I’ve been wondering what happened to the “Sesame Street” that I grew up with. The version I’ve shown my son is very different. All the characters are different: Bert and Ernie are rarely on, and if they are, they aren’t together (did they have a fight? are they not friends anymore?), Grover is second to Elmo and Oscar isn’t quite as grouchy. But the thing that drives me crazy is that Snufolofogous can be seen by everyone, not just Big Bird. Now he’s even called just “Snuffy.” That’s what 30 years does — changes things.
In a recent article in the “The New York Times, ” Virginia Heffernan explains all of the changes that “Sesame Street” has gone through. It’s interesting to read about some things that you never expected were bad for you. Remember when Cookie Monster used to have a pipe, then eat it? Gone.
The timing about the old episodes is because the DVD is now out, titled “Sesame Street: Old School.” Yup, we’re old school. Elmo didn’t exist. I just learned that he’s been around for more than a decade. He’s now the most popular character among pre-schoolers. Back in the day (um, that’s old school) Grover was the popular one. Now, he barely gets a scene.
Go ahead, read the article, learn how evil “Sesame Street” used to be. As a grown up, who watched Sesame Street as a kid, I think some of the changes are overblown, but as a parent to a toddler, I’m very cautious about what my son watches and I can see why some areas of the show have been changed. I wonder what version of “Sesame Street” my grandchildren will watch: I suspect it will be something about that Mr. Noodle guy.
Related:
- Read the full article over at “The New York Times.”
- Print “Sesame Street” alphabet coloring pages for your kids.
Tags: Sesame Street
Balancing Motherhood 
November 6, 2009 at 1:26 am |
I can not believe they are changing these. It is just crazy. If it started like that, end it like that.
November 6, 2009 at 1:28 am |
Its just incredible.
November 11, 2009 at 4:52 am |
I think all these changes are ridiculus! I grew up on sesame street the way it was. Why exactly is it so horrible for my kids to do the same? If they found all of these things so wrong with it why didn’t they just take it off the regular channels and put reruns of the original sesame street on one of those retro kid show channels like bugs bunny so those who want to watch it still can. They could have come up with a whole new kids show to fill the time slot and everyone would have been happy. I just don’t understand why everything has to be so difficult..
December 23, 2009 at 4:49 am |
you know what? i love sesame street, cuz like im 14 and i’m a redhead so everyone calls me Elmo! 🙂 by the way Leesha…. you spelled ridiculous wrong sorry that’s just a pet peeve of mine:(
December 23, 2009 at 4:49 am |
you know what? i love sesame street, cuz like im 14 and i’m a redhead so everyone calls me Elmo! 🙂 by the way Leesha…. you spelled ridiculous wrong sorry that’s just a pet peeve of mine:( ya?
December 31, 2009 at 7:35 am |
i cant believe that sesame street is changing with every thing i loved
on it its changed. exspeally the cokkie monster eating vetbals i think the old one is better.
January 12, 2010 at 1:45 pm |
I was greatly upset by these new changes I may only be 20 but this was my favorite show. I never felt like these characters influenced or promote anything bad . They changed cookie monster because of childhood obesity , IP never once wanted to stuff cookies in my mouth because of him but yet he was my favorite character along with bert and ernie. I hate these new changhes it was just like when they changed blues clues.
April 22, 2010 at 8:55 am |
I Think That You Changing The Show Is Stupid Because Parents Are Just Blaming Youll On There Terrible Parenting!
June 20, 2010 at 8:41 am |
I can’t believe that article was ever published… talk about nitpicking. Are four year olds really THAT aware that such things exist? I mean, kids aren’t stupid, but they aren’t negative and sadistic either. For that I blame their parents…
June 29, 2010 at 9:35 pm |
I can’t believe they are changing Sesame Street! I grew up with the classic Cookie monster that everyone knew and loved. His phrase was “Om nom nom nom cookies” what is he going to say now?! “Crunch crunch crunch veggies”?? Then there was Bert and Ernie, the brothers that taught me to share and helped me get along with my siblings, now they are seperated and are almost never shown and when they are, they aren’t together. One of my favorite characters was Snufolofogous, Big Birds imaginary friend. To me an imaginary friend is like a diary, you can tell them anything and you don’t have to worry about anyone else telling your secrets. Let me repeat the word “Imaginary” Friend, imaginary means it’s inside your head, how is Snufolofogous supposed to be Big Birds Imaginary friend if everyone else can see him? I think the changes that were made to Sesame Street are not needed and the next time I see a kid watching Sesame Street I will be sure to tell them how Wonderful and amazing it was BEFORE they changed it.
