Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street

Written by	Louise Gikow
Published	2009
Publisher	Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
ISBN	1579126383

40yearsbook-publisher

Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street is a 2009 book celebrating the 40th season of Sesame Street. The book tells the behind-the-scenes story of the show, and profiles the people and puppets who have created this cornerstone of children's television. The author, Louise Gikow, has written for Sesame Street and worked as Editorial Director and creative consultant at Jim Henson Productions.

A smaller abridged version of the book was included with the Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days DVD box set which was released on the same day.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Preface by Big Bird
• Preface by Oscar
• Foreword by Joan Ganz Cooney, Sesame Street Co-founder
• Foreword by Gary Knell, CEO, Sesame Workshop
• Chapter 1 - How to Get to Sesame Street: The Origins of the Show
  • Episode 4141 "On the Set"
  • How It All Began
  • The Dream Team
  • Rolleeolee-oleeyo! (Jon Stone)
  • How Sesame Street Got Its Name
• Chapter 2 - It's Not Easy Bein' Green: Muppets and Puppeteers, The First 10 Years
  • Episode 4151 "On the Set"
  • Heigh-Ho! Kermit the Frog Here!
  • Jim Henson
  • Frank Oz
  • Dynamic Duo (Ernie and Bert)
  • Caroll Spinney
  • Muppets in the Making
  • Jerry Nelson
  • Fran Brill
  • Richard Hunt
  • The First Ten Years
• Chapter 3 - The People in your Neighborhood: The Human Cast
  • Episode 4156 "On the Set"
  • On the Block
  • Will Lee
  • Bob McGrath
  • Dr. Loretta Long
  • Matt Robinson
  • Roscoe Orman
  • Sonia Manzano
  • Emilio Delgado
  • Here Comes the Bride
  • Northern Calloway
  • Linda Bove
  • Alison Bartlett-O'Reilly
  • Alan Muraoka
  • Chris Knowings and Nitya Vidyasagar
  • Comings and Goings
  • Family and Friends
• Chapter 4 - Somebody Come and Play: Muppets and Puppeteers, The Next Generation
  • Episode 4149 "On the Set"
  • New Kids on the Block
  • Brian Meehl
  • Martin P. Robinson
  • Kevin Clash
  • Evolution of Elmo
  • Pam Arciero
  • David Rudman
  • Colorful Characters
• Chapter 5 - Stick Out Your Hand and Say Hello: Celebrities and Kids Visit the Street
  • Episode 4135 "On the Set"
  • May I Have Your Autograph?
  • Arts and Letters
  • News Makers
  • Good Sports
  • Play It Again
  • See You on the Street
  • First Comes Love...
  • Star Turns
• Chatper 6 - Happy to Meet You: Muppets and Puppeteers, The New Kids
  • Episode 4149 "On the Set"
  • A New Generation
  • Joey Mazzarino
  • Carmen Osbahr
  • Stephanie D'Abruzzo
  • Steve Whitmire
  • Right Hand, Left Brain
  • Eric Jacobson
  • Matt Vogel
  • Leslie Carrara-Rudolph
  • Girls in the 'Hood
  • It's a Good Life
  • Goofs and Spoofs
• Chapter 7 - C is for Cookie (and Curriculum): The Lessons Behind the Laughter
  • Word on the Street
  • Bean Counting
  • What to Teach
  • Wild Things
  • Breaking New Ground
  • Minor Distractions
  • New Goals
  • Model Behavior
  • More Eyes on Screen
  • Meet the Need
  • New Ways to Teach
  • Using Our Noodles
  • Making Magic
• Chapter 8 - Imagine That!: Writers, Directors and Producers
  • Episode 4157 "On the Set"
  • The Write Stuff
  • The Process
  • Do The Write Thing
  • Good-bye Mr. Hooper
  • Take Forty
  • Let's Work Together
  • Writing for Yuks
  • Now I Know My ABCs
• Chapter 9 - Over, Under, Around & Through: The Art and Craft of a Puppet Show
  • Episode 4161 "On the Set"
  • A Side of Silly
  • Making Muppets
  • Performing Puppets
  • Stone's Street
  • Yesterday's 'Hood
  • Let's Move
  • Century 21
  • Props and Scenic
  • Building on Up
  • Reconstruction Era
• Chapter 10 - What's The Name of That Song?: Music, Composers, and Lyrics
  • Episode 4143 "On the Set"
  • Perfect Timing (Danny Epstein)
  • The Giant (Joe Raposo)
  • The Street Hits the Road
  • The Gentleman (Jeff Moss)
  • Show Me the Silly
  • Make Noise
  • Sing After Me
• Chapter 11 - I Believe in Little Things: Animation and Live-Action Films
  • Episodes – From Ladybugs to Fairies
  • Animated Faces
  • All That Jazz
  • Control Room
  • Mini Movies
  • Film Makers
• Chapter 12 - We Are All Earthlings: the Longest Street in the World
  • 6°09' South 106°49' East
  • Street to Strasse
  • The New World
  • Across the Pond
  • Small World
  • Global Reach
  • The Rim & Beyond
  • Pass It On
• Chapter 13 - Because We're Friends: Thriving as a Non-Profit
  • Episode 4141 "On the Set"
  • Play Things
  • Toy Timeline
  • Big Screen, Little Screen
• Chapter 14 - We'll Do It Together: Community Outreach
  • Special Episode "Talk, Listen, Connect"
  • Early Outreach
  • Road Trip
  • Prison Project
  • Reach Out
  • Just Ask
  • Now and Then
• Chapter 15 - See You Tomorrow: The Next 40 Years
• Index
• Brought to You By... Our Photographers
• Need to Read

