Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d share a tale of true love from Sesame Street. If you thought Susan and Gordon were the Street’s oldest couple, you forgot about the resident Grouch and his particular sweetie. Yes, Oscar the Grouch loves trash. And he’ll sing about it at the drop of an old, worn-out hat.
Television Nostalgia
How Does Santa Get In?
As the holiday season is upon us, let’s take a look at a classic Sesame Street bit where Grover and Kermit ask impossibly cute children how Father Christmas gets into your house to deliver the presents.
B Cool
Take a classically-trained, A-list actor and give him a B and what do you get? A fantastic soliloquy to the second letter of the alphabet as delivered by Sir Patrick Stewart.
Ah, Sesame Street! What can’t you do?
Mister Rogers Remixed
Everyone’s favorite TV neighbor gets musical, thanks to a video remix by the folks at PBS Digital Studios.
It’s A Nice Day For A Picnic
A Ladybug Picnic, to be precise. So let’s sing along to this classic Sesame Street cartoon that teaches numbers and perhaps a little entomology to boot.
I, Contact
If you grew up on PBS, you’ve no doubt watched many hours of fantastic educational television and been entertained by some incredible folks you probably didn’t realize, at the time, were teaching you some very cool and important stuff.
One of the programs I probably haven’t mentioned much yet I remember fondly was 3-2-1 Contact. Did you watch it? Do you ever think back on the lessons you learned from it? One person does and wrote a lovely article in The Atlantic about it.
Click here to read Adrienne LaFrance’s piece on this not-so-forgotten gem from the Children’s Television Workshop.
Friends & Neighbors
If, like me, you grew up on MisteRogers’ Neighborhood, you’ll remember fondly the character of Officer Clemmons, one of the many regular neighbors. Officer Clemmons was played by singer and actor Francois Clemmons, who discussed his time in the Neighborhood with StoryCorps (NPR’s Morning Edition presented part of the conversation last week).
You can listen to Clemmons’ memories of Fred Rogers and his role as Officer Clemmons at StoryCorps or NPR’s Morning Edition.