August 12, 2010 at 10:09 pm |
i hate this new one its stupid annd i may only be 13. but i loved BIG bird, not yellow bird.. annd i loved cookie monster not VEGIE monster..soo THERE !
September 24, 2010 at 9:24 pm |
this is stupid sesame street never should have changed, who ever heard of a veggie monster!? oh and I heard about the grouch being in a recycling bin? And poor Snufolofogous, ( snuffy ) MAYBE HE DOES NOT WANT TO BE CALLED THAT GOD.
September 27, 2010 at 9:39 pm |
they should not have changed it. they should have not changed cookie monster!
did Obamas wife do this??? oh well… 😦 WHY WOULD THEY CHANGE IT!!!!????
I also read that the grouch is now NICE and CLAEAN!!! And some one said he does not have his pet catepliller ( WHY ) !!@!!!!!!!!!!! he would alwase sing to him at the end 😥
October 14, 2010 at 8:03 pm |
I hate the new idea. No one wants a boring veggie monster they want hyper, always take your cookies Cookie monster!! Also, everyone wants the nasty, grouchy, Grouch. and the pet catapillar is so adorable why take him out?!?!
November 15, 2010 at 11:26 pm |
I haven’t seen the show since 1984 – because my mother banned the show due to causing hyperactivity. The classic Bert and Ernie segments stimulated giggling and it gotten annoying to my mother, and it led to my mother banning the show in October 1984. My mother hasn’t even supported the show nor have any any respect for the show since! She hated the show so much, she would never buy any such merchandise if she was to become a grandmother. Because of my mother banning the show, my love for the show became hate in just 2 seconds. I bet she’s looking forward to the show’s demise, which I think will happen at some point this decade.
As for the topic at hand, I think no Sesame Street is better than any Sesame Street (clean or dirty) at all. Kids can probably develop more properly if the show was taken off the air. If I, or my mother, were to support Sesame Street, both of us would support the show going off the air. I bet a lot of mothers from my country wished Mr. Dressup didn’t go off the air. Kids’ shows, in general, are just crap now. If Sesame Street goes off the air, I will turn on a familiar song by Kool & The Gang, and celebrate like it’s the 4th of July.
July 1, 2012 at 7:32 pm |
I bet you were home schooled by your momma told you that she invented the TV, and other outlandish stories, and that everything else is the devil, lmao!
December 18, 2010 at 3:05 pm |
[…] Old School ‘Sesame Street’ vs. New School ‘Sesame Street’ (balancingmotherhood.wordpress.com) […]
January 5, 2011 at 5:01 am |
jonathon wats ur problem? sesame street is awesome. im only 11 but me and all my friends r furious wit the changes! there was no abby cadabby b4 but thats fine. then they got all these changes. kids becuz of cookie monster eating cookies and get fat!?! veggie monster? u cant change classics its wrong! bert and ernie breaking up? this is stupid! and snufolofogous not imaginary? its not gonna cause kids 2 aloosinate! i heard that they might even chnge the name 2 sesame park or sidewalk cuz kids shouldnt play on the street! oscar the grouch not grouchy? his catipillar gone? he used 2 sing songs 2 that catipillar and it would b the best part of the show. in a recycling bin? becuz oscar the grouch is grouchy isnt gonna drive kids into depression! i hate this! if sesame street keeps the changes or adds more the show might lose so many viewers it might go off the air. i luv sesame street and even if i dont like the changes id rather it not go off the air. if ppl who r incharge of sesame street if ur reading this u should no that NO 1 is happy wit the changes.
February 26, 2011 at 10:06 pm |
i am sorry i am 11 and i think this is crazy it does not sound right “umumum veggies” the health nutruitions say it is ok to have a little bite of cookies so it must be ok for cookies monster to eat cookies. and then ernie and bert really y would you take them off of seasame street they are friends and share a apartment so what! and oscar it is just not right it is a fact of life you all have been grouchy one day or another you know you make people grouchy because you took them off seasame street. then last but not least y did you take elmo off he did nothing to you guys if i was a parent and you took my childs favorite character i would be very mad! SEASAME STREET IS NOT THE SAME NOW THAT YOU TOOK THEM. I WANT THEM BACK NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>:( i want umumum cookies! and elmos world and bert and ernie and his worm and oscar and his caterpiller it is so sad 😦 you are going to loose so many viewers it will probally go off the air.