Bonus DVD

The book includes a bonus DVD with the first episode and a timeline montage. The first episode is presented the same way as it was in Old School: Volume 1, complete with introduction by Bob.

The following clips are featured, most of which were in the same timeline which accompanied TV airings of The Street We Live On:

• 1969: Gordon shows Sally around Sesame Street (Episode 0001)/ Ernie sings Rubber Duckie
• 1970: The King of 8
• 1971: The Ladybug Picnic
• 1972: Herry Monster and John-John count to 20
• 1973: Bob and Maria, dressed as spies, sing "One of These Things"
• 1974: David and Olivia sing The "People in Your Neighborhood"
• 1975: Lily Tomlin sings and signs "Sing"
• 1976: Ernie plays doctor with Bert
• 1977: Madeline Kahn and Grover sing "Sing After Me"
• 1978: C-3PO sees Big Bird
• 1979: "Born to Add"
• 1980: Big Bird sings "Wheels on My Feet"
• 1981: Harry Belafonte sings "The Coconut Counting Man"
• 1982: Teeny Little Superguy
• 1983: Big Bird learns that Mr. Hooper is not coming back (Episode 1839)
• 1984: Maria and Luis sing "You Say Hola"
• 1985: The adults see Mr. Snuffleupagus for the first time ever (Episode 2096)
• 1986: "Put Down the Duckie"
• 1987: "African Alphabet Song"
• 1988: Kermit directs Forgetful Jones in a production of "Oklahoma"
• 1989: Alistair Cookie of Monsterpiece Theater introduction of "The King and I" with Grover as the king
• 1990: Luxo Jr.
• 1991: Oscar sings "I Love Trash" (remake)
• 1992: "That's the Letter O"
• 1993: William Wegman's dogs count
• 1994: Savion plays a rhyming game
• 1995: "Eating Cookie"
• 1996: A beluga whale shows Elmo love
• 1997: Tony Bennett sings "Slimey to the Moon"
• 1998: Patrick tells Grover that he is the best monster he has ever met
• 1999: "Furry Happy Monsters"
• 2000: "What is Friend?"
• 2001: Big Bird learns that a hurricane blew his nest down (Episode 3977)
• 2002: Elmo tells the fire fighters that he's not scared anymore (Episode 3981)
• 2003: Miles and the monsters sing the alphabet
• 2004: Nora Jones sings "Don't Know Y"
• 2005: The adventures of little Big Bird
• 2006: Abby Cadabby arrives on Sesame Street
• 2007: "Meal or No Meal"
• 2008: Feist sings "1,2,3,4"
• 2009: "Outdoors"

