Forty years ago today, the first episode of Sesame Street hit the airwaves, revolutionizing the ways in which television could be used as an educational tool, particularly for young children. I was born in 1970, so I have never known a world without this show. It was always on in my house as my brothers and I grew up, and for anybody of my generation, all I have to do is mention any show character or sing a few bars of one of its trademark songs (the pinball counting song remains a fave) and I get instant recognition. It is one of those rare cultural phenomena that has educated countless children, remained relevant over the years and seems to have many more seasons ahead of it. As a fan and as a parent of kids who also grew up on Sesame Street, I’m pretty happy to see the show hit such a milestone.

The cast of Sesame Street for its 40th anniversary season. Photo Credit: Richard Termine

It hasn’t always been sure success for Sesame Street, however. In fact, its very conception, initial execution and ongoing criticism has been, in many ways, an ongoing experiment in intelligent risk-taking. For starters, the show was created at a time when people didn’t know if TV could even be used to educate, and it took some generous grants to research the premise, as well as some pretty forward-thinking corporate sponsorship to help get the entire project off the ground. During the show’s development, segements with the Muppets fared will with kids, but the live-action “street” segments did not, so the show’s creators decided to go against the advice of their experts and create street segments where live actors and Muppet characters interacted. A bold move for a show without any kind of precedent, really, but one that paid off. The show captured the imagination and the attention of its audience while also paving new ground in terms of television entertainment. True innovation at work.

But there have been other pitfalls, as well. In 1970, the show’s racially integrated cast got it banned from the airwaves (briefly) in Mississippi, its portrayal of female characters got it bad marks from the National Organization for Women, and its lack of Hispanic characters got it criticism from Latino groups. Critics such as journalist Kay Hymowitz have also rapped the show for being little more than a delivery mechanism for merchandising, and for putting on a lot of flashy programming with little educational content to back it up. The show has even gotten political flak through the decades, mainly because it receives government funding and conservatives knock the show for having a liberal bias. A recent spot where Oscar the Grouch, reporter for GNN, gets a call regarding POX News could not have helped.

Perhaps the show’s worst challenge has been obsolescence, and the greatest risk it took was reformatting to maintain its relevancy. Facing declining ratings in recent years, the show realized that it had kicked off a children’s programing revolution that changed how kids themselves watched TV. With so many shows that older kids could watch, and realizing that kids were watching the show from an early age, Sesame Street aimed its content at young pre-schoolers, a move roundly criticized by Gen-X parents who felt the show was being dumbed down. Things are still tougher for the show than before, as it is producing fewer new shows each year and currently ranks only as the 15th most popular children’s show in the United States.

But Sesame Street is still having the last laugh, longer-running by far than any other children’s programming, and with more Emmy awards (118) to its credit than any other show, period. At present, it is estimated that around 77 million Americans have watched the show, and even Oscar the Grouch is on permanent display in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. All this for a show that began so humbly four decades ago on the unproven notion that kids could actually get something worthwhile from TV, and that make-believe friends made out of colorful fur could be one’s ambassador to a world of reading, writing and arithmetic. Who says risks don’t pay off?