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Sesame Street celebrates 40 years of Sunny Days
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C is for Cookie Monster
Sunny Day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street.
The year,1969. Nixon takes office. Neil Armstrong walks on the moon. Woodstock rocks. John Lennon and Yoko Ono bed-in and Give Peace a Chance. Holy Muppets! We were just in High School!
But it wasn’t until the seventies that my kids (and an estimated 77 million other Americans who watched the series as children) even watched the groundbreaking Sesame Street series – but, oh, what a godsend it was.
TV had become an unlikely babysitter years earlier, but PBS revolutionized television by making it not only kid-friendly and commercial free, but educational and parentally approved. What? Yes – it was the debut of a new TV genre: edu-tainment. Thanks to Sesame Street, millions of pre-schoolers have learned their ABC’s and 123’s in 12- to 90-second blips. As author Malcolm Gladwell stated, "Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them".
Sesame Street is the longest-running children’s program on U.S. television and Tuesday, November 10th marks the 40th Anniversary of Jim Henson’s lovable Muppets interacting with adult humans. From Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, roommates Ernie and Bert, Elmo, Grover, and the Count, to newer members of the cast, like Zoe and Abby Cadabby, we continue to welcome them into our homes as old friends. And now they’re babysitting a fourth generation of fans, our grandchildren.
With literally hundreds of kids’ shows available on cable these days, it’s a testament to the writers and producers of Sesame Street (and almost unbelievable) that our young rulers of the remote control still willingly click on this series for education-in-disguise entertainment provided by their familiar, furry little monster friends.
Sesame Street is one of the most highly regarded, and most watched, educational show for children in the world. Currently the 15th most popular children’s show on television, a recent survey found that 95% of American preschoolers have watched the show by the time they are three years old. To date, the series has received 118 Emmy Awards, more than any other television series.
First Lady Michelle Obama will make a special guest appearance to help kick off Sesame Street’s 40th season, helping Elmo plant a garden. Continually updating and addressing current events and issues kids face daily, Sesame Street strives to teach toddlers in all areas of their development, and not just their ABC’s and 123’s. Among some of the newer additions to this season’s episodes will be celebrity guest stars, new formats, and an updated version (yes, again) of the “Sunny Days” theme song. (Here’s the original.)
This article brought to you by the letter “B” for Bravo!
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