Sesame Street - Beginning theme to episode # 179

[smokey11able]

that dude sounds like he is drunk or high.

[pxmarielx]

Back when kids actually enjoyed being outside.

[wanda1967ful]

was he drunk?????

[Kainaikoan1]

I thought that was Rob Lowe

[micmac99]

To people born in the 80s: Color TV was an expensive high-tech device back in the 70s, and not all households owned one, especially in the inner city neighborhoods. My mom didn't buy our first color set until 1979. My cousins did have color sets in their homes, and visiting them would be the only times I would get to see any color programming as a small child.

[suzyqbear85]

Nostalgia...

[PLEASANTDesigns]

Classic Hardcore NYC. Sadly that New York doesn't exist any more. People had a sense of really making difference. Puerto Rico, New York, Art and music. So much was celebrated for its uniqeness and power to change the world and people's minds

[925dude]

"HIGH" we not gunna waste a secnd i've got a letta to sho jue DO YOU ....DO YOU wanna kno wha letta id iz its "A"..................4 "ALCOHOLIC"...

[MyDumbkid]

dang that's old

[TheSwagbuckshottie]

i love the nit picking above

[funnyglitch]

Lol I think he WAS drunk

"you wanna (hic) you wanna know what the letter is? A!"

[phillygrl69]

Im sorry! (lol) But that dude has got to be drunk! lol

[antlantis7]

its amazing those kids are like around there 50's or 40's right now.

[uriituw]

Is that guy drunk?

[ItsOver9000and10]

Damn, right now, those kids must be in their 40s!

[LightenUpMcGraw]

As part of the first generation of Sesame Street kids this 4 year old really wanted to find that street. I always knew when I watched the show that it would be an adventure and it always was. Plus that original song still stirs something inside me today when I hear it just the way it did as a small child. Cookie Monster, Bert & Ernie, Grover, The Count, Snuffaluffagus, Oscar the Grouch, a friend and I had all them in puppet form and used to put on shows in elementary school after lunch.

[The1HippieChick]

@LightenUpMcGraw Thanks for your post. I remember the first time I saw this (I was 22 in 1969) and was excited at the prospect that our child would get to benefit from this innovative (at the time) programming. Unfortunately, throughout my pregnancy the future of the show was 'up in the air' due to lack of funding. Fortunately, the show continued, and our sons (now 38 and 35) have fond memories of the 'original' Sesame Street.

[allanfisch]

it's in black and white because it's from a kinescope. There were still a lot of TV stations that ran 16mm film instead of videotapes in those day. I've even seen a color kinescope of All in the Family, which was shot on videotape, but i supp

ose some stations ran film.

[allanfisch]

it's in black and white because it's from a kinescope. There were still a lot of TV stations that ran 16mm film instead of videotapes in those day. I've even seen a color kinescope of All in the Family, which was shot on videotape, but i suppose some stations ran film.

[ShiloYasha]

Lettet it is? xD

[aiboluver]

O_- This was a long time ago when i was black and white then 2 years later had colour (this was 38 years ago.)

[sarnabu]

I saw the first episode with my mom. I was 4. If I recall, the number of the day was 2 and I think W was one of the letters. It was great! There was nothing else like it on TV for kids at the time.

[darkpcvlogs]

Is it black and white?

[420THECRYPTKEEPER]

LMAO

lettet aaahahahahaHAHAHAHAHA

[420THECRYPTKEEPER]

hes drunk

[VXxXAzzAXxXV]

that dude is high as fck

[sosenioryear2010]

that guys wasteddd.!!!!

[Jumpdownproduction]

i was just going to say... THATS FUCKEN EPIC

[10speedchris]

the video was slowed down to make it sound like he was messed up.

[420THECRYPTKEEPER]

slowed down he cant even say letter he said

you wanna know what lettet is izz A

ROTFLMFAO HES SO DRUNK

listen to what he says at 1:18

[ednuttah]

"Lets not waste a second ! Because it's valuable drinking time, i'm way too pissed to be on air at the moment. Did i think that bit or say it............"

