The Return of John-John

Has it really been four months since I've posted a Sesame Street related clip? That ain't right...

I was doing a little cleaning up of past entries and found that a clip I'd posted of John-John, the cutest kid in public TV history, was no longer available. But a hydralike thing happened; three more clips of him had appeared to take its place. Here they all are.

First, one where he and Grover count to one...



...one where they count from one to ten and back again (the last few seconds are the total payoff)...



...and one where he and Bert run the gamut of emotions for losing paper clips. Again, John-John's expression at the end is a treat and a half.

No Barney for us!

Ah, 1970's educational television. Nostalgia or no, I can't help thinking how much better it is than the tripe that gets put out nowadays. By now you all know how fond I am of Sesame Street and Electric Company, but there were others out there as well. Here are a few samples (with nary a Wiggle in sight).

There was Mulligan's Stew, which spent half an hour on eating properly...



The Letter People, introducing us to 26 good friends (there's plenty to choose from on YouTube, but I decided to go with that hippie Mr. H and his Horrible Hair)...



Zoom, with a bunch of Boston kids having far more fun that YOU ever do...



And of course, 3-2-1 Contact, which taught us all about science and gave us the original Bloodhound Gang.

Free To Be... You And Me

You know, I was juuuuust a little too young to see the Emmy-winning TV special based on the album, put together by Marlo Thomas in her post-That Girl, pre-Mrs. Phil Donahue years. So it doesn't resonate that as strongly with me as it does with others.

I do remember checking the book out of the library, where the only bit that stood out was this one, voiced by Thomas and Mel Brooks. Even then, I was big into dialogue.



If this sends you into paroxysms of "OH MY GOD," there's all kinds of clips from the special on YouTube, including The Thing With Two Heads star Rosey Grier singing "It's Okay To Cry."

Sweet. S-W-E-E-T. Sweet.

It's National Spelling Bee time again, and I thought it would be fun to revisit some old favorite moments from NSBs past. Forgive me if you've seen these before, but hell, I've never posted them.

Here's a kid who decides this is the perfect time to break out his imitation of Napoleon Dynamite.



Here's one who blacks out, then gets up and nails the word.



And here's the 1997 winner realizing she's about to be the 1997 winner.



Tune in tomorrow for an even more special announcement than the one that started this month...

The most adorable child in public TV history

I don't think anybody who watched Sesame Street in the '70s didn't love John-John. Here he's counting to 20 with Harry Monster, and his big voice and little embarrassment are both just sooooo sweet.

A-B-C-D-E-F-Cookie Monster

I was going to hold off on posting another Muppets thing for a bit, as I'd just posted two, but this is just too adorable to hold off on.



Among other great things about it, it has, at :08 and :24, my two favorite Kermit expressions.

Seriously, you may need a dose of insulin handy for this.

Coocoo! Coocoo!

Last week Coco Crisp, center fielder for the Boston Red Sox, made a tremendous catch that finally made him more than "Johnny Damon's replacement." And somewhere in America, a child was watching...



It's so much fun watching really little kids jump and dance - they always stick their arms out and don't bend them. And I love how you can tell this kid loves Coco Crisp not because of his abilities, but because his name is Coco Crisp.

Even if she says it "Coocoo."