Why Is It That The Music Dept. Is Always The First To Get Cut?

Sesame Street” is brought to you today by the letters F-I-R-E-D.
 
Three beloved human characters from the 45-year-old children’s show have been given the Sesame Sweep. Bob the music teacher, Gordon the science teacher and Luis the “Mr. Fix-It,” played by Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman and Emilio Delgado respectively, have all been axed.

 
http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/%e2%80%98sesame-street%e2%80%99-axes-one-two-three-favorite-human-characters/ar-BBuZkDS?ocid=spartanntp
 
 
 

Did they buy Bob, Errrrm Band In The Box to replace the music guy?

I think Sesame St started going downhill sometime in the 90's. When I was a kid (and even into my teens) I used to watch it primarily because it always had such cool music on it. Check out when Stevie Wonder was on in 1973. Can you even remotely imagine something this cool on kid's TV these days? 
 

 
And one of my all time favorites, Ernie in the awesome "Put Down The Duckie" 
 

 
Ray Charles on Sesame Street with Bert and Ernie was insanely cool
 

 
And singing the alphabet - check out the little girl in yellow on the stairs who really gets into the swing of the groove by clapping on the off beat, but then peer pressure from her less groovy friends eventually has her clapping on the 1 and 3 
 

 
Then of course you have Paul Simon:
 

 
It's a real shame that kids aren't exposed to such cool music these days. 
 
 

Hi,
 
Why the music?
 
In many ways, the folks that "run" the country, are in control of the networks, and they "decide" what is best for you ... and of course, we're not intelligent enough, sometimes, to do something about it.
 
The arts, per se, are not about TV, and never were anyway, so any of them getting cut, I say good riddance, I'm tired of TV dictating what I should like and not like, and then tell me that such and such is a star, when she/he are just plain idiots and publicity hounds (not to mention million hounds!), with the lowest denominator of intelligence and "talent" ever defined. Not all of them, of course, but a sizable group, whose only interest is their own ego, and it has nothing to do with the music itself, and their love for the art!
 
In many ways, this started 50 years ago, when the media concentrated on the drugs and the bad side of things, instead of showing the art and the music for its greatness and its amazing relevance to the moment in time. However, in the end, just like Woodstock, it all became a national anthem, played in front of garbage ... and I think that Jimi knew at that moment that it did not matter anymore, since no one cared and the very same folks that went to Woodstock, went there for the wrong reasons. They became selfish, no longer artistic.
 
I realize I am a bit of a dreamer about this, but I have tremendous respect for a scene that had literature, music, theater, film and other arts ... that are still remembered and it will likely go down in American artistic history as one of the most important and valuable periods of the arts. 
 
The bad side, was that politics and the media, decided that people doing their own thing was wrong, and counter productive to their sadistic ideas of what the world should be. And to this day, we go around dis-respecting the arts, because the only thing we can accept and appreciate is the top ten that the society is telling us to spend our money on ... and we do ... and even defend it, because how dare we not support the "public"?
 
Do you want to know how different this is from the fascist government of 60 years ago in Portugal and Spain?

Wow I didn't know Bob McGrath was still alive. Looks good for 84.  Part of it is because of age and I doubt Sesame Street has an audience it once had.  Part of that may have been venturing into certain social issues.  In the 70's it was even entertaining for adults. Always loved the Count.

Moshkito,  well written.  You write with an authentic cadence.

Hi,
 
Been reading the book "Chuck Reducks" by Chuck Jones (one of the few "heroes" I have), and there is a line about an accident on the first Road Runner cartoon. The sound specialist accidentally had the pod down, when the Coyote fell off the cliff, and when he hit the ground with the camera looking down from above, you saw a puff of dust and a slight ... "thuddd".
 
The specialist, was upset with the final version, and went to Chuck and blaring out loud, that they needed to redo the sound, because the "thuddd" had to be louder. In those days, the kind of events were ALWAYS played loud, with no attention, EVER, given to detail or perspective.
 
Chuck Jones, said NO, emphatically, since it was perfect the way it was, specially when the Sound guy himself, had been laughing so hard he fell off his chair after seeing it. BUT, he was afraid of Jack Warner would come up and fire him, for screwing up the sound on a picture. Chuck insisted that it was not going to get changed and that it was perfect.
 
After an award, or two, the sound guy finally relented, but it tells you that many "artists" live in fear, regardless of where they are. Chuck mentions a lot of censors, but for the most part, they did not watch or "get" cartoons, anyway! Doing "Sesame Street" all of these years, I can see many censors hovering all over the place, and probably even saying ... we can't have a scruffy drummer on major television showing off! That should not be allowed! He's ugly and we must not showcase him! Well, I supposed that we could also mention Spike Milligan and the Goons, and he once said there was more stuff censored in the floor of the studios than there were Goon Shows themselves. I can imagine ... I RESIGN!
 
After a while, I think it's time to leave the networks and go look for a Cable outlet instead. I'm tired of senseless censoring, for no reason whatsoever, except what supposedly the public can not see. Nudity included, btw!