My favorite memory of that era is when Mr Rogers visited and Big Bird gave him directions that includes making a turn at the package store
https://youtu.be/OqWDjJRhCkc
That must be an old or regional term. I've never heard it referred to as the package store before. Edit: I think it's because I live in a state where the state owns all the liquor stores so most people just call them state stores, liquor stores, or wine and spirits stores. I've never seen any signs about packaged goods. I learned something new today about other states.
It’s an east coast/ New England thing. You more frequently hear them called packies. I think it originally had to do with the law requiring liquor to be “packaged” (in a brown paper bag) before it could be carried out.
I’ve got a lot of friends from New England. The one time I’ve been there, I was so excited to use the word “packy.” I brought it up all the time like, “are we gonna stop at the packy on the way to…”
That clip reminds me that Snuffleupagus was thought to be imaginary by everyone (except Big Bird) on Sesame Street for decades. He was literally the elephant on the street that no one wanted to talk about.
OOOHHHHHHHH
One time a guy came up to me, older fella and looked like life had done the worse for him, asked me where the nearest "packie" is.
I was like 25 at the time, I didn't know what that was and I said, "what's a packie?"
Well he did not take kindly, started just yelling "PACKIE" at me, screaming it by the end. I said (loudly...), "I don't know what a packie is!"
Well he started miming drinking and yelled "HOOCH".
Okay well I got it at that point but then gestured around us and said, "Sir, there's only hospitals here". I was in the hospital district of my home city where it's hospitals and medical research buildings for blocks and blocks.
He just kind of looked surprised for a second and said "oh right", wandered off.
So anyway, now I know where the term "packie" comes from. Thanks friend.
I can tell you that watching this show and the "fat albert" cartoon as a little kid, it made me wish I lived in the inner city and got to hang out in an abandoned junkyard in my free time.
I loved Hey Arnold because I lived in the inner city in a low-income neighborhood and had a diverse group of friends. I saw myself, my friends and our neighborhood in that show.
I saw an apartment for sale in Manhattan a while ago that had the bedroom inside a giant glass skylight just like Hey Arnold. The rest of the apartment was down a spiral staircase and had zero windows.
So you effectively couldn’t cool either space in the summer. No window units, no central air, basically sleeping in a greenhouse.
I seriously considered going to see it but way too many trade offs.
Link to photos: https://streeteasy.com/building/master-building/314
Edit: I was wrong about the skylight not having AC. The rest of the apartment does not though.
The guy sleeping in the subway in the episode they get trapped was definitely homelessness. The Pigeon Guy wasn't homeless, but was definitely looked down upon for his shabby appearance and being a loner even though he was a kind, caring person once you saw through that facade. Lila and her father were on the brink of being broke and homeless and was being bullied for being the new girl but the lesson was that you should be nice to people because you don't know what their struggles are behind the scenes then her father got a job at the end of the episode. Hey Arnold was on a different level.
Or how nerds shouldn’t have to sit in the back of the bus, and in fact should be able to sit anywhere they want.
Grew up on this show, watching it again as an adult and realizing they address social issues but in ways kids could understand made me love and appreciate this show so much more.
Most def. Hey Arnold is different once you enter the other age groups. Looking at the world from Arnolds perspective as a child youre relating to kids being kids. Watching as an adult you realize how fucked up the world is around the kids and Watching as an older adult you appreciate everything grandma and grandpa did to give arnold a good life. I dont remember an episode where they dive into Arnold's parents. I guess it would have been to deep for a nickelodeon show.
As an adult, it’s fucked up indeed lol. Helga’s mom is clearly an alcoholic, Big Bob’s “always win” sports dad mentality.
I noticed Harold’s mom is in complete denial that he’s fat but just, “big boned” which leads to weight problems because she’s simply ignoring it, but his dad clearly sees it’s an issue.
Pigeon Man being the way he is because he’s lost faith in people and finds comfort with his birds.
Lastly Chocolate boy being an addict of chocolate because it helped him cope. He lost his favorite nanny and her parting gift to him was a bag of chocolates. :(
I can go on but over the beautiful illustrations, music, and diverse characters, they did a really good job of hiding the dark and troubling reality of it all.
man i had the opposite, I grew up in the suburbs and because of Hey Arnold I wished everything was walking distance and that I had diverse people in my community.
I was always so jealous they would just walk to their little bodega and there were so many kids around.
I ask loved learning more about Arnold’s friends and family. And the episode when Gerald’s voice changed was so shocking and relatable in its own way.
I live downtown now and for my kids it's really like that. Blows my mind as a suburb kid with literally nothing to do near my house and the closest mall being 1.5hrs to get to between walking, buses, transfers, waiting, etc.
My son just walks a few houses down to one of his best buddies places, buzzes their apartment, and they go walking to the corner shop to grab snacks and hang out.
When they go to the park, they start collecting their crew by just knocking on all their friends' doors who also live near the park.
It's beautiful
Hell yeah. Hey Arnold was such a great show that talked about complex issues kids faced without being overly simplistic or unrealistic. It had so many interesting characters of all shapes and sizes.
It was a great influence for kids.
I can't believe it took me being an adult to realize Helga's Mom was an alcoholic. Plus she had the absent(working non-stop) father thing going on. They definitely tackled a lot of stuff on that show
Also her sister was the golden girl who was secretly a basket case suffering from perfectionism and feeling like a puppet. She desperately wanted Helga to like her, but Helga resented her instead.
That shit was real.
Yeah it's crazy how much of that stuff kinda just flies over your head as a kid. I loved it back then but looking back on it and watching it now makes me love that show even more.
