"Classic Sesame Street Boxset" Out in October (1 Viewer)

[Jake Yenor]

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[Radioman970]

I'm with you on that. This kind of nostalgia is almost too much to bare. It can be a religious experience.

I haven't picked up that Electric Company set yet so I think a purchase of both as the same time will be quite a trip.

I havent' heard anything about the next set. They always take a wait and see approach about things like these.

Btw, do they have a Mister Rogers or Captain Kangaroo set geared towards nostalgia buffs?

 

[Michael Alden]

I was wondering what they even means. What does that refer to? I've never heard the expression.

 

[Mark Y]

I don't know of any Captain Kangaroo on DVD, but at least one of his old albums from the 50s is on CD.

"The Electric Company" set that is currently available is great. It's 20 complete episodes, from beginning to end even down to the closing vintage PBS logo. Rita Moreno does introductions for the shows. There are a few blooper outtakes too.

The impression I am under is the Sesame Street shows will be doled out in sets grouped by era. The first one is the first five years, with five episodes from that period (and I'll guess it's the first show and the "season premieres" of the next four years). Most likely, the next SS set would cover 1974-1979 or some such. That is my guess, anyway. Hopefully, we will know more soon.

They have just started releasing a few Mister Rogers shows on DVD (single disc releases, with things like a mini Neighborhood Trolley included, etc.) but I think they are relatively late episodes.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I'm still hoping the early years of Mr. Rogers (with the different model town) make it onto dvd someday. Haven't seen em since the early 90's IIRC.

 

[Steve...O]

The early Mr. Rogers episodes were withdrawn from syndication some years back. I'd love to see Betty's Little Theater, Picture/Picture saying "Hello", and the "Tomorrow" closing theme song again.

A box set of the occasional "operas" would be nice. I'd also like the episode where he brought in the suitcase full of Neighborhood puppets to show the audience how they worked. That may have been the same episode where he took a "behind the scenes" look at the Neighborhood to show how the puppetry worked, etc.

And, admit it, what Mr. Rogers fan didn't want the miniature Neighborhood set that was stored on his kitchen shelf?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Probably because us kids were scared s***-less by the sheer weirdness of 'em (or at least I was).

 

[DeathStar1]

Makes me wanna see 'em if they where that different .

 

[Radioman970]

That sounds fantastic Mark. I think I'm mixing up my 40 year old memories of those shows all together. It'll be a trip.

Completeness is definately important. I hate it when they attach some new logo on these classic shows (like Paramount changing the logo on the end of old Star Treks). It's like the Sid & Marty Krofft logo, it ain't the same without it. Both Mr Rogers & SS had a terrific closing credit sequences that just leave me feeling elated.

I remember seeing that Mr Roger's DVD with the trolly. I was tempted but it just looked too limited.

I was talking to a girl who thought Mr. Rogers fit the profile of a child molester! I'm also hoping this whole thing is weird as can be. But I just think it'll be a warm and nostalgic experience. Mr. R has always been a model of a happy person contented with life and teaching children. Funny how something like that is looked upon oddly by people.

 

[David*P]

Mr. Rogers was a really great man and it saddens me that anyone would think he was anything close to a child molester.

My mother wrote to him when I was about eight to say how much myself and my younger brothers and sister enjoyed his show. She didn't write him with the intention of having him respond but about six weeks later he wrote back apologizing that it took him so long to write back and that he appreciated her note. He also sent an autographed photo for each of us.

 

[Mark Y]

Back in 1990 (that's longer ago than it seems) on Thanksgiving Day, CBS aired the first episodes of "Pufnstuf," "Lidsville" and "Land Of The Lost." It was just a one-shot marathon. I recorded it and I still have it complete with 1990 era CBS commercials (including a Pee Wee's Playhouse promo, just months before his career crashed and burned) and "stereo sound where available" over the "Lidsville" titles. (???) Those shows did have the closing Krofft logo replaced with a contemporary one, and I agree it made a huge difference and the original Krofft logo was a big part of the experience of watching those shows (just like the Hanna-Barbera logo was for the Banana Splits shows). I have the Pufnstuf DVD set and thankfully, the original logo is there. The one I saw in 1990 was just white letters on a black background, silent, and I think it credited the Kroffts and a distributor called Muller Media. The Family Channel (back when CBN owned it) used to run Krofft shows on Saturday and Sunday mornings. One episode of "The Bugaloos" was preceded by a short title that said "Krofft Super Stars." I have read that this was a syndicated package released in the late 1970s, combining a bunch of Krofft shows together. It never aired in Chicago.

