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Thursday 4 July 2013

Sesame Street

Now we all heard the theme song "Sunny day sleeping the clouds away." There is not one person on this planet even now that doesn't know Sesame Street.  Why? Because it's still going on.  No matter the controversies, the old fashioned comedy or even the deaths and/or leavings of many of it's original cast.  Sesame Street has no sign of stopping whatsoever. There's their currently ongoing show, various spin offs, games, and even so far two feature films.  However I will not go into whether or not the characters exist in real life.  I am saving that for The Muppet Show.  I am here to answer the question that has been asked for decades "Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street."  Before I answer that while it seems rare there is another question to answer. "What exactly is Sesame Street?"

Surprisingly while his Puppets and most of his cast were involved, Sesame Street wasn't created by the late great Jim Henson.

In 1966 television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Vice President of Carnegie Foundation, Lloyd Morrisett wanted to create a show that in their own words. "Master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them."  Such as helping children prepare for school.   After 2 years and funding from both Carnegie, Ford and the U.S. Federal Government; an organization was formed known as The Children's Television Workshop.  The show premiered a year later on Public Broadcasting Stations with mixed results.  However by now it has broadcasted to over 120 countries around the world.  It's format was rather simple for its time, using a combination of Puppetry (courtesy of Jim Henson himself.), live action segments, and animations. All of which designed to make kids laugh, as well as educate them on some things to prepare for in life and education.   However of all three the puppets were the most notable.  Even now we all know them by heart.
To name a few:

Big Bird: The 8 foot tall loveable bird who has a child like view of the world.

Oscar the Grouch: A monster dwelling in a trashcan.  If there was something we liked, he would hate with a passion..

Bert and Ernie: Those two guys, Bert would be the only sane man to Ernie's crazy antics.

While the show was well received it was not without it's share of controversies.  The most well known one being the Death of Mr. Hooper.  For those who don't know Mr. Hooper was the kindly owner of Hooper's store which sells just about anything including, Bird's trademark favorite beverage: Birdseed Milk Shakes.  The actor who played Hooper, Will Lee, died of a heart attack December 1982.  Rather than replace him like most kid shows would have done at the time; Sesame Street instead has had Mr. Hooper die off screen and rather than tip toe around it they handle it no different than a Very Special Episode of the average sitcom at the time.  In this episode, Big Bird and to an extent all the children in the audiences around the world learn about death for the first time in their life.  This move by Children's Television Workshop was meant so that any parents watching with their children could properly discuss death with them.  It also goes to show that despite all the whimsical and humor that goes on in Sesame Street, it's still no different than your street, or mine or the whole world.

Now for the fun part. Could It Exist In Real Life?  Yes it can in more ways than one.  For starters the end credits of the 1990s seasons you'll notice a few familiar landmarks in the animated sequence. One of which being the statue of Liberty.  So obviously Sesame Street is in New York.  However where in New York is a mystery. Just for kicks I typed it in the google maps and to my surprise I found 7 all of them in New York.  Now here's another surprise for you.   There are actually 8 and one of them is not like the others.  The 8th one is featured in the famous film "Follow That Bird."  In which there was a whole new Sesame Street made specifically for the movie.  The 8th Sesame Street is in Toronto Ontario Canada. I came to the logical conclusion that because Sesame Street is broadcast everywhere, that it is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  Sesame Street is in a parallel dimension. A dimension where only child actors, muppets and celebrity guest stars can access.

As usual debate, argue and let me know what I missed.  Stay Tuned For More. And now you know how to get, how to get to Sesame Street. Ah Ah Ah.

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