November 10, 1969, the famous children show that everybody loves, Sesame Street, debut! It’s memorable theme song, and lessons to teach generations and generations of children the alphabet and how to count still live on today! It has become “the most widely viewed children’s program in the world”, spanning 120 countries! since its debut, over 74 million Americans alone, have watched Sesame Street, and approximately 8 million Americans tune in to the show each week. Producer, Joan Ganz Cooney, had two goals in mind when creating this renown program: 1) A program for preschoolers that was entertaining and at the same time educational. 2) A television show that would still educate the underprivileged three to five year olds prepare for kindergarten. Cooney’s setting was “in a fictional New York neighborhood and included ethnically diverse characters and positive social messages”. So Sesame Street, proved to be academically educational, as well as socially enlightening, as it exposed young children to the differences of race, ethnicities, languages, acceptance, and kindness.
The most loved aspects of the show are the “family of puppets known as Muppets”. Muppets were famous puppet characters created by the very talented puppeteer, Jim Henson. Muppet characters included: Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, and Big Bird. Plus, Elmo, who was an unplanned and spontaneous character that developed after just being an extra puppet lying around. The show often features segments with puppets, animation, and live actors- frequently in the same scene.
An excellent aspect of Sesame Street is how it has evolved with the times. Producers will add segments and characters depending on popular occurrences, new norms, or an evolved ideal throughout society (depending on countries) to teach and relate these lessons and events to the younger generation. In turn, this allows them to gain better understanding of the world they live in, their society and culture that surrounds them, and themselves.
For more info about the history of Sesame Street check out this site!
