We Got to Sesame Street | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart. Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's. here, too. And this is Sesame Street. edition, which this has been a long time. coming, Chuck. Yeah. And I I don't know. if you plan this or not, but our selects. episode like the week before this comes.

out, I believe, is Jim Henson. I did not. plan it. What? No, I really didn't. Wow. Amazing. That's um Kermit. I mean. Kismmet. Kurs Kursmit, right? That's really cool. Yeah. If you haven't listened to those, I mean really a couple of our greatest. episodes ever in Stuff You Should Know. Lore are our Muppet episodes and our Jim. Henson up. So those are good primers if. you haven't heard those yet. Yeah, because this definitely touches on Jim. Henson because Jim Henson was a huge.

driver for Sesame Street initially as. we'll see. Yeah. But let's talk a little. bit about Sesame Street. Um we should. say what it is probably. Yeah. Although. I would be really surprised if basically. everyone listening wasn't at least. familiar. But for those of you who. aren't, that's fine. Sesame Street is a. longunning children's television uh. educational program. Yeah. That started. way back in I think 1969 was season 1. and uh has spread all over the world. I.

think it's in 150 to 170 countries. depending on who you ask. Amazing. And. even more than that, uh, in 30 of those. countries at least, there are what are. called co-productions where they have. basically taken the ball and said, "We're going to make our own version of. Sesame Street in conjunction with the. people who make Sesame Street and just. kind of adapt it to local customs and. culture more." So, it's a global. juggernaut and it's basically globally.

beloved, too. Yeah. I mean, not by. everyone. I'm sure some people hate it. I hope you're wrong. Oh, I was just. kidding. Okay, good. I think I think. everyone has a soft spot uh at least for. Sesame Street. Um I watched it for sure. as a kid, but I um I wasn't like I don't. remember years and years and years and. years of watching it. I moved on to. Electric Company, which was felt like a. little bit older, much more. intellectual. Yeah, maybe a little bit. So, I moved on to that pretty quickly.

But I did I did love Sesame Street uh. and the Muppets and it was you know. right in our wheelhouse even though it. was you know I guess it started just a. few years before I was born actually. sadly. Yeah. But again it's it's one of. the longest running television shows in. the history of the United States. It's. up there with um like General Hospital. Like it's just been going forever. It's. in season 55 right now. It's been. continuous every year since it started. Um, and it is, at least in the United. States, but I would suspect in a lot of.

parts of the world, it's basically a. right of early childhood. It's a right. of passage. Like you just kind of grow. up on Sesame Street. Then, like you. said, I think as you start to age out of. it, you move on to other stuff that was. also produced by people who produced se. Sesame Street. Oh, I hope I don't start. saying Sey Street because that's just. not going to work. That might be the. name of it in some country. You never. know, as we'll see. They they do have. some great names for it. Uh maybe we. should talk a little bit just out of the. gate about some of the biggest. characters, most iconic characters and.

when they were introduced because not. all of them have been around for the. whole run. Uh but from the very. beginning in the first season, we got. Big Bird. Uh I know we've talked about. it, but there's a great documentary on. Big Bird that that you should watch if. you're into that kind of thing. Yeah. Uh. Grover was right away. Uh Kermit was in. season one. Although uh as you learned, Kermit was already um on TV in other. areas uh such that people were like. Kermit's a little I don't know if we're. over him, but maybe a little. overexposed. So they actually removed. him after season one for a little while,

right? Yeah. I think they were concerned. that he was too commercialized. He was. too associated with advertising and. hawking products that they were like, "This doesn't really have a place here.". Yeah. Uh we also got Burton Ernie in. season one. Oscar the Grouch. Mhm. Our. friend in the trash can. Uh the Cookie. Monster. And then a couple of years. later, uh we got Alawishious. Snuffalophagus. Snuffalopagus, excuse. me. Uh a nice little factoid for your. next dinner party is that he does have a. first name and it's Alawishas. Mhm. What.

about the count? 72. What about Telly. Monster? This was 79. I must not have. been watching it that much at at 8 years. old because I did not remember Telly. Monster. I remembered him, but he wasn't. a big deal to me. So, I I don't Yeah, I. don't know. I guess we'd cross paths. Who helped Was Dave uh help us with. this? Uh, no. This was Dr. Claw. Oh, well, Laura Clawson. Laura might have. been into Telly Monster, so maybe that's. why she listed it. Well, I know he's. kind of a big one. Um, but I I think.

even more than Telly by far. Um, as as. far as recognition goes, Elmo came along. way earlier than I thought. He came. along in 1980. Yeah. But he was just. kind of a background character. I don't. even think he necessarily had a name or. any big speaking parts, but he. eventually kind of caught on and became. one of the more beloved muppets of all. time. Stay tuned for act three to learn. how that happened. Yeah. How about a. cliffhanger there? Yeah. Um and then I.

guess we'll talk a little bit about the. origins. We'll come back to some of the. um the the Muppet characters later on. Yeah. Uh we should mention the hardware. though because they have won a. staggering 221 Emmy awards. Mhm. Uh I'm. not going to degrade it by saying, well, they're daytime Emmys, but they are. daytime Emmys. Uh and and you can rack. up a lot of those over the years, but. 221 over 55 seasons, like I don't care. how you slice it, that's super. impressive. I have zero Emmys. as do I,

which I'm kind of surprised neither one. of us has an Emmy for the work that. we've done. Uh, 11 Grammys. Pretty good. Sure. And then a bunch of Peabodyies. I. believe that the last time they got an. Emmy, um, the producer accepted it, just. yawned on stage and walked off. You just. threw it in a big room, the rest of. them. Yeah. On the pile. So, we should. talk about the origins of all this. because um Sesame Street and the whole. idea behind it grew out of two.

