PBS Live-Action Children's Series? (1 Viewer)

[MarcoBiscotti]

I was thinking that it would be nice to have a collection of the PBS educational children's shows of the late 60's through mid 80's available on DVD to watch with our kids since most of these have been replaced by the network in recent years and are unavailable in any other medium...

We already have two DVD compilations of classic "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" episodes along with a 3-disc boxed set of "Mr. Dressup" episodes which are great and I welcome more...

But what about shows like "Today's Special", "Reading Rainbow", "The Polka Dot Door", "3-2-1 Contact" and most importantly... "Captain Kangaroo"!

Okay, the last one isn't a PBS series I don't think, but apart from the early 70's and 80's Sesame Street episodes which don't seem like they'll ever come out on DVD in their proper context, I can't think of a classic children's TV show more deserving of being preserved on DVD!

It's been almost two decades I think, since the Captain has aired on syndicated television and it seems as though the series will soon fade into a nostalgic obscurity if it is not preserved in some form. It's a shame that these fantastic, imaginative chgildren's series which co many of us grew up on are not available to our next generation of kids to learn from and enjoy.

Who else would want to see some of these shows brought to DVD in some form and what are the chances that it will ever happen?

 

[Jake Yenor]

Sesame Street has a LOAD of DVD's out. Almost all the specials are out on DVD including the 70's Christmas special and the two 80's Big Bird specials, Big Bird goes to Japan and Big Bird goes to China. As well as the 80's film Follow That Bird. A lot of the DVD releases for Sesame contain tons of old 60's and 70's clips in them. Like the hour long dvd "Celebration of Me, Grover" is just classic 70' and 80's grover sketchs. It's a "best of" Grover dvd. Cookie Monster also has a best of DVD called "Cookie Montster's Best Bites". If you do research you'll find pretty much every classic Sesame sketch is on DVD as of now.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Jake,

Unfortunately that is not even close to the truth.

There are only but a handfull of "classic" Sesame Street muppet sketches currently available on DVD and of that small number, most are simply edited clips presented in some sort of montage sequence.

None of the wonderful stop-motion or animated shorts are available, save for an edited version of a Pinball Number Song. None of the terrific Fred Crippen animations or Teeny Little Super Guy shorts have been released. Of the Grover disc, very few sketches are released in their entirety and they are all interspersed with contemporary characters and settings which detract from the imaginationa nd creativity fo the series, bringing it out of it's respective world.

None of the Prarie Dawn sketches, Guy Smiley game shows, Don Music sketches, Muppet Newsflash segments with kermit The Frog, Sinister Sam cowboy skits, classic Monsterpiece Theaters or strange and obscure character sketches from the 60's and 70's are featured on any disc in their entirety.

The rare occasion a classic segment is included, it is usually a musical number which has been rehashed on many of the available DVD's.

Classic Sesame Street is very poorly represented on DVD or in any home video form, save for the Christmas and Big Bird specials.

As for the "Follow That Bird" feature... it is available in a terribly butchered pan & scan transfer from Warner Bros.


This thread was really about those "other" shows though... Captain Kangaroo, Today's Special, Reading Rainbow, etc.

At the very least, I hope to see some of these surface on DVD in the near future. Few of them are ever broadcast on television anymore and it would be a shame to not be able to share these same experiences with our future children.

 

[Antonio_G]

I would love to see some of the oldest children shows on DVD format into season format not that best of because I hate that. I would also like to see Lamb Chop's Play Along & that kids singing show that was on PBS that I can't think of the name of that show. We are getting Electric Company very soon to DVD but it probably be a best of which will sucks and I won't buy it I want season fomat not best of...

 

[Jake Yenor]

"There are only but a handfull of "classic" Sesame Street muppet sketches currently available on DVD and of that small number, most are simply edited clips presented in some sort of montage sequence."

