40 years since itv extended hours: 16th Oct 1972

People still had a choice then aswell, Flintstones, Scoby doo, Jabby Jab etc. Or are you on about pre-school programmes? but its been point out the BBC believed SS was indoctrination, and a dangerous extension of the use of television. THAT what the man caused most of the problems, it was how the programme Delivery the eduction to the kids,

Which pretty much defeats your argument about the availability of Sesame Street. In the 1970s there existed only three television channels in Britain. So a decision to show Sesame Street would have meant it would have been seen by far, far more children then than if it was tucked away on one of the hundreds of channels we have now. The potential impact could have been rather large, hence why some regions chose not to show it. You may not agree with their decision, which is fair enough, but you have to place these things in context. In the 70s, control over what was shown was probably more important than it is now, plus society as a whole has evolved since then and fewer people would probably care in this day and age.

I just can't accept that argument either:

A.) I don't see how a show that uses stories and songs to teach children the number "9" can possibly constitute indoctrination (and a dangerous form of indoctrination at that).

B.) I'm bothered by the fact that the British parents liked Sesame Street , as they did in other countries, but that the final say belonged to the cultural elites, who, in my view, were being unreasonable.



Fair enough. There is nothing in your post with which I actively disagree.

You may have mist the point, its how there deliver it to the kids, ie like Advertisement,

Frankly, I don't accept that argument any more than I accept the argument -- made by some right-wing groups in the U.S. -- that Sesame Street was "indoctrinating" children to accept homosexuality by having Bert and Ernie share a bed.

Here's an episode of Sesame Street from the late 1970s -- in its entirety. Judge for yourself:



I just don't see any indoctrination there.

I have to take issue with what you just posted - children growing up with two languages know from a very early age that they are separate - the process you have described (code-switching) actually demonstrate's the child's ability to distinguish between the two languages. A child's brain can easily pick up two or more languages at that age.

The battle between American English and British English you've described isn't an issue of two different languages - it's of two different varieties of English. A child won't be so stupid that they will only learn American English lexis if exposed to British English. It is merely a representation of how their words are coming over here and becoming more prominent, largely due to US TV and the internet. In fact, because of the Anglophile community's rise in prominence on the internet, and the British obsession that is growing in the US, our words are going over there.

Language change is inevitable - rather than preventing children from learning the Americanisms through culture, we should be teaching them what currently is standard, and not discrediting the Americanisms as wrong - especially if they are becoming established.

Without having watched the video you refer to, perhaps you're viewing that with 'modern' eyes; much has changed in the 40 years hence.

You're not taking into account that we were actually talking about a 1970s decision not to broadcast Sesame Street, rather than the current situation. Obviously language is always evolving and words spread around the world much more easily now than they did in previous decades, thanks to the internet and the proliferation of foreign TV programmes. But in the 1970s the decision was taken by some that intentionally showing children Sesame Street would risk affecting their education. In the context of the time in which that decision was made, I agree with it. That's not to say I would agree with it in 2012 as it's no longer practical.

I'm well aware that the Sesame Street argument is over two varieties of English rather than two separate languages. But I disagree that a child would not be confused by two different pronunciations of the letter 'z' or variations of spellings e.g. colour and color. I just don't believe they could easily grasp the difference at such an early age. I bet they wouldn't even fully appreciate what America is at Sesame Street age, certainly not to the level of being able to separate forms of English between Britain and the US.

Bingo, SS used Gameshow, Adverts, which shocked the BBC, you would HAVE NEVER SEEN anything like that on BBC kids shows back then, I doubt you would see them today.

I've only glanced over all the comments in the thread about Sesame Street, so excuse me if this has already been mentioned......but there seems to be a few comments about the BBC's dislike of Sesame Street. I recall the BBC broadcasting a schools series called The Electric Company (?) which was a co-production between them and the US producers of Sesame Street and in a similar style.

I have yet to found that details about that Independent assesment!

623058's right, one of the main things that the British broadcasters didn't like about Sesame Street was the methods it used. The concept of the programme was to educate in the same way that TV commercials got their message across. I can imagine the then rather staid TV execs here not liking the brash quick fire American presentation.

To me as a child of the target age in the late 70's it always seemed a bit odd. The picture quality was very different - a sort of odd washed out NTSC, and the accents and odd references distanced it somewhat. I remember finding the theme tune baffling (I'm still not entirely sure what they were singing in parts) and it was many many years until I realised what the 'Sesame Street has been brought to you by' bit was about!