developing things in the mid. 1960s. One was President Lyndon Baines. Johnson's Great Society, which was this. um ideal policy movement toward ending. poverty and inequality, um getting rid. of crime, helping the environment, making a great society. as far as. progressives were concerned. Um that was. one thing that was going on. So there. was much more of an awareness. There was. a lit like they literally declared a war. on poverty. Yeah. So there was much more.

of an awareness of the a difference. between the advantaged and the. disadvantaged especially among children. in the United States at the time. And. then at the at the on the other side of. the coin, there was this growing. awareness among um psychologists and. other uh like educators that what had. been previously neglected and ignored, which was the early childhood years, say. between three and five um were really. crucial to the intellectual development. of a kid. Yeah. And so there came this.

idea to create television programming. and that was geared toward disadvantaged. kids between ages three and five to help. them to give them kind of a leg up. before they started schooling. That's. pretty much the premise of where this. whole thing came from. Yeah. Which is I. mean talk about a noble cause. They were. they were on board from the beginning. and we'll as you'll see you know shortly. uh they really put their money where. their mouths were as far as doing actual.

research and studies to make sure they. were doing what they intended to do. precisely. Um as the story goes in 1966. as far as the origin uh woman named Joan. Gans Cooney and a dude named Lloyd. Moriceet were at a dinner party and they. started talking about TV um and like. maybe TV could educate kids. uh Cooney. was a in the newspaper biz. Um she. started producing TV and then as soon as. New York City got a um educational. television station, she came on board.

and started working uh for them and I. think a a documentary on a Harlem. preschool was her first job and it. really just got her hooks uh got its. hooks in her as far as like hey TV can. do something different. Yeah. Um she. said in a documentary called Street Gang. I think colon how we got to Sesame. Street. It was from 2021 that she um. wanted to find out what television would. do if it loved people instead of trying. to sell to people. Amazing. Yeah. And.

this is a time where um the FCC chair. back in 1961 under JFK, his name was. Newton Mow. Uh he made a name for. himself historically by saying that. television was a vast wasteland. And I. mean, he was kind of right. There was. some good stuff on at the time, but also. there was some really bad stuff, too. And it was I think what he was. ultimately saying, though, was he wasn't. critiquing the the the smartness of the. sitcoms at the time. He was basically. saying like there's nothing to be gained.

from like this is all just dumb escapism. and advertising essentially is what TV. is. Uh, and we hadn't really come a very. long way for a long time. No. Well, we. we haven't. We have it. One step. forward, two steps back maybe. Hey man, when they did away with the afterchool. special, TV took a nose dive as far as. I'm concerned. Agreed. Uh, as far as. Moriceet goes, he was a VP at the. Carnegie Corporation, uh, a very smart. guy. He had a PhD in psychology from. Yale. And his sort of lore goes that he.

was watching his daughter, his young. daughter, watch TV test patterns before, you know, broadcast started early one. morning and he was like, "Oh my god, kids like they'll really watch anything. if it's on a screen. This is not good.". No. He said to Joan Ganskuni, "Isn't it. ironic? Don't you think?" Is he related? No. I think she has a E at the end of. her name. No, I think you're right. I. just wondered though cuz she was in kids. television. Yeah, you can't do that on. television. Yeah, I was like, "Oh, I. wonder if there's a tie there, but I.

guess not." She got slimed. Um, so they. started doing a little research and uh. they got a grant um through the Carnegie. Corporation because Morset was a VP. there and he wrote a report uh about, you know, using TV is a good thing for. preschool kids. Uh they got a another. grant to develop like a more in-depth. pitch. Basically did a lot more. research. which again they weren't just. sort of riding from the from the dome. And in 1968 they presented a proposal. called television for preschool.

children. Uh and again on the premise. that like hey all we're doing is like. trying to sell stuff to people like what. if TV treated them with respect and love. instead. Yeah. And I mean TV was a great. way to get to kids already by the. mid60s. I saw that um I think oh I don't. remember what year it was but around the. time that these guys were starting kids. were averaging um 54 hours a week in. front of the television that's almost. eight hours a day that's a full workday. of watching TV for for kids. Yeah. So I.

mean it they were already tuned in. So. the idea of like getting to them through. the TV in a um a a way that you like you. were trying to help them to educate them. that I mean it was it was radical for. the time but it also is just totally. sensible but like you said they weren't. just going on this idea like of course. this is going to work. They tested this. inside and out and what became the. children's television workshop which is. now called Sesame Workshop. um this. collaborative of like writers,

producers, directors for the show, but. also child psychologists, um sometimes religious leaders, um. educators, and also of like different. races, ethnicities, all coming together. to basically say like here are some. things we can we like here's goals we. want to achieve in educating kids. We. want them to learn cognitively. Um we. want them to learn social graces. Um, and like I think if we try this way or. that way, uh, we can actually achieve.

that, but let's try this way and try. that way and test them both and see. which works best. Yeah, for sure. Uh, and they, um, they had to get kids to. watch though. like all of this hard work. would be it would be really really sad. if kids just didn't tune in because you. know uh as we'll see like PBS and its. precursor the national education. television um I guess network was you. know maybe not a lot of people watched. it at the time so they knew they had to. get eyeballs in front of it so uh from. their initial $8 million in funding from.