Yes, yes there is lots. I own multiple Sesame Street DVD's. Here is some with multiple FULL classic sketches off the top of my head:

Sesame Street: Big Bird's Story Time:
It has four whole complete Kermit Reporter sketches.

Sesame Street: Big Bird Sings:
Around 8 full Big Bird songs from 70's-80's.

Sesame Street: A Celebration of Me, Grover:
Around 9 complete 70's-80's Grover sketches

Sesame Street: Learning About Numbers:
Multiple classic Count sketches from 70's including one with Ernie and another with Kermit. Also has the classic Pinball Number Count.

Sesame Street: Learning About Letters:
Cookie Monster's "C is For Cookie", the original one. A REALLY old like 1969 sketch of Kermit and the lettrer M. Ernie & Bert's famous "Lalala" L song sketch.

Big Bird In China:
Complete 1980 tv special where Big Bird vists China

Big Bird In Japan:
Complete 1988 SPecial where Big Bird vists Japan

Sesame Street: Cookie Monster's Best Bites:
Around 7 complete classic Cookie Monster Sketches from 70's-80's.

Sesame Street: Put Down The Duckie:
Complete 1986 TV special with the famous Ernie song Put Down the Duckie and Cookie Monster's "Cookiegate" scandel with Kermit the Frog

Sesame Street: Christmas Eve On Sesame Street:
The complete 1978 Christmas special.

Sesame Street: Bert & Ernie's Word Play:
Lots of Ernie & Bert stuff plus really old stuff like Mahna Mahna's "Fat Scat Hat" song from early 70's and REALLY old sketch with Kermit the Frog trying to get a t-shirt.

Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration:
Loads of classic song sketches including It's Not Easy Being Green, Rubber Duckie, C is For Cookie, & I Love Trash. Some are incomplete and new verisons but C is For Cookie and It's Not Easy Being Green are the old 70's verisons and fully intact.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Jake, as I mentioned a good portion of those are musical numbers and are featured on many duplicate releases. You realize that each skecth is only a couple of minutes, right? If we took ALL the skecthes you listed and quadrupled them, we'd still have room for more before compromising the limits of the DVD format.

Sesame Workshop could have easily released those ALL onto a single disc in their entirety. Instead, the releases here and there which happen to feature some classic sketches inbetween, are limited and pale in comparisson to the ammount of "new" material that is available. Most of all, what I would want from SS is a release that mirrored the feel of the show.

Not a clip show from Telly introducing some older segments...

A proper compilation of muppet sketches, cartoons, live-action pieces, songs and stop-motion shorts in the same vein as the original television series.

There were literally hundreds of classic muppet sketches and SW is not even scratching the surface with the few Big Bird, Grover and Kermit skits theyve included on DVD.

Weve still yet to see a single release with the more obscure muppet characters or the "weirder" psychedlic sketches that were prominent in the 60s and 70s and so on.

With the exception of the two Big Bird specials and Christmas Eve On Sesame Street, Im not happy with the way Sesane Workshop is dealing with their home video products at all. Its a shame because I cant think of another show that stirs up as much nostalgia and feelings as Sesame Street. Its one of my earliest childhood memories and watching it brings back so many emotions,and feelings of deja vu and goosebumps that I cant even put my finger on but makes me smile.

I wish theyd just release a compilation of older complete episodes or comprehensive character sets or something better than what theyre doing now...

 

[Tory]

I was unaware of anything being out in regards to classic Sesame Street. I think one problem they are having is they are thinking that these should be marketed to kids solely and new is better just because. If they use old it is picked in regards as to what kids are used to today and this is bad because Sesame Street is not quite as good as it was and I'm not thinking about an age factor affecting my determination, there was more creativity involved with it back in the day. They need to play on the nostalgia aspects, gear stuff to the collector and adult. They may not find some of the earlier stuff suitable to children today, but those that grew up with it remember how good it was.

I think Captain Kangaroo is most deserved of a DVD release but the owners treat that property with very little respect. I also think Math Patrol and Square One would draw in an audience.