Bizarre question: "Sesame Street" in non-US English-speaking countries

[cd637299]

Hi

Wanted to ask this, but felt embarrassed, until I saw the New Zealand post....

When "Sesame Street" airs/aired in countries like NZ/Australia/Canada where one says "zed" for the letter Z, do they dub "zed" for the "zee" sound, or do they let it just be? After all, I am sure there are/were some "alphabet songs" like the traditional ABC Song where the "zee" sound is needed to rhyme.

Has anybody watched an episode like that, and if so, what happened?

How about other similar shows?

cd

 

[firepoint525]

Interesting question. The words that end in -or in the U.S. are typically spelled -our in the UK. And American words that end in -ize are spelled -ise in the UK. Then there is that whole issue with the accent.

I am guessing that American educational TV would probably work just fine in Canada.

 

[ssetta]

I actually have an episode of Sesame Street from 1978 that was taped from Canadian TV, and it does have an alphabet film where the "Z" is pronounced "zed," and a lot of the inserts that dealt with speaking Spanish were replaced with Canadian inserts about French.

 

[azumanga]

I am guessing that American educational TV would probably work just fine in Canada.

Except that in Sesame Street's case, Canada, too uses "zed" for "Z", and "-our" and "-re" instead of "-or" and "-er".

Of course, the provincial educational networks in Canada, especially TVO, broadcasted the same in-school shows that were seen in the US during the 1970s and 1980s.

 

[cd637299]

I actually have an episode of Sesame Street from 1978 that was taped from Canadian TV, and it does have an alphabet film where the "Z" is pronounced "zed," and a lot of the inserts that dealt with speaking Spanish were replaced with Canadian inserts about French.

Never gave a thought about Spanish/French....I wonder how it is in UK/Australia/NZ where a second language is so distant.

So they replace the entire film instead of just dubbing the "zed"? I suppose the staff had extra footage for these regions?

cd

 

[azumanga]

Never gave a thought about Spanish/French....I wonder how it is in UK/Australia/NZ where a second language is so distant.

Well, in the UK, they do have Welsh in Wales and Gaelic in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In New Zealand, they have the native Maori language.

So they replace the entire film instead of just dubbing the "zed"? I suppose the staff had extra footage for these regions?

In Canada, portions are replaced with segments that are more pertinent to Canada. Don't know how it worked in other countries where the US version was shown.

 

[cd637299]

You're right about UK....what was I thinking.....

cd

 

[mjlarochelle]

There is no "Canadian" version of Sesame Street anymore. Same show as seen in the U.S., although these days in Canada you can pretty much only get it from PBS.

 

[azumanga]

There is no "Canadian" version of Sesame Street anymore. Same show as seen in the U.S., although these days in Canada you can pretty much only get it from PBS.

...which is very much the only Sesame Street available in Canada since the CBC cancelled "Sesame Park" a few years back.

 

[DToTheJ]

I would imagine The Count gets quite a workout, counting in different languages for each show...

 

[onairb]

I asked a friend in the UK about this a while back. 'Sesame Street' first aired over there about 20 years ago, on Channel 4, but the episodes they showed were from the early-mid-70s. They definitely left in all the 'Americanisms', including our pronunciation of 'zee', the name 'Cookie Monster',and, presumably, the spelling of 'color'.(I doubt most of the other words with different spellings would have 'materialised' on the show!)
Partly because of the American words, but mainly because the episodes looked even more cheesy and 'dated' to UK audiences, the show never really caught on until it was brought back within the last decade.

 

[cd637299]

I asked a friend in the UK about this a while back. 'Sesame Street' first aired over there about 20 years ago, on Channel 4, but the episodes they showed were from the early-mid-70s. They definitely left in all the 'Americanisms', including our pronunciation of 'zee', the name 'Cookie Monster',and, presumably, the spelling of 'color'.(I doubt most of the other words with different spellings would have 'materialised' on the show!)
Partly because of the American words, but mainly because the episodes looked even more cheesy and 'dated' to UK audiences, the show never really caught on until it was brought back within the last decade.

Ah, very good, muy bien, tres bien, etc....

cd