The seed of the idea that would become Sesame Street was first planted in talks between the television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, the vice president of the Carnegie Foundation. During these conversations, Cooney spoke about her desire to leverage the ability of television shows to capture and keep children’s attention with the promotion of positive social values.
Following a period of extensive creative and scientific development, the show we all now know and love would begin to take shape. It was decided that Sesame Street would rely heavily on research processes to better inform various aspects of the program, spanning across the introduction of new characters, plotlines, and production design. This strategy would prove to be not only innovative but wildly successful as well; Sesame Street would premiere on November 10th, 1969, as an immediate sensation.
The show would dominate the cultural terrain of children’s television in the ensuing decades. As its audience grew, so did its capacity and willingness to address increasingly complicated social, emotional, and ethical issues. Though not without some instances of controversy, Sesame Street has remained a pillar of constructive, educational programming with a unique ability to appeal to children and adults alike. However, as the general media landscape has experienced exponential growth in the 21st century, the show has, in turn, found itself faced with stiffer competition from other children’s television productions.
As a result, Sesame Street no longer commands the same authority as in past decades, and it has even faced its fair share of financial troubles. Still, it is hard to imagine a world where children (and grown-ups) everywhere don’t carry fond memories of days spent learning and laughing with the whole gang on Sesame Street.
Under The Harvest Moon 