Did Sesame Street kill Prog ?

I'm not sure if "Non-music prog lounge"  is the right place for this, so if an admin moves it, it won't hurt my feelings. But at least leave a link so I can "keep up" with it.

Anyway, it's a well known fact that much of our conditioning, our programming if you will, happens before we reach our 5th birthday. Sesame Street was a revolutionary show for many reasons- the main one being that it was the first show which kept each "skit" or segment at no longer than 3 minutes, 5 tops. The reasoning was that some(not all but some) children just couldn't keep their attention for longer than that.

Sesame Street aired its first show in 1969. So the first generation of Sesame Street watchers were born between 1965-1972. I was born in 1969 so I am in this "generation." Many of my generation started to listen to popular music in the late 70's early 80's. Maybe we were conditioned in our early years to take our information in short bursts.

Many of the kiddie shows (or perhaps more importantly non-TV forms of entertainment) that those who were prog fans in the 70's were into as young children were like "prog" slower developing but deeper in meaning. So while previous generations were conditioned to believe that things didn't have to happen quickly to have meaning, my generation(and future ones for that matter) have been conditioned that if a song takes more than 4 or 5 minutes, we should move on to the next one.

Just a thought. I'm perhaps different because my parents always forced  me (and my sisters) to listen to classical music, so I learned to appreciate the fact that a longer more developed piece of music could be enjoyedjust as much if not more than a quick 3 minute song.

I'm born in 67, raised on Sesame Street, and love long detailed music. I don't agree with your observations at all. If anything, our generation is the last to actually have distance of thought. Many shots have already been made at MTV, which is correct, it's the children of the eighties which fall into the short attention span generation.

The seventies was a much simpler time, no computers and less TV. The idea of introspective thought and creativity was still an understandable concept. In short, the world was still REAL.

In todays hyper commercial, techno mad society, introspective contemplation is little more than a foreign concept.

Witchwoodhermit wrote: I'm born in 67, raised on Sesame Street, and love long detailed music. I don't agree with your observations at all. If anything, our generation is the last to actually have distance of thought. Many shots have already been made at MTV, which is correct, it's the children of the eighties which fall into the short attention span generation. The seventies was a much simpler time, no computers and less TV. The idea of introspective thought and creativity was still an understandable concept. In short, the world was still REAL. In todays hyper commercial, techno mad society, introspective contemplation is little more than a foreign concept.

On the contrary, I think the internet has done a lot of good.  TV, IMO, is a mass-conditioning tool, but with the advent of the internet, we have access to information, and are free to interpret it as we choose.  It encourages introspective decisions.

Forget Sesame Street.  MTV is the demon that poisoned rock and pop music.  It gave money/publicity/record deals to fashion idiots and posers and tried to make them look like musicians.  Culture Club, Madonna, Thompson Twins, NSYNC, Vanilla Ice, crap like that.  The recording industry has never been the same since.  Musical talent isn't what counts any more, it's looks and image.  If you can't look good or trendy in front of a camera, forget it.