When you’re the parent of a small child, you’ll deal with a lot of entertainment aimed at small children. You want to stick around and watch the show with the kid, but you might fall asleep if you watch it. You don’t want to turn the TV into your High Definition babysitter. But the shows just aren’t for a grown up. There are a few series that understand that parents are also watching the screen and Sesame Street is one of them. The good part about the show is that they drop an adult joke on the sly or feature someone you enjoy that always doesn’t work with fuzzy creatures. Sesame Street – Cool Counting Collection is all about getting your preschooler comfortable with numbers and vampires.
Vampires? If you’ve been a previous resident on Sesame Street, you’ll know that the key numbers guy is The Count. He’s version of Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee’s Dracula complete with fancy dress, cape, fangs and widow’s peak. But instead of wanting to suck blood from the innocent, The Count is hooked on counting. He’s been a part of the show since the fourth season in 1972. And is responsible for generations of kids breaking into a cackle when they count out loud. He joins his other Muppet pals on the 85 minute counting special that goes from 1 to 20. Among the humans that get into the digits is Elvis Costello jamming with Elmo on “Monster Went and Ate My Red 2.” This is a play on his hit “Angel Wants To Wear My Red Shoes” from his first album My Aim Is True. You’re going to want to tell your kid how you’d dated someone who listened to Elvis back in college. Or at least you now have a reason to play Elvis’ This Year’s Model on the morning commute to preschool by saying, “You saw him sing with Elmo.” There’s also indie rock icon Feist singing “1234” with monsters, chickens, penguins and more. This is a variation of her song “1234.” The guys from Train take it up to 5 with the Count providing backup vocals. In one of his most daring of roles, Liam Neeson plays The Count and attempts to go from 1-20. It’s good that kids can see Liam doing something besides having his kids get kidnapped in foreign countries.
The special is chaptered so your kid doesn’t always have to go from 1-20 in their counting. You can start them out small with 1-54 or have them focus on 10-14 since double digits can get tricky. Sesame Street – Cool Counting Collection is a good way to sit on the sofa and figure out if your child is grasping numbers and their order.
The video is 1.78:1. The clips that make up the special appear to have all come from episodes that were made during the HDTV era. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. You’ll be able to hear every number the Count counts. The special is subtitled in English and Spanish.
Numeric Con (13:18) is a convention taking place on Sesame Street for fans of numbers. Who knew you can cosplay as numbers? Elmo is the Dark 9.
Elmo and Zoe’s Hat Contest (14:19) has the Muppet pals see who can wear the most hats on their head at once. Gordon is part of the action.
Abby’s Flying Fairy School: Sheepy Time (9:02) is an animated part about kids counting sheep that get out of control.
Elmo’s World: Counting (5:04) gets the dog Schmoodle into the act.
Shout! Kids presents Sesame Street – Cool Counting Collection. Starring The Count, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Elvis Costello, Liam Neeson & Feist. Running time: 85 minutes. Release Date: June 8, 2021.