[abarker87]

aaaaahahaha. omg he's so tanked i cant believe that was actually on the air

[theman05yo]

This episode aired the day I was born!

Not 1971 though :)

CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TO GET, HOW TO GET TO SESAME STREET!!!??

[whitejellyfungus]

That guy sounds drunk!

[1993DJC]

how do you think sesame street started

[stevenjw2006]

i grew up on the street, not the actual street the sesame street.

[Dilson9307]

lol

[beardo373]

It's interesting that this is in black and white about the same time as a few of the early episodes of "Upstairs Downstairs." In the case of "Upstairs Downstairs," it was caused by a strike.

[TralfazConstruction]

The actor opening the show appears to be, in my estimation, Jaime Sanchez. He was in 1969's "The Wild Bunch". Played a character named: Angel.

He me a tragic end in the film.

He's still around, if IMDB is to be believed.

What nostalgia.

[angelsgurl]

A is for ALCOHOL, and boy did I have too much this morning kids!

[deerpard]

Ha ha, Nice!

[6plastic]

the letter"A" is for A im drunk!!

[CelesteK]

Who is that? He appears to be drunk!

[acerflots]

awesome vid

does anybony know when bigbird first appeared? already in 1971 or later?

[MarioZone69]

Big Bird first showed up in the first episode in November 1969 in the beginning of the episode where he is introduced to Sally, a girl who just came to the street.

[TheIzobo]

38 years actually

[jtomally9681]

Man, this is an old, old one.

[evertte87]

This was over 40 years ago! And the shows stil on and some of the orginal cast is still on, like carol spinney who plays the voices of big bird and oscar.

[mstatz]

Not quite! This was about 39 years ago.

[aiboluver]

@mstatz and @evertte87 Your both wrong! This is Season 3 its easy so i can tell this was 38 years back...

[countdouchebag1]

@mstatz not anymore

[clyps0408]

Ha! At first I thought that letter A was a brown paper bag that he was trying to hide behind his back!

[Ja100453]

Awsome

but 1970s are in the aria in the vienam war and the energy crisis

[boogiebomb2knightrnr]

dude at the end sounded like Ricky Ricardo..lol

[matrags]

How do you get to Sesame street?

[CarmineDude]

Sesame Street - 1969 - present

40 years ago!!!!!

[nappygodchild]

that was probably the first and last time Miguel worked! How are you gonna be drunk or high on a children's show! That is just the worst!

[jjjooorrrjjjooorrr]

was elmo on here please reply

[istheretruth]

no elmo

[ashaudi8]

yea elmo was on here

[ninababy97]

OMG WAS HE ON SOMETHIN???

[MrBrownstone888]

i think miguel was off the wagon, in this episode.

[BadCamera32]

I got two letters to show you A..A... which is where I am going after the show.

[sarahyehudit]

LOL!

[skyPEAR17]

That made my day right there!!

[danawadd]

Didn't know there was a Miguel... did he come before Luis??

[firstjohn47and8]

Miguel looks drunk in this.

[BadCamera32]

Or high..it was the early 70's afterall.

[MysticArksRevenge]

I think the black and white versions of the episodes are back-up copies, judging from the film scratches.

[Crassygyrinus]

Ah for the days when children werent all retarded psychos watching anime and killing things :(

[joadhenry]

A harsh sweeping judgement....but not far off the mark

[Crassygyrinus]

Indeed.

[MrDefaulto]

@Crassygyrinus well, to be fair, being born the same time as Sesame Street, aside from Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mister Rogers I watched all the violent Looney Toons, Popeye, Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker etc.. and by 10 years old we were watching the early japanese anime/tokusatsu shows like Star Blazers, Space Giants, Battle of the Planets, Ultraman. At least now they don't pretend people aren't being killed or are robots... but yeah, I agree violence is worse today than ever.