uh different foundations and some from. the federal government they spent. $900,000 of that $8 million to promote. the show uh which is a pretty staggering. percentage um out of the gate and they. had a bunch of all you know they went to. you know regular media outlets of course. but they also um hit head start programs. and churches and daycarees. Uh I think. you found out that when um like the week. before the premiere they hired trucks. with like loudspeakers to just drive. around you know a lot of urban.

neighborhoods you know advertising that. it was coming on. Um and like you. mentioned at from the onset uh Mr. Jim. Henson coming aboard was also a big part. of getting people to watch because the. Muppets were already a thing. Yeah, like. we said, Kermit was already so. commercialized he basically was removed. from the show. Uh but they've been. around since the 50s. I think Jim. Henson's first um puppet gig was uh out. of high school or during high school and. he developed this shtick pretty quickly,

but it wasn't it wasn't associated with. kids. He would take it on like the Steve. Allen show or the Jack Parr show, like. late night TV and do like puppet skits. that weren't at all geared toward kids. and very quickly started doing. advertising with them as well. They just. became a thing. Muppets, people knew. Muppets before there was Sesame Street. So to land Jim Henson, he wasn't like. some mega star, you know, he was no CC. Deville at the time, but he uh he was.

well known. So, it was kind of like they. landed a bit of a whale by getting Jim. Henson fully involved in developing and. executing or I should say producing um. Sesame Street initially. You know what? I think I got the the. Poison reference wrong in that episode. recently. That's why I said that CC. Deville is a guitarist. Ricky Rocket was. a drummer. You got that straight. finally. Talk dirty to me. Yeah. One of the. reasons why also, Chuck, it was so big. to bring Jim Henson on was because from.

that research, and today this seems. totally normal, but this grew out of the. the children's television workshop. research, um, was that puppets and. animation really got kids going. It. really jazzed them. It really got their. attention. And as we learned from the. editorial cartoon episode, that's. because they're super stimuli, so they. jack kids up. Yeah. And then um weirdly. some of the child psychologists involved. in the development of the show were.

like, "Okay, that's fine. We need. puppets." But the humans and the puppets. can never interact. They can never. communicate. It will scare the be Jesus. out of the children if they do. And I. guess somebody was like, "That's a. pretty ridiculous thing." And that got. thrown away even before the pilot. episode ran. Well, no. They actually. tested it with kids and learned that the. kids were not interested in the adult. only sections. Yeah. So they actually. had real real data. So they they tried. it out and it just didn't work. No. And.

they should have known too. I mean this. like Sesame Street was pretty. groundbreaking in that it was an. educational show. But there were already. kids shows like Mr. Rogers had been. around for a year before it debuted. Captain Kangaroo had been around since. 1955. But what made it different is that. those shows were generally like. anti-school and they encourage kids to. explore a life of crime whereas Sesame. Street was like, "No, let's go to school. and be the best kind of people we can.". Now, can we take a break? Yes. All.

right, great. Uh, we'll come back and. talk a little bit about what happened on. November 10th, 1969, right after this. [Music]. All right. So, I promised uh a specific. date in mind, November 10, 1969. Uh.

again, a year before, roughly before PBS. came out, a show like this would air on. something called the National Education. Television. And that's when it aired. Tada. Uh, and it was a hit right out of. the gate. Uh, almost 7 million viewers. in season 1. Um, Ernie had a a big hit. song with Rubber Ducky. It actually. charted at number 16 on the Billboards. That's awesome. Uh, in September 1970. and was nominated for a Grammy and they. used to do a ton of these episodes. um.

they had 130 episodes a season for a. while and then further reduction in. funding kind of over the years trimmed. it down and by the time they hit uh the. 2000s they were down to 30 episodes a. year. Um but you know I mentioned test. pilots and James Ro Jones was is you. know it kind of depends on who you talk. to. He was in one of those test pilots. So, some people say he was the first. celebrity guest on Sesame Street, but. the actual real episode 1, season 1, uh. Carol Bernett was featured as the first.

guest. Yes. And Carol Bernett was. laughing um while she was counting to. 10. James Earl Jones is just staring at. the camera doing the alphabet uh in. almost a really creepy way. Um have you. seen it? Oh, yeah. It's great. Yeah. Yeah. And that pilot was called uh the. title of it was Gordon Introduces Sally. to Sesame Street. And the other uh I. mean in my opinion oddball uh human that. appeared in episode 1, season 1 was.

magician James Randy. Oh, really? Yeah. Pretty cool. That is cool. Was he just. doing magic or teaching kids to be. skeptics? Uh I I think he was just doing. magic. Okay. I I didn't watch the whole. episode, but I just thought that was. kind of fun. But the reason James Earl. Jones was on there and shortly after. Harry Bellfonte and a lot of other black. um celebrities very early on was because. again the show initially was geared. toward disadvantaged inner city black.

kids who had just been totally. overlooked and forgotten. So they wanted. to show people that looked like them on. TV and so they could learn from them. So, it was really kind of I don't want. to say like geared toward black kids, but there was way more for the average. three or four year old black kid um. growing up in America at the time that. they could find anywhere else on TV. The. thing is is it was also designed for. everybody, for every kid, so any kid. could come along and enjoy it. Um, and.

that was actually seen, apparently. Sesame Street is based on Harlem, I. guess. And they originally had one name. for it, which was, I think, was it 123B. Street or B Avenue? I don't know. I. think it was. And so, um, people were. like, "That sounds really New York, and. it's going to turn off everybody outside. of New York. Everyone in New York will. love it." But, you know, so they. expanded it to Sesame Street eventually, um, so that everybody could could. appreciate it more. Yeah. And part of.

