Some of my earliest childhood memories are going down to the basement on Saturday morning to watch Sesame Street with my brother. Remember when networks used to sign off for the night? There were only 3 or 4 channels on TV at the time, so we would curl up on the shag carpet eating Cap'n Crunch cereal, waiting for the first show to come on.
Mister Rogers? My mom said I thought he was creepy.
Sesame Street? Yes please.
As a baby queer, I recognized myself in the diversity of that cast of characters. Probably saved my life.
Thanks for this, Sari. I'm absolutely loving Oldster!
When I was little I informed everyone that I had decided to change my name to "Little House on the Prairie", my favorite show, and refused to answer to any other name which my mom and Aunt Sue, in particular, did not appreciate. Our childhood shows stick with us. xoxo
Not only did I love the show, my uncle Ernie was the announcer at channel 13. I was convinced when he went to work he became Ernie of Ernie and Bert and so was my cousin who would try to climb into the tv to ‘get to Sesame Street.’
I was 1 1/2 and my 1st unrelated memories are from about a year later....but my dad told me when Big Bird was on the cover of Time in November 1970 I wouldn't let him read the magazine.
Reading this brought me back to 1977 or so. I was 20 and a sophomore in college. My son was two. The ritual was for me to swing by day care (on foot) and walk home (the long way because two year olds always take the long way) and then he would climb on the sofa that doubled as my bed in the living room and we'd turn on the TV. He wanted to see "Bert and Ernie" and then our PBS station showed Mr. Rogers afterwards. I loved hearing him singing the songs and then, one day, as I peeked around the corner after Mr. Rogers came on, I saw his face smooth out before my eyes. His whole body relaxed. This hour before dinner was his church, his quiet time. He loved it. I came to love it too. One night, I was exhausted as he was. He patted the sofa next to him. I sat down. We sang. We watched. We curled up and afterwards fell asleep way before I could feed either of us. I still remember the heavy sweetness of his head on my shoulder as he drifted off. Thank you for reminding me today.
I was already in college when it first aired, but my three daughters brought it into the house where it has stayed, and we still love the classics after all these years. The New Year's Eve special "Sesame Street Stays Up Late" brought in members of the global cast. That led to us buying video cassettes and DVDs such as "Shalom Sesame." BTW, I am told that Oscar the Grouch was named after the progressive folk singer and activist/archivist Oscar Brand. And that Big Bird is still so formidable a pop culture presence that it makes the Ted Cruz's of the world see triply asinine for messing with him.
Loved reading this! Sesame Street taught me how to read, and hooked me on a lifelong love of classical music by juxtaposing Vivaldi with a dewy spider web. I grew up in a small central Massachusetts town loving Oscar and Big Bird and Mr. Snuffalopogous (sp?) and later would belt out out the zip code when watching Zoom (0-2-1-3-4) and forever after coveted those striped rugby shirts. I went to school at Northeastern University in Boston and one day got sent on an errand for my workstudy job to deliver a package to a professor who also worked at the renowned public broadcasting station WGBH. As I walked in awe down a long hallway I had to restrain myself from asking a passerby "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"
I loved sesame street! I loved the chef that always dropped his cakes (the number of cakes depended on the sponsoring number of the day). I occasionally look back at this segment which I looked up back in 2006 when I was trying to describe it to someone:
LOVE this! I had endless fights with my cousin over who was more Bert or Ernie. I can't remember which one I wanted to be, only that he branded me as the other. My dad also bought us tickets to an event at FAO Schwartz to see Marlo Thomas in a Free to Be event. I was so excited to meet her I barely slept. When we got there she was sick and the event was cancelled. It was hands down the biggest disappointment in all of my 6 years.
This is really lovely! I was only 1 when it started so I probably didn't see episode 1, but Sesame Street was certainly a big part of my childhood. I can still sing a lot of the song. :)
I remember the first episode well. I was 5 years old and my mom sat us down to watch a new show that she had heard about. My baby brother, who was born that year, probably grew up with Sesame Street more than I did but I knew all the songs and remember watching it with him. I was a huge Cookie Monster fan. When my kids were babies, I loved watching it again — Especially the celebrity appearances like Yo Yo Ma — when my girls were babies and was a little sad when they didn’t want to watch it anymore. Later on, I loved the Electric Comapny and was a huge Zoom fan to the point where I regularly sent them stories and ideas and wanted to be Bernadette so very badly. I still have great memories of Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Rogers, and Wonderama (which, I was shocked to learn during college, was only broadcast in the NY tri-state area).
I was 28 when Big Bird appeared. It was about the time that I started my job at the Museum of Modern Art and began hanging out with Verna Gillis, a neighbor and young student of musicology -- a brilliant "nut bar" whose energy and and intuition topped everything else in my life. She was extremely more interesting than Big Bird and remains so for me to this day. Big Bird was a bit of a jerk, but I did relate to Kermit the Frog who's lament "it's not easy being green" resonated with me. (I wasn't green myself, but I had befriended a number of people who were of other "shades" of color and personal charisma, including Verna who remains entirely unique and precious -- green or not.
I missed the Sesame Street thing back in my day; I'm not sure what I was watching but that wasn't it. I didn't watch it until I had my daughter and she started watching it as a small child.
Some of my earliest childhood memories are going down to the basement on Saturday morning to watch Sesame Street with my brother. Remember when networks used to sign off for the night? There were only 3 or 4 channels on TV at the time, so we would curl up on the shag carpet eating Cap'n Crunch cereal, waiting for the first show to come on.