Errata

• Page 17 mistakes Fred the Wonder Horse for Buster the Horse.
• On page 41, the section on Cookie Monster's origins claims that he evolved from and was used interchangeably with Beautiful Day Monster. However, the two monsters were sometimes used together in the same scenes. It also incorrectly identifies an image of the early, fanged proto-Cookie Monster as the Beautiful Day Monster puppet "shown below in Jim's Oscar-nominated short Timepiece" (which, in reality, did not feature Muppets).
• Page 83 incorrectly states that Tom was on the show from 1977-1978. He was actually on the show for seasons 2 and 3 (1970-1972).
• On page 92, Sam the Robot is listed as one of Brian Meehl's characters. It was Jerry Nelson who performed Sam the Robot, as is accurately stated on Nelson's section on page 55. In fact, by the time Meehl began performing on Sesame Street, Sam was already a retired character.
• Also on page 92, it's said that Brian Meehl was on the show from 1979-1986. He actually left the show in 1984.
• Page 94 is a bit misleading in the casting history for Mr. Snuffleupagus. It mentions that Michael Earl performed the character for two years while Jerry Nelson continued performing the voice. While Michael Earl initially only performed the character, he eventually took over as the voice of Snuffy during his time as the character.
• Page 97 makes two incorrect claims. One mistake is that Mr. Snuffleupagus was originally envisioned as Big Bird's invisible friend, but he was never invisible (the cast merely thought he was Big Bird's imaginary friend). Also, it's said that in Episode 2096, the cast first saw Snuffy after a scene where they all agree to believe Big Bird, but in the scene leading to their first meeting with Snuffy, they all hesitate to go past Big Bird's doors when Big Bird yells his secret word.
• On page 102, it's said that a few years after auditioning for (and not getting) the part of Mr. Snuffleupagus, Pam Arciero was called back to audition when Brian Meehl was leaving the show, but the same page says she joined the show in 1982, and Brian Meehl left in 1984.
• Page 103 incorrectly states that David Rudman took over Richard Hunt's role as the the "horns-down half of the Two-Headed Monster". In actually, it was the horns-up half.
• Page 105 states that the Martians made their debut in 1974. But one sketch with the Martians, in which they encounter a telephone, premiered in the 1971-1972 season; The sketch is listed as a "Season 3 Classic Cut" in Old School: Volume 1.
• On page 122, the book talks about the birth of Gabriela, and then talks about the adoption of Miles, referring to Miles' adoption as "later." It's actually the other way around: Miles was adopted in a 1985 storyline, while Gabriela was born in a 1989 episode.
• At the bottom of page 130, Eric Jacobson's last name is misspelled "Jacobsen".
• Page 131 describes the wrong sketch when describing Steve Whitmire's first performance as Ernie. The sketch described is the one from season 13 where Ernie catches fish using a fish call (where Ernie was performed by Jim Henson). The actual sketch involved Ernie trying to help Bert catch fish.
• On page 147, it's said that "Miami Mice" is from season 21, but the earliest-known appearance of a "Miami Mice" sketch is a season 18 episode.
• On page 156, it claims that Maurice Sendak's short "Bumble Ardy" (included on Old School: Volume 2) featured monsters, when it actually featured pigs. The page includes a still of the pigs.
• On page 165, the 2001 hurricane episodes (episode 3976 through episode 3980) are incorrectly numbered as shows 3177 though 3180.
• On page 167, "Monster Clubhouse" is incorrectly referred to as "Muppet Clubhouse".
• On page 174, Tyler Bunch is listed as Tyler Bunche.
• On page 186, a photo caption incorrectly refers to Fred the Wonder Horse as Buster the Horse.
• On page 226, it says that Little Jerry and the Monotones came after Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats. However, the page implies that "Count it Higher", which is copyrighted 1973, was the first appearance of Little Chrissy's band. Little Jerry and the Monotones had been around since at least the second season in 1970; their song "Mad" is listed as such in Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days.
• Page 241 incorrectly refers to the "bread, milk, and butter" animation as being from season 8. However, the segment is included in Old School: Volume 1 and Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days, both of which list it as being from season 4.
• Page 254 incorrectly identifies Perezgil the snail from Barrio Sesamo, as a female character.
• Page 255's short description of Sesamstrasse states that it started in 1972. The show began production in 1972, but first aired in January of 1973.
• A photo caption on page 258 says that Nimnim is from Takalani Sesame in South Africa. In reality, however, Nimnim is from the Egyptian Alam Simsim.
• On page 272, the timeline entry for 1984 claims that Elmo and Telly Monster both debuted that year, when both had appeared before then. Telly Monster debuted in Season 10 (1979), while a season 12 press release listed Elmo as a new character (and the puppet had been used prior to that).
• On page 273, the timeline incorrectly states that the show celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1990. The 22nd season was broadcast that year.
• On page 275, Busch's parks partnership with Sesame Workshop is listed. A picture of Elmo kissing a sea lion is shown, taken at Sea World Australia. The two, however, are separate licenses, Sea World is not part of the chain now known as SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
• On page 276, it's said that "several television specials were produced, beginning with Christmas Eve on Sesame Street in 1978". However, that special was not the first Sesame Street television special. The first Sesame Street special produced was This Way to Sesame Street in 1969, followed by Julie on Sesame Street in 1972 and Out to Lunch in 1974.

Preview pages

See also

• Sesame Street: 40th Anniversary
• Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street (exhibit)

External links

Interviews

• ToughPigs.com interview with Louise Gikow about the making of the book

Reviews

• Muppet Central review