the racial diversity was a problem in. some places in the United States at the. time. Uh their human characters Gordon. and Susan were a black couple and the. state of Mississippi said uh not in my. state that's not going to be on. television. Uh and because it is a you. know PBS is is a is a public thing. Uh. the state kind of shut that down. Uh the. state commission did and banned it. Um. it only took 22 days for that to be. reversed. But, uh, take heart that, um, a local NBC affiliate stepped up, uh,

during that 3 weeks and aired those. episodes even in Mississippi. I think. that's so cool, man. Yeah, it's great. So, yeah, the first the original human. cast were Gordon and Susan, a black. couple, and then Mr. Hooper and Bob. Both of them were white. Mr. Hooper ran. the store. Bob was a music teacher. Gordon was a science teacher. And Susan. originally started out as a housewife, developed into a nurse, and then finally. became a working mom later on. Yeah. It. took a couple of years to get um Latino.

representation. Uh because initially in. the first couple of seasons, um CHO. activists and Puerto Rican activists. were like, "Hey, where are we in this. show?" And so by season 3, we got Maria. and Luis. Uh you did mention Gordon. Uh, originally that was a guy named Matt. Robinson, but he left the show. Um, he. he kind of co-created this character. with Jim Henson named Roosevelt. Franklin. Mhm. And he was purple, but he. was sort of a blackcoated Muppet because. he spoke uh using African-American.

vernacular English. And while some. people was like, "No, this is great as a. role model and it's real." Other people. were like, "No, that's a negative. stereotype." You know, I think it would. be different today, but um for the time. that didn't go over so well. No. And the fans of Arrested Development. uh will probably recognize Franklin, Joe. Bloo's puppet. He was based on Roosevelt. Franklin. And because of that, I was. when I started to watch clips of. Roosevelt Franklin, the original Muppet,

I was like, "This is going to be awful.". It was not. It's actually quite. ridiculous that they got rid of him. because he was a really well-developed. black character. Yeah. It's just. perplexing that they caved to that. because he was a good character. Yeah. Did you say Job or Gob Bluth? Oh, yeah. I said Job, didn't I? It's. Gob. Just stop the listener mails right. now. No, it's Job. I thought it was Gob. No, no, it's Or was that just one of the. jokes? Yeah, that Yeah, because his uh. his that's his it's his.

acronym. George something Bluth. Oh, okay. Um I I thought there was a joke on. there at some point about GOB, but I. might just be wrong on that. It's been a. while. Hey, man. It has been a while, so. you could be right, too. Uh, Don Music. was another character they got rid of. Uh, that was a Don Music was a composer. He would get frustrated and bang his. head on the piano keys and parents were. like, "Hey, my kid is banging their head. on piano keys and stuff and uh, we we. got to get this character out of there.". So, they got rid of Don music pretty. early on as well. Poor Don. Yeah. Um, so.

there's a that's this is like nothing. unusual for Sesame Street. They started. doing that from the outset, right? like. they started like there it started off. with a black and white cast and I mean. that was still kind of strange or. unusual for TV in America but they keep. doing it and what's kind of saddening is. every time they do it it's like oh my. god I can't believe how great this is. that they're including this character. and then there's another segment of the.

public who's like I can't believe. they're including that character. Um. it's just sad either way. I think it's. both kind of sad because what they're. doing, what Sesame Street does is they. say there's a group of people out there. who are being neglected that kids that. we're talking to interact with and we. need to bring them on just to normalize. them because they're just normal people. and we need to show that. So, they've. they've introduced um a number of. characters that proved to be. controversial over the years. What I. like about Sesame Street with the.

exception of Roosevelt Franklin, they. basically just stay mute on it and. they're like, "You guys sort it out. we're going to just do our thing over. here. Yeah, for sure. Uh and this was, you know, pretty early on, too. In 1978, they had a character uh with Down. syndrome, uh who was in preschool. His. name was Jason Kingsley and was the son. of a writer, uh Emily Kingsley for. Sesame Street. Mhm. And so, all of a. sudden, they started having more kids. with uh you know, challenges and. disabilities. They've had uh kids that. are hearing impaired. They've had kids.

in wheelchairs over the years. Uh. recently they've kind of brought it into. the modern age for you know issues that. kids face uh sadly more and more these. days. Um one character had food. insecurity and eventually homelessness. Yeah, that's Lily. Yeah. And uh another. whose father was in prison and then. another kid who was in foster care. because her mother is battling opioid. addiction. So they're I mean they've. never been afraid to bite off some. really really tough stuff that sadly.

kids have to deal with and they know. they have to deal with this stuff so. they're they're not backing away from. it. Yeah. One of the other things that. Sesame Street does when it introduces. like a a muppet like this um is shine a. light on on the fact that this is an. actual thing. Like they're not like what. obscure terrible situation can we find. and base a muppet on? Um, apparently in. the United States, 2.5 million children. are homeless at any given time. 2.61 million children have a father or a.

parent who's in prison, and another 1.4. million have a parent addicted to. opioids. So, it's not like these are. niche um topics that niche puppets are. are built on. These are real challenges. that a lot of little kids in the United. States face whether you consider it. tasteful or not. Yeah, for sure. Um, you. know, we mentioned that they put their. money where their mouth is as far as. continuing to do research and study. about, you know, its effect on kids and. potential outcomes. Uh, because that.

was, you know, that was the the mission. statement from the very beginning. So, they couldn't just be like, we're doing. a great job, so we're we're good. Um. they got into uh educational test uh the. educational testing service to do a. study um after just season 1 and they. sampled uh 943 kids from uh urban areas. and then one rural area. Uh and the kids. there were you know disadvantaged kids. in urban areas and rural areas. There. were Spanish-sp speakaking kids. There. were advantaged suburban kids in this.

study. And they found that kids really. did learn from the show and that the. more you watch the more they learned and. the more they knew which was pretty. great. Yeah, that was that was season. one, right? That with Yeah. So they went. back and said, "Let's figure out if this. worked." There was a 2013 study that. kind of recreated it intentionally or. otherwise, but rather than looking at. the United States, they took it on an. international scale. And it was a. metaanalysis of 24 studies that have. been conducted on the effects of Sesame.