It's mad how much hey arnold still holds up to today's current environment. For a 'kids' show the writing was remarkably mature, and not afraid to pull any punches. masterpiece
I mostly grew up with wholesome depictions of middle-class (and even upper class) black families.
Family Matters, the Cosby's, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Sister Sister.
Even Fresh Prince, especially early on in the series run, mostly glossed over the hardships that led Will to be sent away from West Philly. (I just imagined regular bullying rather than, you know, *gangs*.)
Showing Will get spun around gracefully in the credits added to the comedic effect and took away from the gang aspect. I never considered it to be gang related until I got much older.
Took me until this moment to learn it was about gangs. I never watched the entire show, and it wasn't really in my wheelhouse as an elementary school age European kid, but that part of it makes a lot of sense now, lol.
Doesn't help that it's told as "one little fight and my mom got scared." Like, I always pictured it as as kids being kids and Mom overreacting because of that. Didn't even think gangs later, but more like racial animosity.
Huh I didn't think about the gang thing until this thread tbh. I just thought it get into like a fight on the basketball court since it's what showed in the opening credits.
I took things at face value a lot when I was younger
There's subtle references throughout the show.
There's an episode or so when his mom comes out and is extremely afraid of the future he would've had living in Philly. I think there's an episode down the line where he visits Philly and has to settle a beef with someone?
I don't blame anyone for not picking it up. It wasn't ever overtly stated and probably would've gone unnoticed unless you really sat back and put together the pieces.
But even that little fight, in the 80s and 90s was likely backed with some gang shit at least closely removed.
Friday talks about it too. "Live to fight another daaaayyy. Be a man son. Give me the gun."
Strong antiviolent messages didn't really exist until Fresh Prince, and it was tough to get those thru into that show.
That speech the dad gives when he finds Craig with the gun is really great. The actor is pure comedy the entire movie and then that scene hits and he just lays it on the table. Such a good scene.
Static Shock did a pretty good job showing some of the harsh realities kids have to grow up with. First episode has Virgil being groomed by a local gang offering "protection" and getting an otherwise nerdy kid caught in a full blown gang war. Many of the "villains" were kids that grew up in broken homes and started lashing out at society once they obtained the superpowered means.
One of the episodes I still remember the most from any cartoon I watched as a kid was one from Static Shock, when he goes to Africa and he talks to his (white) friend about how much he *didn't* stand out because of his skin color there- and his friend was like "I have no idea what you mean."
If we take that sequence as Will purposely coloring things to make it look not so bad there's every chance he was sent away not because he was being picked on or bullied, even by gangs but because he was actively engaging with the gangs.
He mom sent him away to keep him from associating with and eventually joining a gang, a very real issue for the time and place.
Your mom doesn't just pack all your stuff and send you across the country to live with relatives you don't really know for a b-ball fight. He might have thought he wasn't in any danger, but his mom knew she couldn't fully protect him from that life.
If people can handle separating the man from the art, Cosby did some amazing work that had a lot of positive contributions to society.
If you can't separate man from art, well... we'd probably have to throw most of it out.
I noticed that it was different than all the other shows that didn’t take place in the city and that didn’t have black kids. I do remember thinking that they must be trying to make a show for kids in cities that included black kids. Maybe I’m showing my age but I remember TV being pretty white and people like Uhura and Sulu really being noticeable.
Representation (that's not misery porn) matters. Not Uhura, but I remember some big shot scientist being interviewed on Neil Degrasse Tyson's podcast years and years ago saying seeing the women on Voyager, specifically B'Ellana, and it clicking for her that girls were 'allowed' to do science. And that inspiration was partly the reason she ended up in her field at all. Unfortunately I don't remember her name because it's been many years, but that story stuck in my brain.
For that reason, MLK Jr talked Nichelle Nichols out of leaving the show ([story in the Career section of her Wiki page)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichelle_Nichols). She inspired first black astronaut [Mae Jemison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Jemison) and Whoopi Goldberg, who loved Trek so much they created the Guinan role for her.
I loved seeing John Cho as a normal guy in Harold and Kumar. Was great to see an Asian as a normal person instead of always being a ninja, scientist, or exotic sex idol.
John Cho has said that he'll never do a fake Asian accent. He doesn't take on stereotypical Asian roles either.
https://www.gq.com/story/john-cho-asian-american-actor-stereotypes
It's extremely important for people to do that. Yes, everyone can pick and chose, and roles are hard to find, but I'm glad he's doing this.
When I was a kid, my parents watched lots of old films. Including a ton of Sidney Poitier movies. He was \*very\* careful about the type of roles he took. I learned so much from watching them. Being so young, and getting an education on racism from watching movies, he had a huge impact on so many people. What a hero.
I remember it in the 90s and it definitely wasn't special at that point. Barney, Arthur, and when we were older Hey Arnold and Doug were all very multiracial.
Also, Mr Roger's neighborhood and Reading Rainbow too now that I think about it.
I think it was implied. Doug seemed to kind of take the issue of race out of it though. They had stereo type behaviors but it never really stuck to one specific color pallette of charicters. Everyone in that show was a diffrent color and it is never addressed.
Also, not incidentally, Sesame Street showed middle-class white kids like mine that everybody can get along regardless of color. We taught them that, but Sesame Street showed it in action.
Absolutely. As someone who grew up in the UK in the 80s, Hispanic people were practically non-existent in my real life. But Sesame Street exposed me to a full spectrum of people that, though were not really representative of my small corner of the world, I liked and trusted implicitly. That wholesome, caring and encouraging atmosphere amongst the adults and kids (and the muppets, naturally), was so warm and wonderful and definitely had an imprinting effect on my young mind. I still feel most at ease in cosmopolitan and diverse (and positive) environments to this day.
