Sesame Street

Sesame Street is an American children's television series that first aired in 1969. It was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, and it was built from the start around a teaching goal: helping young viewers get ready for school through entertainment they would actually want to watch.

The show is set on a city street where people of different ages and backgrounds live and work, and where puppet characters share the neighborhood with human residents. Its episodes work as a collection of short pieces rather than one continuous story. Live-action scenes, sketch comedy, animated segments and puppet performances sit side by side, with each piece usually centered on a letter, a number or a simple idea about getting along with others.

Over its long run the series has listed more than four thousand episodes. Kevin Clash, who performed Elmo and Hoots the Owl, is among the cast members named in its credits, alongside human performers such as Linda Bove, Sonia Manzano, Alan Muraoka, Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman and Emilio Delgado. The format has been adjusted many times to follow changes in what children are expected to learn and how they watch television.