Street. And all combined, this. metaanalysis looked at 10,000 children. in 15 different countries. So, it was a. pretty robust study. and they found the. same thing that um there were. significant positives associated with. kids watching Sesame Street and that. kids who watched more performed better. in school and that this effect carried. no matter the income level of the um. country low income middle income high. income country doesn't matter the.

effects were the same and it hit three. different outcomes cognitive outcomes. learning about the world and social. reasoning and uh basically it just. turned every single one of these 10,000. children into a superchild. Yeah. Um. there was one Well, which is why they. have the uh S on their chest, right? Super child. Uh another study. I thought. this one was pretty striking to me. because they could actually do a fairly. direct AB comparison. Um the American. Economic Journal uh for Melissa Kernney. and Philip Lavine did a study because.

they were like, "Hey, wait a minute. In. those early years, there were UHF. stations and VHF stations and some areas. had some and then uh you know a couple. of neighborhoods over another, you know, they might may not have the same access. So they could literally compare. districts and elementary schools and. outcomes with people who did not have. the show at all and people who had it. And they found that the show actually. did improve outcomes and that the. positive effect of the show was. particularly pronounced uh for boys and. black non-Hispanic children um and uh.

children who grew up in other counties. who uh had economic disadvantage. So it. it was literally helping in targeting. the kids that they were hoping to target. while also being good for everyone. overall. Yeah. And one specific outcome. I saw just for an example in that study. was that the kids who watched Sesame. Street were 14% more likely to be in an. age appropriate grade in middle school. or high school. So they hadn't been held. back or they were 14% likelier to have. not been held back than kids who didn't.

watch it. Yeah, it's pretty great. Yeah, it's statistically significant. Yeah, this is a pretty good quote, too. Uh, the New Republic, um, their quote is. that Sesame Street was offic essentially. the first MOAK, uh, massive oline open. course providing educational content to. viewers for free. Uh, and a 2015 white. paper uh, from the early childhood. education group said it's one of the. largest and least costly interventions. Yeah. And you might be like, well, New.

Republic is pretty liberal rag. Of. course, it likes Sesame Street. We found. a quote from the National Review, which. is conservative. And the National Review called Sesame. Street the one great thing accomplished. by LBJ's Great Society, which is a. hilarious quote. And that was in 2021. Just one thing, right? Hey, it's good. for Sesame Street, though. Yeah, that's. what I was saying. Everybody loves. Sesame Street. Uh, so I guess we'll. press on, Chuck, and plug into the rest.

of the world because like we said, shows. up in 150 to 170 countries and there's. at least 30 co-productions around the. world. And it turns out they're really. fun to read about and talk about. They. really are. Uh, because like you said, you know, depending on the country, um, they're going to tailor it for their. country and have characters that. reflect, uh, things kids might. recognize. So, if you go to uh Israel. and watch um Oscar the Grouch, you'll. see that Oscar is named uh. Mohaik. Pretty good name. It means.

Grouch in Hebrew. Yeah. But you probably. won't see Oscar the Grouch or Count von. Count um in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has. its own co-production called My Best. attempt is Bach E. Simpson. And um they have cultural. taboos against trash and vampireism. So. Oscar and the count don't really. translate to the Afghany version of. Sesame Street, the Sims, right? I wonder if that's the theme. Yeah, there's the Sesame in Arabic or.

Arabic like languages or Arabic related. languages. Simsum or Tsum Tsum has it. seems to be what sesame is. Yeah, I. think so. So if you ever run across a. trivia question that says, "What is. sesame in Arabic?" You better say sims. Yeah. S I M S I M if spelling counts. One word. Uh if you go to the UK and you. said Cookie Monster, they'd say uh I. think you mean biscuit monster, of course, because biscuits uh are. cookies over there. And if you go to.

Latin America, uh you might not see Big. Bird, but you might see uh Abel. Lardardo, who is Big Bird's cousin. It's. a giant parrot. Yeah. So, you've got like different. characters or the same characters with. different names or characters that just. don't show up. But there's also. characters that are just totally new. Um, and they kind of follow the original. Sesame Street's program of like, let's. include people who are stigmatized or. left out. And so the South African. version of Sesame Street, Talani. Yeah.