March 27, 2011 at 8:36 pm |
I am a 19 year old woman, and have a daughter who is NOT allowed to watch the new sesame street because of the changes. I buy all the “old School” ones that I grew up with, simply because the new one sucks. I blame bad parenting on the corrupted minds of children. What child knows what a pipe is?? seriously. They sell bubble pipes at the dollar store. ! It does not promote smoking. Commercials on every channel promote smoking, or ads everywhere you go, promote smoking. Not a pipe, that Cookie Monster eats at the end. ! Cookie monster was my favorite character, so much that my parents made a a cookie monster cake for my 1st birthday. Was I obese ? No. I ate fruits and Veggies my whole childhood, because that is what my parents ALLOWED me to eat. What a child eats rests on their parents shoulders. It’s not like the kids go out and buy the groceries is it? Oscar the Grouch causing depression? that is STUPID . ! Are they saying that if other children or peers, who are having a bad day, are grouchy they are bringing depression on all of us. I think not. As for bert and Ernie, only a corrupted mind would have associated them with homosexuality, which once again is the parents fault for teaching a 4 or 5 year old that. These are only a few reasons why my daughter, I, nor any future children will never watch the new Sesame street. Take i off the air because it sucks. You want to know the real reason why children run wild, without manners, and corrupted minds. Because laws forbid us to discipline our children in any way. Ways our parents used to discipline us worked, I find, don’t you think? Now you see disrespectful, ill mannered children running wild. And this is Sesame Streets fault, or Blue’s Clues, or Bugs Bunny? I think not.
February 24, 2015 at 5:07 am |
I was wondering what happened to Seasame Street and ran across your post to this article. Stephanie, I am a 26 year old female (not a mom yet) and I’ve not many moms my age speak the kind of wisdom you are speaking. I have always considered myself an individualist, and always intended to raise my kids the way you are describing you raise yours, and I must say it is refreshing. You obviously are a fantastic mother who does not buy into the whole new “trends” of parenting, the kinds of parenting that turn away from loving dicipline, and leave the media and society in charge to raise the precious little ones. I feel really sorry for today’s kids. It is nothing how I was raised. I personally was raised in a very sheltered type environment without the negative LIES that the media will tell people, things like money is the only thing that matters, girls have to be very sexual at a young age, and lies that you have to conform. I grew up with thousands of books and records, and my parents controlled what media I watched, but exposed me to a lot of media that FIT THEIR values because they were the parents, I was watching charlie chaplin at at age seven and reading Dickens at age ten. It’s interesting, but if you really want to examine the reasons why such decisions are made, you have to look at soceities reasons for making the decisons it makes with the kids in the schools and media and such, and it is all about CONFORMITY in essence. There is definetely a certain values set and agenda that these people in charge of our kids have, an agenda that is all about the life that is anti spiritual in nature; not accepting that sometimes people might fight with their brother like Bert and Ernie, that there are “Grouches” out there that we must love and make a part of our community. I am not interested in an anesetized and santized world for my kids, neither am I interested in it for adults, I’m kind of a beatnik so I think that at the heart of all turmoil, and maybe someone ugly and grouchy with a wart on her nose, is something beautiful, a lesson perhaps. I’m not a christian wacko or anything but I consider myself spiritual. I just want to thank you for being a good parent, we need more of you.
April 29, 2011 at 7:26 pm |
OMG my friend told me that the cookie monster is not the cookie monster it i the veggie monster and he is green like what the hell and bert and erny they did not have a fight they dont live together because i guess the writer though they were gay like i grew up with sesame street now it is sesame park because they dont want kids on the street like i hate 2011 change it back losers
April 29, 2011 at 7:30 pm |
i hate this crap they are giving us and are kids 😦 😦 !!!!!!!!!!
May 4, 2011 at 6:49 pm |
im so annoyed by these comments, there is no VEGGIE monster, he still eats cookies, plus Bert and Ernie are still living together and having the same funny disputs about Ernie being too loud etc… or Ernie being in the tub with rubber duckie. my son loooves Sesame Street and i love it too. Fine i grew up with the old one, but i like the new one because there are a lot of funny moments for us adults to enjoy as well. Come on Neil Patrick Harris as the “Shoe Fairy” CLASSIC! don;t be hatin’, Sesame Street is as good as ever!
