I heard today that Sesame Street is coming out with a boxed DVD set of their early years and it has a warning label on it saying that it is intended for grown ups and may not meet the needs of today's pre-school child. At first I thought it was a joke, but it is apparently true.
Looking back the producers have some concerns that the older characters were not the best of role models. In particular, Oscar the grouch, for his extreme grouchiness, and cookie monster for promoting unhealthy snacking.
There were a few other reasons they put the warning on it because in one skit one of the characters swallows a pipe, and some other concerns about safety issues.
The producers have raised their consciousnesses over the past 30 years in regards to the show and they are being socially responsible. There are many people making a big to do about this and making fun of the whole issue, but I see the producers point of view. They are just trying to do what feels right for them.
I guess the market they want to attract is the adults who grew up watching those episodes. I am curious to know if they will actually go out and buy it.
TV is an interesting topic. Lord knows most of us watch more than we should and with all the channels to chose from these days, you would think there would be better shows to choose from.
My husband and I came from 2 different worlds when it comes to TV. He grew up in a household were TV was not allowed. The TV was actually put away up in the attic. His family spent their free time reading, which served him well academically, but socially he was left out of the loop.
Growing up in my house the TV was on all day long. We watched way, way, too much TV. When my husband would come over the house to pick me up he would put his hand on the top of the TV and it would be so hot that he would say that the coffee pot could percolate on top of it.
So for our children we tried to find the balance and it was always a bit hard. But they sure did grow up on Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers right after that.
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2 comments:
I do not watch TV not as a matter of principle. I just can't find anything worthwhile to watch and have trouble concentrating on it. I did get into Battlestar Galactica a few years ago and was keen on British soap operas I found on the web and downloaded. I wish I could watch regularly to fill this often empty and idle days I have.
I have a handful of show that I love, and the only time the TV's on is when they're on. When I was married, my husband had the TV on all the time. I couldn't stand that. The TV is always on at my parent's house.
Growing up, I only let my daughter watch PBS and videos. Now she watches MTV all the time and I think it's absolute trash and a horrible influence. I've been tempted to block the channel so many times.
I'm sure the producers of Sesame Street did the right thing. In this world, you need a disclaimer for everything, except MTV.
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