Chefelf.com Night Life: My Childhood Is Better Than Your Childhood - Chefelf.com Night Life

Jump to content

  • (2 Pages)
  • +
  • 1
  • 2

My Childhood Is Better Than Your Childhood Monday, August 27, 2008

#1 User is offline   Chefelf Icon

  • LittleHorse Fan
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Admin
  • Posts: 4,528
  • Joined: 30-October 03
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:New York, NY
  • Country:United States

Posted 27 August 2007 - 02:39 PM

My Childhood Is Better Than Your Childhood

When I remember my youth I am cast back into a time where life was simpler, expenses were lower, and music was far better. Don't get me wrong, I am not a big fan of the Good-Old-Days style theories. I don't believe that things were actually better in the seventies than they are now. People were treated less fairly, the world was less environmentally conscious and technology can't be compared to present day in any way.

No, I don't think things were great when I was a young child. We had the same crappy music, crappy TV, crappy movies, crappy politicians, etc. as we do today. However, when it comes to children's programming I think I can say that my childhood had the superior Sesame Street. Recently, a DVD set was released called Sesame Street - Old School. Volume 1 contains the years 1969-1974. Volume 2 comes out later this year and features years 1974-1979. Now I wasn't technically alive during 1969-1974 but given Sesame Street's proclivity for airing old material, I had seen a decent amount of it when I was growing up. Seeing it again just confirms to me that Sesame Street in the seventies rocked the socks off of anything they can come up now.

Take for example this clip of Stevie Wonder performing "Superstition" live on the set of Sesame Street complete with some kids wigging out in a fire escape, potentially feeling the effects of what would later be called, "Some Kool-Aid the bongo player gave us."



Arguably this is the best version of the song "Superstition" that has ever been performed. Personally, I've never heard a better version. Any time an artist can work the words "Sesame Street" into a song you know you're dealing with quality.

Compare this with a song from a children's program from about thirty years later, The Wiggles:



So obviously if you grew up in the early seventies watching Sesame Street you are going to have a much more refined sense of musical taste than if you grew up now. No offense to the Wiggles at all, they just fail to kick ass. Stevie Wonder kicked ass.

Maybe all of this is comparing apples to oranges. Just to be fair let's compare apples to apples and see what Sesame Street is up to these days:



Okay, that's a different vein than the Stevie Wonder thing but I guess that's pretty awesome too.
Please Note: These videos may not stay up forever judging on YouTube's copyright/fair use struggle at the moment. If any of them go down for any reason just PM me and I'll either repost a link or write a very descriptive text block. Yeah, that should be just as effective.

See Chefelf in a Movie! -> The People vs. George Lucas

Buy the New LittleHorse CD, Strangers in the Valley!
CD Baby | iTunes | LittleHorse - Flight of the Bumblebee Video

Chefelf on: Twitter | friendfeed | Jaiku | Bitstrips | Muxtape | Mento | MySpace | Flickr | YouTube | LibraryThing
0

#2 User is offline   Bond Icon

  • Agent 007
  • PipPipPip
  • Group: Limited Members
  • Posts: 295
  • Joined: 13-July 07
  • Location:Her Majesty's Secret Service
  • Interests:James Bond, Star Wars, Harry Potter
  • Country:United States

Posted 27 August 2007 - 02:52 PM

Well, I didn't watch just Sesame Street; I watched Pooh and Dumbo's Circus on the Disney Channel, Gumby, Salute Your Shorts, Ren and Stimpy, Doug, Kablam!, and Rocko's Modern Life on Nickelodeon, and Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Laboratory on Cartoon Network.

Compared to Sesame Street, these shows rocked out loud. Is there anyone here, for instance, who here does not recognize the phrase "Omelet du fromage"?

I rest my case. wink.gif
IPB Image

You only live twice:
Once when you're born
And once when you look death in the face.

--Ian Fleming
0

#3 User is offline   Spoon Poetic Icon

  • Pimpin'
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Moderators
  • Posts: 2,876
  • Joined: 27-September 05
  • Gender:Female
  • Country:United States

Posted 27 August 2007 - 05:26 PM

I LOVE Sesame Street! I wish there was some way to get more episodes than this offers, but it's the best thing yet. Recent Sesame Streets have gotten pretty lame. I feel like it's dumbing down (then again, so is America). I loved it when I was a kid, and when I can catch a repeat of an older episode (pre-Tickle-Me-Elmo craze), I still love it. I'm weird, I know.
I am writing about Jm in my signature because apparently it's an effective method of ignoring him.
0

#4 User is offline   Bond Icon

  • Agent 007
  • PipPipPip
  • Group: Limited Members
  • Posts: 295
  • Joined: 13-July 07
  • Location:Her Majesty's Secret Service
  • Interests:James Bond, Star Wars, Harry Potter
  • Country:United States

Posted 27 August 2007 - 05:51 PM

No, not really; you're just as sane as I am... biggrin.gif
IPB Image

You only live twice:
Once when you're born
And once when you look death in the face.