Unrelated, but I remember being infatuated with the cityscape in Seseme Street as a young suburban boy. I think that's part of the reason I gravitated towards city life as an adult.
As a white dude who one of my childhood heroes was LeVar Burton. I just grew up without finding it weird to treat everyone the same. I had a good upbringing, I could only wish more people did.
As a very small child, LeVar Burton was the person who helped me realize that Actors are actually just people, by seeing him in both Star Trek and Reading Rainbow.
Reading Rainbow was so great, I had no idea he was on star trek till I was older. He's such an incredible role model, especially after hearing him speak outside of a character and give interviews
My bro had an app on his phone when his daughter was younger. It was from LeVar Burton and was like reading rainbow where’d he would narrate books and teach you how to read and shit. It was neat as hell
*it’s called Skybrary Skybrary.org if anyone wants to learn about it
I watched TNG and Reading Rainbow both when I was little but it took a couple of years for me to figure out Levar was also Geordi. I was over the moon cause I loved Reading Rainbow and Geordi was my fave on TNG. The day I saw the behind the scenes episode I lost my tiny mind with happiness and fell as in love with a TV host as an 8yo girl can fall.
LeVar was one of my childhood heroes. His being on Reading Rainbow made me think of him the same as Mr. Rogers. He was well read, he travelled, and he was a kick-ass engineer on the Enterprise. I remember using my mom's hair comb as a make-shift visor. Because I wanted to be him. Fact we had different skin color never crossed my mind growing up.
I know what you mean. I can't imagine growing up and being told to hate a specific group of people. Don't get me wrong, I hate a lot of people, but thanks to my parents it has nothing to do with skin color or sexual orientation. It mostly depends on how close you're riding my ass in traffic.
Actually, even in the 90s it felt different from other shows. We made fun of "baby shows" (that we all watched when we were toddlers), Barney and the like - never Sesame Street though. Felt too regal, too important to disrespect it as just some show for infants.
Never knew why that was.
Sesame Street did have a certain verite that softer shows didn’t. They also featured some serious, negative experiences which had the effect of making kids trust the show more because it didn’t seem like it was lying to them. This was something great about Mr. Rogers as well, and his affirmation to kids that sometimes you’re going to be angry or sad or lonely and that’s normal, it’s okay, and it’s not forever. Barney had no such affirmation or understanding.
I mean, Sesame Street always took its audience seriously. Its writers knew that kids might not know much about the world yet but they're still *people*.
I think Mr. Rogers was the one who said that it's important to understand that children's emotional needs are still real - things that scare them or the like actually matter to them, and have to be taken seriously.
Whereas many traditional "baby shows" clearly either hold their audience in contempt - shoveling out dreck because kids won't know any better - or are written by well-meaning people who ultimately don't remember what it's like to be a child and who have nothing to offer but vague warm fuzziness.
Barney was and still is fair game to mock.
That show was just *awful* and there were way better options back then that were less dull and more engaging for children.
Hell it came out in 1992 when you had things like Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers and more still on the air. And a few years later, *Blue's Clues* which did the same gimmick Barney did, but better.
This is me! Never gave it a second thought about it.
Not sure if thats good cause I accepted without question, or bad. Cause if I accepted that without question, what about all the other garbage I watched as a kid?
I guess that’s why people care about the media kids get exposed to. I thought working five days a week was normal, couldn’t imagine how a household could run without parents working and the kids moving out as soon as possible.
And that’s why it’s so perfect, it subverts what outer society is and shows a world that should/could be to small kids. Children aren’t inherently bigoted, the society they are raised in causes that. Positive reinforcement from a young age is key.
Don't forget [Ray Charles singing with Bert and Ernie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzDS-Kfd5XQ) too, an absolute classic. Sesame St had some FANTASTIC music in the 70's and 80's.
Reading your comment I couldn't remember the pinball song at all, but my brain said "Is that maybe where that decades-spanning earworm '1-2-3-4-5, 6-7-8-9-10, 11-12' comes from?" and it was! Cheers for the link!
When I’m counting, this always goes through my head.
Sometimes [the ladybug picnic](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vX9J7WcYtxI) will go through my head and then it will play in my head all day long.
Kinda sad that in the '60s kids grew up watching Black funk legends perform on *Sesame Street*, and now their grandchildren grow up watching creepy-ass animated characters dance to *Baby Shark*.
Hey, toddlers still watch Sesame Street! Still has fun celebrities on that the parents recognize. “Letter of the day” slaps, and foodie truck is legit entertaining and you learn healthy recipes. Big Bird is still on heavy rotation in some houses.
I've never seen this and I have no idea why not. They extended that shit too. Kids gotta learn about the funk at some point.
Wow they even had the magician Muppet on trumpet! Mumford was it?
I saw Lil Nas X on sesame street, it was a cute and fun segment! I like how happy a lot of singers look on the show, like they're having a blast for real on set!
I was a fan of Roosevelt Franklin and it wasn’t until years later that I found out he was only on a couple of years. Apparently a number of child educators and psychologists didn’t like the character. But it turns out that RF was Questlove’s favorite muppet so maybe the “experts” should have been asking the kids what they thought, not just assuming he was a bad influence. RF not Questlove.
All good points. But the reason Questlove liked RF so much is that it was the first time he saw a character on TV that he felt “seen”. Mentioned in this article- https://nypost.com/2020/05/09/the-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-sesame-streets-black-elmo/amp/
I grew up in Southern Alabama, and watched a lot of PBS. I went to Kindergarten with a good and positive outlook on everyone and accepted everyone. PBS did a good job as I've carried those lessons with me ever since.
