![[January 6, 1970] Can you tell me how to get to <i>Sesame Street</i>?](https://galacticjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/700106banana-672x372.jpg)
by Janice L. Newman
The term “vast wasteland” has become something of a catchphrase for Journeyfolk, a reference to Newton Minow’s castigation of the offerings on television all the way back in 1961.
There have been quite a few good shows in the interim, including standouts The Twilight Zone, Dangerman (aka Secret Agent) and of course our favorite, Star Trek. We’ve also seen cases where television has been used to educate and bring awareness to social issues, such as the NET Journal series and the special, The Rejected.
Maybe it’s because so many theatrical releases are targeting adults these days, or maybe it’s just an idea whose time has come, but a group of educators, philanthropists, and television producers have turned their eyes toward the glass teet as a way to educate and entertain the very youngest of us. The idea, as I understand it, is to harness the things that make television addictive and use them to teach basic educational concepts as well as important life skills. The show began airing on November 10, 1969. I didn’t catch its premier episode, but I did manage to sit down and watch a couple over the following weeks.
There's a signpost up ahead…
Sesame Street is a bit like a daily Laugh-In for the five-and-under set. It’s a conglomeration of short pieces, most of them independent of each other and self-contained. Some pieces have live actors in them, some have puppets, some have both people and puppets interacting with each other. These pieces are interspersed with animated or live-action movies that are a bit like commercials – if commercials taught “counting to ten” or “words that start with the letter ‘D’”. Many of the pieces are funny, and some have an unexpectedly surreal aspect that I found wildly entertaining.
Stills don't convey the frenetic feeling of some of these shorts, like this one about counting to ten
For example, the first skit features “Gordon”, one of the actors, playing a good-natured joke on “Ernie”, one of the puppets (voiced by Jim Henson). Indicating four items, three plastic instruments and a banana, Gordon asks Ernie which one doesn’t belong with the others. Ernie chooses the banana, carefully explaining his reasoning. Gordon suggests Ernie try playing the banana like an instrument, whereupon Gordon honks the bike horn he has hidden behind his back, leading the startled Ernie to believe that his banana can toot, until Gordon shows him the trick.
Gordon shows Ernie what makes the banana go toot
Ernie chortles, and the two of them decide to play the same joke on another puppet, a passing blue monster. The blue monster, however, proceeds to eat the plastic instruments and somehow play the banana such that lovely flute music fills the air, leaving Gordon and Ernie very confused. “Nice tone on that banana,” the monster comments, “and the harmonica was delicious!”
Cookie Monster plays the banana
It is absolutely hysterical, even with the repetition of ideas which form the foundation of the skit, and it makes me wonder if the show is targeting parents along with their children. (I did also wonder if showing the blue monster eating the small plastic instruments was a good idea. I can imagine children swallowing plastic whistles and harmonicas in imitation.)
The rest of the skits and interstitials weren’t quite as funny to my adult eyes, but many still had a slightly surreal edge. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sesame Street becomes popular with college-age kids who enjoy mind-altering substances.
Three muppets demonstrate three types of vehicles…and then smash them into each other
The other episode I saw featured an ongoing story where “Oscar the Grouch”, an orange puppet who lives in a trash can (apparently by choice), loses his trash can lid. The lid, he is careful to explain, is round. If there were any doubts about the Laugh-In connection, they are put to rest when Oscar says he’s going to go play his ukelele (which starts with the letter ‘U’, we are reminded) to feel better. He disappears into his can and the strains of “Tip-toe Through the Tulips” issue forth from it. Oscar’s full story is told in skits interspersed with more of the same frenetic “shorts” about letters and numbers, a cross between commercials and Laugh-In’s “Quickies”. Reinforcing the “educational commercial” idea, each episode has a “this episode was brought to you by” a particular letter and number at the end.
Oscar is planning to leave, now that his trash can is no longer a home. Most of the cast are here: (l. to r. Gordon, Susan, Jenny, and Mr. Hooper)
It’s fun, but does the show do what it sets out to do? Obviously, a couple of episodes is not enough to tell whether the lofty goal of improving early education (especially among underprivileged children) will be achieved. For that, we will have to wait a year or two and compare the progress of children who watched the show to those that didn’t. From the two episodes I watched, though, I saw more than just numbers and letters and animal sounds being taught. The cast is made up of people of different races, with Black and White actors working together as equals. The puppets are both human-looking and monstrous, but most of the monsters are actually kind and shown to be people just like everyone else. Some of the stories identify and give names to emotions: sadness, anger, fear, happiness. Themes of kindness, sharing, and cooperation are subtly interwoven into many of the skits.
Two muppets demonstrate the value of sharing
I don’t know if educational television will save the world, but I’m looking forward to seeing the world it helps create. Hopefully it will be one a little bit closer to that place where, as the theme song says, “the air is sweet”: Sesame Street.
This article brought to you by the letters "G" and "J", and the numbers "1", "6", and "1970".
Susan gets the last word and waves goodbye from Sesame Street
[New to the Journey? Read this for a brief introduction!]