--Ian Fleming
0

#5 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

  • -
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 4,140
  • Joined: 10-April 04
  • Gender:Not Telling
  • Country:Nothing Selected

Posted 27 August 2007 - 10:46 PM

Another thing with 'Sesame Street' is that it taught you how to be proficient in the language - so much so that if you watched 'Sesame Street', you could just sit back and cruise through the first few years of primary school (elementary school for Americans).

However, today it could be more of a hindrance - especially with that damn Elmo talking about himself constantly in the third person. Perhaps if one of the other characters corrected him every time he did it, that may be all right - but as far as I know, he could be still setting a back example for the kids right now. I wonder if today's kids are going to grow up saying "Me like this. Me do that."


On a different note, I also think the standard of morning cartoons has gone down the toilet. Now, when I was young, I watched 'Robotech'. It was intelligent, and downright cool - and I've watched it again recently and discovered that it was even better than I remembered (except for the middle act, which I had forgotten about).

But what have kids got today? 'Pokemon' could be one of the stupidest fads ever to hit mankind and 'Dragonball Z' is the most annoying, lamest animated series I've ever come across. I don't even know how it qualifies as 'animated' since there's probably about three still frames per episode, with each one lasting five minutes...

"Will this character change his facial exp​ression? Will this other character's punch connect with his opponent? Find out next week!"

Damn sorry excuse of a television program.

Yeah, kids today... you've gotta feel sorry for them.
0

#6 User is offline   civilian_number_two Icon

  • Canada's Next Top Model.
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Head Moderator
  • Posts: 3,382
  • Joined: 01-November 03
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:In Your Dreams
  • Interests:I like stuff.
  • Country:Canada

Posted 28 August 2007 - 02:52 AM

Bond makes a strong case; however, the phrase "Omelette du fromage," to me, references a Steve Martin standup from the 70s. Please remember Bomd that a lot of the stuff you gre up with would have been more meaningful to you had you been old enough to get the references.

I really dug Sesame Street when I was younger, and I'm not as young as Chefelf. So I have to align my nostalgioa more with his than with yours, Bond.

But I do like Dexter's Laboratory, The Power Puff Girls, and Batman Beyond. Mitigating factor: these are all derivative of older material. I dare say that without a grounding in Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Power Puff Girls might not be fuinny at all.
"I had a lot of different ideas. At one point, Luke, Leia and Ben were all going to be little people, and we did screen tests to see if we could do that." -George Lucas, in STAR WARS: the Annotated Screenplays (p197).
0

#7 User is offline   Despondent Icon

  • Think for yourself
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 4,684
  • Joined: 31-October 03
  • Location:a long time ago
  • Interests:Laughter. Louis pups. Percussion. What binds us. Bicycling, Tennis.
  • Country:United States

Posted 28 August 2007 - 08:17 AM

Sesame Street came out when I started first grade. I was interested, but my parents thought it was too primary for me to watch after that first month or so (curses). The Electric Company was great, with all those 70's match game all-stars in its line-up. Lily Tomlin, Charles Nelson Reilly, et all. Ok, maybe not CNR, but run a search and you'll get the picture.

Then there was ZOOM! we all laughed about it in college with it's nutty introductions: "I'm Despondent (doo-dee doo-dee whah huh). "grown up," but still childish fun.

Maybe it was starting school a little early, maybe it's that damn SW franchise. But I've always felt pandered to when things are at such a childish level. That said, SS did rock, and even though it helped usher in political correctness decades later. And although the street was pretty liberal, they at least intended to be virtuous.

However, Mr. Rogers looked at the kids square in the eye.
0

#8 User is offline   Mirithorn Icon

  • Expert Misologist
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 2,331
  • Joined: 06-July 05
  • Location:Over There
  • Country:United States

Posted 28 August 2007 - 09:51 AM

I must admit I never really watched Sesame Street. The way Elmo's television always talked about some show that would have been much cooler than the one it just showed and then didn't show it bothered me. The mini stories they were constantly telling and then abandoning for another one only to return to the first one later on had a disorienting and somewhat frightening effect on me, and the information was never all that useful. Even at the age of five, I didn't quite get why they made up a long involved song about the letter C when it didn't really convey any more information than one sentence would have, and the stories about letters and numbers just weren't very interesting.

Then again, at that point in my life, my favorite television show was Barney and Friends, so I'm not sure how much you can trust my judgement.
"YOU'RE MISSING A PERIOD. YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY, DON'T YOU? YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY THAT YOU FUCK WITH GRAMMAR? WELL, FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR MISSING PERIOD! I HOPE IT MEANS YOUR SLUTTY, NON-PUNCTUATED WAYS HAVE GOTTEN YOU TEEN-PREGNANT!"

0

#9 User is offline   Bond Icon

  • Agent 007
  • PipPipPip
  • Group: Limited Members
  • Posts: 295
  • Joined: 13-July 07
  • Location:Her Majesty's Secret Service
  • Interests:James Bond, Star Wars, Harry Potter
  • Country:United States

Posted 28 August 2007 - 10:20 AM

QUOTE (civilian_number_two @ Aug 28 2007, 02:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Bond makes a strong case; however, the phrase "Omelette du fromage," to me, references a Steve Martin standup from the 70s. Please remember Bomd that a lot of the stuff you gre up with would have been more meaningful to you had you been old enough to get the references.


