All language subtitles for Street.Gang.How.We.Got.to.Sesame.Street.2021-English

- Stand by. Here we go.
- Very quiet.

Five, four, three,
two, one, action.

Buenas noches, señor,

and welcome to
La Casa de Comidas.

I'm Grover, you're favorite
singing and dancing waiter.

We have four specials.

Número uno,
número dos...

Nu-num...

- Yes, uh?
- Ah!

- Okay. So let's do it.
- Let's do the...

On an average day, according
to the Nielsen ratings,

more than 12 million
American children

under six watch
what goes on in this room.

Okay. All set, guys?

Jon Stone was instrumental
in developing "Sesame Street."

He was its first producer,
still directs half the shows

and have you ever stopped
smiling

as you've worked on
all of the...

I wouldn't still be doing it
if it weren't fun.

I love it.

Please welcome the creator of
"The Muppets," Mr. Jim Henson.

I suppose when we first
did "Sesame Street"

that was the time where
the audience got to know us.

A turning point
in everybody's life,

you and "Sesame Street."

I was there too.

- Kermit.
- Sure. Sure. I was there.

What the original idea?

What were you trying
to accomplish in 1969?

The original idea
came from Joan Cooney,

who is the woman
behind the whole project.

There is no question,

the people who control

the system read

and the people who make it

in the system read.

Here is Joan Cooney,
who is showing us

what television
really could be.

I mean, what she is doing
is what television would do

if it loved people instead
of trying to sell to people,

and there is all the difference
in the world.

Oh, you're here.

Well, since you're here,

I might as well answer
a set of questions

which have been submitted to me
here at the old trash can.

What do you think makes
"Sesame Street"

so appealing to kids?

I didn't think they liked it.
I hate it myself.

Stand by.

- Okay.
- And it's on camera,

and action.

It's hard to talk about
"Sesame Street"

without talking
about Jon Stone.

I think Jon was probably,
in my view at least,

the most critical person
to the success of the show.

Come in and kind of look

at the phone
and wonder what it is.

He was a wonderful writer.

He was an amazing director.

And bring in the word
across the top.

Will do.

Tele...

Phone.

Telephone.

And he was really
the soul of the show.

Jon was the guy
who really created

the whole reality of it,

you know, the style
and the vision of the show.

So the two of you together,
when you get about here

I hear a bat going...

Whatever bats do, right?

Hey, don't worry, Count,
we'll help you.

Oh, we must look
everywhere, high, low...

You know, there were
a lot of shows

that really talked down
to kids

and he really didn't want that.

Jon Stone thought that
you could have a kid's show

where adults wouldn't run
for the door

as soon as it was on.

Well, I've worked
for over 25 years now

in television in New York City,

so I've seen a lot of studios
and a lot of shows.

And I've sat through
so many children's shows,

just terrible stuff.

Hot Ovaltine at breakfast

gives you the right start
in the morning.

They'd be selling toys
and cereals,

all that stuff.

You tell Mommy or Daddy

that you want Tootsie Rolls.

Tootsie Rolls!

And I hated it.

Our dad saw the world
in black and white,

and so there were good guys.

You were a good guy,

or you were a bad guy,
and the good guys,

he loved with all his heart,

and the bad guys,
there was no gray.

You know, he took things
so much to heart

and Dad came to activism

and feeling strongly
about the world

because of the era

that he was kind of becoming
an adult in.

The Vietnam War was going
full blast.

And the country
was very politicized.

Everybody was screaming
at everybody else,

and it was impossible

not to feel strongly
one way or another.

- Black power.
- Black power.

I think Dad wore the pain
of the world

in a way that
other people can let it go.

I had really quit
the business.

I thought I had done
about everything

I was gonna do in television.

And then he got this call

from a producer saying,
you know,

she would like to talk to him
about this children's program

that she was
starting to create.

Joan Cooney called me
and said she was trying

to put together a staff
to do a new children's show,

and would I be interested?

I said no, really, I didn't
want to do television anymore,

and she is a very charming
and persuasive lady.

I think what drew Dad in

really had to do
with her political vision,

and I think
when she started talking

about inner-city children

and the amount of time
that kids

are spending watching
bad television

with nothing to do

because their parents
are working,

that's what pulled him in.

I had been working
at Channel 13 in New York

producing documentaries,
and through that work

I had become absolutely
involved intellectually

and spiritually with
the civil rights movement.

I was not focused
on young children though.

That all goes back
to Lloyd Morrisett,

who really was the father
of "Sesame Street."

I was a psychologist
at the Carnegie Foundation,

and we were heavily influenced
by the national dialogue

on the gap that was
being created in schools.

There is a singular lack of
equal educational opportunity

in the United States
for negroes.

This is not
a racial difference

but a socioeconomic difference.

We found that those children

who had entered school
three months behind,

and by the end of first grade
be a year behind

and get further
and further behind.

And I wondered whether there
was a possibility

that television could be used
to help children with school,

but television
was not very popular

with the Carnegie staff.

Academics were not interested
in television.

They didn't have it
in their homes.

Danger, Will Robinson,
danger.

It was the boob tube.

And then one of my friends,
Joan, held a dinner party

and I knew Joan was
a television producer.

And so, we were just talking

and I said "Joan,
do you think television

could be used to teach
young children?"

- I knew the answer.
- I knew the answer right away.

Every child in America
was singing beer commercials.

Now where had they learned
beer commercials?

A lot of children in America

were walking into supermarkets

and identifying product.

By having seen Cheer
on the screen

or Wonder Bread, et cetera.

So to me it was where kids
just adored the medium,

and so why not see
if it could educate them?

So we hired Joan to do
a feasibility study.

Television is a reality
to young children,

maybe the reality,
and certainly

one of the most
interesting things to them

in their lives.

A child between the ages
of three and five

watches television

one half of his waking time.

The only thing that exceeds
television is sleep.

Joan had a brilliantly
simple notion.

Children were watching

a tremendous amount
of television.

If they're going to watch
that much television, why not,

one, find out what it is
they like to watch,

two, find out what would be
good for them to watch,

and then you put the two
together, and that's the show.

We were talking
about 130 hours

of television a year,

and so an initial budget
was put together.

A budget of $8 million.

It was a lot of money.

So the bulk
of the original budget

was provided through
the Office of Education,

the federal government.

Someone said it won't be
taken seriously

if a woman heads it,

but the problem is, they didn't
have a project without me.

Much of it was in my head,
which I pointed out to them.

And when "The New York Times"
reported on it,

they said she'll be one

of the most powerful women
in television.

I went to
Columbia University,

and I got a master's degree
in educational psychology,

and my professor told me that
there was a group of people

who were developing
a television program

for disadvantaged kids,

so I went in and I met
with Joan Cooney,

and she said, "You're hired."

And what she wanted to do

was get a group of television
writers and producers

and put them together
with educators.

This had never
been done before.

It was called the Children's
Television Workshop originally.

I think there were
about ten people

in the workshop
when I was hired.

Having educators

and professional
television writers

in the same room

working on the same show
was a very unique idea.

They told us that we had
to incorporate

all this education
into this new show.

I was convinced that
it would be impossible to do.

I had never written
anything like this before,

but nobody had ever written
anything like this before.

And all we had was this money

from the government
to do this thing,

but we had no format,
no title, no set, no nothing.

I think it was Jon Stone
who suggested

that we invite Jim Henson
to come to talk to us.

And here we are sitting
in a conference room,

and someone comes in
and sits in back

who is bearded with long hair,
you know, leather clothes.

And I remember whispering
to Dave Connell,

"How do we know
that man back there?

He looks like a hippie."

And he said "No, no,
that's Jim Henson."

So that was my first
experience with Jim.

And he was terrific.

Put out the fire.

