Week of November 6: Brought To You By the Letter S and the Number 40

Happy 40th Anniversary, Sesame Street!

For those of us who have grown up since the late 1960s, the landmark PBS children's program has always been part of our lives. Who hasn't grown up watching Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover (my favorite) and their human friends, Susan, Gordon, Bob, Luis and Maria? And all of the humans and Muppets who have moved to Sesame Street ever since?

Sesame Street was truly the first show to celebrate American diversity. Here's a link to a 1970s opening. (In fact, most of these links will be from the 1970s, when I grew up.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmcdBnj4ZOg

The program has featured many famous and soon-to-be-famous faces. One was actor Paul Benedict, who would later play the urbane Mr. Bentley on "The Jeffersons." On Sesame Street, Benedict was the Mad Painter, who used his painting to teach numbers. Remember this yummy look at the Number 6?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2dTJJ0PdTI


Throughout the 1970s and 80s, composer Joe Raposo would put his musical imprint on the show. Some of his songs became popular standards beyond Sesame Street. One was "Bein' Green," a celebration of one's identity, originally sung by Kermit the Frog in 1969:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIOiwg2iHio

Raposo succeeded with the serious and the silly.....You'll never look at a bird on an animal the same after this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbluA8ZWw80

Raposo died in 1989. Jim Henson, who created the Muppets and the Sesame Street characters, and voiced Kermit, Ernie and many others, died in 1990.

Another Sesame Street member who was mourned was Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper (or Mr. Looper, as Big Bird called him), the store owner. Both Lee and his character died in 1982. This moving scene is a tribute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZTvDZHRFrU


The objective of Sesame Street, of course, is education. One of the most memorable examples of this came with Herry Monster and John-John (who later enlisted in the U.S. Air Force):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scu9zzC5U3g


Sesame Street's residents can also have fun spoofing various aspects of pop culture. During the heyday of PBS' "Masterpiece Theater," when Allistair Cooke was the host, Sesame Street came up with its own reference, poking fun both at Cooke and Alfred Hitchcock's classic film "The 39 Steps":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzjM67rS9ZM

That's why I love Grover.....He's a hard worker!


We'll wrap up with another Joe Raposo song, the best known of the series, later made into a hit by The Carpenters. Here, Bob (Bob McGrath), Susan (Loretta Long) and Luis (Emilio Delgado) sing a bilingual version with the kids of Sesame Street:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOFY52PAPoc


May Sesame Street have 40 more.....and beyond!

See you next week! Until then, Happy Viewing!