Sesame Street

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Weekdays 7:00 AM on PBS
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Show Summary

  • Returning Series
Sesame Street is a widely recognized and perpetually daring experiment in educational children's programming. This show has taken popular-culture and turned it upside-down. The fast-paced advertisements that had parents of the new era worrying for their children were the basis for the original format of this show. The show has often satirized pop culture, and made itself easier for parents to watch along too. And thus, the positive impact this show has had on modern society is beyond another. No show is more recognized the world over by as many generations and walks of life. Shown in its original format or with changes to reflect a regional education focus, Sesame Street is now seen in over 140 countries. The show that Entertainment Weekly named the "20th Best Ever Show" has changed the education scene to focus on "entertainment." This has turned out to be a valuable theory that not only helps the medicinal learning go down easier, but it also increases the effectiveness of the information being taught. In an almost backwards sense, the show stays fresh by recycling programming ideas every three years, by which time a new group of kids is watching. Unlike most PBS Kids shows, which have an original run, then go into continuous repeats until getting dropped by PBS or sold to another network, Sesame Street has created many new episodes every season since its debut Nov. 10, 1969. American teachers now expect children to arrive on the first day of school knowing the basics about letters, numbers, and language. "Kindergarten now does what first grade used to do," creator Joan Ganz Cooney has said, "and I think that's directly due to Sesame Street." International versions have changed Sesame Street to be more relevant to their culture and environments. They adjust the unique American inner city, with a cast made up mainly of Muppets, African-Americans, Spaniards and Chinese to reflect their own lifestyles. For example, Canada's Sesame Park features a small suburban town inhabited by folks like an otter and a bear, a bush pilot, a disabled child in a wheel-chair and her cat and Russia's Ulitsa Sesame set in a Russian dvor (courtyard) has a 9-foot tall tree spirit who has his joyous and problem-solving Muppet friends. No show can help in tumultuous or troubled times like Sesame Street. For example: The Israelis and the Palestinians have now merged their independent spin-offs, to help teach the fighting cultures to accept each other for who they are, not what they have done in the past. The original American Sesame Street helped children deal with the incidents of 9-11 On the week of October 4-8, 2004, Sesame Workshop actually dug up reruns of Sesame Street episodes from its 32nd season, in which a hurricane plundered the neighborhood. This move was to come to grips with those disabused by the four hurricanes that struck Florida in a six-week span the previous August and September. It also sent a message about the news' propensity for covering violent acts. The current South African government has not taken much action on the matters of HIV and AIDS, so in 2003, the South African version of Sesame Street added in a 5-year-old girl monster who manages to go about daily life with ease, even though she intercepted HIV through a blood transfusion shortly after birth. This led to an American backlash, even though her exposure in the States has always been restricted to sesameworkshop.org. Undoubtedly, she is the hardest-edged Muppet since Jim Henson's ill-fated "Creatures from the Planet Gorch" on Saturday Night Live's first season. No other puppet than a Muppet, namely Elmo, could be taken seriously when asking America's congressional Education Appropriations Subcommittee for more funding to school music programs, so that "when Elmo goes to school, there will be the instruments to play." (Unfortunately, Newt Gingrich's Congress chose instead to divert to Sesame Street production funds from other PBS series. Among the casualties was one of Sesame Street's godchildren, Ghostwriter.) In the mid-70s, they introduced Linda Bove, a deaf actress playing a deaf librarian that lives a life equal to all the rest of the area's inhabitants. Please note that Sesame Street's air time varies between various PBS stations in America. In recent years, a few PBS stations have dropped the show (including WNYE in New York, whose last airing was in June 2003). sesame street even had a touring show, SESAME STREET LIVE,which has just recently celebrated 25 years of performing. Characters Cookie Monster Cookie Monster has always had a passion for cookies, gobbling them up whenever he can. However, in order to promote healthy eating habits, Cookie Monster recently learned that cookies are a "sometime" food. So now, Cookie Monster also eats fruits and vegetables in addition to his trademark snack. Elmo Elmo is a cute little red monster, who wants to know more about the world he is growing up in. Oscar the Grouch Oscar lives in a dustbin, sure its not the most hygienic of places, but Oscar isn't the most hygienic of creatures. He likes to cause mischief but also enjoys learning. Ernie and Bert Best friends and room-mates, both showing us how people get along with each other and how sometimes you may even fall-out with your best friend. The Count The Count, would teaches us to count, whether it be really difficult numbers or easy numbers, the Counts thing is maths and counting, and he sure is good at it. Big Bird A huge yellow bird, who's everyone's friend. No matter what species, color or race you are.moreless
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Episode Guide

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S 41 :  Ep 15 Aired 12/30/10
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S 41 :  Ep 15 Aired 12/10/10
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S 41 :  Ep 15 Aired 11/3/10
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S 41 :  Ep 14 Aired 12/31/10
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S 41 :  Ep 13 Aired 9/28/10
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Fan Reviews (98)

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  • A Real Classic for Children

    8.5
    "Great"
    By T_VFan, Apr 30, 2012
    Who knew the Big Bird would be such a big hit?! Or the diva Ms. Piggy?! Well, they were amazing characters to me as a kid and even now... let the Sesame Street teach your kids a thing or to on how to be funny, and have fun with all types of "animals". Yup, they don't make shows like this anymore... and I wish they really did.

