Sesame Street (television series)

For the fictional street, see Sesame Street (location).

Sesame Street is an American educational children's television series that combines live action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop. The series premiered on November 10, 1969, to positive reviews, some controversy, bad and good episodes, and high viewership, becoming the most successful children's TV program in the history of television; it has aired on the U.S.'s national public television provider PBS since its debut, with its first run on HBO on January 16, 2016, then its sister streaming service HBO Max in 2020.

The show's format consists of a combination of commercial television production elements and techniques which have evolved to reflect changes in American culture and audiences' viewing habits. It was the first children's TV show to use educational goals and a curriculum to shape its content, and the first show whose educational effects were formally studied. Its format and content have undergone significant changes to reflect changes to its curriculum.

Shortly after its creation, its producers developed what came to be called the CTW Model (after the production company's previous name), a system of planning, production and evaluation based on collaboration between producers, writers, educators and researchers. The show was initially funded by government and private foundations, but has become somewhat self-supporting due to revenues from licensing arrangements, international sales and other media. By 2006, independently produced versions ("co-productions") of Sesame Street were broadcast in 20 countries. In 2001, there were over 120 million viewers of various international versions of Sesame Street; and by its 40th anniversary in 2009, it was broadcast in more than 140 countries.

Sesame Street was by then the 15th-highest-rated children's television show in the United States. A 1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched it by the time they were three. In 2018, it was estimated that 86 million Americans had watched it as children. As of 2022, it has won 222 Emmy Awards and 11 Grammy Awards, more than any other children's show.

Because of its widespread influence, Sesame Street has earned the distinction of being one of the world's foremost and most highly regarded educators of young people. Few television series can match its level of recognition and success on the international stage. The original series has been televised in 120 countries, and more than 20 international versions have been produced. In its long history, Sesame Street has received more Emmy Awards than any other program, and has captured the allegiance, esteem, and affections of millions of viewers worldwide.

Logos[]

Sesame Workshop (1969)

Overview[]

Sesame Street uses a combination of puppets, animation, and live actors to teach young children the fundamentals of reading (letter and word recognition) and arithmetic (numbers, addition and subtraction), as well as geometric forms, cognitive processes, and classification. Since the show's inception, other instructional goals have focused on basic life skills, such as how to cross the road safely and the importance of proper hygiene and healthy eating habits.

There is also a subtle sense of humor on the show that has appealed to older viewers since it first premiered, and was devised as a means to encourage parents and older siblings to watch the series with younger children, and thus become more involved in the learning process rather than letting Sesame Street act as a babysitter. A number of parodies of popular culture appear, even ones aimed at the Public Broadcasting Service, the network that broadcasts the show. For example, the recurring segment Monsterpiece Theater once ran a sketch called "Me Claudius." Children viewing the show might enjoy watching Cookie Monster and the Muppets, while adults watching the same sequence may enjoy the spoof of the Masterpiece Theatre production of I, Claudius on PBS.

Several of the character names used on the program are puns or cultural references aimed at a slightly older audience, including Flo Bear (Flaubert), Sherlock Hemlock (a Sherlock Holmes parody), and H. Ross Parrot (a parody of Reform Party founder H. Ross Perot). Over 700 notable personalities have made guest appearances on the show, beginning with James Earl Jones, and ranging from performers like Stevie Wonder to political figures such as Kofi Annan. By making a show that not only educates and entertains kids, but also keeps parents entertained and involved in the educational process, the producers hope to inspire discussion about the concepts on the show.

History[]

Sesame Street was conceived in 1966 during discussions between television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Carnegie Foundation vice president Lloyd Morrisett. Their goal was to create a children's television show that would "master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them," such as helping young children prepare for school. After two years of research, the newly formed Children's Television Workshop (CTW) received a combined grant of US$8 million ($64 million in 2022 dollars) from the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. federal government to create and produce a new children's television show.

Sesame Street was officially announced at a press conference on May 6, 1969. Joan Ganz Cooney, Children's Television Workshop's executive director, said that Sesame Street would use the techniques of commercial television programs to teach young children. Live shorts and animated cartoons would teach young children the alphabet, numbers, vocabulary, shapes, and basic reasoning skills. By repeating concepts throughout an episode, young children's interest would be held while they learn the concepts. Guest cameos would help attract older children and adults. Cooney said that the name Sesame Street came from the saying "open sesame", which gives the idea of a place where exciting things occur. The show was given an initial six-month run in order to determine whether it was effective and would continue to air.

The program premiered on public television stations on November 10, 1969. It was the first preschool educational television program to base its contents and production values on laboratory and formative research. Initial responses to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings.

According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution." The cast and crew expanded during this time, with emphasis on the hiring of women crew members and the addition of minorities to the cast. The show's success continued into the 1980s. In 1981, when the federal government withdrew its funding, CTW turned to and expanded other revenue sources, including its magazine division, book royalties, product licensing, and foreign broadcast income. Its curriculum has expanded to include more affective topics such as relationships, ethics and emotions. Many of its storylines have been inspired by the experiences of its writing staff, cast and crew—most notably, the 1982 death of Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper; and the marriage of Luis and Maria in 1988.

By the end of the 1990s, the show faced societal and economic challenges, including changes in young children's viewing habits, competition from other shows, the development of cable television, and a drop in ratings. As the 21st century began, the show made major changes. Starting in 2002, its format became more narrative-focused and included ongoing storylines. After its 30th anniversary in 1999, due to the popularity of the Muppet Elmo, the show also incorporated a popular segment known as Elmo's World. In 2009, the show won the Outstanding Achievement Emmy for its 40 years on the air.

In late 2015, in response to "sweeping changes in the media business" and as part of a five-year programming and development deal, premium television service HBO began airing first-run episodes of Sesame Street. The episodes became available on PBS stations and websites nine months after they aired on HBO. The deal allowed Sesame Workshop to produce more episodes—increasing from 18 to 35 per season—and to create a spinoff series with the Sesame Street Muppets, and a new educational series.