"The Muppets" started
as a late-night program

on local television
that was, like,

kind of what we would consider
today

like, you know,
short-form comedy,

and it would just come on
quickly after the news,

primarily lip-synching
to records.

It was late-night comedy.

Yeah, that's right.

Punsmoke!

Are you ready? "The Muppets."

They did "The Tonight Show."

The very talented "Muppets."

Look at that.

All these adult
variety shows.

I've seen you
on television before.

The creator of "The Muppets,"
Mr. Jim Henson.

This is Jim Henson.

He's got a completely
different

kind of personality...

When I was a little kid,

if I told my friends
that my father was a puppeteer,

they would assume
that that was somebody

who did birthday parties
or church puppets.

You know, they mostly
felt sorry for us

when they heard
about the puppeteer parents.

My father was
a pretty quiet, shy person,

but he wanted to be hip,
he wanted to be cool,

and he wanted his whole
company, Muppets Inc.,

to have this
very cool reputation.

We're about to show you
the new specially designed.

Wilson's Meat Television
campaign.

You mean all those
crummy commercials

we knocked together?

And he would produce
these commercial campaigns

that were great.

You'll adore
Wilson's Certified Salami.

No, I don't fall
for that stuff.

You will.

Drop down to the store for some
Wilson's Certified Cold Cuts.

You'll be up a tree
if you don't.

They were these weird
sophisticated commercials

that were sort
of a little bit dark.

Are you getting on the
Wilkins Coffee bandwagon?

Never.

You either go with Wilkins,
or you just don't go.

People who don't drink
Wilkins Coffee

just blow up sometimes.

Oh, that's a lot of...

I should have saw this coming.

Ooh, that smart!

They were sort of
this beatnik-y,

kind of hip company, you know?

- Are we rolling?
- Yes.

It was almost a little
too cool for school, you know,

so that they really
didn't want to appear

like just a puppet company.

Because, frankly,
children's entertainment

wasn't what he had in mind.

Sound roll 22.

Jim Henson interview.

Most of our work was sort
of sophisticated,

and it had a slight black humor
kind of quality,

and our audience
was really college-aged,

And so this would be
the first time

we'd ever worked
for children really.

But when I first heard
about it from Jon,

I loved the idea of it,

the whole idea
of taking commercial techniques

and applying them
to a show for kids.

We're planning to treat them
essentially the same way

a commercial enterprise
would create a campaign.

We're trying to sell the
alphabet to preschool children.

We talked to all sorts of
college professors, educators,

parents,
authors like Maurice Sendak,

and we tried very hard to
assimilate all this knowledge

into children's programming
that could be entertaining

and content-filled
at the same time.

Here's one half
of my chicken-salad sandwich.

Where's the other half?
It's gone.

Egad, the hunt's afoot.

Show me the clues.

- It was very exciting.
- Who are you?

Sherlock Hemlock, the world's
greatest detective.

This was an experiment,
you know?

We would try new things.

The letter J.

Two boys are sitting
there talking,

and kind of casually
one of the boy says,

"What's happening, man?"

The other boy says, "I don't
know, it looks like fishhook."

And at that point we will
animate the J into a fishhook.

Let's create something
that's never been done before.

- I don't know.
- What's that?

It looks like a fishhook.

It's not a fishhook.

- It's a J.
- We would show video to kids.

- It looks delicious.
- What is it you want to know?

What happened to the other
half of my sandwich?

And we developed something
called the distractor.

It was basically
a slide projector

that would show slides
and make a clicking sound.

If what they were
watching on television

wasn't really
holding their attention,

they would look
at the slide projector

for a longer period of time.

We studied their reactions,
and we quizzed them,

talked to them,

found out what they retained,
what they didn't retain.

Would you like to hear a
story about the letter J, boys?

I think it's
a very good idea,

but the words here
are very difficult, you know?

We're not arguing for
a more didactic turnout?

- No.
- So much as saying

that this
is a difficult entertainment.

Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Egad. That's it. I remember.

I ate the other half
of your sandwich.

How clever of me
to figure it out.

- Why, gosh, Mr. Hemlock.
- Thanks a lot.

If you hadn't found
all those clues,

I never would have known

what happened
to that half of my sandwich.

Very good.

Television is such
a huge influence on children.

There's family or the church
or the school and television.

And as an industry,
we don't generally face up

to that responsibility,

and I was delighted to be
doing that sort of thing.

Oh, excuse me.

My name is Rowlf,
and this is my friend, Kermit.

- Hiya.
- And I know a lot about this.

Children's Television
Workshop show

because us Muppets are
gonna be on it every day.

- Oh, yeah. Says who?
- What do you mean, "Says who?"

- Says everybody.
- Yeah!

Well, if I'm going
to get involved,

I want to know a little more
about it,

like,
what are those guys doing?

Well, you see, we haven't
settled on a title

for the show yet,
so the guys are working on it.

- All right. All right, then.
- All right.

How's about we call it
"The Little Kiddie Show"?

Maybe the "Nitty-Gritty
Little Kiddie Show."

Hey,

these kids can't read
or write,

can they?

No.

Then how's about
we call the show.

"Hey, Stupid"?

"Hey, Stupid"?

Oh, what am I going to do,
Kermit?

You really think you're going
to get this show on the air?

Our target audience
were inner-city children,

and the bull's-eye
of the target audience

were inner-city
Black children.

But the traditional
children's show setting

was always like
a cute little tree house

or a club in the backyard

or something fairyland
and fanciful,

and so we had struggled
with the idea of the setting,

the home base for this
for a long time,

and it came into focus for me

when I saw a commercial
for the Urban Coalition.

Send your kid to the ghetto
for the summer.

We got all kind
of facilities here.

Want to see the pool?
Come on.

And it was shot on location
in Harlem,

out on the sidewalk.

Open up a hydrant,
jump right in.

At least one pool
on every block.

I'm standing near
home plate right now.

Two sewers down is a homer.

It's not Shea Stadium,
but it's exciting.

And as soon as I saw it,

I knew exactly
where we ought to be on this.

I wanted to capture
that New York energy

because to the three-year-olds

cooped up in the room
upstairs,

the action is on the street.

I remember John said
in an interview,

Joan turned several
shades of pale.

It did seem odd to me
to have an inner city street.

I didn't know how it would
play with suburban parents,

but I so trusted his judgment,
so I said, "Go ahead. Try it."

I wanted a realistic set.

Something that would feel like

it's a real street,
kind of a real neighborhood.

Where's this show
going to take place?

On a street,
on the front steps of a house.

- On a street? Hey, Rowlf?
- Hmm?

Why don't you call your show
"Sesame Street"?

- What... what was that?
- "Sesame Street,"

you know, like "Open Sesame."
It kind of gives the idea

of a street
where neat stuff happens.

- Kermit, why you're a genius.
- Mwah!

Yuck.

"Sesame Street."

I was working
here and there,

and then one day,
my boss called me up and said,

"Next week,
here's your schedule.

You're going to 81st Street.

You're going to shoot this show
we just got," and he says,

"I'm sending a whole crew
down there. We start Monday."

So I go down there
and my camera was camera one,

front of the store,
Mr. Hooper's Store.

And then we started shooting
"Sesame Street."

Initially, when my dad had
the idea of "Sesame Street"

and having it be like
a real neighborhood,

it was going to be
just humans on the street.

And it's on camera, action.

And then the Muppets
would be separate pieces.

So the Muppets
weren't actually going to

be connected with the street,
they were going to be separate.

And then they started
to run the show

with the test audiences

and there was
absolutely no way

the street could compete
with the Muppets.

All the kids wanted
were the Muppets,

the street was boring,
in comparison.

And that's when they decided
to blend the two

and "Sesame Street" became.