I don't know why I had trouble saying. that. Takalani. Sesame. Delicious. Um, yeah. Uh, they included a character. named Kami. Kami is based on the word. kamogello which means acceptance in some. south south African indigenous languages. like Zulu. And the reason they did that. is because Kami is a HIV positive orphan. of a a mother with AIDS. Yeah. Who died. And this is a muppet who is basically.

playing with other muppets to show. little kids that you don't have to be. fearful of having a friend who is HIV. positive. It's not dangerous to play. with them. And in South Africa that was very. controversial because a lot of people. have HIV in South Africa but it's still. very stigmatized. So of course Sesame. Street in South Africa was like let's. get Kami in there. They could probably. have an American version of that same. character or at least in the 80s they. could I read that there was a letter. written by a small panel of Congress.

people to PBS basically saying don't. even think about it. Oh boy. Uh since '98 there was a there's. been an Israeli um Palestinian. co-production which is super unique. obviously called uh Rekoff uh Sum. Oh. yeah. Or uh Shara's Simsum like you. said. Mhm. And this is uh pretty great. It's Israeli and Palestine Palestinian. kids um together and we uh they're from. separate streets but they get together.

and hang out and play and talk and when. they do uh the language, you know, either Hebrew or Arabic is translated in. subtitles into the other language and. they weren't just like, well, we'll just. pat ourselves on the back for this. They. were trying to accomplish something. So. they measured outcomes again and did. studies and they found that watching the. show made kids in that in that area more. likely to use positive terms to describe. kids on the other side of that conflict. Man, Sesame Street, we should just say. that after every every great thing we. talk about them doing. Yeah. And you.

know, actually there's a a quote that. kind of goes along with that. Um Andrew. S. uh Natios, who was uh who led uh. USAID under George W. Bush. He said the. Arabic language version of the show was. the quote biggest weapon against. al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism. Yeah, I I thought about that too. That. like you're using Sesame Street to. spread. essentially global good basic human. values in places where those are.

sometimes in short supply. You know, I. think that's cool. And then that that. one the Arabic version you just. mentioned, it's called Alan Simsum. They. use that in Syrian refugee camps because. little kids in Syrian refugee camps. schools were cancelled because the. government dropped chemical weapons on. their town, but they're still getting to. watch this Arabic version of Sesame. Street to make sure that they're not. left behind. Yeah. And you know, since. we're here, uh, before we break, we.

might as well mention that, uh, uh, the. Sesame Workshop is a nonprofit that. gets, um, part of their funding through. the US federal government through the US. aid program. And um just uh I think a. couple of months ago uh the current. administration announced that um. obviously USAD and by the way episode. coming up on that soon on that. organization um is being cut uh at the. at the behest of the uh Department of. Government Efficiency. So Sesame Street.

is going to lose um a lot of funding and. uh the current president said the Arabic. language version uh was part of hundreds. of billions of dollars of fraud. Um, but. the good news is, uh, is that, uh, it. accounts for only 4% of their total. funding. So hopefully it I mean they. were pretty much caught off guard and. are scrambling a bit, but hopefully that. it's not like the end of Sesame Street. No, I saw in real dollars about $5. million, but the problem is that's still. a significant like like they're.

operating at a deficit, so they. basically need every dollar they can. get. So it's still hitting them. 4% even. matters. Yeah. So, I think in March. 2025, they announced that they were. having to lay off employees, which is. not something that happens all the time. at Sesame Street, although I'm sure. they've tackled it plenty of times. Yeah, maybe there's an episode about it. Probably. Should we take a break? Uh, what I just want to throw out one more. We talked about the Afghany version of. Sesame Street in 2016. They uh featured.

they debuted a a girl Muppet named Zaryi. uh who goes to school wearing a hijab. Yeah, pretty great. Yep. Take that, Taliban. All right. Uh well, we're going. to take that second break and we're. going to wrap it up here uh right after. this. stuff you should know. [Music].

So, Chuck, before we broke, I was. talking about how Sesame Street probably. has um has tackled the episode of of um. being fired, parent being fired, right? And the reason why is because they have. a long history of tackling tough topics. that date back pretty far. I think in. 1982 that's usually where people trace. the the origin of Sesame Street just. taking on very adult themed episodes. that kids sometimes have to deal with.

headon with the death of Mr. Hooper who. ran Hooper's store. Yeah, I mean I have a hard time even. talking about this one. Uh it was in. 1982. Um actor Will Lee who played Mr. Hooper passed away in in IRL and they. were like, "Let's not replace him. Let's. use this as an opportunity to teach kids. about death and grief and uh Big Bird uh. they aired it on Thanksgiving so. parents, you know, were more likely to. be home." Uh they got together like. with, again, they weren't just like, "Hey, let's just have the white writers.

whip something up." They got together. with religious leaders and child. psychologists to kind of figure out the. best way to do this. And um they decided. on Big Bird uh kind of taking the the. lead in saying very sadly uh I I want to. give Mr. Hooper a picture that I drew. when he comes back. And that's when. they're like, "Big Bird, I've got some. bad news for you, my friend." Yeah. Gordon famously rolled his eyes. Yeah. He's not coming back. Uh death is. permanent. And it was a huge huge deal.

for not just Sesame Street, but just how. we talked to kids about this kind of. thing, you know. Yeah. Because it took. kids seriously as as you know, thinking, feeling individuals because they they t. they discussed replacing him with a new. Mr. Hooper and just pretending like it. wasn't a different actor or saying Mr. Hooper retired and he's not coming back, but he's retired, not dead. And they're. like, "No, let's let's use this. opportunity." It is really tearjerking. to watch. Yeah. Um, in 1985, another big.

lesson came along when, uh, as you know, if you haven't seen the show, Mr. Snuffleophagus is this sort of big I. don't even know what you call it. Kind. of a big long-haired monstery thing, but. it got it got a touch of woolly mammoth, I think. Yeah. Uh, but Big Bird um, Snuff Snuffalopagus was Big Bird's. imaginary friend. Um, and the adults. like couldn't see this imaginary friend. And in that episode, uh, he was seen by. the rest of the cast and they were like,