[sf415RudeDog]

@Crassygyrinus i agree i am only21 but all this carton b.s. now is crap rotting childen's brains

[jtomally9681]

@sf415RudeDog It also all depends how the kids are being raised. I talk to my little brother about what anime and cartoons he watches so he understands things and our Dad and his Mom does the rest.

[gussetblog]

Is that guy drunk?

[fluffysue]

I didn't realize Sesame Street was ever filmed in black and white. I watched it mostly in the mid to late '70s. Very interesting to see!

[kevapaula]

It wasn't. I didn't know this either (as you can see by my previous message) that in other parts in the world (such as Australia and Jamaica), the copies that were sent to them were in B&W (at least, that's what I found out after reading other people's comments elsewhere here on youtube). The original tapings done in the U.S. were still in color though. But, for many people, it made no difference if they had a B&W TV. Yea...pretty cool; I din't even know this since my family had a color TV..

[fluffysue]

Ah...OK...I see now. I didn't even consider that some people still had black & white TV at that time. I forget too that electronics cost more and lasted longer back then, so of course you would not run out and get color TV if the old b&w one still works.

[MrFacet]

No fair! We got our first B&W somewhere in the mid seventies, second hand. Sometimes with an improvised T wire antenna.

[relyingonhim]

I remember this! I also remember the beginning theme where it looks like you're driving down this road. Really cool!

[CDCB]

Can you please post more of this episode besides the other 2 clips? Thanks. I love pre 90's Sesame Street.

[charlestonchewy]

Who is that guy that is talking about the letter "A" near the end of this clip?

[kanata978]

why are they always in the ghetto?

[trackseventeen]

Wow, I started watching SS around 73, don't remeber that at all.... Pretty cool though.

[kenzer1995]

i like this song!

[waynesworldwaniac]

Does anyone know who played the music for the beginning and ending of Sesame Street? Maybe I'm crazy, but it always sounded like "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" to me.

[Idoljunky32]

WOW! This is about 4 years before my time! It's neat seeing vintage clips of such a wonderful show that has taught so many kids around the world! Thanks for posting!

[ribeekeeper]

Sesame Street first aired in 1969 when I was in first grade. My teacher would pull out a big television and we would watch in fascination. What a great new show! Back then most of us only saw black & white television and it never occurred to me at the time that I was missing out on anything! Those were much simpler, easy times...

[FREEASTHESTARS]

don't remember this far back....

[queensmamii14]

Why is this clip of the intro of Sesame Street is in black and white when the 70s was to supposed to be in color?

[Novetrix]

Well, It depends. While color tv was made in the 60's, it was TOTALLY popular until late 70's. By that time, EVERYTHING was in color... But not right away. It's kinda like HDTV... It's been around for a LONG time, but there are still normal broadcasts, for people with normal tv's. Same applies to color and black and white back then.

[kevapaula]

Actually, I'm a bit confused on this myself. I know the original taping of this episode was in color, despite the fact that many people had a black & white (B&W) TV. So how did a B&W copy of this show up on You Tube?

[paisleypower30]

This pre-dates my memory as well, neat though!

[hope2700]

i remember this when i was so small a kid.Now am big..

[rachelvis87]

NO, no i know this is not the eighties, but that is as far back as my memories go!!!

[Flickyhecky]

I thought you said that any rude comments wouldn't be tolerated due to kids watching?

[mstatz]

You're right! The comment left last month was too vile and I didn't notice it until your email. I get hundreds of comments on all my videos (over 300) and it's very difficult to check out everything. I deleted it!

[Marbles471]

Just noticed something that reveals this thing's origins. Pause it at 0:00. (Yeah, you have to be quick). A countdown is just ending, and NET's mark appears in the corner. So this kinnie was done by NET itself.

