…you might have seen this:
Google was doing their part in marking the upcoming fortieth anniversary of “Sesame Street.” (The actual anniversary is next Monday, November 10th.)
Of course, it’s no surprise that I love “Sesame Street,” and that the show has had an enormous influence on both my childhood and who I eventually became as an adult.
If you’re in this same colorful boat with me, you might want to pick up this book:
“Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street” was finally released last month after literally years of waiting. And you know what? It was worth the wait!
Clocking in at over 300+ pages, this book is the bible of all things “Street.” I was fortunate enough to receive it from my Dad for my birthday and, trust me, it doesn’t get more in-depth than this.
How will you know if you should buy it? Well, if you can’t resist the urge to sing along with this song…
…do yourself a favor and pick it up.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
40 comments
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November 4, 2009 at 4:07 pm
decker
It’s also the Marine Corps birthday. Those things are not like the other.
November 4, 2009 at 4:10 pm
jshady
HAHAHA!
November 4, 2009 at 4:36 pm
lisa
The good OLD Street….so much better than today’s version. I watch it now and I hardly recognize the place. Kind of like the street I grew up on…some days getting old is sad.
November 4, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Ralph-
isn’t there a way to make your own Muppet? You should do that Justin.
November 4, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Paul
Today’s special number is……………………………..40!
November 4, 2009 at 5:53 pm
jeremyrscott
Just got done watching the first Old School Sesame Street set again. For any one who has an old love for the Street, you should check it out.
November 4, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Stephanie
Justin, I thought you might like Google today!
Sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away!
Decker…. the USMC b-day is actually November 10th. OOHRAH! And Happy Birthday, Marines!
November 4, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Stephanie
Oh and Justin, I’m surprised you didn’t Photoshop yourself onto that book cover!
November 5, 2009 at 1:57 am
Josh Peters
I’m surprised that they settled for that garbled photoshop cover. Boring. I saw this book was coming out and told Mindy to get it for me a few weeks back. My birthday is actually the 10th of November. I found out I shared the day with the Street when it turned 25. Up until then… my only celebrity birthday friend was Sinbad.
Sesame Street is different. I watch it with Sam everyday. There’s too much Elmo and not enough Two Headed Monster.
OH SHIT! They just had Big Bird on Kimmel!
Anyways… that was weird. But The Street (and Sam does call it The Street) is every bit as good now as it was for us. It’s just different. The only complaint I have is they don’t play old school shorts like the pinball numbers anymore.
The thing that excites me most is that Sam loves something that’s already so dear to my heart. It’s like that Return to Pooh Corner song. But instead of Pooh, it’s Big Bird welcoming me home.
November 5, 2009 at 2:10 am
jshady
That’s awesome, man. One of my biggest fears is that I’ll have kids and they’ll hate “Sesame Street.” And play football. And vote Republican.
November 5, 2009 at 3:02 am
Paul
You don’t mean soccer, right….
November 5, 2009 at 8:59 am
Marie Le Claire
Justin! I’ve been meaning to tell you!!! Rob who is one of my bestest friends as of about a month or so ago is the new bass player for Sesame Street!!!!!! They are recording/shooting next season (they make the shows one season ahead of time). Rob is playing bass on all the songs AND singing the scratch/guide vocals!! Ha ha ha.. now every time I see him, he sings me a new song! I saw him on Monday and he was singing about camouflage!
November 5, 2009 at 1:24 pm
jshady
YOU HAVE TO GO TO THERE! If I were you, I’d be there yesterday!
November 5, 2009 at 9:05 am
Josh Peters
Patton Oswald has a bit about that exact fear.
My feeling is that the apple never falls far from the tree. Encourage, teach and embrace or they’ll find it elsewhere.
He’s also way into the Muppets. That’s what I was nervous about… But we have season 2 on DVD and the kid begs for three times a week. We watch Steve Martin, Star Wars and Peter Sellers the most. All great eps. We get season 1 and 3 if we had money. Maybe Christmas…
November 5, 2009 at 1:16 pm
jshady
Yeah, I have seasons one and two, but not three yet. Maybe Christmas, indeed.
November 5, 2009 at 9:11 am
dave
I am gonna pick it up…or borrow yours.
Let’s take the tour of Jim Henson studios soon.
November 5, 2009 at 1:17 pm
jshady
They don’t give tours! You have to know someone! Do you know anyone down there? Because I’d love to get in there.
November 5, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Marie Le Claire
you DO know that Sesame Street is filmed in NY though, right? I’ve been to the sound stage… it’s filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens… there is a recording studio there where I’ve shot some sessions and know the engineer….
