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Liked It “This is a great and sometimes sad, sometimes poignant view of the revolution upon television that is and was Sesame Street. As a Gen Xer, I knew Sesame Street was a great thing then and now (what other generation got to watch TV in their first grade classrooms, and Sesame Street was it). The...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It“Didn't actually finish it. After not picking it up for 2 weeks, I figure I'm probably not THAT interested.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“had high hopes for this one. Sadly the Sesame Street of my time and recent years was covered only in the Epilogue. ”
Stephie wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This is a great and sometimes sad, sometimes poignant view of the revolution upon television that is and was Sesame Street. As a Gen Xer, I knew Sesame Street was a great thing then and now (what other generation got to watch TV in their first grade classrooms, and Sesame Street was it). The Shelfari description gets it wrong when it says Elmo saved the show. Elmo increased viewership when viewership was dwindling under the swill that is Dora the Explorer and Barney the Elephant. But Elmo is just one of the many awesome characters on kids' TV in the modern era. I'm grateful it's just slightly older than me, and that many of the human characters are still the same. ”
Kermit wrote this review Saturday, October 31 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Fairly interesting. I miss Jim Henson.”
nancy m wrote this review Sunday, August 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“For much of the first half, a rather encyclopedic history of children's television and public broadcasting, but engrossing nonetheless. Once the focus shifts to Sesame Street, the narrative really takes off.”
Kind wrote this review Saturday, August 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“brought back fun memories of the early days of CTW/Sesame Street”
Marie V wrote this review Monday, July 27 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Who knew Sesame Street was so complicated? I was hoping for more insight into the show's inner workings rather than a tell all about the creators. The Jim Henson details were heartbreaking...quite a loss to the world. ”
Jocelyn H wrote this review Friday, July 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Davis would have been better served by a more assertive editor. The book sometimes feels like a list of anecdotes without any coherent structure. But what anecdotes. I never would have guessed that the history of Sesame Sttreet would be so complicated and so revolutionary.”
Brian M wrote this review Monday, June 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I finished Michael Davis' Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street last week, but have been at a loss as to what to say in my review. But after ruminating on my subject for a few days, I feel that I can now attempt a fair criticism of the book.
Susan wrote this review Monday, May 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Let me begin by saying that Street Gang was an extremely well-written and thoughtfully researched work of non-fiction. The information contained within the book in in-depth and meticulous, providing the reader with a sympathetic look into the lives of the amazingly talented group of people behind one of the most phenomenally fun educational programs of our time. Street Gang is an astonishingly balanced and respectful history of the creative presence behind Sesame Street, and the process that went into making it an extraordinary success.
That being said, I hate to tell you that I really did not particularly enjoy this book. I think the reason I did not appreciate it as much as many other reviewers have probably has more to do with my age than the fact that it was not good. Sesame Street premiered about nine years before I was born, and I grew up watching it on PBS. Truthfully... I never did actually grow up, and from time to time I still tune in to see what's happening on the street. It was my love for Sesame Street and all things puppet that drew me to Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street in the first place. Unfortunately, it just couldn't live up to my expectations.
I found Street Gang to be awfully dry. The story of the conception of Sesame Street was interesting, but regrettably the first half of the book is completely bogged down in biographies of "every government bureaucrat and PR lackey that worked on the show during its formative years." I was hoping to read more about the development of the show, and the impact Sesame Street had on children's television in the 21st century. What I found in Street Gang was more a history of all the people that had a hand in making the show happen, and not much about the characters - the real beating heart of Sesame Street.
Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street was overly detailed and much too focused on giving the complete personal histories of the key players in the making of Sesame Street: Joan Ganz Cooney, Jon Stone, David Connell, Sam Gibbon, and Jim Henson. It's just not what I was looking for.
So, I'm in a quandary on how I should rate and recommend this book. If I rate it solely on the writing and information, I would give it 4 stars - if I rate it based on the fact that it was too dry for my taste and I was very disappointed after reading it, I would give it 2 stars. So I'm going to split the difference and give it 3 stars. As for recommending it to other readers, my advice is just to understand what you'll be getting from Street Gang (and what you won't). If you do a little research beforehand - read some good and bad reviews - you probably won't be disappointed.”
