie-bits falling outta his mouth.** My friend never liked Cookie Monster because he never really ate the cookies. Never bothered me however–I always wished my mom would let me eat like that (though I’d probably just end up picking the pieces of the floor and eating them anyways) ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/56 "2003-03-22T08:53:35Z")
I can’t believe that no one else noticed that those Yepper guys are the _scariest things ever created_. My god. I would run out of the room covering my ears whenever they came on, and if I saw or heard too much, I had nightmares. They’re _ **horrifying** _. ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986/57 "2003-03-22T14:50:05Z")
Read my post more carefully. I was scared of them too! Even though they ended saying “happyhappyhappy happy…” and never _did_ anything bad. So Gina’s real name is Alison. I thought some of the characters’ names were the same as the actors’. For instance, Linda, her real name is Linda Bove. Lady Aberlain on Mr Rogers’ show was Nancy Aberlain. Notice the people on JumptheShark don’t like Telly. I don’t know why. He’s about as dumb as the rest of them on their pet peeve. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-sesame-street-now-that-im-older-has-seriously-made-me-depressed/161986.md?page=2)