Well, someone mentioned the phrase in my 10th-grade French class, and the entire class got the reference -- because it was from one of the earliest episodes of Dexter's Laboratory. wink.gif
IPB Image

You only live twice:
Once when you're born
And once when you look death in the face.

--Ian Fleming
0

#10 User is offline   Despondent Icon

  • Think for yourself
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 4,684
  • Joined: 31-October 03
  • Location:a long time ago
  • Interests:Laughter. Louis pups. Percussion. What binds us. Bicycling, Tennis.
  • Country:United States

Posted 28 August 2007 - 12:04 PM

I thought it was from ren and stimpy. Which proves I never watched that show either, and was the one on this forum, bond, who didn't know what it was. But you rested your case, so I'll let you keep the last word (no affirmation required).
0

#11 User is offline   OhNo_Stereo Icon

  • Henchman
  • Pip
  • Group: Junior Members
  • Posts: 53
  • Joined: 07-August 07
  • Location:delaware, the last state I'd ever recommend to decent people
  • Interests:star wars, steak dinners, cheese burgers, scotch with water, cigarette glamour, nabokov, cassette tapes, VHS, broadcast television aandd getting out of this god aweful state. don't go to delaware, it's worthlesss, unless you go to like authentic mexican restaurants, ie everyone else in the joint is latin, but barring a trip in for outstanding carnitas dishes, I recommend just standing on the border and throwing rocks at people you suspect might be delawarians.
  • Country:United States

Posted 28 August 2007 - 03:31 PM

sesame street is now for infants, I think that's really the problem. it used to be a show for children of all ages, like it was just a circus of crazy sketches, cartoons and characters. you never knew what was coming next.

but now, forget the incredibly insulting elmo's world, it pales in comparison to 'journy to ernie' the show watches like one of those edutainment consoles for babies, and it's all based in the comfort of predictability.

can yooooouuuu spot ernie! .........theeeeere he iss!

babies do not need television shows. these are the people who think chewing on their feet is educational...
0

#12 User is offline   Bond Icon

  • Agent 007
  • PipPipPip
  • Group: Limited Members
  • Posts: 295
  • Joined: 13-July 07
  • Location:Her Majesty's Secret Service
  • Interests:James Bond, Star Wars, Harry Potter
  • Country:United States

Posted 28 August 2007 - 05:40 PM

QUOTE (OhNo_Stereo @ Aug 28 2007, 03:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
but now, forget the incredibly insulting elmo's world, it pales in comparison to 'journy to ernie' the show watches like one of those edutainment consoles for babies, and it's all based in the comfort of predictability.

can yooooouuuu spot ernie! .........theeeeere he iss!


Sounds a lot like Blue's Clues, actually... dry.gif
IPB Image

You only live twice:
Once when you're born
And once when you look death in the face.

--Ian Fleming
0

#13 User is offline   Ninja Duck Icon

  • Cheer up, emo duck.
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Moderators
  • Posts: 1,912
  • Joined: 30-October 03
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Thrillsville
  • Country:United States

Posted 28 August 2007 - 09:24 PM

Unlike you, Chefelf, I do mean offense to the Wiggles. The Wiggles are big fat poopy-heads.
0

#14 User is offline   OhNo_Stereo Icon

  • Henchman
  • Pip
  • Group: Junior Members
  • Posts: 53
  • Joined: 07-August 07
  • Location:delaware, the last state I'd ever recommend to decent people
  • Interests:star wars, steak dinners, cheese burgers, scotch with water, cigarette glamour, nabokov, cassette tapes, VHS, broadcast television aandd getting out of this god aweful state. don't go to delaware, it's worthlesss, unless you go to like authentic mexican restaurants, ie everyone else in the joint is latin, but barring a trip in for outstanding carnitas dishes, I recommend just standing on the border and throwing rocks at people you suspect might be delawarians.
  • Country:United States

Posted 29 August 2007 - 10:24 AM

[QUOTE]Sounds a lot like Blue's Clues, actually...[QUOTE]

yeop

if I was a parent I'd rather see my kids sitting there trying to understand a show that was a little too complicated for them, than let them spaz out to a show that's as empty headed as they are, you know.
0

#15 User is offline   optimus_prime Icon

  • Mini Boss
  • PipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 244
  • Joined: 21-March 07
  • Country:United States

Posted 29 August 2007 - 06:08 PM

youve made your valid case, chefelf. but i must say, i despise you for posting that wiggles video with absolutely no warning tags. because of you..i now have "toot, toot, chugga chugga, big red car" stuck endlessly in my head. blast you for that!

this will take some serious musical eradication..now lets see,.which Van Halen album should I listen to, to remedy this horrible curse?

angry.gif wacko.gif
"freedom is the right of all sentient beings"
0

  • (2 Pages)
  • +
  • 1
  • 2


Fast Reply

  • Decrease editor size
  • Increase editor size