Educational Muppets

I was impressed with the PBS TV show “Sesame Street” until I realized the format was modeled on the 1960’s hit “Laugh In”.

Really.

OK, I'm still impressed, but it's hard to draw the comparison until you think about it for a minute or two.

The fast-paced, bite-sized one-liners and quick skits featured on "Laugh In" were a bit revolutionary at the time—and the producers at the Children’s Television Workshop decided to transfer the same structure to the small screen for even smaller viewers.

Sesame Street celebrates its 40th birthday today, hitting the airwaves on this date in 1969. Among the innovations were an urban, inner-city setting and a racially diverse cast of characters.

I can’t claim fond memories of the show for myself—I’m too damn old. I grew up with Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Green Jeans (yuck) and even Mister Rogers (yuck to some exponential power). However, my kids all learned their letters and numbers from Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie.

Not without its controversies, Sesame Street has survived by doing most things right-despite criticism for everything from the aforementioned erratic format (blamed for contributing to children’s short attention spans) to Cookie Monster’s two-pronged faults:
a) overeating..and
b) using cookies as blackmail for learning

Now before you call me Oscar the Grouch, realize that I don’t agree with most of the attacks. Learning will always improve in an environment where the kids are engaged and entertained-just ask Walt Disney. Further, the show’s creator Joan Ganz Cooney realized that the combination of humor, celebrity guest stars and writing that appealed on both the child and adult levels would keep PARENTS tuned in (some of whom didn’t know their letters and numbers either) and would create adult advocates in the millions of homes where the target audience was located.

Contrast that to, say, Barney the Dinosaur or The Wiggles—either one of which if exposed to an adult human being for any length of time would cause them to contemplate suicide as a less painful alternative to continued viewing.

Jim Henson's creation of special muppets---to rival the already popular Kermit and Miss Piggy-was another stroke of genius.

Here’s a segment featuring Whoopi Goldberg and Elmo:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce0yGNG_VEU

Since its inception, it is estimated that 73 million people have watched the show-and each day, about 8 million tune in to laugh….and learn.

My kids were the beneficiaries of Sesame Street—and I hope that it is still around when my grandchildren start learning their ABC’s

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