Sesame Street Turns 40

Have you seen Google lately? The leader search engine's logo has been playing it cute these past few days, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the children's show Sesame Street. First, there were teaser logos featuring just one unforgettable character, but on the anniversary itself, November 10, the logo featured many of the show's most-loved characters. And yes, Ernie and Bert as still very much alive—and still very much together!

I won't be surprised if many of the people in Google, especially the ones between their 30s and 40s, grew up on Sesame Street as well. After all, generations from over 140 countries did, too. Such was the impact of the most successful children's show of all time—one that earned 109 Emmy awards, and has been running for 39 seasons—with characters that were born out of the imagination of the genius who also brought us the Muppet Show, Jim Henson.

Contrary to the impression of many in the Philippines—and as proven by the Sesame Street offshoot, Batibot—the show is not in any way tailored for the elite. In fact, the anniversary statement on the Sesame Workshop website traces its roots and says, “The phenomenon that changed the face of children’s television came about after co-founder Joan Ganz Cooney observed that children in underserved communities were at a disadvantage when it came to school preparedness. She assembled a team of educational advisors, researchers, and television producers to create a show that would directly impact children’s lives. “Our original goal was simple: to create a successful television program that would make a difference in the lives of children, in particular, poor inner-city children, and help prepare them for school,” Cooney says. This goal seemed revolutionary at the time – and it worked. Sesame Street was an instant success.”

How could it not be? This fictional New York street was my first idea of heaven. As a child in a rather plain suburban village with rather unimaginative playmates, I instantly connected with the show because it was home to endless fascination and a hodge-podge of people who respected and loved each other despite their differences.

The kid who had an “imaginary” friend, while being kidded for his stories, wasn't exactly ostracized. The guy who lived in a stinky garbage can had friends, even if he was stinky. Everyone had their own pretty little place in the neighborhood. Even the bugs and the worms.

Most importantly, learning—the alphabet, numbers, how things were made—were not for a single second boring. Everyone was happy teaching and learning; nobody was forced to be anywhere. For years I fancied myself going to school twice—first, in my school; next, in the TV school, never mind that I was too old to learn the alphabet and that, in fact, I could already recite it forward and backwards, standing on my head!

Throughout the years, Sesame Street has been growing too. I don't get to watch it anymore, except when I look for videos on YouTube, but I've been hearing of celebrity guests, like Jessica Alba who defines the word “scrumptious”; former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan,who manages conflict between the Muppet monsters; Jack Black, who talks about octagons with Elmo; James Blunt, who sings about triangles; Andrea Bocelli, who sings a lullaby for Elmo; Ellen Degeneres, who sings the alphabet song; and much, much more. On November 10, the newest season kicked in with First Lady Michelle Obama as the special guest.

What I'd love to see are the Sesame Street spoofs of popular TV programs like CSI and Law and Order. Maybe I'll just have to look them up on YouTube.

Obviously, I may have rediscovered New York because of Sex and the City, but in my heart I'll always be a Sesame Street girl. I'm still all about sunny days that sweep the clouds away!

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