At its 50th anniversary in 2019, Sesame Street had produced over 4,500 episodes, two feature-length movies (Follow That Bird in 1985 and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland in 1999), 35 TV specials, 200 home videos, and 180 albums. Its YouTube channel has almost five million subscribers. It was announced in October 2019 that first-run episodes will move to HBO Max beginning with the show's 51st season in 2020.

Production history[]

Following an initial proposal by Joan Ganz Cooney in 1966, titled "Television for Preschool Children," an eighteen month planning period was set aside, and with a grant of 8 million dollars from multiple government agencies and foundations, the proposed series would test the usefulness of the television medium in providing early education for young children. Apart from Cooney, the original planning crew included several veterans of Captain Kangaroo, such as executive producer David Connell, producer Samuel Y. Gibbon, Jr., and writer/songwriter Jeff Moss, as well as producer/head writer Jon Stone, and producer/writer Matt Robinson (who later originated the role of Gordon). At Cooney's suggestion, Jim Henson and the Muppets were brought in, and composer Joe Raposo followed. The CTW research crew included Harvard professor Gerald S. Lesser as head of the board of advisers and Edward L. Palmer as director of research, tracking and observing how child audiences responded to the programming.

Though the earliest pilot episodes involved dramatizing the inner thoughts of child actors in a studio set, Jon Stone suggested a more urban setting, "a real inner city street," with an integrated cast of neighbors. The original human inhabitants were Bob, Mr. Hooper, Gordon, and Susan, and they dominated the street storylines which made up roughly 25 percent of the hour-long show. To maintain the realism of the street, the Muppets were kept separate; thus, Ernie and Bert, while they lived on the street, resided in a basement apartment. These framing scenes would surround segments of animation, live-action shorts, and Muppets. These sketches, in particular the short animated segments stressing letters and numbers, were intended to function on a similar level to advertising commercials (and indeed, the bits were often labeled as such, i.e. "the J commercial," and during the earliest seasons it was common for letter or number films and cartoons to be shown multiple times in the same episode). They were quick, catchy and memorable, so as to convey information and maintain the interest of preschool children within their limited attention spans.

CTW aired the program for test groups to determine if the new format was likely to succeed. Results showed that the elements which best held audience attention included cartoon segments, the Muppets, filmed footage of animals in motion, or musical skits with Susan or other human cast members. When the action stopped in the street scenes, and the adults engaged in lengthy dialogue, children stopped watching. Based on these results, and despite concerns from advising psychologists, that the inner-city street overlooked the real problems of the ghetto and needed firmer roots, the mixture of reality and fantasy was deepened, as Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird became permanent street residents, interacting with the human adults.

Sesame Street is all filmed in New York City (as was another CTW show, The Electric Company). The show was originally taped in Teletape Studios in Manhattan (later Unitel Video). In 1993, when the street set expanded around the corner and more space was needed, production moved to the Kaufman Astoria Studios in neighboring Queens, where the show has been filmed since.

Broadcast history[]

Sesame Street premiered in the United States on November 10, 1969 on the National Educational Television network, which was succeeded a year later by the Public Broadcasting Service.

For forty-five years, each episode aired in an hour-long format. Beginning in Season 45, in addition to the hour-long episodes, a half-hour version also aired in an afternoon time slot. The following season, the show's history of hour-long episodes was retired altogether, with the half-hour format being the only version broadcast. Season 46 also moved first-run episodes to HBO, with repeat broadcasts on PBS nine months later. The deal awarded exclusivity to HBO for five seasons, from seasons 46 through 50.

In 2019, Sesame Workshop signed a partnership agreement to premiere the next five seasons on the streaming service HBO Max.

The show is broadcast worldwide; in addition to the U.S. version, many countries have locally-produced versions adapted to local needs, some with their own characters, and in a variety of different languages. One hundred and twenty countries have aired the show, many of which partnered with Sesame Workshop to create local versions.

Format[]

From its first episode, Sesame Street's format has utilized "a strong visual style, fast-moving action, humor, and music," as well as animation and live-action short films. When it premiered, most researchers believed that young children did not have long attention spans, and the show's producers were concerned that an hour-long show would not hold their attention. At first, its "street scenes"—the action recorded on its set—consisted of character-driven interactions. Rather than ongoing stories, they were written as individual, curriculum-based segments interrupted by "inserts" of puppet sketches, short films and animations. This structure allowed producers to use a mixture of styles and characters, and to vary its pace, presumably keeping it interesting to young viewers. However, by season 20, research showed that children were able to follow a story—and the street scenes, while still interspersed with other segments, became evolving storylines.

On recommendations by child psychologists, the producers initially decided that the show's human actors and Muppets would not interact because they were concerned it would confuse young children. When CTW tested the new show, they found that children paid attention during the Muppet segments, and that their interest was lost during the "Street" segments. They requested that Henson and his team create Muppets such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch to interact with the human actors, and the Street segments were re-shot.

Sesame Street's format remained intact until the 2000s, when the changing audience required that producers move to a more narrative format. In 1998, the popular "Elmo's World," a 15-minute-long segment hosted by the Muppet Elmo, was created. Starting in 2014, during the show's 45th season, the producers introduced a half-hour version of the program. The new version, which originally complemented the full-hour series, was broadcast weekday afternoons and streamed on the Internet. In 2017, in response to the changing viewing habits of toddlers, the show's producers decreased the show's length from one hour to 30 minutes across all its broadcast platforms. The new version focused on fewer characters, reduced pop culture references "once included as winks for their parents", and focused "on a single backbone topic."

The majority of Sesame Street segments are repeated in multiple episodes, much like television commercials are. These are called inserts, as they get inserted into a variety of episodes as needed. In the first six seasons, it would be common for the same animated segments on letters and numbers (which are treated as sponsors) to be shown multiple times in the same episode. In general, the street scenes are the main segments to be exclusive to an episode, though there are inserts taking place on the street and many street stories have been repeated two seasons later, with different episode numbers and insert segments accompanying them.

Recurring Segments[]

The show has had a number of recurring segments over the years. One of the longest-running recurring segments, with more than 80 segments, is Sesame Street News Flash, in which Kermit provides interviews, often with familiar characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Cookie Monster has taken the identity of Alistair Cookie for the anthology series Monsterpiece Theater. Grover tries to save the day in The Adventures of Super Grover, tries to please his customer in a series of segments as a waiter, and teams up with Fred the Wonder Horse as Marshall Grover. Big Bird's Video Postcards finds Big Bird on location as he travels. Slimey's trip to the moon in season 29 led to a series of segments called Worms in Space.

