I also own Volume One (1969-1974), but I was born in 1973 and it’s Volume Two (1974-1979) that leaves me all amazed and memoryiffic and misty-eyed. Number of times Paul has had to hear me say, “HEY!! I remember this!!”: 4 hertrillion. Number of times he’s said the same thing to me: 4 hertrillion and one. Number of times one of us has started singing, “One two three FOUR five, six seven eight NINE ten, ELEVEN TWELVE!” and the other one has joined in: who can say, really?

The three-disc set contains five full-length episodes (one from each of five seasons), plus highlights from each season—about 8 hours total. I was a little cheesed off to see some stuff from volume one repeated in volume two. With FIVE WHOLE YEARS condensed into 8 hours, they couldn’t come up with all fresh material? Well, it’s still worth it.

There’s a funny little bit at the beginning about how this set is for grown-ups, not children. I guess certain segments (let’s go play in a rusty junkyard! let’s talk sarcastically to children!) would no longer pass inspection. This is one of the few kid shows I don’t mind watching with the kids, though, so I can be alert for educational opportunities such as, “Um, you guys know not to show your chest hair like that, right?”

This would be a great gift for a family—particularly if the parents were born in the mid-’70s. —Swistle

Link: Sesame Street Old School Volume 2 on Amazon.com
Ballpark price: $25