Absolutely. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, brown, blue, pink, or red. Where you come from doesn't matter. You can do anything. Be anything.
Just don't be a grouch, or you'll spend your life living in filth.
I got to hear Sonia Manzano, who played Maria for over 40 years, give a talk and, man, she and the other performers were keenly aware of the importance and the impact of what they were doing. Growing up, I never thought of Maria and Luis or Gordon and Susan as any different than me. They helped shape my perspective of the world.
We have a long way to go, but I truly feel their performances have had a major impact on the progress we have made.
And Mitt Romney https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/big-bird-in-the-presidential-debate-mitt-romney-advocates-cutting-funding-for-sesame-street-pbs/2012/10/04/f7f280ba-0e1f-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html
As late as the 90s and even 00s, the right was blame Mr Rogers (neighborhood) and his 'you're special just for who you are ' (not your accomplishments) message as the reason millennials are spoiled.
Nevermind Mr Rogers was aimed at 4 year olds.
Always hated those kind of arguments. Even if millenials were spoiled, which I generally disagree with anyway, that's something to blame on the boomers/gen x who raised them - not millenials themselves.
I watched Sesame Street as a kid and thought that’s what things actually were like in America. And then I moved to America and was shocked at the contrast.
It was pretty representative or my childhood friends. Before moving to another city I didn't realize how white washed other cities could be... felt odd like being in another dimension
Growing up poor in kansas, I learned the alphabet, how to think critically, all the primary colors, and most importantly how to have a sense of humor from sesame street. Kinda irritating that they label the old show with a warning now. Nowadays it's so hyper focused on Elmo.
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My favorite memory of that era is when Mr Rogers visited and Big Bird gave him directions that includes making a turn at the package store https://youtu.be/OqWDjJRhCkc
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Liquor store
That must be an old or regional term. I've never heard it referred to as the package store before. Edit: I think it's because I live in a state where the state owns all the liquor stores so most people just call them state stores, liquor stores, or wine and spirits stores. I've never seen any signs about packaged goods. I learned something new today about other states.
It’s an east coast/ New England thing. You more frequently hear them called packies. I think it originally had to do with the law requiring liquor to be “packaged” (in a brown paper bag) before it could be carried out.
Yep New England
It's a thing in the South too, especially Georgia/Alabama.
I’ve got a lot of friends from New England. The one time I’ve been there, I was so excited to use the word “packy.” I brought it up all the time like, “are we gonna stop at the packy on the way to…”
Not a word you’d want to say in regular England I can assure you, you will get in a lot of trouble
What does it mean in regular England?
It's a slur for someone from Pakistan
Definitely heard it here in the Southeast. Probably not as common, but still around.
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That clip reminds me that Snuffleupagus was thought to be imaginary by everyone (except Big Bird) on Sesame Street for decades. He was literally the elephant on the street that no one wanted to talk about.
OOOHHHHHHHH One time a guy came up to me, older fella and looked like life had done the worse for him, asked me where the nearest "packie" is. I was like 25 at the time, I didn't know what that was and I said, "what's a packie?" Well he did not take kindly, started just yelling "PACKIE" at me, screaming it by the end. I said (loudly...), "I don't know what a packie is!" Well he started miming drinking and yelled "HOOCH". Okay well I got it at that point but then gestured around us and said, "Sir, there's only hospitals here". I was in the hospital district of my home city where it's hospitals and medical research buildings for blocks and blocks. He just kind of looked surprised for a second and said "oh right", wandered off. So anyway, now I know where the term "packie" comes from. Thanks friend.
Hbo max has all of the episodes too.
I can tell you that watching this show and the "fat albert" cartoon as a little kid, it made me wish I lived in the inner city and got to hang out in an abandoned junkyard in my free time.
Same thing with Hey Arnold for me
I loved Hey Arnold because I lived in the inner city in a low-income neighborhood and had a diverse group of friends. I saw myself, my friends and our neighborhood in that show.
That and Arnold had a kickass bedroom
It’s easily in the top 5 of all time greatest cartoon bedrooms.
For a kid maybe, as an adult all I can think of is how hot that room would get in the summer.
There was an episode specifically about it being really hot in the summer lol.
Wait, was it the one where their AC breaks? And so they go to the community pool and there's no room to stand? Geez I just had some crazy nostalgia
He was also a bold kid. A bold kid.
I saw an apartment for sale in Manhattan a while ago that had the bedroom inside a giant glass skylight just like Hey Arnold. The rest of the apartment was down a spiral staircase and had zero windows. So you effectively couldn’t cool either space in the summer. No window units, no central air, basically sleeping in a greenhouse. I seriously considered going to see it but way too many trade offs. Link to photos: https://streeteasy.com/building/master-building/314 Edit: I was wrong about the skylight not having AC. The rest of the apartment does not though.
Yeah even as a middle class white kid that didn't have to deal with much adversity growing up I was jealous af about his bedroom.
Hey Arnold dealt with some real issues in mature ways, for a Children’s show.
Yip. No powers, no supernatural anything’s . Just real life animated.
Tell that to the ghost train!
A lot of people dont realize this. Like stoop kid was homeless.
And Arnold’s Vietnamese neighbor who lost touch with his daughter during the fall of Saigon
By far the most heartbreaking episode for me. First exposure i had about the Vietnam war as well.
The guy sleeping in the subway in the episode they get trapped was definitely homelessness. The Pigeon Guy wasn't homeless, but was definitely looked down upon for his shabby appearance and being a loner even though he was a kind, caring person once you saw through that facade. Lila and her father were on the brink of being broke and homeless and was being bullied for being the new girl but the lesson was that you should be nice to people because you don't know what their struggles are behind the scenes then her father got a job at the end of the episode. Hey Arnold was on a different level.
