5 Reasons We Love Sesame Street

Everybody has a street they grew up on, and for most of us there were two — the real one, and the one with a giant yellow bird and a grouch in a trash can. Here are five reasons Sesame Street, running since 1969, remains the best neighborhood ever built.

1. It respects kids' intelligence

Sesame Street never dumbed anything down — it broke big things into small, honest pieces. Letters, numbers, fairness, feelings: all delivered at eye level, never from above. Kids can tell the difference, which is why they trust the street completely.

2. The Muppets are perfect comic characters

Strip away the felt and you have a flawless ensemble: Cookie Monster is pure appetite, Oscar pure contrarianism, the Count pure enthusiasm (with arithmetic). Each character is one trait turned up to eleven — the same design rule behind every great sitcom cast.

Sesame Street is the only show where the reruns raised the parents watching them.

3. It never lied about hard things

When actor Will Lee died, the show let Big Bird learn that Mr. Hooper wasn't coming back — gently, honestly, with no magic fix. It remains one of television's bravest moments, in any genre, for any age.

4. The songs are permanent residents of your brain

You know the theme. You know the rubber-duck ode. You know which things are not like the others. The street's songwriters smuggled an entire curriculum into melodies that outlast everything — ask any adult who still counts in a Transylvanian accent.

5. It belongs to every generation at once

• Grandparents met Big Bird in 1969
• Parents grew up with Elmo's World
• Kids today stream the same street
• Everyone still gets the Cookie Monster urge at midnight

Move to the street

Our Sesame Street collection has the whole gang — officially licensed, printed to order in the USA, free US shipping and free 30-day returns.

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