"Hey, maybe this can inspire, uh, kids. who are maybe child abuse victims that. you don't need to fear that adults won't. believe you if you reveal something to. them." And so, you know, they they. tackled it through Snuffelophagus, all. of a sudden becoming uh a real thing to. the adults on the show. Yeah. Because he. always had been real, but anytime Big. Bird tried to introduce him to people, he would just not be there for some. reason or another. So, he was real and. and when they apologized to him, I think. Bob the music teacher said, "We'll.

believe you whenever you tell us. something from now on, Big Bird." Um, like they really kind of drove it home. Beat the little kids over the head with. this. Uh, they also tackled 9/11. Uh, not in a in a direct way by like talking. about the Pentagon and the Twin Towers, but it was a show very clearly centered. around kids, you know, dealing with like. a big sort of shared tragedy and how. they might go about that. Mhm. Oh. Uh, let's see what else. Um, oh, what. another part of that, too, is there was.

a fire at Hooper store. They didn't show. the fire. It was just offscreen. They. mentioned it. They reference it. happening and some firefighters show up. to put it out. And Elmo is just freaked. out by this. So, the firefighters stop. and like comfort him and tell him it's. okay. And they help deal with that kind. of um I don't know. I think the the. message was listen to firefighters. because they're all right. Yeah. Great. message. kids love fire trucks anyway, so they're halfway there, right? Uh they. also dealt with um like uh kids who have.

parents in the military that are off at. war at one point. Uh they've had uh. episodes on hurricanes and like dealing. with a a natural disaster like that. And. they even dealt with the CO 19 pandemic. in 2020 because kids were at home. watching a lot of TV and you know their. parents were pretty stressed out. So. they had a special episode all about CO. Yeah. including when the vaccines came. out, Big Bird and I think everybody else. got vaccinated and Big Big Bird had a. band-aid on his wing. He said, "My wing. hurts a little bit, but other than that, I'm okay." Yeah. So, you mentioned the.

the problems with the funding. Uh it. started in the mid 80s. They had reports. that uh expenses were going to outpace. revenues perhaps. Um they do a lot of. licensing. I think about twothirds of. their revenue comes from uh licensing uh. licensing to like books and toys and. things. Mhm. Uh, the monster at the end. of this book is a classic children's. book with Grover as as the center. character. My favorite Grover book, one. of my favorite books growing up was. Grover and the Everything in the World. Museum. Did you ever read that one?

Uhuh. It might have been after your. time, but I love that book. The drawing. in there is so great and it's just it's. all Grover. Yeah. uh they've been. talking about um you know the the recent. cuts are one thing but they've been. talking about you know reducing funding. and have reduced funding somewhat over. the years uh for a long time though um I. believe uh 2015 they were operating at a. loss maybe for the first time and so HBO. stepped up and said hey you know what if. you give us a jump on PBS uh we'll pay.

you some pretty good money so they got. the episodes nine months before PBS but. uh in December of last year of 2024, uh. Warner Brothers Discovery said, "You. know what? We're not going to we're not. going to do that deal anymore. We can. license backup episodes still or we want. to still." Um but, uh the deal has. concluded. And I think that also put. them in a bit of a money bind. Yeah. So, I guess HBO Max agreed to take season 20. or six season 55, which is currently out.

now, but they're not taking season 56. and the Sesame Workshop's like, "Well, we're still going to make a season 56. Who who wants to buy new episodes, brand. new episodes of Sesame Street?" So, it's. up for uh up for auction right now. Uh I. didn't see any uh interested buyers, but. I mean, the idea of Sesame Street just. going away because no one's going to put. it on the air is mind-bogglingly sad to. me, and I just don't think it's going to. happen. A stuff you should know.

production. There you go. Do you have. money? Pull our money together. 100. million bucks or something. What would. that cost? I don't know. But I'll bet we. could get it out of Jerry. I I don't. know. I don't think it's going to be a. hundred million bucks because that's. like all of their operating costs for a. year. And I I mean, they get a lot of. their money from licensing toys and. pajamas and all that stuff. So when you. buy those things, you're actually. directly helping Sesame Street. That's. where I get my pajamas. Yeah. I'll bet. we could get it for 20 million right.

now. The problem is, Chuck, is we don't. have anywhere to show it. I think that's. a big obstacle we would have to overcome. as well. Oh, we could cut a deal. Okay. Well, God knows how much that's going to. cost us, but we can we'll figure it out. Uh maybe we should finish up with some. sort of uh random sort of factoids that. you might want to share with your. friends. Uh here's a pretty fun stat. Uh. the characters on Sesame Street are some. of the most recognizable in the world. Uh, and certainly in the US, uh, 75% of.

people under 55 told a Yuga poll that. they even have a favorite character. Do. you want to know the top 10 in order? Sure. Guess who's your favorite? We. never said who our favorites were. Uh, I don't remember. I I used to like. the count. Yeah, he was great. One, two, three. Oh, that's a good count. Um, Cookie Monster number one. Yeah, Elmo's. number two. Big Birds number three, which I guess makes sense. Grover number.

four. Grover is my favorite. The Count. Uh Mr. Stuffle up against Ernie. And. then Bert. And then Abby, which is a. newer um a newer character, I think. I'm. not sure when she came along. And then. the last one, number 10, is. other. My favorite. Mhm. So, the title, if you're wondering where that came. from, um it was uh from Alibaba and the. 40 Thieves, Open Sesame. Cooney is on.

record saying that that was probably the. least bad title, and we thought, you. know, Open Sesame, we felt like we were. opening children to knowledge and. education. So, it's kind of a kind of a. weird little origin, but it just I can't. think of it as anything else. Yeah. And. lucky for them, it translates pretty. well in Arabic. Tsum Tsum. What was the. What was the uh Mexican version called. that had a great name? Plaza Sesameo. I love that. Yeah, I do too. Can you. tell me how to get there, though? Well, that I'm glad you brought that up. I was. looking up stuff about the theme song.