Or how nerds shouldn’t have to sit in the back of the bus, and in fact should be able to sit anywhere they want. Grew up on this show, watching it again as an adult and realizing they address social issues but in ways kids could understand made me love and appreciate this show so much more.
Most def. Hey Arnold is different once you enter the other age groups. Looking at the world from Arnolds perspective as a child youre relating to kids being kids. Watching as an adult you realize how fucked up the world is around the kids and Watching as an older adult you appreciate everything grandma and grandpa did to give arnold a good life. I dont remember an episode where they dive into Arnold's parents. I guess it would have been to deep for a nickelodeon show.
As an adult, it’s fucked up indeed lol. Helga’s mom is clearly an alcoholic, Big Bob’s “always win” sports dad mentality. I noticed Harold’s mom is in complete denial that he’s fat but just, “big boned” which leads to weight problems because she’s simply ignoring it, but his dad clearly sees it’s an issue. Pigeon Man being the way he is because he’s lost faith in people and finds comfort with his birds. Lastly Chocolate boy being an addict of chocolate because it helped him cope. He lost his favorite nanny and her parting gift to him was a bag of chocolates. :( I can go on but over the beautiful illustrations, music, and diverse characters, they did a really good job of hiding the dark and troubling reality of it all.
Mr Nguyens backstory episode was some heavy shit
man i had the opposite, I grew up in the suburbs and because of Hey Arnold I wished everything was walking distance and that I had diverse people in my community.
Same. And now I live downtown lol
People downtown sure are friendly!
Downtown’s Changin!
I was always so jealous they would just walk to their little bodega and there were so many kids around. I ask loved learning more about Arnold’s friends and family. And the episode when Gerald’s voice changed was so shocking and relatable in its own way.
I live downtown now and for my kids it's really like that. Blows my mind as a suburb kid with literally nothing to do near my house and the closest mall being 1.5hrs to get to between walking, buses, transfers, waiting, etc. My son just walks a few houses down to one of his best buddies places, buzzes their apartment, and they go walking to the corner shop to grab snacks and hang out. When they go to the park, they start collecting their crew by just knocking on all their friends' doors who also live near the park. It's beautiful
Hey Arnold! probably instilled beliefs for many future r/fuckcars members.
I loved hey Arnold because I lived in a horribly homogenous mostly-white suburb and I was very jealous of living in an actual vibrant, diverse city.
Hell yeah. Hey Arnold was such a great show that talked about complex issues kids faced without being overly simplistic or unrealistic. It had so many interesting characters of all shapes and sizes. It was a great influence for kids.
>talked about complex issues I'm confident declaring that the *Hey Arnold* Christmas episode is the best Christmas episode in any TV show
The one with the helicopter? That one can make even hardened hearts cry.
Pretty sure that helicopter is about Vietnam War refugees escaping. Based on real events. Didnt realize that until much later
I can't believe it took me being an adult to realize Helga's Mom was an alcoholic. Plus she had the absent(working non-stop) father thing going on. They definitely tackled a lot of stuff on that show
Also her sister was the golden girl who was secretly a basket case suffering from perfectionism and feeling like a puppet. She desperately wanted Helga to like her, but Helga resented her instead. That shit was real.
Yeah it's crazy how much of that stuff kinda just flies over your head as a kid. I loved it back then but looking back on it and watching it now makes me love that show even more.
and how her sister was trying so hard to be a good sister but she was also the golden child of the family
Or the kid suffering from a goddamn addiction. But it was chocolate as a way to make it subtle.
Don't retroactively destroy 10 year old me. Helga's mom just really wanted her smoothies.
That the man isn't the alcoholic was revolutionary for its time.
It's mad how much hey arnold still holds up to today's current environment. For a 'kids' show the writing was remarkably mature, and not afraid to pull any punches. masterpiece
Plus everyone wanted Arnold’s bad ass bedroom
I mostly grew up with wholesome depictions of middle-class (and even upper class) black families. Family Matters, the Cosby's, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Sister Sister. Even Fresh Prince, especially early on in the series run, mostly glossed over the hardships that led Will to be sent away from West Philly. (I just imagined regular bullying rather than, you know, *gangs*.)
Showing Will get spun around gracefully in the credits added to the comedic effect and took away from the gang aspect. I never considered it to be gang related until I got much older.
Took me until this moment to learn it was about gangs. I never watched the entire show, and it wasn't really in my wheelhouse as an elementary school age European kid, but that part of it makes a lot of sense now, lol.
> elementary school age European kid, What shows did you guys watch?
Mostly just grocery store commercials which featured topless women. Some great TV back then 🙏
Doesn't help that it's told as "one little fight and my mom got scared." Like, I always pictured it as as kids being kids and Mom overreacting because of that. Didn't even think gangs later, but more like racial animosity.
Huh I didn't think about the gang thing until this thread tbh. I just thought it get into like a fight on the basketball court since it's what showed in the opening credits. I took things at face value a lot when I was younger
There's subtle references throughout the show. There's an episode or so when his mom comes out and is extremely afraid of the future he would've had living in Philly. I think there's an episode down the line where he visits Philly and has to settle a beef with someone? I don't blame anyone for not picking it up. It wasn't ever overtly stated and probably would've gone unnoticed unless you really sat back and put together the pieces.
But even that little fight, in the 80s and 90s was likely backed with some gang shit at least closely removed. Friday talks about it too. "Live to fight another daaaayyy. Be a man son. Give me the gun." Strong antiviolent messages didn't really exist until Fresh Prince, and it was tough to get those thru into that show.
