Person-being-pinned-against-a-glass-shower-screen-possibly-sending-a-coded-message-for-help. Don't you just Love that Continuity?

Channel 4 Interlude (Late 1980s)



Here we have the ending and credits to the award-winning and long-running, US Children's educational series "Sesame Street" created by Jim Henson. This was a main feature on Channel 4 back in the 80's and early 90's, introducing the UK to what all the fuss was all about. Running since 1969, here we see on the left, deaf Sesame Street presenter, Linda Bove, along with lesser-known puppet character, Buster the Horse, can't name the other woman, but I'm sure it's not who I think it is. This is followed by "Sesame Street was brought to you today by the number letter...etc". Then, prepare to fast forward or skip, if you don't like classical, relaxing music. This is simply an on-screen schedule after 9am in the morning, with an questionably artistic photograph behind, and that is all.

Back then, TV was more slower paced, but usually more prolonged around Schools TV on both BBC/ITV and Channel 4. You hardly see this kind of continuity nowadays, although Schools TV did keep up with it, but still-frame pauses like this became shorter and shorter into the 1990's and 2000's. The belief being that, people's attention spans were getting shorter -probably true with younger generations brought up on the internet- and now 100's of channels from satellite competing against the "Big Four" or the ahem, "Big Five". You only get this type of continuity on "Ceefax" on the early hours of BBC2 mornings, now and again. Isn't there times, you want the TV of today to take a chill pill? We don't want to be informed all the time, being shown your big flashy graphics, and editing camera angles every millionth of a second. It can sometimes get annoying or depressing. What's wrong with listening and watching to nice music, while you're mind wanders, giving you time to think, on perhaps, the previous TV viewings or, what's to come, or maybe it allows you into some deep philosophical though about your own life. Some will say, "Just turn the TV off then", however, a minority of people say " You just don't understand".

Yes, "Sesame Street" was an American show but it was a large part of some British children's childhood and should not be detracted from UK TV nostalgia! So anything goes here, if the programme is mainstream and well-known. The series was one of the first to entertain as well as educate, not basic stuffy professors in stuffy studio's telling us how the world works. Learning can be fun, as proved by Sesame Street. We'll be seeing more of this show in later posts.