Sesame Street

Now, we don’t expect you to remember the first episode of the cult classic that is Sesame Street. Today, however, one of the most famous streets in popular culture celebrates its 45th birthday.

Home to lovable characters including knowledgeable and comforting Big Bird and the lovable scamp Cookie Monster, Sesame Street has been a friend to many children around the world since its inception.

Over in America, when the show was first launched it was one of only two programmes aired with pre-schoolers in mind. Now it has to compete with over 80 other programmes with the lucrative market as its target audience – and it still wins!

So why is it so popular and longstanding?

Possibly due to the fact that it is a show created and written with the co-viewing experience in mind – a huge 49% of the viewers watching Sesame Street are over 18 years old and the producers behind the show are very proud of that statistic. They state that when a child watches a programme with an adult, the rate that they absorb information is higher and they learn much more. (Does this still count if you are having a little snooze whilst theTV is on?!)

Sesame Street are happy to put in a few little extras for the adults watching at home. A vast array of celebrity guest stars keep the grownups entertained and positive cultural and disability references help to reinforce important messages; to both children and adults.

Older shows that were aired a while ago carry a warning that the content may not be suitable for children these days. Despite this, we think it’s still important that these episodes are accessible – it’s good for children to see where our current popular culture has come from!

Some of Amoralia’s favourite Sesame Street Celebrity Stars:

As this is a show designed with adults in mind too, we think it’s necessary to round up some of our favourite celebrity guest stars, for their insights of course, not necessarily the eye candy! *ahem!*

If you haven’t seen these clips, check them out on YouTube or over on our Google+ page!

Johnny Cash – Johnny helps children learn to count

Usher – Helping children learn the alphabet with an adorable song and huge grin!

Katy Perry – Singing “Hot N Cold” with Elmo, Katy’s visit was highly controversial due to her outfit and the fact that parents got hot under the collar with the amount of cleavage shown by Ms. Perry. However, we still think it is a great clip!

R.E.M – Transforming “Shiny Happy People” into “Furry Happy Monsters” says it all!

Jason Mraz – Singer of the ever so catchy hit, “I’m Yours”, Mraz changed it to “Outdoors” helping to highlight the benefit of going outdoors to play!

James Blunt – Instead of “You’re Beautiful” James singes “My Triangle” – and it is brilliant!

Ricky Gervais – Singing a lullaby to Elmo at night, Gervais is possibly the only guest to bring his own brand of arrogance to the Street, with hilarious results!

Image credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sesame_Street_Spaghetti_Space_Chase_photo_op.jpg