I’m new to this forum and I confess that I don’t believe that I ever watched an episode of Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers in my life. But I’d heard about this particular installment of the show and it always kind of fascinated me that a program aimed at toddlers and grade schoolers would have to ban an episode.
On the Muppet Wiki, there are three letters written by angry parents about this episode. If you read the third one (and I admit they’re all hard to decipher), it mentions that the phrase “shut up” was used in the broadcast and how the parent in question was bothered because she never permitted that phrase in her home. This kind of fits in with reports that the witch was unusually hateful and bitchy for a daytime kids’ show, leading to it being shelved permanently.
And to be honest, I can kind of get where this mother is coming from. This is a show aimed at young children, some of whom are as young as two or three and just beginning to talk. Kids that age are like sponges and everything goes in one ear and out their mouth. If things like “shut up” were being said on the show, particularly if it was uttered multiple times, then this shows poor judgement on the part of the writers.
(And just my opinion, but does anyone else find the first letter where the parent writes to the show as her daughter complaining about the nightmares seem kind of over the top? Maybe little Rebecca did find the witch scary, but it just seems like mom is exaggerating stuff by speaking as her child to make the letter pull at CTW’s heartstrings. She could have written as a concerned parent and made the same point.)
That having been said, I don’t see why they’re still sitting on this episode after 43 years. There has to be some reason that this episode wasn’t even released as part of the “adults only” collection. Does CTW consider this episode such a massive fuck-up that they won’t give it up out of sheer embarrassment? If that’s the real reason, that sucks.
I’m new to this forum and I confess that I don’t believe that I ever watched an episode of Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers in my life. But I’d heard about this particular installment of the show and it always kind of fascinated me that a program aimed at toddlers and grade schoolers would have to ban an episode.
On the Muppet Wiki, there are three letters written by angry parents about this episode. If you read the third one (and I admit they’re all hard to decipher), it mentions that the phrase “shut up” was used in the broadcast and how the parent in question was bothered because she never permitted that phrase in her home. This kind of fits in with reports that the witch was unusually hateful and bitchy for a daytime kids’ show, leading to it being shelved permanently.
And to be honest, I can kind of get where this mother is coming from. This is a show aimed at young children, some of whom are as young as two or three and just beginning to talk. Kids that age are like sponges and everything goes in one ear and out their mouth. If things like “shut up” were being said on the show, particularly if it was uttered multiple times, then this shows poor judgement on the part of the writers.
(And just my opinion, but does anyone else find the first letter where the parent writes to the show as her daughter complaining about the nightmares seem kind of over the top? Maybe little Rebecca did find the witch scary, but it just seems like mom is exaggerating stuff by speaking as her child to make the letter pull at CTW’s heartstrings. She could have written as a concerned parent and made the same point.)
That having been said, I don’t see why they’re still sitting on this episode after 43 years. There has to be some reason that this episode wasn’t even released as part of the “adults only” collection. Does CTW consider this episode such a massive fuck-up that they won’t give it up out of sheer embarrassment? If that’s the real reason, that sucks.
I'm not surprised someone would be shocked about them using "shut up", as it's rarely used in preschool shows (the only other show for young kids I know that used it is Thomas The Tank Engine, which had the line ""Shut up!" said James, "It's not funny!"". Heck, even PBS had to pull an episode of "Caillou" because it used the word "stupid" and edited the word "hate" out of a line in another episode.
That having been said, I don’t see why they’re still sitting on this episode after 43 years. There has to be some reason that this episode wasn’t even released as part of the “adults only” collection. Does CTW consider this episode such a massive fuck-up that they won’t give it up out of sheer embarrassment? If that’s the real reason, that sucks.
Good post... there's well over 1,000 lost episodes of SS, so I hope that explains it for you.
♪ Good day, good day, I'm glad you came my way... ♪
Over 1,000 shows? Is it possible that there are other episodes that were banned that we aren’t even aware of? They probably learned their lesson after 0847, but there are always parents who actively look for things in their children’s shows to get on a soapbox and complain about.
I know that the episode about Snuffy’s parents getting a divorce so thoroughly perplexed children in test screenings that it never even aired, but that’s not exactly the same thing as a ban.
As I read over this thread, and come across posts about this episode elsewhere on the forum, there seems to be a misunderstanding about what this episode is. The facts are that it aired in 1976, they got letters saying kids found it scary, so they didn't air it again. The episode wasn't banned or destroyed and it wasn't condemned for being inappropriate or any other nefarious conclusions some folks have assumed. It's just like any other episode from that era that just hasn't shown up again and became more rare because it was broadcast fewer times than some others.
There's no outrageous reason keeping Sesame Workshop from releasing the episode any more than any other episode in their archives. They're not ashamed of it and they're not trying to hide it. It's just one of several thousand other "lost" episodes. It will be included in AAPB's library, and I wouldn't be surprised if a clip from it wound up on the forthcoming 50th anniversary DVD. Yes, it's much sought after, but it's far tamer than some have made it out to be.
This guy also probably has the episode (and maybe every episode of the show) and is extremely credible.
♪ Good day, good day, I'm glad you came my way... ♪
Please don't witch hunt these people - they know what they have, and they'll share it when and if they feel it's appropriate. A lot of lost Sesame Street stuff has been documented lately (my recent favorite, Elmo being performed by Brian Meehl -- now that is lost media [this clip honestly needs more exposure -- after this he spoke like a caveman before he started being performed by Kevin Clash]), so I feel like it's only a matter of time before this episode becomes documented with screencaps at Muppet Wiki -- I would wager we see it sooner than later.
Edit: He also has the lost Out to Lunch special as well; I didn't bother to share it, but the special got hella screencaps at Muppet Wiki.
This thing is on the cusp of being found (or at least being seen by people in person) within a year: hella episodes are being archived on Muppet Wiki, the whole Library of Congress thing, a box set of rare content is coming out next month and an event is being held at a center (I'm too lazy to specifically look up what it is) focused exclusively on showcasing rare/unaired/aired once SS content.
A live event/presentation-type thing from the former head writer and VP specifically talking about 847 and the divorce episode (it sounds like showing footage as well). $15 if you live in the Queens (NYC) area.
♪ Good day, good day, I'm glad you came my way... ♪