Sesame Street Spoofs

I'm a big fan of Glee, but my latest favorite Glee episode doesn't even involve Mr. Shuester or Rachel or Coach Sylvester -- sort of. I'm talking about the latest Sesame Street spoof of Glee. They've got the "G Club", headed by Mr. G (complete with cleft chin!), practicing for "G-gionals". They've even got Coach Sue and her Cheerios (or is it G-rios?) arguing over whether G makes the hard or soft G sound! Of course, the spoof ends with the G-Club's take on Don't Stop Believin.

Priceless!

If you can't get enough of these muppet spoofs, Sesame Street has a DVD collection of their best spoofs throughout the years: Sesame Street Spoofs. It's a special 2-disc set featuring their best satires.

Here's more information about the set:
Sesame Street has always focused on ABCs and 123s, but what happens when the Muppets on the Street become “Mad, Mad Men” teaching emotions on Madison Avenue, or emergency room doctors helping letters in “A’s Anatomy?” Hilarity ensues!

Education mixes with entertainment in this special 2-disc set that includes both recent favorites like “30 Rocks,” “Preschool Musical” and “True Mud,” as well as old school classics like “Hill Street Twos,” “Hey Food” and “Twin Beaks.” All of the best Sesame Street Spoofs have been gathered in this treasure trove that the entire family will enjoy! Includes the Internet sensation Grover “Smell Like a Monster” Spoof, a never-before-seen “Jon and Kate Count to 8” Spoof, and classic “Beat the Time” game show clips starring Guy Smiley!

We received a copy of Sesame Street Spoofs to review, and it is fantastic. I think I enjoyed it more than the kids! I had the pleasure of reminiscing over the old clips from my childhood, and I got to laugh over the spoofs of my favorite contemporary shows. The kids loved it, of course, but they didn't have that additional appreciation, that special thrill of being in on the joke, that comes with understanding what is being parodied. But really, there is something in Sesame Street Spoofs for everyone!

* Little kids will love the cute and funny muppets
* Bigger kids will appreciate the humor, and if they already watch the shows being parodied (like High School Musical or The Braidy Bunch), they'll love the cleverness and the wit
* Grownups will love the cleverness and the wit, as well as the nostalgia
* Parents will love how these clips combine education and entertainment.

Here's a list of all the spoofs in the DVD set (I've also written down which TV show or movie is being spoofed, in italics).

DVD 1 revisits the old-school classics:
Dragnet (the tv show Dragnet)
King Minus (King Midas from Greek mythology)
Here Is Your Life: Oak Tree (the tv show This is Your Life)
Beat The Time: Cookie Monster(the tv show Beat the Clock)
Count It Higher (The Isley Brothers' song, "Twist and Shout")
Six Dollar Man (the tv show Six Million Dollar Man)
Born To Add (The song, Born to run, by bruce springsteen)
Family Food Game (the tv show Family Feud, with host Richard Dawson)
Hey Food (the song Hey Jude, by the Beatles)
Rebel L (the song Rebel Yell, by Billy Idol)
Hill Street Twos (the tv show, Hill Street Blues)
Gone With The Wind (the book and movie, Gone With the Wind)
High Twelve (the movie High Noon)
King and I (Rogers & Hammerstein's The King and I)
Oooo-klahoma! (Oklahoma the musical)
Casablanca Alphabet (the movie Casablanca)
Cereal Girl (the song Material Girl, by Madonna)
Twin Beaks (the tv show Twin Peaks)
Ronnie Trash (the songs I Walk The Line and Ring of Fire, by Johnnie Cash)

My favorite from this DVD was the Beat the Time episode, where Cookie Monster has a few seconds left to find one last thing that rhymes with rain -- and crashes a train into the TV studio! My kids had never seen it before, and were laughing hysterically. I also loved the animated King Midas, who makes everything he touches disappear, helping kids learn the basics of subtraction. I loved these episodes when I was a kid, and I still do.

DVD 2 includes more recent favorites:
Colambo (TV series Columbo)
Spaceship Surprise (the tv series Star Trek)
Braid-Y Bunch (the tv series The Brady Bunch)
Six Feet Under (the tv series Six Feet Under)
Dr. Phil Meets Dr. Feel (the tv talk show Dr. Phil)
Desperate Houseplants (the tv series Desperate Housewives)
24 (the tv series 24)
Law & Order, Special Letters Unit (the tv series Law & Order, SVU)
Outrageous Makeover Home Addition (the reality tv series Extreme Makeover Home Edition)
A's ANatomy (the tv series Grey's Anatomy)
GNN (the news channel CNN)
RSI (Rhyme Scene Investigation) (the tv series CSI)
30 Rocks (the tv series 30 Rock)
Pre-School Musical (the movie High School Musical)
Dirtiest Jobs (the reality tv series Dirtiest Jobs)
Mad Men (the tv series Mad Men)
True Mud (the tv series True Blood)
The Closer (the tv series The Closer)
O Network (the Oprah Winfrey Network)

I haven't seen any of the episodes from Disc 2 before, but it's clear that Sesame Street has not lost its touch over the decades; if anything, their satires are just getting better. I love the episode where Mike Rowe from Dirtiest Jobs is looking for the dirtiest job on Sesame Street, and Oscar challenges him to try being a grouch. Mike has to sort trash, count stinky cheese, even give a pig a mud bath! I also like the O Show, where an animated letter O hands out oboes to the entire audience, and the Dr. Feel show, where guest star Dr. Phil meets the muppet Dr. Feel, and they have to work out their differences as they fight for ownership of the show.

But the best innuendos are in the Desperate Houseplants episode, which features two houseplants who complain they're not getting what they need..... water and sun, of course! (what a dirty mind you have!). At the end of the episode, a gorgeous gardener muppet wanders by and tells one of the plants: Your soil looks.... DRY. I wish I could have blushed, but then I'd have to tell the kids why!

My absolute favorite from the entire collection? The GNN episode. I love Anderson Cooper, and it was delighful to see him in Oscar's trash can, filling in for Oscar at Grouch News Network. Anderson interviews 2 celebrated grouch newscasters, Dan RatherNot, Walter Cranky, going over G words to decide whether the letter G is grouchy or not grouchy. It even has the CNN (sorry, GNN) ticker at the bottom!

As you can probably tell, I LOVE this DVD. It makes a great present for anyone of any age!

Disclosure: I received a product sample to facilitate my review, but have not been paid to review the product or give my opinions. Product information is provided by the featured company/product and is indicated in italics. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.