I really enjoy anything with the word "vintage" in front of it. I love vintage Christmas decorations, the Vintage Attic (my fav antique store in Lithopolis), the look of vintage jewelry, vintage cars (would like to have one some day), the sound of vintage music from the 60's and 70's, and most importantly, my vintage husband (does 16 yrs. of wedded bliss count for being vintage?). So, I was pretty excited when I heard that vintage Sesame Street was coming out on DVD to tame my nostalgic soul. Sesame Street: Old School Volume 1 (1969-1974) highlights the first 5 seasons of the revolutionary Children's show, and allows viewers once again to enjoy segments like Rubber Duckie, Bein' Green, and lovable Oscar the Grouch's "I love trash."
This really takes me back. I can remember getting an Ernie hand puppet when I was four, a Fisher Price Sesame Street Play set when I was 6, and I loved listening to my two Sesame Street Albums complete with the song I've got two eyes... one, two. I felt like Gordon, Susan, Maria, Bob, and Mr. Hooper were some of my closest friends, along with the neighbor boy, Cory, of course. There was nothing like it on TV at the time, and I can still recall many of the "ditties" that made the show fun. But apparently this was not a healthy thing for me and so many other preschoolers "back in the day" to be watching because Sesame Street: Old School comes with a warning.....and a serious one at that. It says: Sesame Street: Old School is for adults only and it may not suit the needs of today's preschool child." It seems that the producers of the show, in reviewing all the old footage, felt that much of the show's persona was too negative and had too many elements in it that are now politically incorrect. Take note:
- Cookie Monster's insatiable need for cookies could lead to diabetes, not to mention his "Alistar Cookie" character smoking a pipe encouraging early smoking of cigarettes.
- Oscar the Grouch's chronically moody and just down right mean personality could lead to outrageous demonstrations of anger and "pack-rat-ism" in one's life.
- Snuffleupagus's early friendship with Big Bird was only seen by the Big Bird himself. No one else knew nor ever saw who Snuffy was except for Big Bird. This could be interpreted as encouraging "hallucinations" and thus lead to early drug use.
WOW!! I don't even know what to say. Finally, an explanation to why I regret much of what I did during my teenage years!!!! Now I know! It's because my mom allowed me to watch Sesame Street when I was little. How could she? What was she thinking? Didn't she love me? How will I get over this new found revelation? Someone have the number of a good counselor? Maybe Lucy's Psychiatric Help (for 5 cents) is available. But I guess it is only a matter of time before Charlie Brown and the gang are now found to be "politically incorrect." In the infamous words of Mr. Brown himself, all I can say is, "Good grief!!"
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