  • A amazing show for both children and adults can enjoy.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Queshin, Feb 12, 2012
    This show is an example of how shows for toddlers should be. I think that this show is so much better than Dora the Explorer, for one thing this show actually teaches kids stuff and the songs are clever and catchy. It's good to see that the Dora virus has not touched this show because many shows for toddlers have been infected. But this show has a lot of memorable moments too. Personal I will never for get Put Down the Duckie. Anyways this show is very good for toddlers. So turn off that Dora and turn on Sesame Street for your toddlers!!!moreless

  • Longest running children's television program for a good reason.

    8.9
    "Great"
    By ILike2WatchTV, Oct 06, 2011
    Sesame Street, is, in a word, sensational. The show itself has been educating two generations since 1969, and has inspired multiple movies, spin-offs and parodies. As a child, I watched Sesame Street and I never lost my attention span. I was attracted to the show for it's humor, intersting situations, and the fun characters that make up Sesame Street.

    The characters have switched and changed throughout the thirty-seven seasons of Sesame Street. Some departed, such as muppet Roosevelt Franklin, and some have newly arrived, like fairy Abby Cadabby. The muppets are iconic, and have appeared in numerous medias. The most iconic, it seems, is Elmo, the furry red monster who talks in third person. I am a bit irked that the show has devoted the last quarter to present the world of Elmo speaking of himself as "Elmo," possibly being a negative influence on a child viewer's grammar. However, the character of Elmo has brought so much popularity that it seems as if Sesame Street thanked him by giving him alone time at the end. Fortunately, the rest of the characters talk properly and the young viewers should turn out fine.

    Another thing I praise Sesame Street for is it's parodies of popular culture, as well as it's special guest appearances. I recall not understanding a thing when a Law and Order skit appeared on Sesame Street, but my parents were watching with a grin swept across their face. I appreciate the show for bringing references to keep older viewers interested, as well as celebrity guests that only older viewers should be aware of.

    Most of all, I beleive Sesame Street succeeds in teaching young children not to discriminate against other races. While the human members of Sesame Street are racially diverse, all of the muppets and monsters are of different colors too. The differences pave the way for discussions with parents later about people being different, and I praise Sesame Street for bringing up such a conversation without making it a huge topic of an episode.

    All in all, Sesame Street is a children's television show that changed children's television as we know it. Hopefully, and most likely, Sesame Street wil make many more seasons that will reach get another generation.moreless

  • This was once a great educational show. Now,it has lost it's goodness

    4.0
    "Poor"
    By Woahwoah312, Oct 06, 2011
    When you were a child,you had to admit you watched Sesame Street. This is basically THE educational show. SS teaches kids good moral values like manners,sharing,numbers,letters and vocabulary words. And all of the characters were quite enjoyable like Oscar,Big Bird,Cookie Monster,and you guessed it,Elmo. However,I hate what has happened to it nowadays. First off,all of the good sketches are gone. I mean,the Cookie Monster sketches,Count Von Count's sketch and Where's Ernie? are all gone. In fact,almost all of the sketches are just horrible. Abby's Flying Fairy School is just a disgrace to Sesame Street,and the show is done in CGI. Are you kidding me? What was wrong with the old Puppet formation? Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures is pretty good,but Bert is not such a jerk anymore,and it's done in clay-mation. Like I said,puppet mation is better. Murray Had A Little Lamb is stupid,but at least it's done in puppet mation. Elmo's World is the best sketch around still. Nothing has changed,and it's still the same as last time. Then,there are the two new Muppets:Abby and Murray. Abby is the true killer of the show. She is the female version of Poof. Like I said,Abby Flying Fairy School is horrible,and she isn't even a true Muppet. Murrary is OK,but at the beginning of the show,he is the one responsible for telling the number and letter of the day. Hey Murrary,that's not your job,that's Count Von Count and Cookie Monster's. Also,he always tells what sketch is coming up next now. When was this needed? We knew what sketch was coming up,so why was this thought of. And why is Zoey wearing a Ballerena costume now a days? Were the creators bothered that she wore no clothes? The human characters are OK,and at least two characters from the past are still in here. Chris is the only good modern human character of the show. The only reason to watch this show are the spoofs. I mean,this show does a good job of spoofing shows and movies. Some of them include Dancing With the Stars,True Blood,Deal or No Deal and many more. This show also has lots of guest stars like Ricky Gervais,Ryan Reynolds,Jim Parsons and many more. However,Seasme Street was once a good show,now it's like Saturday Night Live. Please,just watch the original episodes.moreless

  • Good and memorable show, but the new format sucks

    7.0
    "Good"
    By abehammy111, Oct 06, 2011
    I grew up with this show. There was a perfect amount of focus on each character. Now the producers are focusing way too much on Elmo and so the perfect balance is gone. Also, they have decided to switch to a "block" format which gives significantly less airtime to the adult characters. Instead of them telling the letter and number of the day, there is a new "host" named Murray who does everything. He also says what comes up next. But the problem is that this makes Sesame Street feel, at times, like a shadow of its former self. Bottom line: Sesame Street needs to ditch this gimmicky block format.moreless
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Comedy, Kids

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altruistic behavior, celebrity cameos, celebrity impersonations, childlike sense of wonder, city living

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