Sesame Street celebrates its 40th anniversary: Some fun facts about your favorite street

November 4, 11:50 AMSeattle Eastside Family ExaminersMichele & Lexie

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Happy Anniversary, Sesame Street!
PBS

It's hard to believe that Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th Anniversary! The show that has been educating children is still going strong after four decades and kids today are still as enamored with Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and of course, Elmo, as they were when it first premiered. How about we take a walk down Sesame Street and learns some fun facts about one of television's best loved shows?
 

• Sesame Street was aimed at low-income families to help children learn and prepare for school. To help facilitate the feeling of an inner city neighborhood, the set featured peeling paint, alleys, stoops, and metal trash cans on the sidewalk.
   
• It was written to encourage co-viewing between children and parents, hence having celebrities on and cultural references that only parents would understand.
   
• Sesame Street has been on PBS since 1970.
   
• 77 million Americans watched Sesame Street as children.
   
• The first episode aired November 10, 1969 and was sponsored by the letters W, S, and E and the numbers 2 and 3.
   
• Between 1971 and 1985, Snuffleupagus was Big Bird's imaginary friend. He didn't appear on the show as a character everyone could see until 1985.
   
• The Count no longer laughs after counting numbers because executives worried it scared children.
   
• Ernie's 'Rubber Duckie' song eached #16 on the Billboard charts in 1970.
   
• Oscar the Grouch was orange during the first season before being changed to green.
   
• Elmo was a background Muppet from the early 1970s on but didn't become a character until 1984.
   
• Bert and Ernie were named after Bert the Cop and Ernie the Taxi Driver in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life.
  
• Big Bird is 8 feet, 2 inches tall
   
• Sesame Street airs in over 120 countries. Some simply dub episodes while 25 others have their own version that represent the country culturally through the characters and segments.
   
• The original name of Sesame Street was 123 Avenue B, but that was considered too "New Yorky."
   
• The show has tackled topics like adoption, death, the economy, AIDS, 9/11, and having parents in the military.
   
• Sesame Street was banned in Mississippi for 22 days in 1970 because it showed African-Americans on an equal level with Caucasians.
   
• A Muppet named Kami on a South African version of Sesame Street (called Takalani Sesame) has HIV. Her backstory is that she received it through a blood transfusion as an infant and her mother died of AIDS.
   
• A study done in 2001 showed that Sesame Street's positive effects on reading and achievement lasts through high school.
   
• Sesame Street has had many famous visitors. Lauren Bacall, Maya Angelou, Laura Bush, Jim Carrey, Destiny's Child, Placido Domingo, Michael Jackson, and Christopher Reeve (after his paralyzing injury) have all appeared. Here's a full list - you'll be surprised by how many notable figures have been to Sesame Street!
   
• First Lady Michelle Obama will appear on the 40th season premiere of 'Sesame Street' on November 10. She will teach the residents of Sesame Street the benefits of growing a vegetable garden and eating healthy.
   
• Some have criticized Elmo's tendency to speak in third person and fear it will teach children how to speak proper English. The show maintains he acts like many preschoolers.
   
• The show has won an astounding 118 Emmy Awards

Sources: JimmyCanuck, NewAmerica

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