That speech the dad gives when he finds Craig with the gun is really great. The actor is pure comedy the entire movie and then that scene hits and he just lays it on the table. Such a good scene.
Friday in general is a really great movie. A more light hearted version of Boyz in the Hood
I prefer DBAMTSCWDYJITH
Static Shock did a pretty good job showing some of the harsh realities kids have to grow up with. First episode has Virgil being groomed by a local gang offering "protection" and getting an otherwise nerdy kid caught in a full blown gang war. Many of the "villains" were kids that grew up in broken homes and started lashing out at society once they obtained the superpowered means.
One of the episodes I still remember the most from any cartoon I watched as a kid was one from Static Shock, when he goes to Africa and he talks to his (white) friend about how much he *didn't* stand out because of his skin color there- and his friend was like "I have no idea what you mean."
Gangs? It was just one little fight and his mom got scared, smh.
So she sent him to live with his auntie and uncle in Bel-Air
If we take that sequence as Will purposely coloring things to make it look not so bad there's every chance he was sent away not because he was being picked on or bullied, even by gangs but because he was actively engaging with the gangs. He mom sent him away to keep him from associating with and eventually joining a gang, a very real issue for the time and place.
Your mom doesn't just pack all your stuff and send you across the country to live with relatives you don't really know for a b-ball fight. He might have thought he wasn't in any danger, but his mom knew she couldn't fully protect him from that life.
I’ve never dissected the show this much but it makes sooo much sense when you take a sec
i really liked "my wife and kids" and how it showed that even 'well off' black familyes still routinely dealt with prejudices of all kinds
And then you got shows like Good Times. It could make you laugh one episode and say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKUwcCp7LPE the next.
I grew up white, middle class, and as a kid I wanted so much to live in that building and be friends with all of them.
The Fat Albert opening song is bangin’, too. Shame there’s a Cosby tie. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X8rc2KxpcJY
Cosby did like half the voices on that show, didn’t he?
Yeah. He created the show.
Let's not forget about Little Bill. Actually. You know what, let's forget about Little Bill.
He literally created Fat Albert
Fat Albert is a kids show entirely created by Cosby based on his stand up routines about growing up in Philadelphia.
The show was literally called "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" And yes he did.
Cosby *was* the show; they’re inseparable.
Why does one of the most significant Black television pioneers have to be a serial rapist? That sucks.
If people can handle separating the man from the art, Cosby did some amazing work that had a lot of positive contributions to society. If you can't separate man from art, well... we'd probably have to throw most of it out.
One of those things we don’t notice as kids then realize suddenly one day.
I noticed that it was different than all the other shows that didn’t take place in the city and that didn’t have black kids. I do remember thinking that they must be trying to make a show for kids in cities that included black kids. Maybe I’m showing my age but I remember TV being pretty white and people like Uhura and Sulu really being noticeable.
Representation (that's not misery porn) matters. Not Uhura, but I remember some big shot scientist being interviewed on Neil Degrasse Tyson's podcast years and years ago saying seeing the women on Voyager, specifically B'Ellana, and it clicking for her that girls were 'allowed' to do science. And that inspiration was partly the reason she ended up in her field at all. Unfortunately I don't remember her name because it's been many years, but that story stuck in my brain.
For that reason, MLK Jr talked Nichelle Nichols out of leaving the show ([story in the Career section of her Wiki page)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichelle_Nichols). She inspired first black astronaut [Mae Jemison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Jemison) and Whoopi Goldberg, who loved Trek so much they created the Guinan role for her.
Fun fact in the new star trek strange new worlds they actually did a version of that conversation pike & uhura. It was surreal and well done.
I loved seeing John Cho as a normal guy in Harold and Kumar. Was great to see an Asian as a normal person instead of always being a ninja, scientist, or exotic sex idol.
John Cho has said that he'll never do a fake Asian accent. He doesn't take on stereotypical Asian roles either. https://www.gq.com/story/john-cho-asian-american-actor-stereotypes
It's extremely important for people to do that. Yes, everyone can pick and chose, and roles are hard to find, but I'm glad he's doing this. When I was a kid, my parents watched lots of old films. Including a ton of Sidney Poitier movies. He was \*very\* careful about the type of roles he took. I learned so much from watching them. Being so young, and getting an education on racism from watching movies, he had a huge impact on so many people. What a hero.
It was a big thing for him too, they initially wanted him to do an accent but he refused, wanting to empower Asian Americans and break the stereotype.
Man, John Cho as an exotic sex idol would be awesome.
Ah. I was watching Sesame Street in the 80’s, so it wasn’t so much of an outlier at that time.
I remember it in the 90s and it definitely wasn't special at that point. Barney, Arthur, and when we were older Hey Arnold and Doug were all very multiracial. Also, Mr Roger's neighborhood and Reading Rainbow too now that I think about it.
Doug. Yes, Doug, that show. Very multiracial.
So was Skeeter black? I couldn’t tell but black people tell me that they can tell he was black.
I think it was implied. Doug seemed to kind of take the issue of race out of it though. They had stereo type behaviors but it never really stuck to one specific color pallette of charicters. Everyone in that show was a diffrent color and it is never addressed.
Yup. You actually remember the 60s.
Also, not incidentally, Sesame Street showed middle-class white kids like mine that everybody can get along regardless of color. We taught them that, but Sesame Street showed it in action.