That's surprising, actually, since it was my understanding that NET had already dissolved by 1971. (Sesame Steet's second season had already moved to the brand-new PBS, I thought) This must have been one of the last things they did before they bit it.

[rodneybuffalo]

I dont think Spanish accents do that to the human voice. The letter 'A' short for 'AA'.

[rachelvis87]

omg this is so old school, i remember it from the 80s, this is waaaaay back!

[Marbles471]

Not the '80s, man. This particular episode aired in January 1971.

[msully74]

80's?? This is very early 70's. Wish they'd bring this back for my kids!!

[divasilk]

tell me why he sounded drunk???

[simpsonzlover32]

he's not drunk, it was just his accent sheesh, get a life divasilk

[PieFights]

yea color was around in 71 so that's weird!!!!

[HartCourtMonopoly]

Even back then Sesame Street would only show the credits on episodes of where the number ends with a 0 or a 5.

[PieFights]

Joe Rappso a musical genius!!!!

[cbsteffen]

I don't why it wasn't colorized, but it's possible that whoever taped it got it off a black and white TV.

[mstatz]

If it's broadcast in color, you can't videotape it in black & white. The TV has nothing to do with it. This episode was put on film and for some reason, it was transfered to black & white.

[spicy321]

From what I've read elsewhere, many local stations were still broadcasting in B&W in the early '70s. These transfers are filmed copies of the monitor as it was being broadcast, which is why it is on film instead of video tape. Live television shows from the 50's were also recorded in this manner for broadcast on the west coast.

[mstatz]

That explains it!

[netrioter]

@mstatz it was all in black and white back then until 1972ish....i was in the the 2nd largest PBS market back then(WTTW 11 - Chicago)...every show on was in color but Sesame Street.

[Marbles471]

Yep. That process was called "kinescope". It's the only reason we're able to see any TV at all from the early 50s, but a lot of it wasn't copied at all, so it's gone forever.

[RSG2006]

This kinescope might've been made not for the 'Sesame Street'/CTW archives, but for schools. Some schools requested episodes from CTW to show in classrooms (particularly areas not yet airing 'Sesame Street')...and in those pre-VCR days, the easiest (if not only) option was to make a film print...and this might be one such print. And why B&W? Simple: cheaper. Just about all kinnies of late '60s/early '70s TV shows are B&W even if the original show was shot with color videotape.

[mstatz]

I meant to use the word converted, not transfered.

[Tuber30A]

B is for betty Ford Center R is for Rehab and the number 12 for the steps ol Miguel will be living.

[Tuber30A]

The letter A for alcaholic and the number 28 which is how many days ol miguel will be in rehab drying out.

Didnt anyone making the show notice what a lush he was?

[mstatz]

It's funny....I never thought of that before but I think you're right!

[Tuber30A]

oh my god that host sounds so drunk! This episode was brought you you by the liquors Jack Daniels and Jose Cuervo.

Tune in tomorrow to see when Miguel goes to a magical land called "rehab!"

[wattamack4]

Do they still have this tape off Ebay?

[Juliefan21]

I hope you'll get episodes 1845 and 1858 of "Sesame Street" for trade on Boober Gorg's tape trade site.

[Marbles471]

1845 rocks. Just my opinion. :)

[CGAWLEY]

Who was that talking?

[PiLfan]

I think that was Miguel. He was the first "addition" to the cast in the 2nd season. He was seldom used and didn't last long...he was dropped before the 3rd season, in favor of two other hispanic actors (Luis and Rafael).

[LaurenBrooke81]

Possibly because he showed up to rehearsals drunk and high?

[ISNorden]

Yay, a classic episode that isn't on the DVD! Keep those clips coming!

[Lectronimo]

Yeah, A for "Alcoholic" judging by that delivery!

[Juliefan21]

I hope this will be in color when shown on Museum of Television & Radio or released as part of "Sesame Street Old School Vol. 2" DVD set.

[70s80s]

Any word on a Vol.2?