New York City neighborhood
that happens

to have an 8-foot tall
yellow bird walking around.

- Hi, Big Bird.
- Hey, Big Bird.

- Hi, Susan.
- You know what?

So we're shooting the show,
and you see this ugly bird.

Good morning, Mr. Sooper.

Uh, Big Bird, Hooper,
say Hooper.

- And the first year...
- Hooper.

Big Bird wasn't that good
looking, you know?

I remember thinking, "Who's
going to watch this shit?"

Public television
in those days

was largely on UHF channels.

You really had to work
with the set and move

the antenna around and so on
to get a clear picture.

So, many people thought
that we would not register

a Nielsen number,

that we would have
too small an audience.

Evelyn Davis led
the community outreach work.

We weren't so worried
about reaching

middle-class children,

but we really, really wanted to
reach inner-city kids, badly.

It was hardly worth doing
if we didn't reach them.

We hope that every child
in the country watches it,

but we do make
a particular effort

to be sure that children
from minority communities

and low-income communities
watch the program.

So Evelyn worked to try
to reach every parent,

caretaker,
YMCA, YWCA,

churches,
schools, daycare centers,

any place we could find
where we could say,

"This show is coming."

We had done a lot of work
to get the information out.

But obviously we were on pins
and needles

before it went on the air.

There never has been before
a nationwide TV program

designed especially to help
prepare young children

for school.

This week, there will be.

When it went on the air,

the phone started
ringing off the wall.

No one had ever seen
anything like it.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

And there was an immense
interest in the show.

A new children's program

will make use
of the commercial technique

to acquaint the youngsters
with the alphabet.

The program is called
"Sesame Street,"

and here is a message from one
of its sponsors, the letter X.

This is an X.

Even upside down,
it's still an X.

- This is near.
- "Sesame Street"

will be seen on more
than 180 educational stations.

This is far!

The mysterious nose-snatcher.

No, I don't think so.

Two!

The mysterious nose-snatcher.

- I remember when it came out.
- I was in college,

and I walked into
the student union

and there on the screen
was a very young,

very bold James Earl Jones
reciting the alphabet. "A!"

A, B, C.

You know, he's so deliberate
and the letters

were flashing over his head,
and I thought,

"What is this weird thing
on television?"

E.

I thought it was a show
that taught lip-reading

because he was being
so deliberate.

It was so odd.

- Wanda had a pet weasel.
- I'm a weasel.

Then they cut
to an animation.

It was something wild, I think
"Wanda the Witch" or...

Wanda the Witch lived

somewhere west of Washington.

And then
very slick singing...

One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine...

About the number 10.

Seven, eight, nine, ten!

And college students
were watching it.

It was such a weird
groundbreaking television show.

"Sesame Street," a unique
experimental series.

It's the first educational
television show

to compete with commercial
programs for its audience.

- Excuse me, sir.
- What?

What is your job
in the neighborhood?

- You're kidding me.
- No, really, what's your job?

- An elephant trainer.
- Look at me. I'm driving a bus.

Working on "Sesame Street,"

it was just a dream come true
to fall into this job.

In your neighborhood.

Open wide, please.

- Don't talk to the driver.
- Oh, there goes my bus!

"Tooth-thirty."

And the first year we toured

some of the major cities
in the country.

And I remember Matt Robinson,
who was the first Gordon.

Do all of you watch
"Sesame Street"?

Yeah!

Do all of you?

He went out and sort of
warmed the audience up.

He came back and said
"Geez, this is like Woodstock."

I said, "Hi."

One, two, three.

The most talked-about series
of the '69 season

has been out on the road
checking up on its audience

and has found nothing
but love.

These kids know Susan,
Gordon, Bob,

Mr. Hooper and Big Bird

as well as their parents know
about Bob Dylan

or Frank Sinatra.

It was a madhouse,
so we got a feeling

that the show was working.

That was our first real
connection with the audience.

Considering
the adulation that

the "Sesame Street" players
received from the younger set,

it was enough to make
a TV newsman

want to change his image.

One, two, three.

A, B, C and...

And I was stunned at
the overwhelming support

for what we were doing.

It was like a swish
of a hurricane

coming in through a window.

It was as if the world
had been waiting for this.

I think "Sesame Street"
is the greatest thing

that ever happened
in television.

- Oh, yes, aren't they great?
- You know?

I'd advise three years old
start watching "Sesame Street."

I'd set up and watch it.
You really can learn.

It's cute the way
they put them things together,

and my little daughter
watches it,

and she's getting so smart.
She knows everything about it.

What's your feeling about
what it does so well?

Well, I think the public
was really ready

for change in television,

and we hit that,
the crest of that wave,

and children needed
what we're providing.

Now for the award
for children's programming.

Let's see who the winner is:

Jon Stone, Ray Sipherd,
Dan Wilcox, Bruce Hart...

It was just one miracle
after another.

Thank you.

- Hey. Come on over.
- Glad you could make it.

This is a swinging sunny day
on Sesame Street.

"Sesame Street" was just
so big, and it was so popular.

You know, back then,
you say your dad is Gordon

on "Sesame Street,"

you know what I mean,
that's a big deal,

right, really big deal

because he was so well-known
in this world of children.

- Hi.
- Hi.

- We looked in the TV.
- It still wasn't registering.

Like, how'd he get in that box?

How did he get in the box?

You know,
what's he doing there,

and how come he's not stopping
everything to say hi to us?

Sally, you've never seen
a street like Sesame Street.

Everything happens here.
You're going to love it.

Yeah, and who's that little
girl whose hand he's holding?

That's another problem.

Who is that little girl?

- Oh, boy.
- She's my age.

Oh, boy.

And why is
he holding her hand?

- Breathe deeply.
- You're going to get through it.

- Gordon!
- I want you to meet Gordon.

- Oh, all right. All right.
- Gordon!

Somebody say,
"Mixed neighborhood"?

Oh, yeah. How you doing?

- It's nice to see you.
- Okay.

Before he was on
"Sesame Street,"

Matt was basically
the Black Johnny Carson

in Philadelphia.

- This is "Black Book."
- I'm Matt Robinson,

and we're going to continue
right after this.

"Black Book."

That's how he began
his television career.

- "Angelitos negros"...
- But that show...

Is Spanish for Black angels.

Was all about Black,

and it made him
just a little more serious

about what the struggle
was all about.

Those were
revolutionary times.

And then Matt
comes home one night

and says he'd been contacted by
Children's Television Workshop,

and they wanted him
as a writer.

And then they wanted him
to be on camera.

He was going to be interacting
with people and Muppets.

But where does Mr. Black
fit into this kiddie show?

They sold him on what
this show could become,

something revolutionary.

- Hey, Gordon! Come on over!
- Yeah. Got my whole gang here.

- Groovy.
- Give me something, Odetta.

We felt we could demonstrate
things very subtlety

that were really important.

- 13.
- 13.

- 14!
- 14.

So, of course, there was
the cognitive stuff,

numbers, letters,
all those things,

but equally important,
maybe even more important,

was the fact that Sesame
was a neighborhood

where people of all races,
kids and adults and monsters...

- Hi, Mr. Looper.
- What you doing?

- Hooper, Hooper.
- Hooper.

Live together.

I love that ice-cream store.

Sing it in the evening.

"Sesame Street"
is into its second season,

what has been the impact
of the special things

that you've done,
the integrated cast,

as you've seen it?

It really speaks for itself
on the air.

We've never beaten that horse
to death by talking about it.

We simply show it.

This million-dollar
public television facility

located in the affluent
white suburbs of Jackson

is broadcasting
five hours a day,

mostly film and tape programs
produced in the North.

But "Sesame Street"
is not on the air.

Some who saw it
apparently disliked the number

of Black performers.

Mrs. Cooney,
what is your reaction?

