Happy 45th season Sesame Street!
Why it seems just like yesterday that I was a 4 1/2 year old kid, freshly returned from Bangladesh in 1970, discovering the delights of television and specifically the enduring delights of a program barely a year old itself – Sesame Street.
Premiering on November 10, 1969, Sesame Street, created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett – the show’s origins are beautifully recounted in Michael Davis’s superlatively written and detailed book Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street – set out to “master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them” (p8 Street Gang).
Building literacy in children through via a set curriculum and innovative, entertaining techniques, Sesame Street was largely an immediate hit, introducing children not only to their fundamental ABCs and 123s but also to a slew of memorable characters, both human and Muppet (Jim Henson was involved from early on), including my favourites Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Ernie and Bert, Big Bird, Bob (Bob McGrath), the beloved Mr Hooper (Will Lee), Gordon (Roscoe Orman) and Maria (Sonia Manzano) & Luis (Emilio Delgado).
And now its back, continuing to evolve, continuing to educate, its mission to educate via entertainment very much intact and a whole host of guest stars along for the ride including Zach Braff, Sir Ian McKellen, Tina Fey, Aziz Ansari, Mindy Kaling, Benedict Cumberbatch, Janelle Monae (singing and dancing up a storm, and even Ice Cube, who naturally, turns himself into an actual ice cube live on TV!
The show’s sense of humour is very much on show with parodies for the upcoming season including Nosh of the Titans (“Release the Cracker!”) and Twilight: Breaking Cookie, and a host of silly, irreverent segments, all of which come with a very serious purpose.
Do I know the way to Sesame Street?
Absolutely, and while I may not be that wide-eyed 4 1/2 year old anymore, I hope I never forget it!