Animation and Film[]

In addition to the street scenes and the Muppet segments which would eventually dominate the show, Sesame Street has made considerable use of film inserts subcontracted to a variety of filmmakers and artists. These inserts have used a variety of techniques, from filmed skits and documentary footage to cel animation, stop-motion, CG, and pixillation.

Some of the innumerable contributors have included William Wegman (with Fay Ray and his other dogs), Bud Luckey, Jeff Hale and his Imagination Inc. studio, Sally Cruikshank, Bruce Cayard, and Pixar, as well as staffers such as Mo Willems, David Rudman, Frank Oz, and Jim Henson. Notable recurring inserts, which became as much a part of the show's fabric as the Muppets and human cast, include the Mad Painter, "Pinball Number Count," the Number Song Series with its falling baker, and Teeny Little Super Guy, to name a few.

Movies and specials[]

In addition to episodic television, Sesame Street has released two theatrical feature films, with a third in development. A number of TV movies and specials have also been produced including Don't Eat the Pictures, Big Bird in China, and many others, as well as several direct-to-video titles.

Criticism[]

Some educators criticized the show when it debuted, claiming that its format would contribute to shortening children's attention spans. This concern still exists today, although there is no conclusive proof of this being the case, even after several decades of televised shows.

In a letter to the Boston Globe, Boston University professor of education Frank Garfunkel commented, "If what people want is for their children to memorize numbers and letters without regard to their meaning or use -- without regard to the differences between children, then Sesame Street is truly responsive. To give a child thirty seconds of one thing and then to switch it and give him thirty seconds of another is to nurture irrelevance."

In the magazine Childhood Education, Minnie P. Berson of State University College at Fredonia asked "Why debase the art form of teaching with phony pedagogy, vulgar sideshows, bad acting, and layers of smoke and fog to clog the eager minds of small children?" These "vulgar sideshows" have since won a record 101 Emmys, suggesting a measure of disagreement from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

For an animated segment on the letter "J," the writers included "a day in jail," justifying it by stating that words beginning with "J" were sparse. This drew criticism from San Francisco Chronicle columnist Terrence O'Flaherty, despite executive producer David Connell's assertion that kids would be familiar with the word through shows like Batman and Superman.

A detailed 1971 critique in The Atlantic, "Big Bird, Meet Dick and Jane" by educator John Holt (a known critic of the American school system), was more level. Holt liked the idea of the show and complimented its quality, while disagreeing with the visuals to "sweeten the learning pill," citing missed opportunities, and criticizing specific segments. He questioned the imaginary locale and characters wishing "at least some of the show be filmed on a succession of real streets, in New York or perhaps other cities, with the real children and people of the neighborhood." This last complaint would be rectified in subsequent seasons, in both inserts and location scenes with Big Bird and others in New York City itself.

Even with its attempts to help the underprivileged, the series received criticism. Educator Sister Mary Mel O'Dowd worried that the show might start to replace "personalized experiences." "If Sesame Street is the only thing ghetto kids have, I don't think it's going to do much good. It never hurts a child to be able to count to ten or recognize the letters of the alphabet. But without the guidance of a teacher, he'll be like one of our preschoolers who was able to write "CAUTION" on the blackboard after seeing it on the back of so many buses, and told me 'That says STOP.'"

International[]

As early as 1972, CTW began partnering with foreign countries to develop dubbed versions of the show as well as co-productions with their own content. The original programs introduced new settings and characters modeled after those established in the American version, sometimes carrying over familiar characters and inserts.

In the late 1990s, versions popped up in China and Russia as these countries shifted away from communism somewhat. There is also a joint Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian project, called Sesame Stories, which was created with the goal of promoting greater cultural understanding.

Educational goals[]

Author Malcolm Gladwell said that "Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them." Gerald S. Lesser, the CTW's first advisory board chair, went even further, saying that the effective use of television as an educational tool needed to capture, focus, and sustain children's attention. Sesame Street was the first children's show to structure each episode, and the segments within them, to capture children's attention, and to make, as Gladwell put it, "small but critical adjustments" to keep it. According to CTW researchers Rosemarie Truglio and Shalom Fisch, it was one of the few children's shows to utilize a detailed and comprehensive educational curriculum, garnered from formative and summative research. Sesame Street's creators and researchers formulated both cognitive and affective goals for the show. They initially focused on cognitive goals, while addressing affective goals indirectly, believing it would increase children's self-esteem and feelings of competency. One of their primary goals was preparing young children for school, especially children from low-income families, using modeling, repetition, and humor. They adjusted its content to increase viewers' attention and the show's appeal, and encouraged older children and parents to "co-view" it by including more sophisticated humor, cultural references, and celebrity guests; by 2019, 80% of parents watched Sesame Street with their children, and 650 celebrities had appeared on the show.

During Sesame Street's first season, some critics felt that it should address more overtly such affective goals as social competence, tolerance of diversity, and nonaggressive ways of resolving conflict. The show's creators and producers responded by featuring these themes in interpersonal disputes between its Street characters. During the 1980s, the show incorporated real-life experiences of its cast and crew, including the death of Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) and the pregnancy of Sonia Manzano (Maria). In later seasons, it addressed real-life disasters such as the September 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina.

In its first season, the show addressed its outreach goals by focusing on the promotion of educational materials used in preschool settings; and in subsequent seasons, by focusing on their development. Innovative programs were developed because their target audience, children and their families in low-income, inner-city homes, did not traditionally watch educational programs on television and because traditional methods of promotion and advertising were not effective with these groups.

Starting in 2006, the Workshop expanded its outreach by creating a series of PBS specials and DVDs focusing on how military deployment affects the families of servicepeople. Its outreach efforts also focused on families of prisoners, health and wellness, and safety. In 2013, SW started Sesame Street in Communities, to help families dealing with difficult issues.