There's no question

that we're integrated,

and we reflect to some degree

inner city, I would say,

Black inner city life,

and we're very proud of that.

I mean,
if that's our worst sin,

I'm happy to be a sinner.

Is there anything about
"Sesame Street"

which would make it not fit

the needs of people
in Mississippi?

"Sesame Street" was considered
along with the other ones.

For instance,
"Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"

uses puppets
in a different way.

It's a quiet program.

- Give me some help here.
- Tell me, "Sesame Street,"

it is integrated
racially, isn't it?

Yes.

Do you think that had
anything to do

with the tabling,
if that's what we can call it

accurately,
of "Sesame Street"

for the fact
that it heavily integrated

that there is a Black father
figure in the program?

That's an extremely difficult
question for me to answer.

If the people want it,
they'll let us know.

If they don't,
they'll let us know.

Okay. Jimmy, do you like
"Sesame Street"?

I like it quite a bit.

Do you like it better
than other programs,

or is there something else
you like better?

I like that the best.

What do you learn there?

ABCs.

Mississippi is one
of the poorest states.

Many children, Black
and white, never see a book

until they start first grade.

We're making an attempt
to persuade

the Educational Television
Commission

to consider
carrying this program...

A man that was running
a commercial station in Jackson

put it on.

If it is not scheduled,

then our station and others
in the state

are making plans to do so.

Good?

Rolling.

So while the politicians
continue to squabble

over "Sesame Street"...

Quiet!

Thousands of
Mississippi schoolchildren

are watching the program
on commercial stations

whether the officials
who control educational TV

here like it or not.

Eventually Mississippi
Public TV

put it back on the air.

Which shows you that all this
maybe made a difference.

Okay. Anytime.

I just want you to repeat
after me each time, okay?

- Okay.
- All right.

Here we go.
I am.

- I am.
- Somebody.

- Somebody.
- I am.

- I am.
- Somebody.

- Somebody.
- I may be young.

- I may be young.
- But I am.

- But I am.
- Somebody.

- Somebody.
- I may be small.

- I may be small.
- But I am.

- But I am.
- Somebody.

- Somebody.
- I can change the world.

I can change
the world.

- I am.
- I am.

- I am!
- I am.

- I am.
- I am.

- Somebody.
- Somebody.

We are beautiful.

We are beautiful.

Beautiful children
will grow up.

Beautiful children
will grow up.

And make
the whole world beautiful.

And make
the whole world beautiful.

- Right on.
- Right on.

And mark it.

What? What is it?

What are those?

Well, these are questions,
Bert,

questions that
we're supposed to answer.

You ready, ready to answer
a question, Bert?

Yeah. Why do we have
to answer questions?

I don't know.

I was given this paper
that has questions on it,

and it says,
"Answer these questions."

- Okay.
- So listen to this.

- Okay.
- Are you two best friends?

Why, yes. We're good buddies
until he starts something.

- That's true.
- Me and my old buddy, Bert,

we are close friends,
Bert and I.

- We are.
- We're the best of friends.

- Yes.
- What was that?

What was what?

- You just...
- Your hand went like that.

- Oh, I...
- See. That's what I mean.

We're good friends
until he starts something.

I didn't start anything,
Bert.

- Yeah.
- Didn't start anything.

Okay. Next question,
do you all ever argue?

Jim Henson, Frank Oz
are super puppeteers,

and the Muppets
are unquestionably

the stars of the show,

and Bert's
my all-time favorite.

What are some advantages
of having a roommate?

I suppose the main advantage
is if you wanted

to mess up the place,
you wouldn't have to do it

because your roommate
always does it.

Frank throws himself
into the characters

so thoroughly that you just...

You believe Bert as much as if
he were Sir Laurence Olivier.

Are we finished?

Yeah, that's
the last question.

- Okay.
- Matter of fact,

there's nothing
written on this anyhow.

I made those up, Bert.

You what?

You're supposed to go...

Laurel and Hardy,
Abbott and Costello,

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis,
these are just comedy teams,

and Jim and Frank
were a comedy team.

We've worked together as
a pair for 12, 13 years now.

- Too long.
- Too long.

We dislike each other
tensely,

which is why we can work
so well together.

There's kind of a little bit
of love/hate there.

And you two really don't

agree with each other
on anything.

- Oh, on some things, yes.
- Oh.

- Not on all things.
- No.

- Well, not on many things.
- Or was.

Two things.

They weren't even what
I would call best friends

away from the set.

You know,
Jim had five children,

and Frank was single

and, you know,
completely different lives.

Bert, why don't you
loan him your scarf?

Be nice of you if you
pulled the scarf.

But there was
incredible chemistry.

Maybe you'd loan
him your scarf.

Ernie.

Honestly, to be on the set
watching this dynamic

between this two guys,
it was magic.

Hi, Bert.

Ernie.

What a drive.

Before I became a puppeteer,

I was an unemployed actress
in New York.

There was an ad in Backstage

saying that Jim Henson was
looking to train puppeteers.

The guys had been
doing female characters,

and it was hysterical

because they were doing them
in falsetto.

- Sky.
- It's not?

No, that's Wanda the Witch.

And I think they started
feeling a little pressure

about how they should hire
a real female

to do these characters.

I mean, I'd never played
with a puppet in my life,

but it was better than
modeling bras at Lady Marlene,

which was one of my other jobs.

Stand by, rehearsal.

Okay and theme.

So the whole idea is to make
this piece of felt and fuzz

react and move

and look like a person,
like a real thing.

And it's so, so hard to do.

Not only are you keeping
the character alive,

but you are looking at
a monitor that's on the floor.

All right, hold on.

Because that's how you see
what you're doing.

You're not watching the camera.
You're looking down here,

so it's multitasking
like you wouldn't believe.

Okay. Then we'll...

Using
the television monitor,

you can perform

and see your performance
exactly as the audience does.

Right, Bert? Bert?

This is unique
in the performance field.

I mean, no other actor
can ever see their performance

at the same time
they're doing it.

Bert? He's sleeping.

Well, I don't mind
if he's sleeping.

As we're performing,
we're also framing the shots

in such a way that it feels

like these things
are totally dimensional.

Now where is he this time?

He knew
he was supposed to be here.

Roosevelt Franklin.
Roosevelt Franklin.

- Roosevelt Franklin is whom...
- Is who... who is he?

He is a Black Muppet created

by the man who plays
Gordon, Matt Robinson.

Roosevelt
was very specific.

Roosevelt was a Black kid.

He was a Black kid
in a classroom telling you

that learning was cool,
and if you weren't down

with that,
couldn't hang out with him.

Yeah, 'cause you wanted...

Everyone wanted to hang
with Roosevelt Franklin

because he had the flavor,
you know.

I don't know what's wrong
with everybody,

but when I come in,
I want some action.

Action?

I think Matt created
Roosevelt Franklin

because he was tired
of pretending

that everybody
blended in together.

He loved the message
of "Sesame Street,"

but he wanted
children of color

to be recognized
as children of color

because in real life

those children knew
they were different.

They knew they were brown,
so why couldn't they be brown?

Why couldn't their difference
be recognized?

You are free when you are
walking and talking,

and tell everybody I am great
when the sun comes up.

Yeah!

I am great when
the sun go down.

- All right, Roosevelt!
- Sun up.

- Yeah!
- Sun down.

Yeah!

Nobody's ever going to
put me down.

All right, Roosevelt!

But there were a lot
of Black parents

that really complained
to "Sesame Street"

that they didn't like
Roosevelt.

Letter-writing campaign,
they went after him.

Yeah, yeah, they did
go after Roosevelt.

They did not want to be
reminded of this character

who sang in dialect
and talked Black.

Uh-oh. Check out, Roosevelt.

