Sesame Street

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) This week, I’m preparing for the beginning of Sesame Street’s 40th season next week by watching old Sesame Street anniversary specials. Yesterday I watched the 10th anniversary special A Walking Tour of Sesame Street, and today I’m watching 1989’s Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting.

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) Now, to preface, this is not a show where Sesame Workshop has shipped puppets off to a regional theatre and entrusted locals to bring the classic characters to life with little to no puppetry experience. Instead, for the first time ever, actors are being allowed to professionally portray...

By Ryan Roe(noreply@blogger.com) Have you ever seen Shalom Sesame, the bilingual, bi-cultural co-production of Sesame Street and Israel's Rechov Sumsum from the late 80s? Well, it was pretty great. Now Sesame Workshop has announced a whole new batch of Shalom Sesame episodes, set to premiere around Hannukah 2010, with...

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By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) With so few episodes of Sesame Street produced these days, these direct-to-video specials are like extra bonus episodes, and this one isn’t about to waste any of its running time... There are no opening credits, just the title, and then boom!, we’re on Sesame Street, where Elmo and Abby Cada...

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) Continuing our saga of rock-inspired Muppet parodies, we now bring you the second half of this year's Muppet Rawk series. If you missed the first part, then give this link a click or two to enjoy the pictorial goodness. Special thanks to Lawrence Ruelos for being my supercool Muppet Rawk lia...

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) Sesame Street is nominated for New Approaches - Daytime Children's. I have no idea what constitutes a "New Approach", so I'm gonna assume that Sesame will win, if only because it's freaking Sesame Street. Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition? Yeah, Sesame Street.

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) Elmo appeared at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum this week, dressed as an "Elmonaut" to publicize the Smithsonian debut of the Sesame Street planetarium show "One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure," which stars Big Bird, Elmo, and the Muppet character Hu Hu Zhu from t...

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) In less amusing news... As you may have heard, Sesame Workshop recently made the tough decision to cut 67 employees. Working for Sesame would be a dream job for just about anybody, so it must be excruciating for those affected, and I'm sure Sesame Street fans everywhere will join me in extendin...

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) In addition to the exhibit, they'll be screening Muppets, Music and Magic, a selection of various Henson and Muppet-related programs, in March and April. Heather Henson gets things started on March 6 with Muppets 101, which includes early commercials and other TV appearances.

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) First up is a strip referencing the new Tiny Zoe (tm), which debuted at the Sesame Street panel in Wayne, New Jersey (click here and here for our recap of the event). And next is another sick and twisted scene from the sick and twisted mind of one Mr. Smig.

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) Aside from the interviews, what sort of research materials did Sesame Workshop provide you with for the book? TP: The story of the production of Sesame Street starts about halfway through "Street Gang". With 40 years worth of production history to fit into about 200 pages, how did you choo...

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) On Friday, January 30th, a bunch of Sesame Street people and the aforementioned Michael Davis will be appearing at a panel discussion at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. In anticipation of that event, the news site NorthJersey.com published an article about the show, wh...

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) Here's some group shots of some Muppet Show characters to start us out. Never has there been a better use of papier-mâché. I'm a little surprised at the number of Zoots, though there's always room for more Zoots in the world. Note the bottom left image, which contains Muppet Show guest star Lor...

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) Are they half-pajama, half-animal hybrids? Whatever they are, they're the stars of the Jim Henson Company's new preschool series on the Sprout network, which debuted on Sunday, November 2nd. The characters look like stuffed animals, which is appropriate, as the show is designed to con...

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) Ernie has posed as a doctor to examine Bert on several occasions without receiving a medical degree. He has gotten Bert kicked out of movie theaters after he himself made too much noise. He has lured Bert into playing games and singing songs, only to cruelly quit once Bert starts to enjoy hims...

By Ryan Roe(noreply@blogger.com) Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York, where Sesame Street is taped, is expanding, and Elmo was there with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the groundbreaking. Of all celebrities who live in trash cans, Oscar the Grouch has to be one of the ten most famous. Which is why he's the...

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By noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Strand) Ernie hails from Sesame Street, and he knows how to cut government spending. He and Bert have shared an apartment for nearly forty years, and they haven’t spent a dime – not on food, not on utilities, and certainly not on earmarks. Also, both Ernie and his running mate have experience in helpi...

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) TP: So that was just a normal Kermit puppet with arm rods. TP: When you do a shoot like that, when it’s just Kermit, how much crew do you have with you? Is it just you and a puppet wrangler? TP: When was the last time you worked with Frank Oz?

By noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hennes) The CD contains music from Sesamstraat (The Netherlands), Takalani Sesame (South Africa), Zhima Jie (China), 5 rue Sesame (France), Ulitsa Sezam (Russia), Plaza Sesamo (Mexico), Galli Galli Sim Sim (India), Shara’a Simsim (Palestine), Rechov Sumsum (Israel), Kilimani Sesame (Ta...

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) Ryan: So, fellow Tough Pig Anthony, there certainly are a lot of great Sesame Street songs, aren't there? Anthony: I agree. And as you say, it's an essential ingredient in the Muppet recipe, not just the Sesame Street one. The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Bear in the Big Blue House - all of them w...

By noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Strand) As I mentioned, this album is full of great songs for the human cast members – Gordon, Maria, Susan, Olivia, and David all get memorable numbers. Best of all is this one, sung by Bob and The Kids. The beginning is as understated as can be, with Bob idly playing piano. One of The Kids asks him to play...

By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) Telly is by far the most underrated Sesame Street Muppet. I mean, the dude can't catch a break. He's been a major Sesame regular for decades now, but he always gets ignored when it comes to merchandise, and no kid ever names him as his or her favorite character. Telly is the middle child of the Ses...

By Ryan Roe(noreply@blogger.com) Season 39 of Sesame Street is coming to PBS this summer, and we're all vibrating fiercely with excitement. As usual, it's going to be a star-studded affair, and we've already seen announcements about several celebrities who will be dropping by the neighborhood to educate, entertain, an...

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By noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Roe) There are so many great Sesame Street characters that it's impossible for all of them to interact with each other. Which is why it's pretty exciting to see this Snuffy/Ernie team-up. Those guys are usually seen in the company of Big Bird and Bert, respectively, which just happens to be what t...

By Joe Hennes The last booth we visited was Putumayo Kids, which specializes in international CDs and DVDs. They had a video playing of their new release, called "Sesame Street Playground," which is a compilation of songs and skits from all of the different Sesame Street productions from around the wo...

By Joe Hennes 1.) What is it about the residents of Sesame Street that urges them to run, not walk, with whatever object is nearby toward a Muppet with a minor stumbling block? 3.) Is Cookie Monster setting a bad example for the kids by eating a sand cake? Is he setting a bad example for Ernie? Is Ernie the vict...

By Joe Hennes 7:07 – Oscar is great. Not that should be of any surprise to anyone. I like the reference to “I Hate Christmas” from Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. 7:47 – There’s something about Muppets wearing hats that I absolutely adore. And Grover’s Christmas top hat is no exception.

By Ryan Roe BINKY: Hey, you know that show Sesame Street? BINKY: YES! They said it's because Cookie Monster used to hold a pipe sometimes! BUNKY: Those scoundrels! Sesame Street is way too politically correct now! YOU: I'm a rational grown-up Sesame Street fan.

By Joe Hennes Through Old School, we get to see all of our favorite characters. Like Bert and Ernie. And Mr. Snuffleupagus. And Herry Monster, and Grover Monster, and Oscar-who-is-not-a-Monster. Even Headline Howie is in there somewhere. And let’s not forget everyone’s most favorite character, the fold...