for other uses, see Old School

Release Date 2006 Produced by Sony Wonder Catalogue no. 89126-40010-2 Format DVD Discs 3 Region 1 ASIN

Sesame Street: Old School, Volume 1 is a 2006 three-disc DVD set collecting episodes and skits from the first five seasons of Sesame Street (1969-1974). Old School is marketed as a nostalgia set, aimed at teenagers and adults who remember the series from their childhood.

Contents show]

The three discs contain the season premieres of each of the first five seasons of the show (episodes 0001, 0131, 0276, 0406 and 0536), plus an additional 54 bonus sketches grouped by season. The total running time is over seven hours. A 16-page booklet is also included. The set contains four slight alterations to the episodes because of rights issues. In three of the cases, Sesame Workshop added replacement material in place of the cut material in order to compensate for them.

Each of the complete episodes is preceded by a newly produced animated segment in which a character named Bob begins to introduce the episode and is interrupted by an off-screen, elderly-sounding character telling him to stop talking and show the episode. Prior to the start of Episode 0001, the animated character reads a disclaimer for parents that received criticism upon release.

The set was followed by volumes two and three, consisting of material from the subsequent ten years of the program.

Disc Features

Disc 1

Episode 1 (1st season premiere)

Season 1 Classic Cuts

Sesame Street Pitch Reel (Version 2)

Easter Eggs: original drawings and behind-the-scenes photos

Disc 2

Episode 131 (2nd season premiere)

Season 2 Classic Cuts

Episode 276 (3rd season premiere)

Season 3 Classic Cuts

Disc 3

Episode 406 (4th season premiere)

Season 4 Classic Cuts

Episode 536 (5th season premiere)

Season 5 Classic Cuts

Edits

Errata

Errata: DVD menus display incorrect date

Errata: DVD menus display incorrect date 1 of 2 Add photo

Despite being listed on the packaging, in several pre-release press statements, and appearing in the trailer "Pinball Number Count" is not included on the set. The pinball cartoon was made for Season 8, and appears in two episodes on the second Old School set.

The clips for "Rubber Duckie" and "I've Got Two", though both Season 1 songs, are from the second season, as evident by the red-nosed Ernie puppet and the green staircase belonging to the garage behind Susan and Bob. (The first season did not have this set piece, as seen in "ABC-DEF-GHI".)

Some of the "Classic Cuts" segments are given incorrect dates: "Pig's Love Song", which is listed as a season 2 segment, is from season 4. "Ladybugs' Picnic", "Alligator King", and "Mumford's Magic Trick" are all listed as season 3 segments, but actually premiered in season 4.



The (now defunct) online site for the DVD featured extended versions of "Super Grover: Telephone Booth" and "Lost Paper Clips with Bert and John-John" not shown on the DVD.

"Mah Na Mah Na" originally appeared in the online trailer, but was soon removed; the segment does not appear on the DVD.

The DVD menus and booklet descriptions for episodes 0276 and 0406 feature incorrect air dates for the shows.

Controversy

The new introductions featuring animated character Bob received criticism from the press, particularly the one attached to Episode 0001 which states that "these early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grownups and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child".

Fox News aired a piece in which Shepard Smith suggested that the episodes were bad for children. In a contradictory statement, Smith paraphrased the disclaimer that the shows might not be appropriate for today's pre-schoolers, immediately followed by an interpretation that they were in fact inappropriate.

Appearing at the 2010 Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Free-Range Kids movement founder Lenore Skenazy used the disclaimer as evidence of the changing times and criticized Sesame Workshop's refusal to endorse their archival product from 37 years prior. Skenazy cited a Sesame Workshop lawyer who admitted that there had been a lot of internal discussion about the disclaimer before the DVD's release, and the reluctance to suggest that present-day children should go outside without adult supervision.

Writing for The New York Times Magazine, Virginia Heffernan detailed some of the dated material in the episodes in response to the disclaimer. She also spoke with then-executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente who commented specifically on Cookie Monster eating a pipe in the Monsterpiece Theater segments and the unlikelihood that a character like Oscar the Grouch might be created in a modern environment.[1]

In response to the criticism, ToughPigs.com published a piece called "The Voice of Reason" on November 29, 2007. [1]

International releases

United Kingdom (DVD) 2008

Abbey Home Media Group DVD Australia, 2008

Madman Entertainment

SES1005 DVD United Kingdom, 2011

Abbey Home Media Group

Part of the Ultimate Old School DVD boxset, along with Old School: Volume 2 United Kingdom, 2011Abbey Home Media GroupPart of theDVD boxset, along with

Add a photo to this gallery

See also