Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!
November 10, 2009 by Karlynn Johnston
Filed under Super Fun
Sesame Street brings back fond memories for most of us, at least those of us who are the same generation as myself. I was amazed that Sesame Street first aired on November 10th, 1969, but I suppose since some of my earliest TV watching memories are of Sesame Street, it makes sense that it’s been on so long.
I am a little leery that they have announced that season 40 will definitely look like a brand new show, but still with the heart of Sesame Street. It’s claimed that in a sea of children’s shows, Sesame Street has had to become more hip, more current, and thus, needs a new tone.
A quote from Shari Rosenfeld, vice-president international for Sesame Workshop:
“We just couldn’t be happier and prouder with the way it’s all come together. From the minute you turn on that first day of Season 40, you will see a brand new show, but all the heart and essence of Sesame Street is still intact,” she says. “That’s part of the beauty of Sesame Street, that it’s evolved over those 40 years. I think that’s why it’s still around.”
Sesame Street has always broken barriers, from teaching children about real life skills and situations, such as death,divorce, pregnancy,birth, and adoption, to being bold enough to have a couple segments on breastfeeding. One of which is on YouTube, if anyone wants to view it, you can click here and it just so happens to be my favorite clip of all time. I tear up just watching it, it’s so beautiful that it was shown to kids and televised. And they used the word breast. Words fail me as to how much I love that segment.
Sesame Street was also groundbreaking children’s television for featuring a wide diversity of ethnicity in their actors, as well as including children of all abilities.
As a mom, I have always know that I could turn on Sesame street and not worry about the content, in fact, the new Elmo’s World has been enjoyed by my daughter on a few occasions. It truly cannot be said for most shows that I could flick on the TV and not have a care what my children were watching.
So a very Happy Birthday to the longest running children’s show in history! I am sure that every one of you reading this today has a fond memory, or a favorite show, or just a general sense of how Sesame Street was such a large part of your childhood. I fondly remember the movie Follow that Bird, anyone else??
On November 10th, there will be a segment with Michelle Obama, for those of you who want to tune in!
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