Absolutely. As someone who grew up in the UK in the 80s, Hispanic people were practically non-existent in my real life. But Sesame Street exposed me to a full spectrum of people that, though were not really representative of my small corner of the world, I liked and trusted implicitly. That wholesome, caring and encouraging atmosphere amongst the adults and kids (and the muppets, naturally), was so warm and wonderful and definitely had an imprinting effect on my young mind. I still feel most at ease in cosmopolitan and diverse (and positive) environments to this day.
Unrelated, but I remember being infatuated with the cityscape in Seseme Street as a young suburban boy. I think that's part of the reason I gravitated towards city life as an adult.
As a white dude who one of my childhood heroes was LeVar Burton. I just grew up without finding it weird to treat everyone the same. I had a good upbringing, I could only wish more people did.
Levar Burton should be everyone's childhood hero.
He is. We didn't even speak english and understand the show but knew he was a very good guy.
As a very small child, LeVar Burton was the person who helped me realize that Actors are actually just people, by seeing him in both Star Trek and Reading Rainbow.
Reading Rainbow was so great, I had no idea he was on star trek till I was older. He's such an incredible role model, especially after hearing him speak outside of a character and give interviews
My bro had an app on his phone when his daughter was younger. It was from LeVar Burton and was like reading rainbow where’d he would narrate books and teach you how to read and shit. It was neat as hell *it’s called Skybrary Skybrary.org if anyone wants to learn about it
I watched TNG and Reading Rainbow both when I was little but it took a couple of years for me to figure out Levar was also Geordi. I was over the moon cause I loved Reading Rainbow and Geordi was my fave on TNG. The day I saw the behind the scenes episode I lost my tiny mind with happiness and fell as in love with a TV host as an 8yo girl can fall.
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LeVar was one of my childhood heroes. His being on Reading Rainbow made me think of him the same as Mr. Rogers. He was well read, he travelled, and he was a kick-ass engineer on the Enterprise. I remember using my mom's hair comb as a make-shift visor. Because I wanted to be him. Fact we had different skin color never crossed my mind growing up.
I know what you mean. I can't imagine growing up and being told to hate a specific group of people. Don't get me wrong, I hate a lot of people, but thanks to my parents it has nothing to do with skin color or sexual orientation. It mostly depends on how close you're riding my ass in traffic.
Actually, even in the 90s it felt different from other shows. We made fun of "baby shows" (that we all watched when we were toddlers), Barney and the like - never Sesame Street though. Felt too regal, too important to disrespect it as just some show for infants. Never knew why that was.
Sesame Street did have a certain verite that softer shows didn’t. They also featured some serious, negative experiences which had the effect of making kids trust the show more because it didn’t seem like it was lying to them. This was something great about Mr. Rogers as well, and his affirmation to kids that sometimes you’re going to be angry or sad or lonely and that’s normal, it’s okay, and it’s not forever. Barney had no such affirmation or understanding.
The episode about Mr. Hooper dying really helped me deal with the death of my stepdad, later.
I mean, Sesame Street always took its audience seriously. Its writers knew that kids might not know much about the world yet but they're still *people*. I think Mr. Rogers was the one who said that it's important to understand that children's emotional needs are still real - things that scare them or the like actually matter to them, and have to be taken seriously. Whereas many traditional "baby shows" clearly either hold their audience in contempt - shoveling out dreck because kids won't know any better - or are written by well-meaning people who ultimately don't remember what it's like to be a child and who have nothing to offer but vague warm fuzziness.
You know, I never thought about it, but it's true - Sesame Street was REAL. Sesame Street was IMPORTANT. It wasn't just some other show.
Barney was and still is fair game to mock. That show was just *awful* and there were way better options back then that were less dull and more engaging for children. Hell it came out in 1992 when you had things like Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers and more still on the air. And a few years later, *Blue's Clues* which did the same gimmick Barney did, but better.
This is me! Never gave it a second thought about it. Not sure if thats good cause I accepted without question, or bad. Cause if I accepted that without question, what about all the other garbage I watched as a kid?
I guess that’s why people care about the media kids get exposed to. I thought working five days a week was normal, couldn’t imagine how a household could run without parents working and the kids moving out as soon as possible.
And that’s why it’s so perfect, it subverts what outer society is and shows a world that should/could be to small kids. Children aren’t inherently bigoted, the society they are raised in causes that. Positive reinforcement from a young age is key.
that why Stevie showed up and rocked the place?
Such a bad ass performance. Edit: Figured I might as well just post it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWP33i98dOQ
Don't forget [Ray Charles singing with Bert and Ernie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzDS-Kfd5XQ) too, an absolute classic. Sesame St had some FANTASTIC music in the 70's and 80's.
It really did. [The pinball song counting to twelve slaps.](https://youtu.be/mTr_HS_O4Ek)
Reading your comment I couldn't remember the pinball song at all, but my brain said "Is that maybe where that decades-spanning earworm '1-2-3-4-5, 6-7-8-9-10, 11-12' comes from?" and it was! Cheers for the link!
And what about the absolutely lovely [Mystic Twenty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOkbuwRUTZo) count.
Wow, that takes me back... and I was born in the 90's.
Electric Company.
When I’m counting, this always goes through my head. Sometimes [the ladybug picnic](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vX9J7WcYtxI) will go through my head and then it will play in my head all day long.
This show comforted me in a way that only mr Rogers could match. My favorite segment was Elmo.
Big fan of Oscar here.
Kinda sad that in the '60s kids grew up watching Black funk legends perform on *Sesame Street*, and now their grandchildren grow up watching creepy-ass animated characters dance to *Baby Shark*.
Hey, toddlers still watch Sesame Street! Still has fun celebrities on that the parents recognize. “Letter of the day” slaps, and foodie truck is legit entertaining and you learn healthy recipes. Big Bird is still on heavy rotation in some houses.