- Something must be up.
- Yeah.

And then Roosevelt
disappeared.

He just disappeared.

For Matt, Roosevelt Franklin
represented truth.

He knew they meant well,

but it was the beginning
of the end for him.

And then he left
"Sesame Street."

Morning.

Hi, morning, Zoe.
How are you?

- Oh, hey, Gordon.
- Hey, Bob.

- Hey. How you doing?
- How you doing?

Hey, that was a great time
at your place last night.

Yeah, wasn't it?

I took over
the role of Gordon,

and working on the show
was wonderful.

It had that sense of, you know,

both serious intent and joy.

- Yes.
- Hi, Forgetful.

- Oh, hi, Bertram.
- Gordon.

- Gordon?
- Gordon.

Oh, yeah, Bertram is
your wife's name.

- No, no, no.
- Her name is Susan.

Spontaneity and fun
and zany.

No. No. Yeah,
Susan, of course.

And it always respected
the children.

Children were never talked
down to on "Sesame Street."

- Hey. You know something?
- I'm tired now.

I think I'm going to go
on a coffee break.

Will you do me a favor?

Answer the teléfono for me?

And if they don't speak
English,

you know.

It was very difficult
at that time

to find meaningful work

as Latino actors, you know?

I don't remember ever reading
for any kind

of a positive character.

The only roles that
I could find

were gang members
or drug addicts.

I realized I had gotten
a role on television

that was a role
of a Latino, Mexican-American,

who was like a regular person.

- Hey, Mack.
- Luis.

- You got a mango?
- Have I got a mango?

He was part
of the neighborhood.

He had his own business.

- Maria.
- What is it?

I got to go out
for a few minutes.

It was a role that
hadn't been shown before.

It was Jon Stone
who cast me as Maria.

Hello, Fix-it Shop.

And I think he was looking
for someone

who was unpolished and raw,

and, boy,
was I unpolished and raw.

You can't take a pretty
picture with a shiny nose.

I remember one day
I was all made up,

and Jon grabbed me off the set

and dragged me
into the makeup room,

and he says
to the makeup artist,

"I go through all the trouble
of hiring a real person,

and you make her up
to look like a Kewpie doll?"

And I saw it
as a political show

because of the diversity of
the cast that was unheard of

and because we would have
seminars with activists,

and they would say,
"You people are doing this,

and you're not showing us
like we really are,"

and La Leche League, you know,

"Why aren't you showing
nursing on 'Sesame Street'?"

- What you doing, Buffy?
- I'm feeding the baby.

See, he's drinking milk
from my breast.

It was fantastic,

and we would,
you know, cultivate that.

When you're growing up
and you don't see yourself

in the media,

then you get the feeling
that you don't exist, see,

and that's when you start
feeling that you're not part

of this society,
of this culture.

Television has so much power
of doing that.

I had a great deal
of influence

in the creation of Maria.

And Jon let me know that
by rehearsing a script with me

and then saying, "Would you
really talk like that?"

And I'd say, "Well, no,
actually I'd say it like this."

Of course, the writer
is pulling his hair out but...

- Do I carry the letter?
- You don't have to.

No, she will carry it.

Say, Big Bird, somebody wants
to take your picture.

Oh, boy.

Well, which side, my left side
or my right side?

You're it. Tag.

Big Bird could walk on

without a puppeteer
being seen,

and that's because I'm inside.

And the puppet would be lowered
down over me

and I'd go in
through the bottom

and put my hand up in the head
and operate the head like that.

Oh, well, then where
will I live?

Oh, don't worry about that.

You'll have a house
all your own.

Here's a lovely...

His head was very elaborate.

The thumb was in the bottom
part of the beak.

When they say, "Action,"
I come alive.

And there were all kinds
of little gears inside his eyes

that I could move
with my little finger.

That's the only finger
I could spare.

You silly door,
right in my way. Hmm.

Originally, Big Bird
was supposed to be kind of

a big dumb, goofy guy.

Big Bird, Bird.

So I think it was about
a month or two in,

I said, "You know,

"I don't think I should be
playing him as a goofy guy.

"He has so much more depth.
He's a very complex character.

"I think I should play him
as a child who's just learning,

and he doesn't know
a lot of things yet."

Oh, I didn't do my share,
and that wasn't fair.

We needed a peer
for the audience.

- I've got a great idea.
- I could take all the toys out

and then put them
back in again, and that way...

No, no, Big Bird.

A character
that was young enough

to make the same mistakes

and have the same problems

that a four-year-old
would have.

- I think you're right.
- Yeah.

Yay!

And no one else could play
Big Bird, I don't think,

certainly not the way Caroll
plays it.

He is Big Bird.

This is Mr. Caroll Spinney.

Do you have any trouble

separating your personality
from Big Bird?

- I...
- One of the things

we've played up
or I've played up with the bird

is that he's very insecure
because I think actually

a lot of children
will have this problem.

I know I never will lose it,
I'm afraid,

and so I use my insecurities
to understand the bird,

but Oscar has
no such insecurities at all.

The further you stay away
from my can, the better.

Keep moving there.

- Over here, Oscar?
- Yeah. Just keep walking,

Bright Eyes.

I also play Oscar the Grouch.

Do I get paid?

- Well, no. I get the money.
- You bastard.

With Big Bird
and Oscar the Grouch,

I think Carroll Spinney saved
a lot of money in therapy

by being able to play those
two disparate characters.

- You know I hate you?
- I do.

You've told me that before.

Well, I have to tell
somebody.

He says things
as Oscar

that he would never
say as himself.

Oh, yes. Any changes I'd like
to see on the show?

Yeah, well, we don't really
have very much sex.

Stand by. Okay.

Caroll, give him
a little dialogue.

Yes, here's
a little dialogue.

Your mother wears
Army boots.

Dad felt very strongly
that kids need to see

that not everybody is nice,

and not everybody is easy,
and this is how you deal

with the grouch
who's in your neighborhood.

Hey, Bob. What is this?

I think Oscar is really
going to do it this time.

Oscar is really going to do...

Yep, you guys have guessed
right.

I'm moving away forever.

Oscar is the dark side
of everybody.

No ifs, ands or buts, fellas.

Nothing you can say
will change my mind.

He's what children
are constantly told

they must not do. Don't say
that.

It's bad. Don't do that.
Don't talk back.

Too much noise and playing
and kids

- and too much laughing...
- Come on, man.

- Come on now.
- And too much everything

that bothers me.

Oscar the Grouch was created

very much to show that

even somebody with a completely
different point of view

than yours
could be your friend.

- Why do you like rain, Oscar?
- Oh, the rain is beautiful.

I'll tell you.

The rain is so nice.
It's all wet and soggy.

Joe Raposo was hired
to do the music for "Sesame."

He did all the arranging,

and he had so much heart
and so much knowledge.

Sing a song.

Sing out loud.

Joe Raposo I call
the music man.

He was the music man,
you know, in every respect.

This guy was like a Muppet
himself, you know?

His personality
was just so big that

when he walked into a room,

you couldn't not notice
Joe Raposo.

Don't ask me what makes me
write these things.

I don't...

Oh, boy.

And through!

I did it.

And of course, you know,
his talent was just so amazing

that he could come up
with all of these songs.

It was like somebody
was working on the show,

and they had an idea
for something, say,

"We need a song
about something here,"

and he'd go off and, like,
five minutes later come back

and show them the music
for a new song.

It was 1970 in the middle
of the first taping season

that Jon Stone came to me,

and he said, "You know,
we got this character,

this Kermit the Frog,"
and Jon said to me,

"What does Kermit think about
when he's alone?

Does he ever have
a quiet moment?

What would you think
about doing a song

that's quiet for him?"

I was at my desk,

and I was thinking
about the frog

and about the swamp
and the log.

