Delayed Reaction: Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

Premise: A documentary about the creation of and early years of Sesame Street.

 

I could cut and paste a lot of what I said about Won't You Be My Neighbor into this Reaction pretty easily, and I don't mean that as a bad thing. I have a similar history with Sesame Street as I do with Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. For some reason, I never trusted PBS shows as a kid. I never got into Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Lamb Chop, Wishbone, or Sesame Street. The only thing I ever remember being excited about was Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. I remember being suspicious of these shows. Why would I watch these shows that are trying to teach me something, when I could watch Nicktoons instead. Granted, I don't remember having much control of the remote when I was 2-3, so there's a chance my parents could inform me that I watched some of these shows and have no recollection of it. I doubt it though. My slightly older sister kept me watching more hip stuff like Care Bears most of the time. Regardless, it means that I don't have a lot of direct fondness for Sesame Street. It's ubiquitous enough that I know the characters, but I can't really weigh in on the Grover v. Elmo debate.

 

So, watching Street Gang was less about tugging at my heartstring and tapping into my nostalgia. I mostly enjoyed it as a "how did this legendary show get made" documentary. That's more than enough to appreciate the doc. It does a wonderful job getting into the show's history, like how it was designed to use techniques from commercials to teach kids or how the Muppets became involved. I was very surprised to learn that Jim Henson wasn't one of the original people to come up with the show. While Henson and Joan Ganz Cooney get plenty of time in this movie, I could tell that a big concern of the filmmakers was making sure Jon Stone (co-creator and early director) got his due, since he's often overlooked.

 

The movie doesn't go anywhere unexpected. It occasionally pats itself on the back for different ways the show was progressive., It tells the stories of different early people on the crew and on-air talent. I personally enjoyed the focus on Jim Henson and Frank Oz's relationship, complete with a gag reel of botched scenes of Muppets going off script and swearing.

 

This is a delightful movie even if you have no personal affection for Sesame Street, and it's got more than a few emotional beats for those with a history with the show.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend