Sesame Street | Table for Five

March 12, 2009 By Elizabeth

How bad is the recession? Sesame Street Workshop is laying people off.

Something’s wrong with our hot water heater.Â I can guarantee we don’t have the money to buy a new one. Fingers crossed that it just needs a part replaced that we CAN afford.

Kaitlyn has developed a new and surprising skill. You read her a book once, then she takes it from you and starts back on the first page, “reading” it herself. Except, she gets most of the words right. Like, instant recall.

Who was voted off of American Idol last night? (WARNING: SPOILER)- Jasmine.Â It must suck to know that the judges didn’t think you had enough of a shot to use the new one-time veto on you.

Think you get weird emails? Jenny of The Bloggess posted a screenshot of her Gmail. (WARNING: foul language, but so freaking funny. Don’t read her blog? YOU SHOULD)

I think I’m going to make Weight Watchers Baked Mac and Cheese with Broccoli for dinner.Â What about you?

Last night’s episode of CSI: NY was really good. (WARNING: if you haven’t watched it yet, don’t read this!)Â The explosion at the beginning was awesome, and the ending was super-sweet and also, it’s ABOUT TIME.

My daughter is wrapping her Tropical Hello Kitty from Build a Bear in a giant piece of bubble wrap. I think she’s making some sort of statement.Â I mean, I once visited an Art museum where there was a whole wall devoted to these canvas squares that were all painted the same shade of red.Â If that’s art, then so is a stuffed animal wrapped in packing material!

I’m out of thoughts. What are yours?

‘Sesame Street’ designer Kermit Love passes away at age 91

June 26, 2008 By Elizabeth

Kermit Love-now if there was ever a name that belonged behind the scenes on Sesame Street, that would definitely be it. Although he swears that Jim Henson didn’t name his famous Muppet Kermit the Frog after him, Kermit Love did help Henson create costumes and puppets for Big Bird, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. Love even appeared on the show as Willy the hot dog vendor.

The first episode of Sesame Street premiered November 10, 1969, which means it has been on TV for my entire lifetime. Although episodes today are a little more modern than this, I found a YouTube video for the opening sequence from a show that aired in the 70s. See if this looks familiar:

One year into the run of Sesame Street, Big Bird puppeteer Carroll Spinney was worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep living in New York on the tiny salary he was earning from the show. Kermit Love advised him to give it one more month-the next month, Big Bird was on the cover of Time magazine and the show’s future was secure. Sesame Street went from a tiny Public TV show designed to teach preschoolers to read to a worldwide cultural phenomenon. The original series has been televised in 120 countries, and more than 30 international versions have been produced, not including dubbed versions. The series has received 109 Emmy Awards, more than any other television series.

The characters that Love helped create gave my generation characters that we think of as friends, and now our children are learning to read, spell, count, share, compromise, and explore the world around them by watching the show. Sesame Street is so fun to watch that kids don’t even realize they are learning!

Mr. Love, thank you for giving us an 8 foot tall bird with yellow feathers, his giant, brown, betrunked best friend, a green grouch in a can, and a blue monster who loves cookies. Rest in Peace.