And what his life
was like alone,

and what did he actually
think of himself?

And, I mean, like a shot,
I mean, without thinking twice,

I put my hands down
on a B-flat chord.

This whole song
just unfolded by itself.

"It's Not Easy Being Green"
with Kermit the Frog.

So many things
in this one song.

I mean,
this was a profound song.

And I remember thinking,

"Are they singing about what
I think they're singing about?"

Of course, they were
singing about race,

but they were also singing
about being down in the dumps

because you're
a little green frog.

Some kids just thought it was
about a little green puppet

and other kids thought about,
"Maybe it was something else."

My father's belief

that children
should never be spoken down

to specifically
in the world of music

made the music as sophisticated
as he could.

P.

Q.

The American musical scene

is a fantastic smorgasbord
of fabulous styles.

If you're familiar with them,

you take, "Hey, kids.
Here's an olive."

"Hey, kids. Here's
a piece of pastrami.

"Hey, kids.
Here's some black-eyed peas.

Hey, kids."

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Really mean, huh?

Yeah! Right on.

And every once in a while,

"How about a
little fillet mignon?"

Are you kidding? Wow!

So my father and a few
other people were tasked

with creating
all of the music for the show,

so you're talking about 100
or more episodes each season.

That's a lot of music
to produce.

They would make it
every week for the show.

Stand by.

This is a direct cue.
Quiet, please!

The production sessions,
they would go into 3:00

in the morning,
4:00 in the morning.

And I would sleep there.

My father would be stuck
in the session.

My mother would
have gone home,

and he would say,
"Oh, I'll bring the kids home

when we're done."

He never went home.

My father didn't even have
an apartment

in New York City or anything.

And he would go to work
and come back four days later,

that sort of thing,

and I just thought,
"Well, that's what fathers do."

There were no hours
to the day.

We worked from morning
deep into the night.

No one ever kept track of when
we were going to have lunch,

when we were going
to have dinner.

It was getting the show up.

How do you manage a life
like that?

It seems unreasonable to me,
but that was what they did.

And Jon Stone rode herd
over that group better

than anybody
could have possibly.

Now he would say that
he had three children.

He had Polly. He had Kate,
and he had "Sesame Street,"

and that he felt really
passionate about all of us,

but as his daughters,

you know, we could grow up
and be anything,

and he would support us
and celebrate us,

but "Sesame Street"
had to maintain an integrity,

and I think he felt the weight
of holding onto that

and being responsible for it.

All right. Okay.

Three and two,
you want to come to the front.

What we mostly saw was
the funny side of our dad,

the entertainer.

But Dad had a dark side,
dealt with depression,

and he felt hurt
when things didn't go his way.

- Stand by!
- Take two.

Say, "Big Bird!"

Somebody wants to take your...

- Not that camera.
- Where do you want cameras?

Frankie, you're not
on a five.

Okay, I need to do it?
Chopped.

I don't know
if he wanted love,

but he was a very sensitive,
difficult man.

You know, I never had
deep conversations with Jon

about his feelings
about things.

He held his feelings
close to his chest,

but for some reason,

publicly he was never given
the credit that he deserved.

He certainly wanted credit
for the things

he had accomplished
on the show,

but it was very hard to get
the press

trained on anyone but me,

so it was awkward at times.

Jon did not have much taste
for bureaucracy.

He was an iconoclast in a way.

I mean, if there was anything
nonsensical about the way

the workshop was being run,

he would try to express it
on the show or off.

A funny little story that
tells you a lot about him,

when "Sesame" started,

we had one of
those little signs

where you put little
white letters into grooves,

and it said
Children's Television Workshop.

Every morning
when Jon came in,

he would change that

to Children's
Television Porkshow.

Just by changing
the P and the W.

He was just irreverent.

Technical term. We like
to call it "waiting around."

My dad was very close
with Jon Stone and Joe Raposo.

I think he loved the energy
of them and the boldness

of what they were trying to do,
and he got caught up in that,

and it was very inspiring
for him.

- Take one, rolling.
- One, two, three, four!

- Fat.
- Fat.

Fat.

- Fat.
- Cat.

- Cat.
- Cat.

I remember Jim Henson,
Frank Oz

doing a puppet bit,
everybody hysterical.

Jim Henson saying,
"What are we teaching?"

Jon Stone saying, "Happiness."

"That's the ticket.
That's the joy."

Oh, yeah!

Oh, fat, cat, sat, hat,
and that's that!

Scat!

One thing that I will credit
Joan Ganz Cooney with

was that she let these guys
do what they could do.

They had ideas and concepts
and behaviors

that were just off-the-wall,

and they were allowed
to do it,

and that's what people loved.

They felt the lunacy on the
screen, the contained madness.

- Train rhyme with rain!
- Me win cookie.

So these wildly
creative people

were allowed to just try stuff.

It was chaos,
but it was the chaos of people

dedicated to a real ideal.

Believing something
could be done

and having the will to do it,

and it was the most exciting
period of our lives.

Those first years
of "Sesame Street,"

it was just shocking
how much they did.

I think it's overstimulating.

I think it's kind of staggering
to a young child's brain

to have that much excitement
and noise,

sound and all kinds of figures
bombarded at them really.

- I want cookie. I want cookie!
- Give me cookie.

Oh, oh, the cookie!
Oh, thank you. Oh!

Noony, noony, noo, noo,
noony, noony, noo. Mm-mmm.

P. P!

Pencil!

I had very little experience
as a writer,

and I had no job.

I was basically
just writing jokes,

and I was watching TV,
and I saw "Sesame Street."

And, matter of fact,
there it is!

They've got Mr. Humpty Dumpty
back together again.

For all the egg lovers
of the country, I want you

to know it's very nice
to have you back.

Uh. Uh, horses?

I was... wow, that's great.

It was funny.

Ooh. Yeah.

And it was
the only other show

besides "The Tonight Show"
in New York

that really had comedy writers
working for them,

and I didn't think
I had a chance in hell

at getting a job
at "The Johnny Carson Show."

You can forget
that immediately.

And I needed a job.

But "Sesame Street"
has a curriculum,

so everything that was written
taught something.

And the idea that it was more
than just telling jokes

appealed to me.
It had to be entertaining,

and it was going to teach
at the same time,

and that's hard to do.

And I think, you know,

she may have
a personal sensitivity to it

because that's the first time
I've heard that particular one.

The writers didn't always
understand educational terms.

So we came up with this big
tome, the Writers' Notebook.

It has all the rules
of the show tabbed

that the writers could
thumb through

to help them understand

how to translate educational
terms into production terms.

And it was helpful
to the educators

because they could communicate
with the writers

in a nonthreatening way.

So instead of saying,
you know,

"cognitive development
learning letters,"

what you said is,
"After watching the segment,

the child should be able
to identify..."

- Frog.
- "The letter Y,"

for example.

What's the first letter
in the word "yellow"?

Y.

Because I can't remember.

When the curriculum and the
entertainment worked together,

you know, it was like magic!

- Action!
- Come, my lovelies!

Breathe deeply.

Enjoy the fresh air,

When I came up
with the Count,

I was talking with Sharon.

I said, "I have this idea
for Count von Count,"

and she said,
"Well, enumeration,

that's what you're teaching."

Well, what is enumeration?

- Did you say seven?
- Yes.

I think there's
only six, Count.

That's funny. I had seven
when I left the castle.

I will count them.

One, one beautiful bat.
Two terrific bats. Three...

When you count, one, two,
three, four, five,

you're just counting,
but if you count fingers,

it's one,
two, three, four, five.

When you get to the fifth,
you know you have five fingers.

Five fingers.

That's enumeration,
all right?

One ring! Two, two rings.
Three, three rings!

