The big news about Sesame Street — that premieres will air exclusively on HBO and that PBS dropped the hourlong version of the show — has sparked both strong and light-hearted reactions.
On the HBO deal:
A good deal for all — Sesame, HBO and PBS http://t.co/T4pjibbUF4
— Steve Bass (@sbassopb) August 13, 2015
isn't Sesame Street on HBO just Avenue Q
— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) August 13, 2015
@mjanssen @currentpubmedia thinking about this more it's kind of horrifying. Conceived for the poorest, now reserved for the wealthiest?
— Sudama Adam Rice (@sudama) August 13, 2015
#ShameonSesameStreet – denying free access of current shows to U.S. kids in sell-out to HBO http://t.co/zVaDkkcBhH
— Kim Young (@forestandtrees) August 13, 2015
Ahhh…I see…free programming for PBS. But I object to HBO taking on a property that is #pubmedia gold brand. https://t.co/xLs52REuzd
— Jami Rogers (@publicradionerd) August 13, 2015
The people behind Sesame just gave every working class family the middle finger
— Ally Russell (@Cheeky_Fiasco) August 13, 2015
The news about Sesame Street was shocking at first, but after reading the details, I think it could be a pretty positive thing.
— Phillip K Johnson (@PhillipKJohnson) August 13, 2015
Now that HBO has a partnership with Sesame Street we'll finally learn how to spell the names of all the Game of Thrones characters.
— OhNoSheTwitnt (@OhNoSheTwitnt) August 13, 2015
"a lighter, happier westeros this season on hbo" pic.twitter.com/jK5MachyNB
— darth™ (@darth) August 13, 2015
Sesame Street on HBO be like pic.twitter.com/5De6PDZhCR
— Brian Ries (@moneyries) August 13, 2015
Sesame Street is gonna be on HBO which makes total sense since they're all naked anyway. pic.twitter.com/K9BZogqbWc
— Adam Rose (@RealAdamRose) August 13, 2015
So, did y'all get your dirty Sesame Street jokes out today? You do realize HBO has a kids channel, right?
— Ryan O'Reilly (@ryanooo) August 13, 2015
Worried about my 1 year old using HBO Go to watch Sesame Street and watching Rome instead. http://t.co/hBjNOnnUjJ
— Andrew Gill (@andrewgill) August 13, 2015
I bet most of the people upset Sesame Street is moving to HBO haven’t even watched the show in years.
— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) August 13, 2015
You’re all making the same Sesame Street on HBO jokes at this point, fyi
— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) August 13, 2015
15 ledes in the next hour: "This episode has been brought to you by the letters H-B-O."
— Reed Kavner (@reedkavner) August 13, 2015
On the move to 30-minute shows:
Slippery slope toward Sesame Street being available only in Vine https://t.co/N526eiUjzv
— mike pesca (@pescami) August 12, 2015
The final death knell to any hope of a national attention span longer than a haiku https://t.co/N526eiUjzv
— mike pesca (@pescami) August 12, 2015
We live in the time of A.D.D. And this is proof of it. I think it's a mistake to make it half hour long. This… http://t.co/wdhDvSebyP
— Michael Valentine (@MicValentine) August 13, 2015
@pescami @currentpubmedia that's brought to you by the letters B and S
— jtgriffith (@jtgriffith) August 12, 2015
Reddit users are also having their say here and here. And you can add your reaction below.
Sesame Workshop is making a big deal out of increasing the episode count from 18 annually to 35. So, what we’re talking about here is 35 half-hours instead of 18 hours?
One of these things is not like the others.
We need more support for PBS. We want the classic episodes on ShopPBS.org to sale. Purchases supports PBS.
This will give the Kill Big Bird crowd something to crow about. “See, when you let the private sector do it, we don’t need to spend all that taxpayer money on PBS.” Truly sad.