40 years on and still going strong: Sesame Street

Sesame Street kicks off its 40th anniversary season on Tuesday, with first lady Michelle Obama and Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda as guests; it is indisputably the most successful children’s show in history.

Caroll Spinney and Kevin Clash are the puppeteers who respectively give life to Big Bird and Elmo, Frank Biondo, has been a camera operator with the series since it first aired on Nov. 10, 1969. He said “when we started doing it, I asked, who’s going to watch this? Back then, Big Bird had a different type of head, and Oscar the Grouch was orange. Then they changed some things, and we all thought it made more sense.”

Sesame Street holds a record 122 Emmy Awards, and that is not including a lifetime achievement trophy, it has been adapted in more than 120 countries around the globe. An estimated 100,000 Sesame products have been made available internationally, from T-shirts and costumes to high-tech toys such as Elmo Live.

So why is the children’s series still going strong? It has to be because they are Keeping things current, as well as The First Lady other high-profile grownups are appearing on Sesame this season such Cameron Diaz, Jimmy Fallon, and Ricky Gervais.

To read more on this story go to usatoday.com. Do you remember watching Sesame Street as a child? Do your kids watch it now? Let us know your thoughts.