Is that mine?
Oh, it must be mine.

I think what amazes me
most looking back at "Sesame"

is that there was an
underlying humor in everything.

Ah, listen, Jack. If you want
to work in a world-famous

nursery rhyme,
you got to do it right.

I mean,
we were all comedy freaks,

and all of us
loved parody, satire.

Now jump over means
you jump up into the air,

and you leap,
and you sail gracefully

over the candlestick,

and you land on the other side.

And we would try to appeal
to adults as well as to kids.

He did it! He did it, folks.

Jack jumped
over the candlestick.

Ooh, yeah. Jack also broke
every bone in his body, frog.

Oh, I'm sorry about that.

Yeah, I'm going to sue
Mother Goose for that.

That's some heavy action.

Boy, these nursery rhymes
get weirder all the time.

Weird.

We found out that if adults

watched the show with kids,

that the kids
really learned more.

Now three plus
one equals four!

Three plus one equals four?

Yes, always.

The conversation that
the adult had with the child

while the show was on the air
and after the show

was on the air
really enhanced the learning,

so there was a real conscious
effort to attract adults.

I am the Count!

They call me the Count
because I love to count things!

- Wonderful!
- Well, I am Guy Smiley.

They call me Guy Smiley

because I changed my name
from Bernie Liederkranz.

Yes, thank you.

Yes, I did.
I did.

So things like
"Monsterpiece Theater,"

the parody element
wasn't for the kids.

They didn't have to know
"Masterpiece Theater."

"Monsterpiece Theater"
is a funny thing anyway.

Good evening, and welcome
to "Monsterpiece Theater."

Me Alistair Cookie.
Tonight, me proud to present.

"One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.

Cuckoo?

We wrote something that
we knew we would like.

I think that was the key,
and the show

would not have worked
if that weren't the case.

One of Chris' incredible
talents is his ability

to write a song

that sounds like the original
but isn't the original.

I think I remember
how to do it.

I might start
in the wrong key, but.

That was a $5 million
lawsuit.

It was all of us having
the time of our lives

writing silly things
but always with this message

that television
could be socially valuable.

Yeah.

Big Bird, that's me.

Well, I just drew pictures
of all of my grown-up friends

on "Sesame Street."

- Look at me!
- That's you, Luis.

Yeah.

- I know that's got to be me.
- There's Susan.

- Yeah, that's...
- You're always smiling, Susan.

- How's that?
- That looks great.

- Does that look like you?
- That's good.

And this is Mr. Hooper,
who was played by Will Lee.

He was our grandfather figure,
such a kindly man.

He was always so sweet.

And he died in 1982.

- Take two!
- We had lost a friend.

He was part of our family.

- It was a huge, huge loss.
- Can I see Mr. Hooper?

- You want to see the store?
- Okay, come on in.

Yeah. I still miss him. Yeah.

So we had a decision to make.

We had to describe
his absence

from the show
or explain it,

and believe me, everybody said,

"Let's just say he retired
and went to Florida."

But people said,
"Well, maybe it's...

That would be
a missed opportunity."

If we've been trying to be
truthful all along,

why should we
shortchange kids now?

Jon, you know, when they
speak our language...

We talked for a while about
how to deal with his death,

and we decided, "Well, we'd
really like to have his death

"used in a educational way

that might help children
deal with that."

And so the question
was asked

of our research department,

"What do three-to
five-year-olds need to know

about death?"

So it came down to some very,
very simple things.

They need to know that
when somebody dies,

they don't come back.

And that whatever
you're feeling is okay.

You can be angry.
You can be sad.

You know,
it can be all of them.

Whatever you feel is fine.

TV is make-believe,
but life is real.

In real life, Will Lee died,

and tomorrow
on "Sesame Street,"

Mr. Hooper will die too.

When I wrote the scene,

I didn't want it
to be that it just happened.

It seemed that
that would be too jarring.

I thought it was better
if Big Bird

just hasn't processed it.

You know, they might have
told him that he died,

but he didn't know
what "died" meant,

and now he's just going
to first find out.

And last but not least

- ta-da!
- Oh, look at that one.

Big Bird, that's
so beautiful.

That's nice.

- It really looks like him.
- Yeah, you captured him.

Wow, that's beautiful,
Big Bird.

Oh, thank you.

Well, I can't wait
until he sees it!

Say, where is he?
I want to give it to him.

I know. He's in the store.

Big Bird, he's... he's not
in there.

Oh, then where is he?

We carefully
and thoroughly researched

what children's normal
reactions to a death are,

and we tried to deal
with those in the form

of Big Bird's reaction
to Mr. Hooper's death.

Big Bird, don't you remember
we told you?

Mr. Hooper died. He's dead.

Oh, yeah. I remember.

Well, I'll give it to him
when he comes back.

Big Bird, Mr. Hooper
is not coming back.

- It's hard to watch.
- It was a difficult show to do.

Big Bird, when people die,
they don't come back.

- Ever?
- No, never.

It was about
the fictional person

and the real person.

They were going to be talking
about Mr. Hooper,

but as human beings,

they were going to be talking
about their friend Will.

- But I don't like it.
- It makes me sad.

We all feel sad, Big Bird.

- He's never coming back?
- Never.

- No.
- Well, I don't understand!

Why does it have
to be this way?

Give me one good reason.

Big Bird,

it has to be
this way because.

Just because?

Just because.

You know, I'm going
to miss you, Mr. Looper.

That's Hooper,
Big Bird, Hooper.

Those are real tears,
you know.

There was no acting.

Right.

In five,
four, three, two, one!

I wonder if I got
any mail yet today.

Oh, there's something.

Where the hell did it go?

One of the great things
about being part of "Sesame"

was seeing what happened
when a take went wrong.

- I have paint on my nose?
- Yes, right!

- There, is that better?
- No!

You're permanently
scarred for life.

The puppeteers would
just keep going,

and they would do
all the things

that we could never
possibly do on television.

- Oh, say, frog.
- What?

Have you ever wondered
what it would be like to be...

Gladys?

Oh, thank goodness
she died.

Jim Henson, Frank Oz,

they were really professional.

You know,
if they were serious,

and Jim maybe had to go
somewhere to get out,

then it was serious, you know?

But if they were
on kidding around...

- Oh, hello there!
- Greetings, froggy, baby...

- You had a good day.
- They were hysterical.

Go away, Grover.

Whatever it is,
we do not want any.

- Open, please.
- What?

- Please, did you open?
- Open the damn door!

You... I.

You know, it's too bad
you couldn't come to the park

and play with me today, Bert.

Mmm. Yeah, me too, Ernie,

but I had a lot of stuff
to do around here, you know.

- Hey, Bert.
- Mmm?

You said, "Me too."

That didn't follow
what I said, Bert.

I'm sorry.

I thought maybe
somebody could...

a friend could save it.

Jim and I, we are
unrelenting in our cruelty

towards each other because
you can't see our faces,

but if one of us screws up,
instead of pinching in to help,

the other just
kind of smiles at him.

- Night, Ernie.
- Me too, Bert.

- Oh, that's cute.
- Oh, that's funny.

Lost 17 seconds
of our life just then.

We were all so silly
together.

- We added tats.
- That's Tuesday.

And the most wonderful thing
was to hear Jim Henson laugh,

let alone make him laugh.
That was, like, fantastic.

Wait a minute,
that's last Tuesday.

- No, tats. I said we had tats.
- I said tats.

I thought that was weird.

- We added tats last...
- Oh, Your Majesty.

It's been so hard.

How many lines do you have?

- Let me see.
- Um...

Well, the first one...

- Let me see. Well...
- Three.

Three. Well, try to get
the first one better!

Yes, Your Majesty.

Jim was such a genius
in terms of, you know,

how to create the imagery
with the puppets

and make it all kind of work,
you know, in a magical way.