Funding[]

As a result of Cooney's initial proposal in 1968, the Carnegie Institute awarded her an $1 million grant to create a new children's television program and establish the CTW, renamed in June 2000 to Sesame Workshop (SW). Cooney and Morrisett procured additional multimillion-dollar grants from the U.S. federal government, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, CPB, and the Ford Foundation. Davis reported that Cooney and Morrisett decided that if they did not procure full funding from the beginning, they would drop the idea of producing the show. As Lesser reported, funds gained from a combination of government agencies and private foundations protected them from the economic pressures experienced by commercial broadcast television networks, but created challenges in procuring future funding.

After Sesame Street's initial success, its producers began to think about its survival beyond its development and first season and decided to explore other funding sources. From the first season, they understood that the source of their funding, which they considered "seed" money, would need to be replaced. The 1970s were marked by conflicts between the CTW and the federal government; in 1978, the U.S. Department of Education refused to deliver a $2 million check until the last day of CTW's fiscal year. As a result, the CTW decided to depend upon licensing arrangements with toy companies and other manufacturers, publishing, and international sales for their funding.

In 1998, the CTW accepted corporate sponsorship to raise funds for Sesame Street and other projects. For the first time, they allowed short advertisements by indoor playground manufacturer Discovery Zone, their first corporate sponsor, to air before and after each episode. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who had previously appeared on Sesame Street, called for a boycott of the show, saying that the CTW was "exploiting impressionable children." In 2015, in response to funding challenges, it was announced that premium television service HBO would air first-run episodes of Sesame Street. Steve Youngwood, SW's Chief Operating Officer, called the move "one of the toughest decisions we ever made." According to The New York Times, the move "drew an immediate backlash." Critics claimed that it favored privileged children over less-advantaged children and their families, the original focus of the show. They also criticized choosing to air first-run episodes on HBO, a network with adult dramas and comedies.

Merchandising[]

Sesame Street is known for its extensive merchandising, which includes many books, magazines, audiovisual media, toys, and the "Tickle Me Elmo" craze.

Its fiction books have sometimes displayed a notice stating that money received from the sale of the publications is used to fund Sesame Workshop, and mention that children do not have to watch the show to benefit from its publications.

Licensors for Sesame Street merchandise have included Build-A-Bear Workshop, Hasbro, and Applause, among many others.

Sesame Street Live has traveled across North America since 1980 showcasing full-bodied, walk-around versions of the Sesame Street characters. The property is also represented in the Sesame Place theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and a Plaza Sésamo theme park in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Additionally, Sesame Street characters are a major presence at Universal Studios theme parks in Japan and Singapore.

The Sesame Beginnings line, launched in mid-2005, consists of apparel, health and body, home, and seasonal products. The line is targeted towards infants and their parents, and products are designed to increase interactivity. Most of the line is exclusive to a family of Canadian retailers.

Creative Wonders (a partnership between ABC and Electronic Arts) produced Sesame Street software for the PC.

Production[]

Research[]

Producer Joan Ganz Cooney has stated, "Without research, there would be no Sesame Street." In 1967, when she and her team began planning the show's development, combining research with television production was, as she put it, "positively heretical." Its producers soon began developing what came to be called the CTW Model, a system of planning, production and evaluation that did not fully emerge until the end of the show's first season. According to Morrow, the Model consisted of four parts: "the interaction of receptive television producers and child science experts, the creation of a specific and age-appropriate curriculum, research to shape the program directly, and independent measurement of viewers' learning."

Cooney credited the show's high standard in research procedures to Harvard professors Gerald S. Lesser, whom CTW hired to design its educational objectives; and Edward L. Palmer, who conducted the show's formative research and bridged the gap between producers and researchers. CTW conducted research in two ways: in-house formative research that informed and improved production; and independent summative evaluations, conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) during the first two seasons, which measured its educational effectiveness. Cooney said, "From the beginning, we—the planners of the project—designed the show as an experimental research project with educational advisers, researchers, and television producers collaborating as equal partners." She characterized the collaboration as an "arranged marriage."

Sesame Street has maintained a rigorous research standard since its foundation, to ensure that the programming is addressing the needs of its viewers. The Education and Research (E&R) department of Sesame Workshop is currently headed by Rosemarie T. Truglio, Ph.D. and Jeanette Betancourt. Truglio states that the level of interaction between E&R, Content, and Production is "intimately hand-in-hand. They are not creating anything without our knowledge, our guidance and our review. We are involved in content development across all media platforms." This close-knit organizational structure has been an integral part of Sesame Workshop since it began.

Writers create plots for Sesame Street scenes and segments, and the content is reviewed by the E&R team. They have authority to reject a script and force rewrites if the content is not acceptable. When a script is factually correct, but includes gray areas that may not be comprehensible to children, the writers and E&R work together to tweak everything. "A balance between content and humor" is always maintained, according to Truglio.

Since 1998, Sesame Workshop has provided extensive content on its website and others such as Random House [1]. Content ranges from birth to school-age, and includes information on dozens of topics, such as appropriate parenting techniques, dealing with children's fears, development of literacy, and maintenance a good health.

Research is funded by government grants, corporate and private donations, and the profits gained from the sale of Sesame Workshop merchandise.

Sesame Workshop's research has led to several initiatives in the form of Healthy Habits for Life, Sesame Street in Communities, and many others.

Writing[]

Sesame Street has used many writers in its long history. As Peter Hellman wrote in his 1987 article in New York Magazine, "The show, of course, depends upon its writers, and it isn't easy to find adults who could identify the interest level of a pre-schooler." Fifteen writers a year worked on the show's scripts, but very few lasted longer than one season. Norman Stiles, head writer in 1987, reported that most writers would "burn out" after writing about a dozen scripts. According to Gikow, Sesame Street went against the convention of hiring teachers to write for the show, as most educational television programs did at the time. Instead, Cooney and the producers felt that it would be easier to teach writers how to interpret curriculum than to teach educators how to write comedy. As Stone stated, "Writing for children is not so easy." Long-time writer Tony Geiss agreed, stating in 2009, "It's not an easy show to write. You have to know the characters and the format and how to teach and be funny at the same time, which is a big, ambidextrous stunt."

