“Sunny days 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?”  I remember belting this tune as loud as I could (or as loud as my parents could stand) whenever I heard it.  People would stare, my parents would cringe, but I didn’t care.  I was a part of Sesame Street in my head, blasting the Muppet ears off of Oscar the Grouch and getting a pat on the back by Maria.

Sesame Street started in 1969 under Jim Henson and is the longest running children’s program on US television to date.  This year marks its 40th anniversary.  The basis for the program was to keep children’s attention for long enough to educate.  Each episode was structured and tweaked to keep children glued to the screen while also learning about friendship, math, other languages, music, hygiene, and general people skills.  The show taught kids how to deal with real life situations like pregnancy, divorce, death, adoption and all the emotions a kid could ever think of.  It even recently did a special on how to deal with the recession as a family.

The show aimed itself at inner city children, which is why the set has metal garbage cans, front stoops, and peeling paint.  The cast was integrated from the start, mixing white and African-American actors among the puppets with Hispanic and Asian actors added in the 1970s.  Sesame Street was the first children’s television show to incorporate research as a production value.  Through this research they formatted the show to have a strong visual element with fast movement, humor, and music.

Since its debut, Sesame Street has spawned six spin-offs, numerous specials and videos, two feature films, and a theme park.  By the end of its first season, it had reached over 7 million children a day and the Educational Testing Service reported that the children who watched the show had cognitive skills go up by 62%.  Sesame Street has received 118 Emmys as of 2009, more than any other show in existence.  It’s been an outlet for actors of all ages to show support for young audiences.

Sesame Street will always be near and dear to my heart as I’m sure it is with many of you folks.  One of my earliest memories is walking up to my mother and speaking Spanish I had just learned on the show and I still sing “Put Down the Duckie” to my husband when he walks around our home reading.  Do you have any fun Sesame stories to share?