I mean, it was like
these were real people.

Hey, listen, we thought
we would talk to you

a little bit about the concept
of being next to. You see?

Now then, right there you see
Charla is next to Frannie.

The kids accepted them
as being real.

What is that over here?

- Arrow.
- A what?

Arrow.

An arrow?

Those one-on-one bits
with the Muppets.

Let's hear you
sing the alphabet.

A, B, C, D, E, F,
Cookie Monster.

It wasn't rehearsed, and it
wasn't professional children

with professional smiles.
It was a pretty low-key,

fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants...

I mean, that was part
of the charm of it

was that everybody was real.

You're not singing
the alphabet.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H,
I, J, K, I, M, N,

- O, P, Q, R, S...
- Cookie Monster!

I go this way.

- That way!
- That way?

Yes.

But the arrow was pointing
the other way!

- No, that way.
- Okay, it's pointing that way.

I'll go that way.

- This way.
- That way.

Frank Oz is sitting there
with Grover,

and you have a little child,

and the child is interacting
with Grover.

Oh, hello, Polly.

Frank Oz doesn't exist
for that child.

- It's nice to see you.
- It's Grover.

- Polly?
- What?

- Can you count up to five?
- Yes.

Can you tell me how?

One hand, just hold up
one hand.

Now count how many fingers
there are on that hand.

- One, two, three, four, five.
- Boy, are you lucky!

Five fingers.

My famous moment
with Grover.

You know, this superstar
on television.

It was a wonderful way
to grow up where, you know,

I had all these friends
that were blue and fuzzy.

Polly, I am so proud of you.

They were close together,
you see?

So they are next to each other.

Now, Kermit the Frog
is next to Charla.

- I know that.
- Oh. Thank you.

That's lovely.

It's that way.

What happened, arrow?

Now I've sung.

Next time,
Cookie Monster is...

Next time Cookie Monster
can do it with you.

I'm leaving.

- I love you.
- I love you too.

Thanks.

I remember once where
a lawyer said to me,

"I often negotiate
with Henson,"

and I said, "Give him
anything he wants."

And the lawyer said,

"Oh, that's the worst attitude
I ever saw from any client."

I said, "He is precious to me."

Tell me, Joan,
did you ever think

when you started this show
20 years ago

that we would be sitting here
now talking about it?

Jim, I didn't think
you'd be here.

Oh, really?

I would have thought you
would have flown the coop.

Oh, I see.

What's interesting about it
from the viewpoint...

Well, from both
of our viewpoints

is it's sort a form
of immortality

because if you think about it,
Ernie will live forever.

We've now built
this huge library

of fabulous "Muppet" pieces

as well as other kinds
of things so that...

Does this mean I can
really stop doing Ernie?

No, it doesn't, but it means
that 200 years from now,

people will look...

Be looking at Bert and Ernie
and Kermit the Frog.

It's interesting.

- Yeah. Frank...
- I was talking with Frank Oz.

You know, he and I imagined
when we're in our 80s

doing Ernie and Bert,

you know, in rocking chairs
and still doing it.

- Oh, I hope so.
- I can imagine that.

I may not there with you.

For millions of people,
a little of the magic is gone.

Jim Henson, the man
who created The Muppets,

the man who made complex
characters out of cloth,

has died at the age of only 53.

- My name is Jon Stone.
- I'm a writer and director.

I don't remember exactly
how Jim and I met.

I know it was 1963 or '64,
but from the moment we met,

we were never very far apart.

That happened
to a lot of people.

More and more of us

joined Jim's
extended family over the years.

All the designers and builders
and writers and puppeteers,

one by one,
all of us heard the unhearable,

and my phone rang all that day
and that night

and all the next day.
The calls were from you.

Each of you hurting so much
and knowing

that I must be hurting
that much too.

So you called just to see
if I was all right.

It is no accident
that you loving, talented,

caring people wound up
in Jim Henson's family.

I loved Jim very much,
and I love you very much too.

That song was a point
of departure for the series

and for me.

The song addresses
that one thing that's

at the kernel of our being.

We're not sure what we are
or what we can be.

We know there's potential,

and the realization
to accept ourselves.

To know that we can become
something

that we perhaps never dreamed
we could be...

That's what
"Sesame Street" is about.

- Stand by.
- Okay.

Switching over.

P.

- R.
- No, no, no, no, no.

- P.
- No!

But if you say the name first
and then the sound shot.

Wait, we're teaching
something here?

Yeah!

The happiest time
of his life

were those early years
in "Sesame Street"

when Dad suddenly had
this family around him.

That was all he could
ever have wished for.

You know, he battled
depression

for a good part of his life,

but on set with the Muppets
he was so happy.

- All right. Quiet please.
- Here we go.

Cookie Monster?

- Hmm, what?
- That's just so disgusting.

Sorry, Jon.

Don't worry, Jon,
keep rolling.

- So sorry, Jon.
- Sorry, Jon.

I bet Jon would like to do
those shots one more time!

- Of course...
- Please don't hurt me.

Don't yell at me, Jonny.
Please! Fade to black!

"Sesame Street" truly
was the love of his life,

and that's the thing that he
stuck with longer than anybody,

right up until the end.

There must be something
to life besides big balloons

and little balloons.
I like little sized balloons.

Years ago I tried
to persuade Joan Cooney

to do a special entitled
"Backstage at Sesame Street"

because I wanted to capture
the family aura

that we had in the studio
and still have,

but we never did the show.
Maybe we're doing it now.

It was a family, is a family,

and really all of us
loved each other,

and it shows in the work.

The most amazing part of
"Sesame Street"

was how everybody was
in the right place

at the right time,

and that's the thing
that made the show.

Thinking about in the very
beginning of the show

and all of the people
that worked on it.

It's hard for me
to talk about it.

It's very emotional.

It can't be reproduced.

It's still to this day is
very difficult for me

to wrap my mind around

how big this thing is,
how big it became.

I don't know that there is
a show

that is as universally loved
from childhood

through adulthood
as "Sesame Street" is.

"Sesame Street" wanted to
give kids tools

to create the world
they wanted to live in.

You know, in the beginning,

we thought
we were helping education,

maybe changing
children's television,

but I don't think any of us
sat there thinking,

"Oh, my God.
We're changing the world."

There was just
a magic moment in time

where we all worked
on an idea

that we understood
was bigger than ourselves.

It was an amazing experience.

This is why
it's still loved.

The people who do it love it.

They're genuine,
and they believed in

what they're doing,

and from the very beginning,

the joy that those guys
put into the show,

the joy that they all felt...

It shows on every frame
of the show

throughout its history.

Wind.

"Sesame Street" is immortal.

- Shake your head.
- Shake your head.

Shake your head.

- Oh, boy, is this fun!
- Shake your head.

Shake your head.
Shake your head.

Is it... aren't you glad
you're playing, everybody?

All right!

All right!

You didn't hear
a word I said.

Yeah!

Oh, gee, Hoots, you know

I really love my duckie.
I can't bear to part with him.

Oh, you don't have
to lose your duck.

Gee, Hoots, you know
I really love my duckie.

I can't part with him.

Well, you don't have
to lose your duck.

You can pick it up
when you're finished.

- I can?
- Yeah!

Oh, wow!

Put down the duckie.

Put down the duckie.

Can I pick up my duckie?

- By all means!
- Oh, thank you.

Oh, duckie,
I missed you so much.

Yes, me too.

Take care, Ernie, my man!

Well, I want you to know
how truly unpleasant

it has been having
to talk to you.

So I'm going to leave now
so ta-ta.

Oh, that sounded as though
I might have cared too.

How about scram,
get out of here,

and I can't stand you?

Ow, why don't you watch that?