I’ve failed in getting any of my three kids to take an active interest in SESAME STREET, but it was my favorite show as a preschooler. Pieces of it are still embedded in my head today; my mom took me to a Bob McGrath concert; and, so I’m told, I had to be torn away from the TV when our kitchen dishwasher caught on fire.
All this is why Michael Davis’ STREET GANG: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF SESAME STREET is a history book I could get into. We’ve taken the show for granted for too long, despite its revolutionary influence on television, culture and young minds since its debut on Nov. 10, 1969.
Davis’ book dives deep into the development of the legendary kids’ show, which started when a man noticed his toddler daughter literally would watch a test pattern while waiting for cartoons to air in the mornings. Over dinner with friends, he asked if TV held that power over children, why couldn’t it teach them and entertain? One uphill battle later, SESAME STREET was born — with the title chosen because it was the least bad on their list.
SESAME STREET wasn’t the first educational show for kids, of course, but it was the first to co-opt the mighty selling power of Madison Avenue — to hawk letters and numbers the same way ads did toys and sugar-coated cereals. And luckily, with Jim Henson’s lovable Muppets, it worked. Really well.
Largely, the behind-the-scenes goings-on are happy; tempers don’t flare too often, and the only out-of-control ego was that of composer Joe Raposo, who cheated others out of songwriting credits and later flaunted the fat royalty checks. If there’s a villain of the piece, it’s neither President Richard M. Nixon (who tried to kill all federally funded programming) or the occasional negative TV reviewer, but CAPTAIN KANGAROO himself, Bob Keeshan. He’s portrayed as a real testy sonofabitch who employed a handful of people who defected to work on SESAME when they got tired of his eternal put-downs.
STREET GANG is at its most interesting in the first 200 pages, which covers everything up to SESAME STREET’s premiere. From there, the next 40 years are covered in about 150 pages, with the most recent seasons pretty much confined to the meteoric rise of Elmo. If there’s a problem with Davis’ book, it’s that it’s a little too complete in its bios of the series’ cast and crew; I don’t think we need to know the upbringing of the parents of practically everyone involved.
That aside, the book makes for an engrossing history of a TV classic, from how “bath mats with appliqué” became its characters to how marketing helped keep it going past season one. Can I tell you how to get to SESAME STREET? Look no further than here. —Rod Lott
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Mr. Hooper is dead. Long live Mr. Hooper
My wife is reading this now and I’m sure I’ll pick it up after she’s done. I don’t really remember watching SESAME STREET as a kid though I was certainly familiar with it. The children’s programming I really remember is SPACE GIANTS, JOHNNY SOCKO, SPEED RACER, BATMAN and the Ralph Bakshi SPIDER-MAN. Jesus, what kind of life lessons was I taking away from that lineup?! Our 19-month-old loves her some SESAME and chants of “Elmo! Abby!” are like a broken record in the morning. I’ve seen the ELMO’S CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN DVD so much that I had to order an Abby-centric DVD just to regain my sanity. I must admit that as far as most of the children’s programming goes SESAME STREET makes it at least somewhat engaging for adults. Mike Rowe from DIRTY JOBS was on the other day and actually made a joke about “I always wanted to go in the back door…” but they cut the “back door” part!
Did you know that before he was on SESAME STREET Bob McGrath was Japan’s most popular Irish tenor?
Dear Mr. Lott:
I just ran across your article entitled Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/entertainment/street-gang/, and I would like to raise an issue that is of concern to Selling Power magazine, which is the use of our trademark.
The word “Selling Power” is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for sales effectiveness. For example you wrote: “SESAME STREET wasn’t the first educational show for kids, of course, but it was the first to co-opt the mighty selling power of Madison Avenue…” We do not condone such uses of our trademark.
As a practical matter, when you describe sales effectiveness, there are a wide range of terms available such as: sales excellence, sales savvy, sales mastery, sales acumen, sales efficiency, and many more.
The reason for this letter is to educate writers like yourself that we want to protect our trademark, since we don’t want to risk Selling Power being declared by the courts a generic word. Therefore we ask you not to use Selling Power as a phrase since it is our legal trademark.
We would like to receive a written acknowledgment of this letter stating that you will in the future identify Selling Power as a trademark if you should write about our magazine, and not use Selling Power as a phrase. If we do not hear from you, we will need to take further action.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
All the best,
Gerhard Gschwandtner
Founder and Publisher
Selling Power
1140 International Parkway
Fredericksburg VA 22406
Office: 540-752-7000 Cell: 540-273-2555
That’s ridiculous. The phrase isn’t capitalized and quite obviously does not refer to your magazine; therefore, there’s no confusion in the marketplace or infringement upon your trademark. If that were the case, no one would be able to write that a “rolling stone gathers no moss” or that a solution to a problem “is real simple.” The phrase certainly predates your magazine.
Furthermore, I think your comment is just a ploy to get links to your website. I’ve disabled those.
From this moment on, in every Bookgasm review I write, I swear to God that I will find a way to work in the generic phrase “selling power”.
Man: Do you gschwandtner this copy of “Selling Power”?
Lady: No, I do not gschwandt it. I have read it already.
Man: Would you prefer if I gschwandtned you in the gschwandtner?
Lady: Would I? I would!
That saucy little exchange got me a little Gerhard.
Sales Mastery (TM). I call dibs on that one! I think it might make a great title for an urban romance. lol
When the execs at Enron used an accrual accounting method for selling power, do you think they were criminals, or just trademark infringers?
I heard the governor of Illinois was interested in selling power and influence. Can we add trademark infringing to his list of crimes?
And someone alert those fellas down at ConEd to quit selling power or the flinty eyed Gerhard Gschwandtner will come and talk tough on their blog too.
And he pulls this crap with everybody.
I call it “salesturbation.”