February 2, 2012 at 3:55 am |
There is so veggie monster
May 7, 2011 at 4:09 am |
WHY WHY WHY ………. WOULD YOU CHANGE THE COOKIE MONSTER
May 11, 2011 at 4:03 am |
YOU IDIOTS. WHY DID YOU CHANGE SESAME STREET!!!i used to love that show now its all messed up.I mean,please,cookie monster is now the veggie monster and who wants to sit around eating veggies all day?Oscar the Grouch,well now Oscar is not grouchy any more.i supose he should’nt be because look at what he is living in.I mean seriously,why is he living in a RECYCLING BIN.Also the joyful elmo is GREEN.what the heck,same thing with cookie monster, all GREEN.And even bert and ernie have changed.i know people think there gay but there still best friends.There separted 😦 thats really sad.Also you took Ocsars little catipiller friend out,even the count dracula.Count Dracula teached kids 3 years old how to count remember 1 ah ah ah ah 2 ah ah ah ah.So this is what im saying.who ever came up with these changes are nuts.I WANT THE OLD SCHOOL SESAME STREET BACK.NOT SESAME PARK!!!!!!!!
p.s: if you fix these changes take the little fairy out (elmo’s friend) shes the one in the show that turned elmo GREEN FOREVER 😡
February 2, 2012 at 3:54 am |
K I totally agree you got to have some junk food so cookie monster should not be the victim and sesame street to sesame park there was no cars do what’s the deal
June 15, 2011 at 6:54 am |
im 12 and my friend told me this and from reading all this i learned alot more stuff going on i think its stupied they shouldent change anything its perfect how it is and plus i heard they are quiting sesame street because they did something wrong on the show and the just quit or something they should make oscar the grouch grochy its in his name keep it that way and cookie monster every one i know loves him and him eating cookies thats fine he still ate his veggies on the show and every one still eats there veggies oscar and cookie monster and elmo are my fav they caint change them and big birds imagenary friend caint come to life there imaginary not real life its stupied im litterly wearing a oscar the grouch shirt right now i have his backpack i have 2 shirts a wallet bag and a hat u can tell i luv them to lol AND THEY SHOULD NOT CHANGE THE NAME when they are walking in the street there is no cars just the kids riding there bikes or skating see no cars
August 3, 2018 at 10:20 am |
You want Oscar to go back to being grouchy? Absolutely not! I’n fed up with his jerkery. I mean, would you wanna be with a guy who’s a jerk all the time? I sure wouldn’t. After all, I like folks who are boring and not interesting.
June 15, 2011 at 7:04 am |
and why would they take dracu,la out hes the only one that teaches the toddlers how to count and there is no reason to have a fairy in the show wat does she teach the kids how to mess up all she does is messes up and she dont fix her problem let me twinkle trhink bout this twinkle think twinkle think i got it CHANGE THE DANG SHOW BACK NO REASON TO CHANGE ANY THING just saying wat i think here
August 3, 2018 at 10:21 am |
That isn’t Dracula who teaches kids to count. It’s Count von Count who does. And he’s modeled after the most popular vampire of all.
August 18, 2011 at 7:36 am |
I can’t stand how everything is elmo this and elmo that! It’s elmo street now! Ugh!! I prefer the old sesame street, with grover, harvey kneelslapper, mumford, guy smiley, kermit, ernie, burt, barkley, harry monster, telly, all the skits – news flash, cartoons, songs especially from joe raposo, Thank God for Youtube! I can still watch the sweet classics instead of the lame elmo crap!
August 30, 2011 at 9:44 pm |
I have the same sentiments and agree with many thoughts posted here. I grew up watching Sesame Street and learned many things from the show. I loved pretty much all the characters (besides Big Bird – for whatever reason he scared me a bit as a child) even learned a bit of counting from Count Von Count. I tried watching the “new” Sesame Street last year with my boys, they couldn’t even sit through more than 5 minutes worth because the characters were blabbing about non-sense and nothing educational. I tried to sit through it for another few minutes but as soon as the characters started rapping (really?!?! has it really come to this?!), I had to shut it off and walk away in disgust. I’m surprised it’s still airing, I would think PBS would have lost many contributions as I for 1 stopped mines once I saw the junk they are now airing. Sad sad times 😦
December 1, 2011 at 6:43 am |
Apparently, Sesame Street wasn’t successful at teaching these folks how to spell or speak English. That’s sad. If you have strong feelings about something, take the time to construct your comments in an intelligent manner and your opinions will carry more weight.
February 2, 2012 at 3:49 am |
Ok I can’t believe they even thought of changing the show and I’m 14 saying that. What I’m really mad about is they changed cookie monster to veggie monster to give a positive influence. It’s cookie monster for heavens sake what so bad about him. Sorry I needed to get everything out.
February 3, 2012 at 2:37 am |
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February 24, 2012 at 9:04 am |
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March 5, 2012 at 4:07 am |
really change an icon ??????? i have a 6 and 3 year old and they will only watch teletoon retro
April 20, 2012 at 5:59 pm |
– The Snuffy matter is simple. They decided to reveal him to the residents of the Street because there were a few child molestation scandals at the time before the reveal (Loretta Long actually mention a scandal at a daycare center in The Bronx in an interview), and the thinking was that they want children to go to their parents or a trusted adult in these situations. The people at Sesame Street were concerned that kids would NOT to go their parents because “If they don’t believe Big Bird when he says that Snuffy is real…then why would they believe me?”
