This week marks the 40th anniversary of an iconic show of my childhood.  Heck, when I was a kid, it was THE show.  Not much other competition that I can remember, and I believe that’s why they created it.  My how times have changed for the child and parent searching for good stuff on TV.

Obviously, Sesame Street is still on TV these days, and I believe it still has the same education nurturing spirit.  Unfortunately, it has lost some of it’s cultural significance because of the huge number of children’s TV programs available now.  But parents who grew up on it know to look for Sesame Street online and on TV.  My only real programming gripe is that half the show seems to be dedicated to just one character – Elmo.

My mom said I went to Kindergarten reading for one reason only – Sesame Street.  I apparently took to their format well and translated what I learned into my first years at school.  Repetition with music, dance numbers, skits between puppets and humans, little cartoon vignettes.  I still count to twelve sometimes with the ladybug picnic song because it’s so darn catchy.  And that immediately reminds me of the popular animated pinball segment that counted to twelve with funk rock music.  To this day I have a good appreciation of funk rock as well as counting to twelve.

I wasn’t watching pointless ‘tween sitcoms on Nick, weird shows on Cartoon Network, or an endless stream of hard-to-tell-apart little kid cartoons.  And don’t get me wrong, there are several shows for young kids out there today that are good and creative.  I’m just saying that with Sesame Street, I know my mom could sit with me and enjoy the whole hour long show along with me if she wanted.  I’m not so sure I can easily find such a delicate balance between kid and parent enjoyment from other shows.

Another key aspect is the incredible use of great music on the show from contemporary performers.  I saw a video on YouTube by Stevie Wonder that blew me away.  Superstition played live on the Sesame Street set for nearly seven minutes.  Tell me that didn’t keep a few parents interested in 1972!  I know that even today Sesame Street is known for having plenty of current acting and music performers in their episodes.  That’s an element that takes their show beyond just numbers, letters, and reading.  It’s truly entertaining and captivating.

Now with all of this praise, I must offer up a real criticism to the folks at Sesame Street about the release of some classic episodes on DVD a few years ago.  I know this isn’t recent news, but I only learned of it just this year.  A warning was included on the DVD saying that the “these early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grownups and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

Apparently there was concern about aggressive behavior between some characters, kids riding bikes without helmets, regular human adult Sesame Street characters talking to young children they didn’t know (stranger danger), and other such scenarios.  While I realize they wouldn’t probably create similar situations in today’s episodes, I think it’s insulting to parents to say that the episodes are only intended for adults.  I cannot fathom that Oscar the Grouch smoking then eating a pipe in one episode pushed young kids into smoking.  As if all sorts of daily parenting efforts would be wiped out by the occasional classic Sesame Street episode.  Really??  Give us parents some credit already.

Anyway, my respect and love for Sesame Street certainly outweighs any small grievances I may have.  For my mom, it was a part of her parenting repertoire.  For me, it was a safe haven of warm fuzzy TV learning memories.  Since so much good classic Sesame Street is now on YouTube (thank you!), I can cherry pick the best stuff to share with my own kids.

Parents, there are some good kids’ TV shows out there today, and Sesame Street still stands up as a great choice.  Education, entertainment, and compassion all rolled into one.  And if you’re feeling a little dangerous, go ahead and give the classic episodes a try.

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From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (November 7, 2009)

My Relationship with Sesame Street | Family Mental Health - Halloween Costumes Cheap (November 11, 2009)

    Last reviewed: 7 Nov 2009