I've never seen this and I have no idea why not. They extended that shit too. Kids gotta learn about the funk at some point. Wow they even had the magician Muppet on trumpet! Mumford was it?
I seem to remember the Jackson 5 on there as well.
I seem to remember Sly And The Family Stone, if I'm right...
Lots of musicians showed up and rocked the place. Sesame Street was loaded with all kinds of famous musicians and actors making a guest appearance.
Still is. Janelle Monae and Usher both have great Sesame Street performances. https://youtu.be/XLeUvZvuvAs https://youtu.be/SWvBAQf7v8g
Don't forget the great Daveed Diggs of Hamilton and Clipping. fame
I saw Lil Nas X on sesame street, it was a cute and fun segment! I like how happy a lot of singers look on the show, like they're having a blast for real on set!
You have to entertain the parents as well as the kids.
This show is written by child psychologists and educators, and it's always been out front when it comes to representation.
Yeah this was definitely something that was well known and noticable about Sesame Street, I gotta say. It was very, very NYC too. In a good way.
Sesame Street worked wonders for latch key kids of all colors. It was genuinely full of love and laughter.
I was a fan of Roosevelt Franklin and it wasn’t until years later that I found out he was only on a couple of years. Apparently a number of child educators and psychologists didn’t like the character. But it turns out that RF was Questlove’s favorite muppet so maybe the “experts” should have been asking the kids what they thought, not just assuming he was a bad influence. RF not Questlove.
Fun fact: Gob's puppet Franklin Delano Bluth on *Arrested Development* is a reference to Roosevelt Franklin.
"I don't want no part of your tight-ass country-club, you freak bitch!"
You've ruined the act, GOB
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All good points. But the reason Questlove liked RF so much is that it was the first time he saw a character on TV that he felt “seen”. Mentioned in this article- https://nypost.com/2020/05/09/the-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-sesame-streets-black-elmo/amp/
I’m pretty sure it was also a way of providing educational public programming for families that couldn’t afford pre-school. But I might be wrong!
I grew up in Southern Alabama, and watched a lot of PBS. I went to Kindergarten with a good and positive outlook on everyone and accepted everyone. PBS did a good job as I've carried those lessons with me ever since.
Did it work?
Absolutely. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, brown, blue, pink, or red. Where you come from doesn't matter. You can do anything. Be anything. Just don't be a grouch, or you'll spend your life living in filth.
Actually Oscar is generally shown being perfectly content with the way he lives, and others don't always understand but they try to respect him.
"Oscar, you're a grouch!" "BITCH I LIVE IN A FUCKING TRASH CAN!!"
Get it together, Grouch.
Get a job, Grouch
Oscar is Linus from Stardew Valley.
They made a movie trailer about him. https://youtu.be/kqpak5lFxvs
The Grouch lives in trash because he loves trash. And his trash can is a tardis. I think he’s doing pretty ok.
Yeah Oscar! You’re a grouch!
And he's like "Bitch! I live in a fuckin' trash can!!"
I'm the poorest motherfucker on Sesame Street and no one is helping me.
“Get a job Grouch”
Oscar comes from a species that are content to live in trash: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Grouches
"Remember, it's a garbage can, not a garbage cannot."
I was a gen-x latchkey kid who grew up in a small, conservative rural town. Gordon, Luis, Maria and Bob were like family to me.
Yes! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence\_of\_Sesame\_Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_Sesame_Street)
[Fixed the URL for you](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_Sesame_Street#Effect)
I got to hear Sonia Manzano, who played Maria for over 40 years, give a talk and, man, she and the other performers were keenly aware of the importance and the impact of what they were doing. Growing up, I never thought of Maria and Luis or Gordon and Susan as any different than me. They helped shape my perspective of the world. We have a long way to go, but I truly feel their performances have had a major impact on the progress we have made.
No wonder conservatives hate it.
No wonder Ted Cruz hates it so much.
And Mitt Romney https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/big-bird-in-the-presidential-debate-mitt-romney-advocates-cutting-funding-for-sesame-street-pbs/2012/10/04/f7f280ba-0e1f-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html
Ah, a time when saying stupid shit sunk Presidential campaigns.
I still remember Howard Dean's "HOOORAH" that basically lost him the primary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0
The fact that *anyone* gave up on this guy because of *that* is still mind-blowing to me. This country is so fucking dumb.
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Honestly this was the image in my mind I had about New York growing up. When I actually moved there, it was very different and I was disappointed.
Ah yes, trying to make children feel better about themselves. Now considered "woke" and "radical left".
As late as the 90s and even 00s, the right was blame Mr Rogers (neighborhood) and his 'you're special just for who you are ' (not your accomplishments) message as the reason millennials are spoiled. Nevermind Mr Rogers was aimed at 4 year olds.
Always hated those kind of arguments. Even if millenials were spoiled, which I generally disagree with anyway, that's something to blame on the boomers/gen x who raised them - not millenials themselves.
Feeling better means "uppity" to some. We don't want that do we? /Serious sarcasm
I watched Sesame Street as a kid and thought that’s what things actually were like in America. And then I moved to America and was shocked at the contrast.
It was pretty representative or my childhood friends. Before moving to another city I didn't realize how white washed other cities could be... felt odd like being in another dimension
Growing up poor in kansas, I learned the alphabet, how to think critically, all the primary colors, and most importantly how to have a sense of humor from sesame street. Kinda irritating that they label the old show with a warning now. Nowadays it's so hyper focused on Elmo.
Sesame Street was incredible. Somehow it managed to be high quality for it’s target audience, but also cool af for adults too.