Scanner : sesame street

Tina Fey Was On Sesame Street?

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:59:00 GMT

It was over two years ago, but you think we'd remember something this good.

Luckily, Jezebel and Strollerderby broke out the video yesterday to remind us of it. The occasion? The Sesame Street DVD from that season will be out on Tuesday. Hopefully, this video will stay up on YouTube until then. (And, by the way, never let it be said that Tina Fey can't act. She manages to keep a straight face during all this nonsense.)

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Ricky Gervais Teaches Elmo About Necrophilia

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:35:00 GMT

Apparently, Ricky Gervais was on Sesame Street last year, although no concrete evidence exists of this bizarre mashup of British comedy and American kiddie television.

Thankfully, the Associated Press leaked a one-minute excerpt from an interview Gervais and Elmo did for an unknown source (perhaps the AP itself.) Some claim it's in the outtakes on the new 40th Anniversary DVD of Sesame Street. Honestly, no one cares where it came from-- we all just want to know how the hell it happened...

Via Geno's World via YouTube.

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Life-Sized Barbie Dream House: I Want to Go to There

Emily Farris — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:54:00 GMT

We give Barbie a lot of shit here at Scanner—for her tramp stamp, for being too skinny, for not acting her age and even for making a skeezy porno—but you know what? Fuck that. Barbie brought us a lot of joy back when we were wearing Kissing Coolers and thought that Sesame Street was our "soap opera." Yeah, maybe we'd give her spiky hair cuts and put crazy colors in her spiky platinum 'do with washable markers, but she still loved us and we loved her. And when we were growing up in a government-subsidized townhouse in the meth capitol of the world, you can bet your ass there was nowhere we'd rather have lived than Barbie's Dream House. So forgive us if we're a little too excited about the life-sized Barbie Dream House that opened in Shanghai on Friday.

The House of Barbie, a six-story, hot-pink shrine to the doll—who turns 50 today—boasts a chandelier made of blonde hair, a closet stocked with 100 pairs of pink patent-leather pumps and a kitchen that exists solely for the purpose of baking cupcakes.

Of course, this Barbietopia is also a retail location. And the China market is one reason Mattel chose Shanghai for the flagship store.

Here, dolls range in price from $10 to $200 — for a Barbie in a Vera Wang wedding dress. But is Barbie too blond, too expensive for the China market? At a Shanghai primary school, opinion is divided.

"She's really pretty," says Wang Yiqi, looking longingly at Barbie's pink frilly miniskirt. The 11-year-old is a marketer's dream: she recognizes the specially designed $35 Shanghai Barbie and can't wait to go to the store. Others aren't quite as positive.

"I've got one just like this at home," says 7-year-old Yang Fangchen, "and it only cost $3, and she has a set of extra clothing."

Mrs. Wu, who's picking up her granddaughter, is horrified to hear of the price. "People of my generation find that really expensive. It's definitely not worth it."

In China, Barbie's world is likely to be full of impersonators. Xu Quanning, secretary general of the Shanghai Toy Trade Association, says that Barbie look-alikes for just $1 or $2 were far outselling the real doll.

But don't worry, there is no mass-market Chinese Barbie at the House of Barbie, though Mattell created a special doll which their calling "a pan-Asian likeness" (above right) for the store's opening.

[NPR: Mattel Hopes Shanghai Is A Barbie World]

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Caption This: Madonna the Grouch

Emily Farris — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:52:00 GMT

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Feist Is Very Well-Qualified to Teach Counting on Sesame Street

Nicole Pasulka — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:19:00 GMT

Feist stopped by Sesame Street recently to sing 1 2 3 4 with some monsters, penguins and chickens. The episode will air on PBS on August 11, but you don't have to wait until then because we've got this mo-fo for you right here!

Never before has indie rock been so educational. The only thing that could have made the below appearance better is that blue sparkly onesie from the original video. Feist, when you come back to count to five, bring the sparkle suit!

Colbert: Kids Are A Bunch Of Fruits

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:36:00 GMT

On last night's Colbert Report, sexy Stephen ranted about the latest indignity: fruit has overtaken cookies as the number one snack food for kids.

Then came one of the great cameos in the show's history... the perfect video ending to your week. Mmmm... cookie!

Top 10 Things Younger Than John McCain

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:17:00 GMT

A reader sent us this delightfully ageist, partisan hatchet job on the candidate attempting to become the oldest President ever (no, not Hillary Clinton, c. 2013), Senator John McCain.

John McCain is older than the word "old." When John McCain was a child, his granpappy was referred to as "ye olde man." Note the difference in spelling. John McCain is older than nylons, which means he is older than boners. Do we sound too much like "The Late Show With David Letterman?" We apologize-- although you should still check out our hilarious little list, stolen straight from the website "Things Younger Than John McCain."

10. Velcro

9. Plutonium

8. Both of Barack Obama's biological parents

7. Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney, for God's sake. Support somebody else!

6. Cheerios. Cheerios... Jesus Almighty, we thought the caveman had been the one to figure out what to do with little oats.

5. Scientology. Take that, John Travolta, Tom Cruise, and that embarrassing woman from "Cheers"-- Scientology is a figment of our cultural imagination and not to be taken any more seriously than, uh, Christianity, for example.

4. Spam. Not only the internet annoyance... the food made famous by Monty Python!

3. The Golden Gate Bridge

2. Alaska

1. The Chocolate Chip Cookie

Runners up: AARP, Mount Rushmore, McDonald's, nylon, and FM radio, as well as many other shockers at "Things Younger Than McCain."

Thanks to Rachel R. for the link!

Video of the Day: Smokey Robinson Sings "U Really Got A Hold On Me"

Emily Farris — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:37:00 GMT

OK, after all that scary man-eating vagina business, we wanted to make you feel a little warm and cozy. And what's cozier than watching Smokey Robinson snuggle up to the letter 'U' in this classic "Sesame Street" clip?

Don't Even Ask About "The Electic Company"

Bryan Christian — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:08:00 GMT

Over at the Times, Virginia Heffernan has a pretty neat piece on how DVD's of the early episodes of Sesame Street have been labeled as for adults only in light of, well, pretty much everything that makes them great.

You know who already had a clue on that front? The makers of Broadway's Avenue Q and YouTube user sinodanido, whose deep, slightly pervy shared affection for the Children's Television Workshop is more than apparent in the thoroughly unsanctioned mashup above. We're pubbing this extra early today just so it's the first thing you see this morning—just like when you were a kid. Enjoy!

Britney Opens Sesame. Yet Again.

sarahhepola — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:52:00 GMT

The rumor du jour is that Britney Spears will appear on Sesame Street and perform a duet with Oscar the Grouch. A different blogger, a far meaner blogger, might make a joke here. For example: Isn’t she already living in a garbage can? But we are not that blogger. We are much kinder, sexier blogger. We think this is a great move for a lady we are ready to see back on top. Any trashcan that’s hosted Anderson Cooper and Jon Stewart is just fine with us, thanks.

Set Your TiVos Dudes, Anderson Cooper on Sesame Street Tomorrow

Nicole Pasulka — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:04:00 GMT

Somebody give this man a wet nap and a hug. This is the sweetest news anchor in a trash can photo we've ever seen. Even in the garbage, Cooper looks all tidy and well-kempt.