The show's research team developed an annotated document, or "Writer's Notebook," which served as a bridge between the show's curriculum goals and script development. The notebook was a compilation of programming ideas designed to teach specific curriculum points, provided extended definitions of curriculum goals, and assisted the writers and producers in translating the goals into televised material. Suggestions in the notebook were free of references to specific characters and contexts on the show so that they could be implemented as openly and flexibly as possible.

The research team, in a series of meetings with the writers, also developed "a curriculum sheet" that described the show's goals and priorities for each season. After receiving the curriculum focus and goals for the season, the writers met to discuss ideas and story arcs for the characters, and an "assignment sheet" was created that suggested how much time was allotted for each goal and topic. When a script was completed, the show's research team analyzed it to ensure that the goals were met. Then each production department met to determine what each episode needed in terms of costumes, lights, and sets. The writers were present during the show's taping, which for the first twenty-four years of the show took place in Manhattan, and after 1992, at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens to make last-minute revisions when necessary.

Media[]

Early in their history Sesame Street and the CTW began to look for alternative funding sources and turned to creating products and writing licensing agreements. They became, as Cooney put it, "a multiple-media institution." In 1970, the CTW created a "non-broadcast" division responsible for creating and publishing books and Sesame Street Magazine. By 2019, the Sesame Workshop had published over 6,500 book titles. The Workshop decided from the start that all materials their licensing program created would "underscore and amplify" the show's curriculum. In 2004, over 68% of Sesame Street's revenue came from licenses and products such as toys and clothing. By 2008, the Sesame Street Muppets accounted for between $15 million and $17 million per year in licensing and merchandising fees, split between the Sesame Workshop and The Jim Henson Company. By 2019, the Sesame Workshop had over 500 licensing agreements and had produced over 200 hours of home video. There have been two theatrically released Sesame Street movies, Follow That Bird, released in 1985, and Elmo in Grouchland, released in 1999. In early 2019, it was announced that a third film, a musical co-starring Anne Hathaway and written and directed by Jonathan Krisel, would be produced. In November 2019, Sesame Street announced a family friendly augmented reality application produced by Weyo in partnership with Sesame Workshop in honor of the show's 50th anniversary.

Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, owned the trademarks to those characters, and was reluctant to market them at first. He agreed when the CTW promised that the profits from toys, books, computer games, and other products were to be used exclusively to fund the CTW and its outreach efforts. Even though Cooney and the CTW had very little experience with marketing, they demanded complete control over all products and product decisions. Any product line associated with the show had to be educational and inexpensive, and could not be advertised during the show's airings. As Davis reported, "Cooney stressed restraint, prudence, and caution" in their marketing and licensing efforts.

Director Jon Stone, talking about the music of Sesame Street, said: "There was no other sound like it on television." For the first time in children's television, the show's songs fulfilled a specific purpose and supported its curriculum. In order to attract the best composers and lyricists, the CTW allowed songwriters like Joe Raposo, Sesame Street's first musical director, to retain the rights to the songs they wrote, which earned them lucrative profits and helped the show sustain public interest. By 2019, there were 180 albums of Sesame Street music produced, and its songwriters had received 11 Grammys. In late 2018, the SW announced a multi-year agreement with Warner Music Group to re-launch Sesame Street Records in the U.S. and Canada. For the first time in 20 years, "an extensive catalog of Sesame Street recordings" was made available to the public in a variety of formats, including CD and vinyl compilations, digital streaming, and downloads.

Sesame Street used animations and short films commissioned from outside studios, interspersed throughout each episode, to help teach their viewers basic concepts like numbers and letters. Jim Henson was one of the many producers to create short films for the show. Shortly after Sesame Street debuted in the United States, the CTW was approached independently by producers from several countries to produce versions of the show at home. These versions came to be called "co-productions." By 2001 there were over 120 million viewers of all international versions of Sesame Street, and in 2006, there were twenty co-productions around the world. By its 50th anniversary in 2019, 190 million children viewed over 160 versions of Sesame Street in 70 languages. In 2005, Doreen Carvajal of The New York Times reported that income from the co-productions and international licensing accounted for $96 million.

Musical[]

Sesame Street the Musical opened at Theatre Row off Broadway on September 8, 2022.

Series overview[]

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
Season		Episodes	First aired	Last aired
	1	130	November 10, 1969	May 8, 1970
	2	145	November 9, 1970	May 28, 1971
	3	130	November 15, 1971	May 12, 1972
	4		November 13, 1972	May 11, 1973
	5		November 19, 1973	May 17, 1974
	6		November 4, 1974	May 2, 1975
	7		December 1, 1975	May 28, 1976
	8		November 29, 1976	May 27, 1977
	9		November 28, 1977	May 26, 1978
	10		November 27, 1978	May 25, 1979
	11		November 26, 1979	May 23, 1980
	12		November 24, 1980	May 22, 1981
	13		November 23, 1981	May 21, 1982
	14		November 22, 1982	May 20, 1983
	15		November 21, 1983	May 18, 1984
	16		November 19, 1984	May 17, 1985
	17		November 18, 1985	May 16, 1986
	18		November 17, 1986	May 15, 1987
	19		November 16, 1987	May 13, 1988
	20		November 14, 1988	May 12, 1989
	21		November 13, 1989	May 11, 1990
	22		November 12, 1990	May 10, 1991
	23		November 11, 1991	May 8, 1992
	24		November 9, 1992	May 7, 1993
	25		November 22, 1993	May 20, 1994
	26		November 21, 1994	May 19, 1995
	27		November 20, 1995	May 17, 1996
	28		November 18, 1996	May 16, 1997
	29		November 17, 1997	May 15, 1998
	30	65	November 16, 1998	May 7, 1999
	31		January 3, 2000	May 12, 2000
	32		January 1, 2001	March 30, 2001
	33	50	February 4, 2002	April 12, 2002
	34	26	April 7, 2003	May 12, 2003
	35		April 4, 2004	May 10, 2004
	36		April 4, 2005	December 30, 2005
	37		August 14, 2006	November 10, 2006
	38		August 13, 2007	October 16, 2007
	39		August 11, 2008	November 7, 2008
	40		November 10, 2009	February 18, 2010
	41		September 27, 2010	December 31, 2010
	42		September 26, 2011	February 6, 2012
	43		September 24, 2012	April 25, 2013
	44		September 16, 2013	March 20, 2014
	45		September 15, 2014	June 8, 2015
	46	35	January 16, 2016	October 29, 2016
	47		January 7, 2017	September 2, 2017
	48		November 18, 2017	July 14, 2018
	49		November 17, 2018	July 13, 2019
	50		November 16, 2019	July 11, 2020
	51		November 12, 2020	July 8, 2021
	52		November 11, 2021	July 7, 2022
	53		November 3, 2022	June 29, 2023
	54		November 9, 2023	July 4, 2024

