Although many television programs have been loved by millions and are immensely popular, very few TV shows can truly be called the ones that changed the world. Sesame Street did – and continues to do so more than 50 years after it first aired.
Yes, it’s a daft show with puppets for pre-schoolers, but once you know the incredible story behind how and why it was created, you’ll never look at the likes of Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and Kermit the Frog in the same way again.
Street Gang, the new documentary, will air later in the month. This film takes us back at the start of Sesame Street, which was launched in late 1960s. At that time, Lloyd Morrisett (an experimental child psychologist) was looking into two problems.
Another was the three-month delay in alphabet learning by many African American children who had often two working parents.
Street Gang, a new documentary that reveals how Sesame Street began in 1960s. Photo: Cookie Monster with his friends
Second was Sarah, his then-three year old, obsession with TV. She knew all the advert jingles, especially as at that time children’s shows were often designed around adverts.
Lloyd and Joan Ganz Cooney met at a meal party. Joan is an ex-teacher who has become an idealist producer of TV documentaries. They discussed the possibility that this small screen could help educate preschoolers.
‘It was clear they adored the medium, so why not see if we could educate them?’ says Joan, now 92, in the documentary.
It was also the time when the Civil Rights Movement was taking hold, and there was a lot of change.
Joan and Lloyd secured funding to research a report called The Potential Uses Of Television For Preschool Education, which said the show would utilise the techniques used in advertising – repetition, jingles and humour – to create a programme that would keep both children and their parents watching.
But not everyone was convinced. ‘Joan was one of the first female producers,’ says Ellen Scherer Crafts, who has produced the documentary with her husband Trevor.
‘At one point they were in front of a funding committee who said, “How can this show be successful if a woman is running it?” and Joan replied, “They can’t run it without me, it’s all in my head.”’
Lloyd and Joan managed to raise a sum equating to £30 million today to start work on the show. The two-year-old project was the longest ever conducted audience research before any show began.
Ex-teacher Joan Ganz Cooney (pictured) and experimental child psychologist Lloyd Morrisett conducted the most in-depth audience research work ever done before a show has begun
Teachers and psychiatrists were consulted to create something that would hold a child’s imagination and teach them, without them realising they were being taught.
Jon Stone was a fellow idealist who Joan recruited to create and direct the series. He then recruited Jim Henson from his former workplace, who was making zany ads with felt puppets he had made.
Jim, a father of five who went on to make the more grown-up Sesame Street spin-off The Muppets, says in the film, ‘I loved the idea of taking commercial techniques and applying them to a show for kids. We were trying to sell the alphabet to children.’
Jon was inspired by Harlem’s documentary and came up with an idea for the series to be shot on a dirty inner-city street. ‘I didn’t know how that would play out with suburban parents,’ recalls Joan. ‘But I trusted his judgement.’
It combines animation, live-action, and puppetry. And research revealed that the puppets will be the real stars of the show. How can you stop children being distracted from the puppeteers on the set? Enter Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch. Both characters were played from within the costumes by Caroll Spinney.
Big Bird started out as a silly grownup. But Spinney encouraged him to be a learning child. ‘He was a peer for the audience,’ Spinney later said. ‘A character young enough to make the same mistakes a four-year-old would.’
Jon Stone (pictured) who hired Jim Henson as a puppeteer said that each puppet had its own role. Henson was the irritating friend and the everyday news reporter trying his best to remain sane.
Every puppet played a specific role, and Oscar (who lived in a trash can) was their annoying friend. ‘Oscar is the dark side of everybody,’ Jon says.
‘He’s what children are told they must not do. Don’t answer back, don’t be rude.’ Cookie Monster was the child who wants everything to be about him, while Kermit was the everyman news reporter trying to stay sane when all around him is going mad.
Sesame Street – named after ‘open sesame’, the entrance to a magical world – was the first show on US TV to have such a diverse cast and was shown around America on local public stations.
It was a hit everywhere from its first screening in November 1969 – apart from in Mississippi. The people running the station there didn’t like the fact that several actors were black and boycotted it.
However, they had to reconsider their decision when the local television station broadcast it. It attracted massive ratings.
There were over 4,500 Sesame Street episodes by the 50th anniversary. It had also won 11 Emmys, 11 Grammys and more than 4500 episodes. Pictured: Big Bird
It was also sold in other countries including the UK. By its 50th anniversary, 2019, there had been more than 4,500 episodes and 35 specials. There were 200 home videos, 180 albums, and the show won 11 Emmys as well as 11 Grammys.
Although its initial aim – improving literacy for underprivileged kids – has certainly been achieved, researchers have found it impossible to quantify how much because it became so hard to find children who hadn’t seen it to use as a comparison.
In 1983, Will Lee died, playing the role of Mr Hooper in his beloved shop. This presented an obstacle for programme makers.
But they decided that they should use the tragedy to teach children about death, with Big Bird confused about why Mr Hooper wasn’t ever coming back. This scene can be seen in the documentary. It’s heart-breaking in its simplicity, with many of the cast in tears for real.
Today there are many imitations using Sesame Street values, as well as locally made versions of the show such as the BBC’s Furchester Hotel. But the original continues on its innovative quest to change the world – it’s as easy as ABC.
Street Gang: The Story of How We Made It To Sesame Street will be available digitally from January 31.