Happy birthday, Sesame Street

[CherryPizza]

So here I am, once again abusing the privilege of being in a time zone that's much earlier than most of you folks.

Since it's already the 10th here in Australia, I'm jumping in to wish a happy 40th birthday to what is quite possibly television's greatest creation.

To a show that embraced the powers of television to engage viewers, and has spent 40 years using that power for good...

To a place where everyone has felt like 'one of the family', regardless of their race, species, home planet, furriness, or which side of the television screen they inhabited...

To the provider of so many important lessons, from how to deal with the loss of a beloved elder, to how to count to ten, to why one should put down the duckie...

To every sketch, song, routine, animation or film that started out as a fun little educational piece in my kiddie mind... and then became a trippy little "woah" inducer in my adolescent mind... and then became a matter for philosophical analysis in my student mind... before comfortably settling back down to being fun in my adult mind...

To every person I barely knew, to whom the Sesame Street bricks were the common ground we found...

To every comedy great and Jim Henson project I have found myself admiring because of Sesame's Street's introduction to them...

I raise my glass of birdseed milkshake, and hope that life truly begins at 40.

 

[Nekoshema]

happy 40th sesame street! you're looking great, a little older but all and all you still look amazing.

i haven't watched in years, and the clips on youtube from my childhood can still make me laugh and smile all day long [a la peanutbutter sandwiches, oh man get's me every time] oh, where was i?

the show has seen it's joy's and sorrow's on screen and off [referring to death's of people and characters, who all may be gone, but never ever forgotten]

seeing it's 40, still beloved by the masses, i've realized that sesame will never ever leave us, i'm sure [if i was to have children] that i'll be watching it with my grandkids one day... and probably still laughing at some jokes

anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SESAME STREET!

 

[MuppetMazz]

Happy Birthday Sesame Street! You now have the first President that grew up watching you. Quite an accomplishment!

You may be 40 but every year feels like the same year with you, old friend.

Characters may come and go and the people may get older. But every year you come back stronger, wiser, bolder.

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Happy birthday to Sesame Street. We could do a chorus of "Sunny Days," except that it's kind of cloudy here.

And at 40, the show's aged very well. So let's have a toast to all the Muppet people, human cast members, writers and crew, both past and present (and while we're at it, future).

 

[dwayne1115]

Sesame Street we love you, with out you some of us would not have learned how to count say our abc's or speak in spanish. You brought us some great moments, we laughed with you we cried with you, but most inportaintly we have grown up with you. Thank You Sesame Street, and may you have another wonderful 40 sunny years.

 

[animalrescuer]

Happy birthday, Sesame Street and thanks for 40 years worth of learning, entertainment, laughter and fun.

Congratulations for making it this far, thanks to the people who created this special show, for kids and adults alike. Thanks to the human cast and the Muppet cast for making this show the show it is and has been for 40 years. You have been a big part of my life as a kid and still is a part of my life.

Thank you, Sesame Street.

 

[Drtooth]

I was gonna start a (general cartoon and kid's nostalgic entertainment) blog a while back and post this, but *I never got the time, and I never looked at the schematics and everything, so I'll just post it here.

40 years. That's almost half a life span of a human being. An amazing accomplishment for any show, especially the world of kid's programming. And even with Tickle Me Elmo-centricity, the obsessive compulsive organization, and the great Vegan Monster scare off aught 4 the show is one of the greatest things to ever happen to television since the invention of the Sitcom (which changed TV as it was known to what we've seen since the 50's). No show in history has accomplished what this show accomplished... not even the Great Mr. Rogers. And it has been the target of idiotic knockoffs and competition since New Zoo Revue (bleccch!).

We've seen a Bird stay six while the world changed around him (and us)... we've seen the show take attacks from humorless crazies who whined about everything from the racially diverse neighborhood (coming at a time when it was still taboo) to making an innocent joke about a "news" organization (I don't wanna go into that). We've seen the characters rock out to the Beatles, boogie on down to the Sesame Street Disco, satirize Billy Idol, and change their theme song to Calypso and urban hip hop jazz fusion. But always the same tune.

We've seen Sesame Streets in Germany, Israel, Northern Ireland, Japan, India, Bangladesh, etc. all spreading their global message of peace. We've seen specials about a certain co-production to learn about its region and seen it dubbed back into it's native language for... well... some reason. We've seen everyone from Jessie Jackson to The Simpsons pop up as guest stars. We've seen the rise and fall of the around the corner era... we've seen 3 different Gordons. We've seen the show lose and gain so many people over the years.

Things are different now. When once there was a time where the show faced no competition, and was the front runner of the educational TV movement, it now faces competition from rival cable networks with slapdash kiddie shows whose only goal is to make money... I'm looking at YOU Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney. And unfortunately it absorbed some of the competition's methods in recent years. It's sad to see such a mighty giant in the TV industry become a dinosaur in some eyes, but long after people stopped watching Dora, SS will still be there. Even at the low, low 26 episodes a season model they have now.

So Happy Birthday, you amazing revolutionary television series. And Happy Birthday to al,l the amazing characters and stories and segments and songs we've grown up to.

 

[mr3urious]

Happy birthday, Sesame Street! You've been through several rough times over the years, but still manage to be one of the best children's shows on TV!

 

[mbmfrog]

Happy Birthday to the most beloved street in the world. Full of characters that are known throughout the 4 decades that the show has been on.

From the good times to the Bad ones, we've been through them all, and in it own unique way Sesame Street was there by our side.

So thank you to both Conney and Henson for bring us both laughter and learning for 40 years running. Thank you so very much.

Happy Birthday Sesame street.