April 26, 2012 at 6:11 am |
Ok what is the whole deal with sesame street?
I heard that they are changing the name to sesame sidewalk because they don’t want kids playing on the street. Then with cookie monster. I love him until they got veggie monster all because of the first lady of the USA. They say that they replaced him because he was eating to much cookies and children were doing the same and getting obese. Then with Oscar the grouch. Oh no he’s still the same only one Problem he doesn’t live in a trash can anymore he lives in a house and i think that he is cleaning now. They switched it because they said that kids were going to worship hobos. And that they thought that this was offensive to homeless people.
So you tell me has sesame street oh I’m sorry I ment ” sesame sidewalk” changed for you and your kids because it has for me
May 18, 2012 at 9:15 pm |
I can’t stand the changes on this show! I grew up watching Sesame Street and it never influenced in a bad way. All the changes they’ve done to some of the best characters and almost total removal of others! hame on SS for caving to Politcal Correctness (oh, I mean Political CRAP!)
July 12, 2012 at 8:21 pm |
I bought a sesame street dvd in a store once because the tv stations stopped airing it, when i got home and played it for a few minutes, i took it out and returned it to the store. i told the store owner its not sesame street, somebody else made this. Not knowing i was lost in time, and everything has changed… so sad!
January 5, 2013 at 5:11 am |
By the way its now called sesame park, and the cookie monster is now the vegetable monster, and they are now calling it sesame park because they didn’t want kids playing on the street… what a lame excuse!! Kids would not play on the street over that! The cookie monster used to make me laugh, but now he is the vegetable monster… BLAH!
January 7, 2013 at 5:23 am |
Hey are they changing ever tiñe LIKE wat the fug im 12 and i love cookie monster and elmo!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hate that
August 3, 2018 at 10:22 am |
Oh shut up, you whiner.
March 15, 2013 at 2:28 pm |
I cannot stand the new sesame street..I grew up to the original from the 1970’s The old sesame street has better teaching skills and interaction for the children. My grandson he’s 2 (2013) loves the old sesame street, and i noticed he does not have interest on the new one….also i have Netflix and we can watch all the old classics from their.
May 2, 2013 at 9:12 pm |
Hello this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG
editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding know-how so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
December 23, 2013 at 10:11 am |
Any of you guys watch the new jack andcthe bean stock? Now it’s very violent and called jack the giant slayer times sure have changed
May 22, 2014 at 1:39 am |
the people who did this suck . we need back our violent sesame street
August 1, 2015 at 10:22 pm |
Old Sesame Street the BEST! I have videos of the old series and my grandkids love watching them. Their not interested in the new Sesame Street. They want grandma to put the old Sesame Street videos back in !!!!
March 7, 2016 at 7:49 am |
I remember sesame street when i was a kid and it was nothing like it us now,first of all what happened to dorthy the goldfish,second what happened to all the other characters that many people loved it sucks that it cant be the way it used to.
March 13, 2016 at 10:16 pm |
Snufolofogous has been called Snuffy since a long time ago though.
March 30, 2016 at 9:52 pm |
They took away counting in French which was good for kids to learn the basics when they get into French Class. All the favorite characters like Ernie, The Count, Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Grover, Cookie Monster are hardly ever on and out of all of them The Cookie Monster seems to be the most used. I can`t stand the New Sesame Street all of the learning aspects of it is not the same as when I was a kid. I think my toddler gets bored watching it to a degree.
May 19, 2016 at 4:51 pm |
I have watched the new Sesame Street, & for at least 3 days, I haven’t seen Oscar the Grouch on there even once. They have totally changed it & it just isn’t what it used to be. They can’t have things like certain Muppets on there because children might “take it wrong” or it could be a bad influence on them…they didn’t have a bad effect on my generation when we were growing up & watching them. In fact, we loved them! Our mothers WANTED us to watch them! I think that society is making this generation of children into something weaker than what we were because they’re so afraid that they kids might learn the wrong things, but yet our television stations won’t hesitate to put things on there with crime, cheating & affairs, or men dressing as women & having affairs with the same gender. This country needs to stop & realize what a “bad influence” is. By having things like that on television & the kids seeing it, they’re actually encouraging them to do these kinds of things. The adults from the last two generations have actually made these children weak in certain ways that are hurting them.
October 11, 2017 at 10:44 pm |
I wish they didn’t change Sesame Street I think it was better befor Osceola the angry grouch Bert and Erin on all the time I just wish it was still the same as it used to be