Cast, crew and characters[]

Shortly after the CTW was created in 1968, Joan Ganz Cooney was named its first executive director. She was one of the first female executives in American television. Her appointment was called "one of the most important television developments of the decade." She assembled a team of producers, all of whom had previously worked on Captain Kangaroo. Jon Stone was responsible for writing, casting, and format; Dave Connell took over animation; and Sam Gibbon served as the show's chief liaison between the production staff and the research team. Cameraman Frankie Biondo has worked on Sesame Street from its first episode in 1969.

Jim Henson and the Muppets' involvement in Sesame Street began when he and Cooney met at one of the curriculum planning seminars in Boston. Author Christopher Finch reported that Stone, who had worked with Henson previously, felt that if they could not bring him on board, they should "make do without puppets." Henson was initially reluctant, but he agreed to join Sesame Street to meet his own social goals. He also agreed to waive his performance fee for full ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets and to split any revenue they generated with the CTW. As Morrow stated, Henson's puppets were a crucial part of the show's popularity and it brought Henson national attention. Davis reported that Henson was able to take "arcane academic goals" and translate them to "effective and pleasurable viewing." In early research, the Muppet segments of the show scored high, and more Muppets were added during the first few seasons. Morrow reported that the Muppets were effective teaching tools because children easily recognized them, they were stereotypical and predictable, and they appealed to adults and older siblings.

Although the producers decided against depending upon a single host for Sesame Street, instead casting a group of ethnically diverse actors, they realized that a children's television program needed to have, as Lesser put it, "a variety of distinctive and reliable personalities," both human and Muppet. Jon Stone, whose goal was to cast white actors in the minority, was responsible for hiring the show's first cast. He did not audition actors until Spring 1969, a few weeks before the five test shows were due to be filmed. Stone videotaped the auditions, and Ed Palmer took them out into the field to test children's reactions. The actors who received the "most enthusiastic thumbs up" were cast. For example, Loretta Long was chosen to play Susan when the children who saw her audition stood up and sang along with her rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot." Stone stated that casting was the only aspect of the show that was "just completely haphazard." Most of the cast and crew found jobs on Sesame Street through personal relationships with Stone and the other producers. According to puppeteer Marty Robinson in 2019, longevity was common among the show's cast and crew.

According to the CTW's research, children preferred watching and listening to other children more than to puppets and adults, so they included children in many scenes. Dave Connell insisted that no child actors be used, so these children were non-professionals, unscripted, and spontaneous. Many of their reactions were unpredictable and difficult to control, but the adult cast learned to handle the children's spontaneity flexibly, even when it resulted in departures from the planned script or lesson. CTW research also revealed that the children's hesitations and on-air mistakes served as models for viewers. According to Morrow, this resulted in the show having a "fresh quality," especially in its early years.

Sesame Street is known for its multicultural elements and is inclusive in its casting, incorporating roles for disabled people, young people, senior citizens, Hispanic actors, black actors, and others. As recalled by CTW advisor Gerald S. Lesser in his book Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street, this integration initially led the Mississippi State Commission for Educational Television to ban the series, as did other states, though it was eventually reinstated. Mutual tolerance and cross-cultural friendship is also conveyed through the Muppet characters, who come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors and range from the humanoid Anything Muppets to various animals to Monsters, Birds, Grouches, Dingers and Honkers all of whom, especially the Grouches, have their own unique perspectives and ways of communicating with their neighbors. Yet they all manage to live in relative peace and harmony, setting an example for child viewers not to prejudge others.

Tying in with its multiculturalist perspective, the show pioneered the idea of occasionally inserting very basic Spanish words and phrases to acquaint young children to the concept of knowing more than one language. This practice was introduced in the show's second season, with Susan and Gordon learning phrases from Hispanic characters such as Miguel, Antonio, Rafael, Luis, and Maria (the last four of whom joined the show in the third season). One storyline involved the opening of a bilingual library. In 2002, the show's format allowed Rosita, the bilingual Muppet who joined the cast in 1991, more time in front of viewers, and also introduced the more formalized Spanish Word of the Day segment in every episode. Sign language has played a major role throughout the years, through Linda and visits from the National Theatre of the Deaf.

Many of the Muppet characters have been designed to represent a specific stage or element of early childhood, and the scripts are written so that the character reflects the development level of children of that age. This helps the show address not only the learning objectives of various age groups, but also the concerns, fears, and interests of children of different age levels.

Cast[]

Alan Muraoka
Chris Knowings
Suki Lopez
Violet Tinnirello

The Muppets[]

Big Bird, an 8-foot-tall yellow bird, lives in a large nest on an abandoned lot adjacent to 123 Sesame Street, located behind the building's trash heap. A regular visitor to Big Bird is his best friend Mr. Snuffleupagus, or Snuffy as everyone calls him. Oscar the Grouch, Sesame Street's local Grouch and his pet worm Slimey live in a trash can in the heap. Oscar's most-seen regular visitor is his girlfriend Grundgetta. Best friends Ernie and Bert room together in the basement apartment of 123 Sesame Street where they regularly engage in comedic banter. Ernie's window box is the home of the Twiddlebugs, a colorful family of insects.