 

[Lord Dalek]

The best examples I can offer are from the following logo nightmares:

Model 2A (NET COLOR): http://www.zippyvideos.com/800496275...htmarhood1970/

Model 2B (Small Brown House, a very rough replacement for the net one used briefly in 1971): http://www.zippyvideos.com/954599982...ghtmarehood71/

Model 2C (Big Red House MK1, 1971): http://www.zippyvideos.com/210601890...htmarhood1972/

Model 3 (1975+) : seen every day on PBS.

Yes there was a model 1 used in the black and white episodes but I've only seen a still of the NET logo portion of it. Shame noone's uploaded a video of the whole thing on YouTube.

 

[Steve...O]

Totally agree David. He was the real deal and stuck to his principles his entire professional career. Tim Madigan just published a great book about how a professional acquaintance turned into a deep friendship.

Although frustrating from a collector's perspective, I have enormous respect for Mr. Rogers for not commercializing the Neighborhood or seeking personal profit from the show. He released albums, but that was pretty much it until recently. You can now buy mini puppets, videos, etc., but the level of product is still much less than what SS is.

 

[Radioman970]

Those logos were horrible! My God. *goes looking for security blanket packed in moth balls*

I was thinking back when I'd learned that Mr Rogers had passed away. I actually got choked up. I did the same thing with Don Knotts recently. Those gentle giants of TV really meant a lot to me. In today's world it seems you can't be like this anymore because people will walk all over you (or assume you're closet gay or child molester).

 

[Radioman970]

I always thought that was Nick that ran that marathon
in the early 90s. I remember watching that! It was trippy. A few years ago they did a late night Saturday thing on TVLand and promised a lot of Krofft shows. I recorded and recorded and recorded hoping to get a complete set of everything like Land of the Lost, Pufnstuff and Sigmund. Luckily I got a lot but not all. The logos are intact but Tim Conway...grrrr! I love the guy but his announcing over the credits was annoying.

Combining them all to squeeze a few more bucks out of it. :frowning: I'm glad Rhino is around. They've done an awesome job with this stuff.

Talking about Krofft, I still have memories of how excited my family was when that Kroffy theme park opened. Then "the stink" happened. My mom had to tell us we'd never get to ride the pinball machine. Such dissapointment. I believe we went to Six Flags instead.

 

[Mark Y]

Yes, Nick At Nite did do that ("Puf-A-Palooza," they called it). This was earlier. This was just a one-time thing and it was only for an hour and a half that one Thanksgiving morning. It still puzzles me as to why they even did it.

 

[Dean C]

WOW, I OWN 2 OF THE ORIGINAL SESEME STREET RECORD ALBUMS. TODAY 2006, I HATE HOW EVEN DISNEY REDID SOME OF THE SONGS. I LIKE OLD SCHOOL ORIGINAL SONGS.

ALSO WOULD LOVE A MR ROGERS SEASON 1 AND 2 SET. CAUSE THE INCREDIBLE HULK LOU FERRIGNO WAS ON IT VISITING MR ROGERS, THEN VISITING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

 

[Mark Y]

If Ferrigno appeared as the Hulk, that would not have been in the first two seasons. Mr. Rogers started in 1963 (as a local show) and went National around 1968. The Incredible Hulk series is from the late 70s. So it would be further down the line.

 

[Dean C]

YES CORRECTED. I JUST REMEMBER THE HULK VISITING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

 

[Radioman970]

Oh, I see. Yeah, that is weird. I figure stations do abnormal things when they think people won't be watching. Comedy Central used to have Mystery Science Theater 3000 turkey days for Thanksgiving. I really miss that one.