Happy Anniversary, Sesame Street!
By MattNov 4, 2009 – 12:05 pm
“Sesame Street” celebrates forty years of educational fun and wonder when their new season debuts on November 10, 2009!
The series, which began as a proposal to the Carnegie Institute by educator Joan Ganz Cooney in 1966, essentially created the children’s educational television genre. “Sesame Street” has become a truly cross-generational phenomenon, making its mark far beyond the confines of that mythical urban neighborhood populated by kids, muppets and grown-ups.
Without Sesame Street, we wouldn’t have American standards like “Bein’ Green” (a hit for both Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles), “Rubber Duckie,” and “Sing” (a hit for the Carpenters). Sesame Street launched the careers of Jim Henson (creator and voice of Kermit the Frog, Ernie and many others, and the brilliant mind behind the films “Labrynth,” “The Dark Crystal” and all of the contributions of the Jim Henson Creature Workshop) and Frank Oz (director, actor and the creator and voice of Yoda!) Most importantly, “Sesame Street” proved that television could be engaged as an interactive learning tool for children — the show literally improves the cognitive abilities of the kids who watch.
There so many great moments from the first four decades of “Sesame Street,” we wouldn’t know where to begin. So let’s look ahead. Here’s a taste of what you’ll see in the first of the next forty years of “Sesame Street.”
For more happy goodness and iconic moments from the history of Sesame Street, check out the Sesame Street YouTube channel, which is also linked from Retroland’s own video channel.
What has “Sesame Street” meant to you? Tell us about it in the comments, or join the conversation in the Retrotalk forums!