Early additions to the show's main cast of Muppets include Cookie Monster, whose favorite food is, true to his name, cookies, but will eat anything; Grover, a monster who is very helpful but often wrong, with many jobs and identities, including Super Grover and a waiter who has trouble pleasing his most frequent customer, Mr. Johnson; Count von Count, a vampire-like being who is obsessed with counting; Prairie Dawn, a little girl who likes to play the piano and stage pageants; Herry Monster, a monster who does not know his own strength; and Barkley, a big white and orange dog. Other major characters to be added over the years include Telly Monster, who constantly worries about things and likes triangles; Zoe, an orange monster who likes to dance and pretends that her rock, Rocco, is alive; Rosita, a Spanish-speaking monster; and Baby Bear, a character from the classic fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

One of the most notable characters added later on is Elmo, who started out as a minor character before becoming one of the show's stars. Elmo's popularity eventually led to him closing each episode with his own segment, Elmo's World. Other Elmo-centric segments have included Elmo the Musical and the animated Elmo & Tango's Mysterious Mysteries, the latter of which also stars his puppy Tango (introduced in 2021).

In 2006, fairy-in-training Abby Cadabby moved to the street, and in 2009, she received her own CGI animated segment, Abby's Flying Fairy School, which includes new characters; her fellow students Gonnigan and Blögg, teacher Mrs. Sparklenose, and class pet Niblet. She later got a stepbrother, Rudy, who co-stars with her in the animated segment Abby's Amazing Adventures.

While most of the Muppets on Sesame Street are original characters, the most notable pre-existing character is Kermit the Frog. Over the years, Kermit has given a variety of lectures and sung a number of songs, in addition to his famous role as a news reporter on the show. Following the death of Jim Henson in 1990, new appearances by Kermit became few and far between, and have become even more rare following the sale of the Muppets to The Walt Disney Company in 2004, though Kermit did show up for Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration. For more on Kermit's Sesame Street history, see Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street.

The show has had many secondary and minor characters who have come and gone over the years (with some coming back after years of absence, sometimes in cameos, sometimes as main characters again). Some of these characters have included Roosevelt Franklin, who often taught lessons to his classmates, construction workers Biff and Sully, world's greatest detective Sherlock Hemlock, America's favorite game show host (as he refers to himself as) Guy Smiley, The Amazing Mumford, who is good at magic but often bad at predicting the outcome of his magic, Snuffy's young sister Alice Snuffleupagus, Big Bird's little friend Little Bird, Forgetful Jones, his girlfriend Clementine, and his horse Buster, Gladys the Cow, who often pretends to be other animals, Two-Headed Monster, who often sounds out words and sometimes has to co-operate with himself, and saxophone-playing Hoots the Owl, in addition to such music groups as Little Jerry and the Monotones and Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats, and an assortment of monsters, grouches, Honkers, Dingers, Martians, and Anything Muppets.

From 1993 to 1998, Sesame Street's set expanded to Around the Corner locations, which introduced several new Muppets, such as Humphrey and Ingrid, they worked at Sherry Netherland's hotel, The Furry Arms, with their baby Natasha in tow, while bellhop Benny Rabbit begrudgingly helped out.

Characters introduced in the last couple of decades include Murray Monster, who appeared in many segments on location, was joined by his pet lamb Ovejita in Murray Has a Little Lamb, and from 2009-2015 served as the show's host; Julia, a girl with Autism; and Gonger, a monster chef who runs a food truck with Cookie Monster. A diverse group of humanoid Muppets have also been added to the cast, including Gabrielle, her cousin Tamir, Wes and his dad Elijah, as well as Ji-Young, the first Asian-American Muppet.

The humans[]

A slate of human regulars pull the zaniness of the Muppets back to reality, and serve different pedagogical functions, showing literal integration and tolerance rather than metaphorically through colorful Muppets, and representing different personalities and adult "roles" and occupations.

Music teacher Bob has been on Sesame Street since its inception. For several years, he had a close friendship with Linda, the local librarian who was the first regular deaf character on television. The Robinsons are an African-American family that includes schoolteacher Gordon, nurse Susan, adopted son Miles, and Gordon's photographer sister Olivia. Maria and Luis Rodriguez are a Hispanic couple who run the Fix-It Shop. Maria gave birth to daughter Gabi in 1989, and her pregnancy was covered on the show. In 2011, Maria became the superintendent of 123 Sesame Street.

Candy store operator Mr. Hooper was a mainstay at Hooper's Store during the show's first decade. Actor Will Lee died in 1982 and when the producers opted to help their young viewers deal with the death of someone they loved rather than cast a new actor in the role, the character's death was discussed in a landmark 1983 episode. Afterwards, Mr. Hooper's apprentice, David, inherited the store and was assisted by Gina. Next came Mr. Handford, who ran the store for several seasons before turning it over to Alan, the current proprietor of Hooper's, in 1998. Gina stopped working at the store in the 1990s to earn a degree, and became a veterinarian. In 2006, Gina adopted a baby from Guatemala, Marco. The show's later humans include Gordon and Susan's nephew, Chris, who works at Hooper's Store; Leela, who runs the laundromat; Mando, a Puerto Rican resident and writer; Nina, a babysitter who works at the bike shop; and Charlie, who moved to the street with her family after her parents retired from the military. Season 51 introduced Nina's brother Dave, his husband Frank, and their daughter Mia.

As of 2020, Chris, Alan, Nina, and Charlie are the only human regulars who appear on the show (with occasional appearances by Mia, Dave, and Frank). Former cast members like Gordon, Bob and Luis, however, have occasionally appeared in online videos for the show that have been released since. Many human cast members who had been absent from the series made a return appearance for the special Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration.

Mr. Noodle and his brother and sister, who appeared only in Elmo's World were meant to provide a vaudevillian perspective on subjects, contrary to most of the show's human characters. The show's earliest seasons featured a number of similar human comedy duos who appeared in their own inserts. These include Buddy and Jim, Larry and Phyllis, and Wally and Ralph.

Reception[]

Ratings[]

When Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969, it aired on only 67.6% of American televisions, but it earned a 3.3 Nielsen rating, which totaled 1.9 million households. By the show's tenth anniversary in 1979, nine million American children under the age of 6 were watching Sesame Street daily. According to a 1993 survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, out of the show's 6.6 million viewers, 2.4 million kindergartners regularly watched it. 77% of preschoolers watched it once a week, and 86% of kindergartners and first- and second-grade students had watched it once a week before starting school. The show reached most young children in almost all demographic groups.