It turns out there's not much. interesting about it other than it. debuted on the first episode and has. been, you know, toyed with or altered. here or there over the years, but it's. it's the same theme song in every. episode of Sesame Street. All 10 million. episodes. We got to shout out the. writers. Uh the music by Joe Raposo and. lyrics by Raposo and John Stone and. Bruce Hart. Nice. Pretty good. That was. nice of you. Uh and then uh did we talk. about Tickle Me Elmo? Well, no. We This.

is the third act reveal. Okay. So, we. talked about Elmo be suddenly becoming. very um famous. The reason why is. because in 1996, the Tickle Me Elmo doll. became like the must-have Christmas toy. And I know we've talked about it in one. of our Christmas episodes, but let's. just briefly mention it again. Yeah, I. mean, thank you, Rosie O'Donnell, for. this one. Uh, Tickle Me Elmo came on. Rosie O'Donnell and it was a big big. deal. Uh, this may have been a Black. Friday episode thing, too, because uh.

trying to buy those Elmos at the time. was a was a was a thing. Um, there were. there was stampeding. People went to the. hospital. Uh, there were um people. selling them on the black market for. like really high prices. Mhm. So Elmo. was a a overnight sensation like you. know 16 years after or I guess 12 years. after his debut. Yeah. 14 years. Damn. it. Also, Elmo is the only non-human to. testify before Congress. That's right. On behalf of music education in school.

Uh I got two more things. Um just want. to call out Julia, a four-year-old. muppet with autism who's been around. since 2017. And then apparently this. year, season 55, one of the big themes. that they're tackling are big feelings. and kids dealing with them. And they're. even debuting a new Muppet who's. teaching kids like breathing techniques. to calm themselves down. That's great. And then last thing I have is if you. want a little dose of nostalgia, go. watch the um full compilation of the.

pinball count songs. Remember those? No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. Wow, I don't. remember that. Uh, it came out in 76. So, yeah, you probably have moved on to. Electric Company by then. You're like, that's baby stuff. It's great. You. should watch it. The animation in it is. beautiful. Beautifully 70s. It's great. Yeah, I love it. Got anything else? Yeah. Uh, in 2005 there was a bit of a. stir because Cookie Monster um, you.

know, was known for just ravaging. cookies and stuffing them in his face. and crumbs flying everywhere. And that's. the beauty of Cookie Monster. But, uh, people were like, you know, maybe it's. not such a good idea to have a character. that's just binge eating sugar, right, and sweets and and treats. So, uh, they. use Cookie Monster as a impulse control. model for moderation. and a cookie. became a sometimes food from Cookie. Monster. And of course, people are going. to be like, "What? Are you kidding me? Is this going to be Veggie Monster next.

and there were letterw writing campaigns. and there was a petition and all this. stuff?" Uh, and Veggie Monster was never. going to be a thing. They were just I. guess they just filed those uh complaint. letters in the circular file and it's. like settle down everybody. I got one more I overlooked. Do you want. to hear it? Sure. This is arcane. But. Telly, remember Telly monster we talked. about? Yes, but no. Okay, so Telly has a. hamster named Chucky Sue. And he used to.

have a stuffed animal horse named Clark. Oh, how about that? Yeah. Pretty neat, huh? Yeah. Total coincidence, too. It. was from the 90s, both of them. Yeah. Just like that. Hinton just coming out. Yeah. Lots of Kermit. Kursmit. Uh, since. I said cursman, of course everybody, that means it's time for listener mail. Yeah, this is a little bit on libraries. from name redacted. Uh, hey guys, love. the many on alternative libraries. I'm a. member of the board at my local library.

and my wife is a school librarian. Uh, I. want to salute and celebrate our. librarians who are largely thought of as. uh old ladies with buns and cat eye. glasses, but they are actually on the. front lines of the fight for the First. Amendment in many ways. Uh, my local. library has a teen room whose librarian. is collecting the LGBTQ books discarded. by other libraries because of certain. bad actors. Uh, the librarian at the. high school I work has sent uh, red. cards telling our heavily immigrant. population what to say if ICE immigrants.

uh, show up at their door or stop them. on the way to school. And apparently his. wife, the librarian, has to really get. involved in reference searches these. days because of like, you know, book. banning and just getting rid of certain. educational proposals. So, uh, one of. her favorite t-shirts says, um, what is. more punk than the local library? So, thanks guys for all you do and keep it. up. And that is from Name Redacted. Thanks, Name Redacted. I know we talked. about that some in our band books.

episode. Yeah. Um, but yes, we can't say. it enough. God bless librarians for. making sure that people are educated as. we can be for free. That's right. Perfect fit for this uh episode, too. Yeah, I thought so, too. Uh well, if you. want to get in touch with us like name. redacted did, you can tell us your name. or not, doesn't matter. We'll clearly. protect you. Uh you can send it via. email, probably encrypted if you want to. stuffodcast@ iheartradio.com.

Stuff you should know is a production of. iheartradio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].