The long-running kid’s show “Sesame Street” doesn’t have the same zeitgeisty impact it once did, but a new documentary called “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street,” now on VOD, is a behind-the-scenes look at the undeniable impact Big Bird and Company had on the minds of several generations of young people.
Based on Michael Davis’ 2009 book “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street,” the doc takes a step-by-step approach, detailing the educational initiatives and creativity that paved the way to Sesame Street.
Director Marilyn Agrelo focuses on three characters, co-creator and producer Joan Ganz Cooney, writer, director and producer Jon Stone, and Muppets creator Jim Henson. Through the lens of this powerhouse trio, and plenty of others like “C Is For Cookie” and “(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green” composer Joe Raposo, a portrait emerges of a show that corralled the revolutionary spirit of the time. Progressive, inclusive and overtly political, the creatives moved away from the tried-and-true kid’s show format which was, more often than not, simply a vehicle for subliminal advertising aimed at mom and dad’s pocketbooks to something that would not only entertain but also educate.
Bringing the show to air wasn’t without speed bumps. A Mississippi educational board deemed “Sesame Street” too controversial for the youth of their state in 1970, a ruling soon overturned the ban but not before it made national headlines. Agrelo also delves into Stone’s depression and Henson’s workaholic tendencies, but, by-and-large, the movie is a shiny happy document that drips with nostalgia.
As “Street Gang” essays the show’s nuts-and-bolts, it does so with energy and a sweetness that emanates from the material. It’s a loving portrait, painted with clips that are sure to trigger happy memories for those who grew up watching the show, or even watching kids as they watched the show. Add to that a blast of nostalgia and some rare footage—this is worth a watch if only to see Johnny Cash and Oscar the Grouch duet on the folk song “Nasty Dan” or Odetta do “If I Had a Hammer” with the kid cast—and you’re left with a documentary captures the enduring spirit of a show that changed television and the world.
Mild mannered office worker Sid Straw, played by “Veep”/”Arrested Development” star Tony Hale in the new V.O.D. comedy “Eat Wheaties!,” claims to be a close acquittance of “Huger Games” star Elizabeth Banks.
“There is no such thing,” says her manager (Sarah Chalke).
As the cringe comedy begins Sid is unlucky in love, an expert in saying the wrong thing, misreading signals and trying too hard. “I understand that I am not the most exciting person out there,” he says. When he is named co-chair of the upcoming University of Pennsylvania’s reunion it is the beginning of a spiral. Setting up a Facebook page to publicize the event, he repeatedly messages Banks, an alumnus he claims to have been acquainted with decades ago.
Not realizing the posts are public, he bombards her account with a series of personal notes inviting her to the reunion. His many messages go unnoticed by the star but not her team, who file a restraining order against him. When the posts go viral—“What does that mean?” he asks.—his life unwinds as he is publicly and personally humiliated.
Based on the novel “The Locklear Letters” by Michael Kun, “Eat Wheaties!” (that was Banks’ catchphrase in school), is a mix of tragedy and comedy, made human by Hale’s performance. Sid could have been a collection of quirks but Hale paints him differently. Sid is a lovable loser and Hale plays him as a sweet, lonely guy, oblivious to the hole he’s digging for himself.
Hale is supported by a great supporting cast, including Paul Walter Hauser, Elisha Cuthbert, Lamorne Morris and Robbie Amell, who play off Sid’s social awkwardness with good-natured sympathy.
“Eat Wheaties!” is a tightly paced comedy which is more about kindness and doing the right thing than it is about knee slapping jokes. It is occasionally knee-slapping funny but the laughs come from kind-heartedness, not cruelty and that makes this quirky comedy a winner.
Set in Derry in Northern Ireland, “A Bump Along the Way,” now on VOD, feels like a slightly more grown-up version of the recent Netflix hit “Derry Girls.”
Bronagh Gallagher plays forty-something single mother Pamela. She’s a free-spirit who likes a good time which stands in sharp contrast to her judgmental, vegan teenage daughter Allegra (Lola Petticrew), When a one-night stand with a much younger, local plumber leads to a “geriatric pregnancy,” Pamela is told by her gynecologist that this time will be different. “You have more sense,” he says, “more experience, you’re financially better off.”
Barry the plumber (Andy Doherty), like Allegra’s father many years before, becomes a ghost when he hears the news, leaving mother and daughter to put aside their differences and prepare for the arrival of a new family member.
“A Bump Along the Way” is a feel-good movie that transcends the usual clichés of the genre. It weaves the tried-and-true freethinking mother and uptight daughter with big dollops of misogyny, sympathy and a few laughs. Director Shelly Love emphasizes not only Pamela and Allegra’s real-life trials and tribulations but also the joy in a film that brims with empathy.
Strong central performances from Gallagher and Petticrew bring authenticity to a story that threatens to dissolve into overly treacly territory, but never does. It’s not exactly a kitchen sink drama, it’s too sanguine for that, but, like the Netflix show that would work as a companion piece for a night’s binge, it is a well observed story with terrific, earthy performances.
