Season 25 (November 22, 1993 – May 20, 1994)
When the producers of Sesame Street announced that they were celebrating their 25th season by adding new sets and characters, I was past the show’s target audience, but I was still excited to hear the news. America’s favorite street was expanding “Around the Corner!” After two and a half decades of doing street stories with the same handful of locations — 123 Sesame Street, Hooper’s Store, Big Bird’s nest — the creators now had a much bigger sandbox to play in. It was a bold new era for Sesame Street!
I recently watched episode 3136, which includes the first appearance of the “Around the Corner” sets and characters, and I was struck by what a great job they did designing and building what is essentially a whole new Sesame Street attached to the old one. The characters act like these new locations have always been there, but for the viewer it’s astonishing to see Muppets and humans hanging out the windows of a new hotel, playing on a new playground, and hanging out or dancing on the upper floors of tw0- and three-story buildings. The new sets were so huge, they required the show to move to Kaufman Astoria Studios, because their old studio wasn’t big enough!
But as exciting as all it seemed, the changes were not just an attempt to give the characters more places to say the alphabet. They were also an indication of the producers getting desperate. As chronicled in the book Street Gang by Michael Davis, there were leadership shakeups at Children’s Television Workshop that happened right around the time a hugely popular new PBS show was changing kids’ TV.
Yep, it was Barney and Friends, and the titular dinosaur wreaked havoc on the landscape of children’s television like some kind of… some kind of… some kind of DINOSAUR! And so, the folks now in charge of Sesame Street concluded that they had to keep up with their purple rival as the show entered its 25th season. It had to be brighter! It had to be more colorful! It had to look cleaner! It had to target younger preschoolers! And it had to start using professional child actors instead of normal kids!
I’m sure all of this helped the show stay on the air and hold its own against Barney. But looking back at the entire series (which is what we’re doing!), it’s hard not to see season 25 as a turning point from the organic, down-to-earth Original Sesame to the slicker, more polished (too polished?) feel of Modern Sesame. Sesame Street was already a brilliant, creative show, with an audience of sophisticated children. Was it truly necessary for them to try so hard to remain popular?
Maybe!
The show managed to retain its quality, with many of the same creative staff sticking around for at least a few more years. There’s still a lot of fun, funny stuff happening that would fit the old “entertaining for kids AND grown-ups” category. But it doesn’t quite feel like the same show. That would continue even after they ditched “Around the Corner” a few years later. But Sesame Street stuck around for another 25 years, so they must have been doing something right!
Notable Location Debut: “Around the Corner” was pretty fun while it lasted, and the best thing about it is the Furry Arms Hotel. A luxury hotel feels incongruous on the formerly gritty Sesame Street, but the stories that take place within its walls are always fun. The lobby is full of monsters, Honkers, Dingers, and other assorted creatures, and the employees Ingrid and Humphrey are agreeably stupid.
One of my favorite episodes of this season finds Susan and Gordon searching for a place to stay while their apartment is being painted, which leads them to the Furry Arms. After squeezing through the Muppet-sized revolving door, they’re chagrined to discover that all the rooms are occupied by basketball-playing chickens. As always, Roscoe Orman and Loretta Long do a fantastic job of playing exasperated, and when a chicken comedian named Henny Drumstick shows up to do his famous bit about corn, it’s clear this is one of those episodes where the writers prioritized silliness over education.
Notable Character Debut: Boy, where to start? Zoe is probably the most notable, but there’s also Ingrid, as well as her boss, Sherry Netherland. (Humphrey had debuted a few years earlier, but became more of a character this season.) And don’t forget the rodent singing group the Squirelles. And the human characters Ruthie, Celina, Jamal, and Angela, and their daughter Kayla. So many new characters! So many, in fact, that little kids couldn’t keep them all straight, which had something to do with their eventual disappearance.
MVM (Most Valuable Muppet): You know who I like from this season, and the subsequent Around the Corner years? Benny Rabbit, the grouchy bunny who becomes a bellhop at the Furry Arms. He was the crankiest Muppet to come along since Oscar, and it made him stand out in a crowded Muppet field.
MVH (Most Valuable Human): I feel like I should pick one of the new neighbors, so I’ll go with Ruthie. Ruth Buzzi, a comedy veteran, was funny without being over the top, and she was pretty good at avoiding the peppy, too-upbeat acting style that makes many preschool show performances tough for adults to stomach.
MVE (Most Valuable Episode): Episode 3140 handles a difficult subject in an honest, emotional way. It opens with Gina and Savion hanging out, doing friend stuff out on the street and having a great time. Then some anonymous jerk calls Hooper’s Store to tell them they shouldn’t be friends because they’re different races.
It’s a considerably more straightforward way of dealing with racism than, say, the episode years later where Big Bird’s fellow avian doesn’t want to let Snuffy into their club because he’s not a bird. Gina and Savion’s reaction is powerful — they yell at the racist caller and explain to Telly that some people in the world are really stupid. Savion actually uses the word “stupid!” On Sesame Street! I’m sure it left an impression on a lot of kids.
Other Notable Episodes: Episode 3217 finds Biff insisting on going about his daily routine despite the fact that he has a bowling ball stuck on his hand. Not as serious an issue as racism, but undoubtedly an important one. In Episode 3179, Elmo wants to marry Gina. He eventually changes his mind, but it wouldn’t be the last time he’d be smitten with her.
Musical Highlight: Soprano Marilyn Horne does an operatic arrangement of “C Is for Cookie.” Sesame Street is so high-culture!
Best Celebrity Moment: First Lady Hillary Clinton talks about healthy eating with Rosita and Big Bird. You can read more about that here!
WTF Moment: In episode 3237, Telly, Baby Bear, and the kids are SO excited because the famous singer Booby Bunny is coming to Sesame Street. Yes, I said Booby Bunny. They wear bunny ears and sing their favorite Booby songs to prepare for his arrival, which means this street story is full of public domain tunes and child actors grinning and dancing like overcranked wind-up toys.
Maybe this was a spoof of Barney? Maybe the writers were letting out some frustration by mocking the ridiculous antics of the enemy? I’d like to think so!
One More Thing: You might think Sesame Street would mark its 25th season with an anniversary special. But you’d be wrong! They marked the 25th season with TWO anniversary specials! There was Stars & Street Forever, a star-studded show that aired on ABC in primetime, and there was Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration, which aired on PBS. I wrote about both of them way back in 2009, during the 40th anniversary year. Check it out!
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by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com