The show's ratings significantly decreased in the early 1990s, due to changes in children's viewing habits and in the television marketplace. The producers responded by making large-scale structural changes to the show. By 2006, Sesame Street had become "the most widely viewed children's television show in the world," with 20 international independent versions and broadcasts in over 120 countries. A 1996 survey found that 95% of all American preschoolers had watched the show by the time they were three years old. In 2008, it was estimated that 77 million Americans had watched the series as children. By the show's 40th anniversary in 2009, it was ranked the fifteenth-most-popular children's show on television, and by its 50th anniversary in 2019, the show had 100% brand awareness globally. In 2018, the show was the second-highest-rated program on PBS Kids. In 2021, however, the Sesame Street documentary "50 Years of Sunny Days," which was broadcast nationally on ABC, did not fare well in the ratings, scoring only approximately 2.3 million viewers.

Influence[]

As of 2001, there were over 1,000 research studies regarding Sesame Street's efficacy, impact, and effect on American culture. The CTW solicited the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to conduct summative research on the show. ETS's two "landmark" summative evaluations, conducted in 1970 and 1971, demonstrated that the show had a significant educational impact on its viewers. These studies have been cited in other studies of the effects of television on young children. Additional studies conducted throughout Sesame Street's history demonstrated that the show continued to have a positive effect on its young viewers.

Lesser believed that Sesame Street research "may have conferred a new respectability upon the studies of the effects of visual media upon children." He also believed that the show had the same effect on the prestige of producing shows for children in the television industry. Historian Robert Morrow, in his book Sesame Street and the Reform of Children's Television, which chronicled the show's influence on children's television and on the television industry as a whole, reported that many critics of commercial television saw Sesame Street as a "straightforward illustration for reform." Les Brown, a writer for Variety, saw in Sesame Street "a hope for a more substantial future" for television.

Morrow reported that the networks responded by creating more high-quality television programs, but that many critics saw them as "appeasement gestures." According to Morrow, despite the CTW Model's effectiveness in creating a popular show, commercial television "made only a limited effort to emulate CTW's methods," and did not use a curriculum or evaluate what children learned from them. By the mid-1970s commercial television had abandoned their experiments with creating better children's programming. Other critics hoped that Sesame Street, with its depiction of a functioning, multicultural community, would nurture racial tolerance in its young viewers. It was not until the mid-1990s that another children's television educational program, Blue's Clues, used the CTW's methods to create and modify their content. The creators of Blue's Clues were influenced by Sesame Street, but wanted to use research conducted in the 30 years since its debut. Angela Santomero, one of its producers, said, "We wanted to learn from Sesame Street and take it one step further."

Critic Richard Roeper said that perhaps one of the strongest indicators of the influence of Sesame Street has been the enduring rumors and urban legends surrounding the show and its characters, especially speculation concerning the sexuality of Bert and Ernie.

Critical reception[]

Sesame Street was praised from its debut in 1969. Newsday reported that several newspapers and magazines had written "glowing" reports about the CTW and Cooney. The press overwhelmingly praised the new show; several popular magazines and niche magazines lauded it. In 1970, Sesame Street won twenty awards, including a Peabody Award, three Emmys, an award from the Public Relations Society of America, a Clio, and a Prix Jeunesse. By 1995, the show had won two Peabody Awards and four Parents' Choice Awards. It was the subject of a traveling exhibition by the Smithsonian Institution, and a film exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

Sesame Street was not without its detractors, however. The state commission in Mississippi, where Henson was from, operated the state's PBS member station; in May 1970 it voted to not air Sesame Street because of its "highly [racially] integrated cast of children" which "the commission members felt ... Mississippi was not yet ready for." According to Children and Television, Lesser's account of the development and early years of Sesame Street, there was little criticism of the show in the months following its premiere, but it increased at the end of its first season and beginning of the second season. Historian Robert W. Morrow speculated that much of the early criticism, which he called "surprisingly intense," stemmed from cultural and historical reasons in regards to, as he put it, "the place of children in American society and the controversies about television's effects on them."

According to Morrow, the "most important" studies finding negative effects of Sesame Street were conducted by educator Herbert A. Sprigle and psychologist Thomas D. Cook during its first two seasons. Social scientist and Head Start founder Urie Bronfenbrenner criticized the show for being too wholesome. Psychologist Leon Eisenberg saw Sesame Street's urban setting as "superficial" and having little to do with the problems confronted by the inner-city child. Head Start director Edward Zigler was probably Sesame Street's most vocal critic in the show's early years.

In spite of their commitment to multiculturalism, the CTW experienced conflicts with the leadership of minority groups, especially Latino groups and feminists, who objected to Sesame Street's depiction of Latinos and women. The CTW took steps to address their objections. By 1971, the CTW hired Hispanic actors, production staff, and researchers, and by the mid-1970s, Morrow reported that "the show included Chicano and Puerto Rican cast members, films about Mexican holidays and foods, and cartoons that taught Spanish words." As The New York Times has stated, creating strong female characters "that make kids laugh, but not...as female stereotypes" has been a challenge for the producers of Sesame Street. According to Morrow, change regarding how women and girls were depicted on Sesame Street occurred slowly. As more female Muppet performers like Camille Bonora, Fran Brill, Pam Arciero, Carmen Osbahr, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Jennifer Barnhart, and Leslie Carrara-Rudolph were hired and trained, stronger female characters like Rosita and Abby Cadabby were created.

In 2002, Sesame Street was ranked number 27 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. Sesame Workshop won a Peabody Award in 2009 for its website, sesamestreet.org, and the show was given Peabody's Institutional Award in 2019 for 50 years of educating and entertaining children globally. In 2013, TV Guide ranked the show number 30 on its list of the 60 best TV series. As of 2021, Sesame Street has received 205 Emmy Awards, more than any other television series.

Sesame Street Muppets Performers[]

Carol Spinney
Kevin Clash
Ryan Dillon
Frank Oz
Eric Jacobson
Jerry Nelson
Peter Linz
Richard Hunt
Jen Barnhart
Stephanie D'Abruzzo
Fran Brill
Jim Henson
Matt Vogel
Steve Whitmire
David Rudman