Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 2 (1974-1979) (1969) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD set, released on my 40th birthday, proved the appropriate gift!
But let's get the negatives out of the way first, to explain why I gave it four stars rather than five:
1) One reviewer for Volume 1 complained that there was too little material extracted from a six-year period of broadcasts. Unfortunately, Volume 2 presents the same limits.
2) If a Volume 3 is ever released, please omit the Falling Baker skit for the Number Two. With the current two volumes, it's been repeated to death. Give us more variety -- at least treat us to that elusive Number One skit (Baker falling with a wedding cake).
3) Same packaging is used as in Volume 1, with two of the three discs annoying stacked on top of each other.
4) One Super-Grover skit appears to be needlessly edited with recent material.
5) That irritating disclaimer saying the DVDs may not be appropriate teaching material for today's kids. (Might the lobster-trap segment be too un-PC?) My 3-year-old nephew absolutely loves watching Volume 1, so I anticipate the same reception for Volume 2.
Nonetheless, this DVD set almost earned five stars from me for two main reasons:
1) The nostalgia effect was powerful enough to nearly override the negatives.
2) There's one absolutely can't-miss-feature in Disc One -- the test pilot used to pitch the show to PBS! It's one of the freakiest gems in this release, with a heavy and admirable "Soul Train" streak running through the episode, an atypically rude Mr. Hooper, no kids singing "Sunny Day" (it took a moment for me to recognize the voice), and precious animated skits that I wish had been included in Volume 1 (notably Triangle & Square). And is that the actor that I think it is, playing a FOURTH Gordon??!!
As with Volume 1, I nearly cried seeing some skits that jogged bittersweet memories out of my subconscious (horseback mailman delivering an issue of "The Plain Truth" in the outskirts of Kentucky), and some that I thought I'd never see again but which I'm grateful to say I own at last (cows being fed hay in winter). Some material almost unsettled me as a kid but I now find hilarious (King Minus), while some is of just downright laugh-out-loud quality (Grover's show-and-tell with Maria's head).
You'll also find the following: Telephone Rock, I'm a hard-working dog, surprisingly more of Roosevelt Franklin, Cookie Monster in flamboyant Elton-John wardrobe, the moment when Woof-Woof's name was changed to Barkley (a change I voted against as a kid, but which I now can't imagine having occurred otherwise), and one moment when Snuffy came so close to being discovered by David. I could go on! But you'll have to watch for yourselves.
I must admit my hope that, if there's a Volume 3, it's willing to go back and cover more of '69-'74.

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Can you dig it? Sesame Street: Old School Volume 2 picks up right where Volume 1 left off, including all the grooviest Sesame Street memories from 1974 to 1979! You’ll see cats like Don Music and Roosevelt Franklin, Guy Smiley and Fat Blue. Break out your boogie shoes for far out classics like "What’s the Name of That Song?" and "Telephone Rock!" Rediscover the Sesame Street of the 1970s -- the place where you learned about letters, numbers, and loveable furry monsters. Catch you on the flip side!

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