November 5, 2009 at 11:48 am
decker
Stephanie, I’m well aware of the Marine Corps birthday
November 5, 2009 at 1:25 pm
jshady
Marie, I KNOW it’s in NYC! You think I’m some kinda “Sesame Street” FOOL?!?
Seriously though, you should go. I’d go if I were you.
November 5, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Marie Le Claire
Ha ha ha ha! I’VE BEEN THERE!!!! The engineer I know who runs the recording studio has been recording the audio for Sesame Street.. including their records etc for years and years and years.. they have only just starting recording the music for the show at a studio down in Soho… I think Joe still records the dialog though while they are actually shooting the show… Joe has taken me around the whole damn place! They also shot the cosby show there and shoot that new showtime show Nurse jackie or whatever the heck that crap is… I walked around their set and touched stuff.. Shhhh! I’ll even tell you something I learned on one of my visits there… people refer to the actors by the character’s name… I’ve actually heard Joe say “oh yeah, I bumped in to big bird the other day… he’s finally over that cough”.
November 5, 2009 at 1:42 pm
jshady
Dude, you have to get a picture of yourself ON SESAME STREET! I WOULD CRAP!
November 5, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Kittridge
I should have known that things wouldn’t work out between Laura and I when I was singing the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 song and she had NO IDEA what I was talking about. I freaked out and went to Youtube to show her in case my singing was off (it was PERFECT of course, but just in case)… still nothing.
I didn’t read the signs.
November 5, 2009 at 1:35 pm
jshady
WHAT?!? WHAT?!? WHAT?!?
Dude… WHAT?!?
November 5, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Kittridge
Another reason Sesame Street rules:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO-1j9T90-8
“Now THERE’S a trashy news show!”
November 5, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Marie Le Claire
I’ve also heard from several sources that Elmo has a MAJOR ego and that everyone has to walk on eggshells around him….
November 5, 2009 at 1:36 pm
jshady
I met him once (briefly), and he seemed okay. Then again, what’s he gonna tell me? “Thanks for being a fan… now fuck-off.”
November 5, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Marie Le Claire
APPARENTLY, they have to write him in to and mention him in songs that have nothing to do with him and make no sense to include him in… just because Elmo is supposed to be in all the songs….
That’s just what I’ve heard…. He has never been a favorite of mine… I’ve always liked Grover, Big Bird and Snuffy best
November 5, 2009 at 1:42 pm
jshady
The originals are the best!
November 5, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Kittridge
SUPER GROVER!!
November 5, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Marie Le Claire
I’ll work on getting a picture next time… not sure when I’ll be there again… I’ll have to think of a reason to go visit Joe.. that shouldn’t be too hard though, he likes me and has even recommended me to artists he records… will keep you posted.. ha ha ha
November 5, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Paul
You lot have some kind of Sesame Street Mania! It was nowhere near as good as Pigeon Street…now that was some high brow entertainment!
November 5, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Josh Peters
There was a former West Jeff and CCAD grad I knew named Mark Zesotek that I used to pen pal with in elementary. He passed away due to complications of HIV/AIDS. He was a great friend.
I’ve always wanted to see if throwing his name around would get me anywhere.
November 5, 2009 at 3:30 pm
jshady
Like… on Sesame Street? Or…?
November 5, 2009 at 8:29 pm
thevogels
I thought Justin was a muppet !
November 6, 2009 at 6:40 am
decker
Everyone has Muppet qualities.
It seems like most of our generation give or take a few years has very strong memories of the Muppets, and Sesame St. It’s in our blood. For me the world stopped when the Muppet Show started at 7:30 every Friday night. The Muppet Show 3-D attraction at Disney World was still one of the best things there.
The younger generations don’t seem to have that connection.
November 6, 2009 at 8:26 am
Josh Peters
Whoops. Forgot to specify what he did. He worked in the workshop building Muppets and I think he was a puppeteer for one or two very small things. I remember him being VERY excited about it. But mostly he built and designed them. He used to send all my letters on Jim Henson stationary. It had a really cool header with Kermit on it. He also sent me a few Muppet specials that didn’t air in Columbus because OSU basketball was more important…
He always had such great stories and I miss him. Very patient dude. Think of the crazy, goofy questions you would have asked him at 10 years old. I remember the first time I met him if he could get me an Animal or Dr. Teeth. He was like, “the real thing? Uh, no.”
November 6, 2009 at 5:36 pm
jshady
That’s awesome, man. I remember when I was in high school I briefly had a pen pal relationship with two of the animators on “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Owen Klatte and Angie Glocka.
I thought they were the coolest people in the entire universe.
November 10, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Katie
This is what I remember:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FtFsX1nHHY
That and I love Oscar and Snuffleupagus <3
November 10, 2009 at 8:49 pm
jshady
I remember that! But holy crap, that’s scary now!