Season 24 (November 9, 1992 – May 7, 1993)
Ah, November 1992. A time for change that I, at age one, wasn’t exactly super aware of. But of course, in November 1992, Bill Clinton was elected, ushering in the chaotic decade that, in the end, only 90s kids remember.
Sesame Street, however, was still the same. What was the same, of course, was that Sesame Street was in flux. As we’ve seen time and time again in these reviews, Sesame Street was constantly making changes to adjust to the needs of kids and global society at large. Following on the heels of the introduction of Rosita, the season’s main focus was the Spanish language. Not only were kids taught about “cerrado”, but they were also taught that Spanish was spoken all over the world. In one episode I found on YouTube, Maria’s childhood friend came to visit, and Big Bird and Snuffy learned that while Maria was from Puerto Rico, her friend was from Cuba.
Folks, there are a lot of adults in America who still don’t get that concept.
But Sesame Street always embraced the Spanish language. So what’s really new this season? Well, Season 24 marked a new opening sequence for the show. It now featured more Muppets than ever before, reflecting the show’s ever-expanding cast. Previously, only Big Bird and Barkley appeared; in the 90s, everyone from Elmo to Prairie Dawn to Telly Monster made an appearance.
But that’s not even half as critical as the most important, significant change: this season added the groovy end credits sequence with the dancing Statue of Liberty and subway cars. This is of course the most important thing Sesame Street ever did, ever. Surely all children grew up better because of how funky and cool this end credits sequence was. I am not being facetious. Here are some things you need to know about this end credits sequence: it was animated by the one of the directors of Daria, Joey Ahlbum, and also remained the end credits sequence of Sesame Street for 15 years. It is the longest-running end credits sequence the show ever had. Based on my research, it stuck around longer than any opening sequence as well.
There is nothing more Sesame Street than these dancing buildings. Except, of course, respecting and understanding other people’s cultures.
Most Valuable Muppet/Character Debut: Welcome Dave Goelz to Sesame Street, now performing the elephant who would later be Horatio. Specifically, he’s an Elephant Elevator Operator, a character who sings his extremely good theme song in this season. In later seasons, he’d return as the elevator operator at the Furry Arms Hotel, so I guess that counts as a character debut.
Most Valuable Human: With the Spanish language curriculum, Maria is working even harder than usual. In the aforementioned episode with her childhood friend, we learn what Maria was like when she was little, which is precious. She fixed the curtain at her school play!
One More Thing: Hey, remember Merry Monster, the other monster whose name starts with M and ends with RRY and was played by Joey Mazzarino? Chances are, if you do, it’s because she sang a song with Queen Latifah this season, and not because of literally anything else she ever did. Oh well.
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by Evan G.
