Courtesy: Shout! Factory/Sesame Workshop
Shout! Factory and Sesame Workshop are celebrating Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary with a new collection of content from the long-running series. Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting is scheduled for release Oct. 1 on DVD. The two-disc set is a presentation that will entertain audiences of all ages as they celebrate the landmark show reaching its half-century mark. That is due in part to the content that makes up the body of the collection. It will be discussed shortly. The actual presentation of said content plays into the set in its own right and will be discussed a little later. The set’s average price point is important to note, too considering the set’s content. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting. All things considered, they make the collection an enjoyable new celebration of one of television’s greatest and most important series.
Shout! Factory and Sesame Workshop’s forthcoming Sesame Street presentation 50 Years and Counting is a celebration of the long-running series that audiences of all ages will enjoy. That is due in part to the content that makes up the body of the two-disc set. Audiences get in this collection half a century of fan favorite skits and live action story lines that were interwoven into the series’ episodes. The content pulls from many of the series’ eras, giving audiences of all ages something to appreciate, in turn ensuring viewers’ engagement and entertainment from beginning to end of each disc. From the timeless animated pinball segment that teaches children to count to 12, to the silly classic spoof of Indiana Jones (which features a guest appearance by a then young Jeff Goldblum), to the spoof of Singin’ In The Rain to the rockabilly lesson about cooperation to the introduction of Sesame Street’s first-ever autistic Muppet, this collection offers audiences more than enough to appreciate. The segments run the gamut from teaching important life lessons, such as the importance of teamwork and embracing everyone’s differences to simply entertaining audiences, such as in the Indiana Jones spoof and the Downton Abbey spoof along the way. In other words, the content presented throughout the set is just as diverse in itself as the eras from which it was pulled. This is, in itself, more than enough reason for audiences to add the set to their home libraries. It is just one part of what makes the collection noteworthy. The fact that the collection’s content is distinctly separated into two discs is just as important to discuss as the set’s content.
The content that fills each of the set’s discs is distinct within itself because of its focus. Disc one is an extensive look back through the show’s annals in terms of the general segments. Disc two focuses more distinctly on the series’ live action segments. What’s more, it takes viewers – while not in precise chronological order – through the history of Sesame Street, starting way back in the series’ infancy and all the way to its most recent era. The early segments featured in the second disc are moments, such as Luis and Maria’s wedding, Mr. Hooper’s passing and Snuffy’s introduction to Sesame Street’s residents. As the disc’s content progresses, audiences are eventually treated to the noted appearance of Goldblum as Bob’s brother, and the eventual introductions of Abby Cadabby and Julia. The change is subtle in the cast and backdrop, but a close watch shows that a certain amount of time and thought was put into the sequencing of this disc’s content. The set’s first disc, by comparison, presents a more random selection of content, such as the beloved waiter segments with Grover, the aforementioned animated pinball short, Kermit performing with a Muppet version of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and even a classic bit featuring the one and only Mumford the Magacian, just to note a handful of the set’s segments. Each disc features a lot of content, meaning trying to binge on it all is difficult. Audiences are encouraged to take everything in at their own pace as they make their way through each disc. Doing so will add to enjoyment, again, for audiences young and old alike. It will also help increase appreciation for the work done by those behind the scenes to assemble everything presented. That appreciation will leave viewers agreeing that the separation of the set’s content is just as important as its content. While the content featured in this collection and the fashion in which it is presented is important to the set’s presentation they are not the set’s only important elements. They make the set’s average price point important in its own right.
The average price point of Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting is $13.46. That price is reached by obtaining price listings at Shout! Factory’ store, Amazon, Walmart, Target, Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. At the time of this review’s posting, the collection was not posted at Best Buy’s website. The least expensive of the noted listings is at Barnes & Noble Booksellers — $12.07 – while the set’s most expensive listing is at Books-A-Million — $16.97. Shout! Factory’s listing is $13.97, just above the average, while Target and Amazon’s listing of $12.39 is relatively inexpensive, too. Walmart lists the set at $12.96, again, below that average, and a relatively affordable price in its own right. Regardless of whether audiences purchase the set through Walmart, Shout! Factory, Target, Amazon or Barnes & Noble Booksellers, the fact of the matter is that an average price listing of less than $20 for this expansive collection, and separate listings of below $20, too is affordable, period. It is money that audiences will agree is well-spent. It is especially well-spent because it is a collection that will bring the whole family together time and again, regardless of which retailer one chooses. When this is considered along with the content featured in this set and its presentation, the whole of the set proves to be a wonderful presentation that stands out as one of this year’s top new family DVD and BD box sets.
Shout! Factory and Sesame Workshop’s new Sesame Street collection 50 Years and Counting is an outstanding new presentation from the companies. That is due in part to the content that makes up the body of the collection. It reaches back into the show’s early days, its middle age and its most recent era, giving audiences of all ages more than enough to enjoy. The way in which the content is presented in this set adds to the enjoyment of the collection because it allows viewers to choose for themselves whether they want to watch the live action segments or the Muppet and animated segments. The wide breadth of content featured in the set makes its average price point (and separate listings) of less than $20 money well spent, considering that it is content that will educate, inform and entertain audiences for another 50 years. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting. All things considered, they make this two-disc set one of the best of the year’s best new family DVD and BD box sets. It will be available Oct. 1. More information on this and other titles from Shout! Factory is available online at:
Website: http://www.shoutfactory.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.omshoutfactoryofficial
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ShoutFactory
More information on this and other titles from Sesame Workshop is available online at:
Website: http://www.sesameworkshop.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SesameWorkshop
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sesameworkshop
To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.
philspicks 