Mister Rogers? My mom said I thought he was creepy.
Sesame Street? Yes please.
As a baby queer, I recognized myself in the diversity of that cast of characters. Probably saved my life.
Thanks for this, Sari. I'm absolutely loving Oldster!
When I was little I informed everyone that I had decided to change my name to "Little House on the Prairie", my favorite show, and refused to answer to any other name which my mom and Aunt Sue, in particular, did not appreciate. Our childhood shows stick with us. xoxo
Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away, on my way….
Not only did I love the show, my uncle Ernie was the announcer at channel 13. I was convinced when he went to work he became Ernie of Ernie and Bert and so was my cousin who would try to climb into the tv to ‘get to Sesame Street.’
I was 1 1/2 and my 1st unrelated memories are from about a year later....but my dad told me when Big Bird was on the cover of Time in November 1970 I wouldn't let him read the magazine.
http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19701123,00.html
Reading this brought me back to 1977 or so. I was 20 and a sophomore in college. My son was two. The ritual was for me to swing by day care (on foot) and walk home (the long way because two year olds always take the long way) and then he would climb on the sofa that doubled as my bed in the living room and we'd turn on the TV. He wanted to see "Bert and Ernie" and then our PBS station showed Mr. Rogers afterwards. I loved hearing him singing the songs and then, one day, as I peeked around the corner after Mr. Rogers came on, I saw his face smooth out before my eyes. His whole body relaxed. This hour before dinner was his church, his quiet time. He loved it. I came to love it too. One night, I was exhausted as he was. He patted the sofa next to him. I sat down. We sang. We watched. We curled up and afterwards fell asleep way before I could feed either of us. I still remember the heavy sweetness of his head on my shoulder as he drifted off. Thank you for reminding me today.
I was already in college when it first aired, but my three daughters brought it into the house where it has stayed, and we still love the classics after all these years. The New Year's Eve special "Sesame Street Stays Up Late" brought in members of the global cast. That led to us buying video cassettes and DVDs such as "Shalom Sesame." BTW, I am told that Oscar the Grouch was named after the progressive folk singer and activist/archivist Oscar Brand. And that Big Bird is still so formidable a pop culture presence that it makes the Ted Cruz's of the world see triply asinine for messing with him.
Loved reading this! Sesame Street taught me how to read, and hooked me on a lifelong love of classical music by juxtaposing Vivaldi with a dewy spider web. I grew up in a small central Massachusetts town loving Oscar and Big Bird and Mr. Snuffalopogous (sp?) and later would belt out out the zip code when watching Zoom (0-2-1-3-4) and forever after coveted those striped rugby shirts. I went to school at Northeastern University in Boston and one day got sent on an errand for my workstudy job to deliver a package to a professor who also worked at the renowned public broadcasting station WGBH. As I walked in awe down a long hallway I had to restrain myself from asking a passerby "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"
I loved sesame street! I loved the chef that always dropped his cakes (the number of cakes depended on the sponsoring number of the day). I occasionally look back at this segment which I looked up back in 2006 when I was trying to describe it to someone:
https://youtu.be/ewalHF0T0GY
LOVE this! I had endless fights with my cousin over who was more Bert or Ernie. I can't remember which one I wanted to be, only that he branded me as the other. My dad also bought us tickets to an event at FAO Schwartz to see Marlo Thomas in a Free to Be event. I was so excited to meet her I barely slept. When we got there she was sick and the event was cancelled. It was hands down the biggest disappointment in all of my 6 years.
This is really lovely! I was only 1 when it started so I probably didn't see episode 1, but Sesame Street was certainly a big part of my childhood. I can still sing a lot of the song. :)
Great article!
Loved this insight…
“Maybe yesterday’s TV dependency primed us for today’s social media addiction.“
I remember the first episode well. I was 5 years old and my mom sat us down to watch a new show that she had heard about. My baby brother, who was born that year, probably grew up with Sesame Street more than I did but I knew all the songs and remember watching it with him. I was a huge Cookie Monster fan. When my kids were babies, I loved watching it again — Especially the celebrity appearances like Yo Yo Ma — when my girls were babies and was a little sad when they didn’t want to watch it anymore. Later on, I loved the Electric Comapny and was a huge Zoom fan to the point where I regularly sent them stories and ideas and wanted to be Bernadette so very badly. I still have great memories of Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Rogers, and Wonderama (which, I was shocked to learn during college, was only broadcast in the NY tri-state area).
I was 28 when Big Bird appeared. It was about the time that I started my job at the Museum of Modern Art and began hanging out with Verna Gillis, a neighbor and young student of musicology -- a brilliant "nut bar" whose energy and and intuition topped everything else in my life. She was extremely more interesting than Big Bird and remains so for me to this day. Big Bird was a bit of a jerk, but I did relate to Kermit the Frog who's lament "it's not easy being green" resonated with me. (I wasn't green myself, but I had befriended a number of people who were of other "shades" of color and personal charisma, including Verna who remains entirely unique and precious -- green or not.
I loved it!!
I missed the Sesame Street thing back in my day; I'm not sure what I was watching but that wasn't it. I didn't watch it until I had my daughter and she started watching it as a small child.
Okay, here’s a Sesame Street question: I always say Ernie and Bert, but I keep hearing people say Bert and Ernie!