At the end of this season, Sesame Street will have taped an astonishing 3,850 episodes. When the show first opened its doors on November 10, 1969, its future was uncertain. To give you an idea of how old this show is, when Sesame Street premiered, Sally Field, a future Oscar winner, was flying around in a winged headdress and CBS' venerable 60 Minutes was barely a year old. Conceived by Joan Ganz Cooney, who began Children's Television Workshop in 1966, Sesame Street is the non-profit organization's longest running creation. It also paved the way for other educational children's programs. In fact, before Sesame Street, no one even realized that one of television's possible functions was teaching. With its fast pace, unparalleled wit, and Jim Henson's animated Muppets, Sesame Street was an instant winner, reaching many inner-city children that needed Sesame Street's teaching of the alphabet, numbers, and life lessons. Now, thirty years and 71 Emmy awards later, Sesame Street is an institution. It has provided not only memories, nostalgia, and family bonding, but a sort of mythology - with characters like Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, and Elmo - that only the Disney universe can match in the American culture.
Me and the Street
I have loved Sesame Street since I was a little boy. No other show has affected me as much. In fact, when I was applying for college, my essay talked about how this program altered the way I live my life.
This year I've been able to intern with Sesame Street and it has been a dream
come true. I've been working in Post-Production for the show and enjoyed watching lots of the bits that I remember from my childhood. I've been over to the studio and seen the puppeteers in action. I've met Grover and Elmo and Big Bird (Frank Oz, Kevin Clash & Carroll Spinney). This is a picture of Carroll from the early eighties when the Sesame Street gang went to film in Puerto Rico. Notice the Kermit the Frog T-shirt! Carroll has got to be one of the nicest people I have ever met. It's so refreshing to work in an environment with people who care about their audience and who have fun in the process.
Me and Grover
I had only been interning with Sesame Street for a month, when I found out that Frank Oz was going to be on the set for a day of taping Muppet inserts. Frank Oz is a famous puppeteer, Jim Henson's right-hand man during the early days and the creator of such characters as Bert, Cookie Monster and Grover, my absolute favorite character on the show. Thirty years later, he comes to the Sesame Street set for four days a season to film bits using his characters. Lately, he has been directing - his latest film being In & Out with Kevin Kline and Joan Cusack.
Mr. Oz would be at the set on a Wednesday, one of the days I wasn't in to intern. Wednesday's were actually saturated with school, but I skipped my afternoon classes and caught the R train to Astoria Queens and Kaufman Studios. I slipped past security, telling them I was an intern, and made my way into the large studio, home to the many furry and funny characters I had grown up with.
There Frank was, with Bert. He and Steve Whitmire, the new puppeteer of Ernie, were in the characters' bedroom, getting ready to sing a song about adding. I was in heaven. Here was one of my heroes, a man who gave me much of my happiness as a child. He and Steve Whitmire continued their bit and I watched with the enthusiasm of a young child seeing all the presents he could hope for under his Christmas tree.
After that scene, they took a quick break before Frank was to do a Grover scene. Grover! I couldn't wait. And, while I was standing there, watching the Muppeteers and the fun they were sharing, Frank Oz approached me!
"Hi. I'm Frank," he said, extending his hand. I shook it quickly, stumbling with my words.
"I'm David. I'm an intern."
"Oh, really? With CTW or Henson's?" he asked politely, never altering his gaze or his smile from my obviously bewildered face.
"For CTW. I'm helping with post-production in downtown Manhattan." I could have stopped there, but I kept going: "I heard you would be here today and I wanted to watch some of the filming. Actually, I was hoping to maybe get a picture with Grover later. He's my favorite." I couldn't believe I had asked that question. But I was amazed at Frank Oz's response.
"Sure, no problem, David. We'll do it after this bit. You know, he's one of my favorite characters, too."
I felt like I had won the lottery. He was everything I had hoped he would be and while I stood behind-the-scenes and watched Grover do a scene with Fat Blue in the restaurant, I couldn't stop thinking about how much this meant to me.
After the bit, Frank, with Grover still on his arm, came over to me and said, "Well, David. Do you have a camera?"
Joey Mazzarino, one of the extra Muppeteers and a writer of the show, took the picture for me. Frank sat in a chair with Grover above him and Grover spoke to me! I cannot explain how this felt because it's all a blur now. I know that Grover said my name and told me it was nice to meet me. I must have blurted something back but I'm not sure. I've never been that "star-struck."
After the picture was taken, Frank Oz shook my hand again and I, still in shock, said something to the effect of: "Thanks for being a part of my childhood." He thanked me as well and then went off to film the next bit with Bert and Ernie. I'll never forget that Wednesday, October 7, 1998 - the day I met Frank Oz, and more importantly, the day I met Grover.
Thank you Frank and thank you Grover.
Links to the Muppets
Here are some of my favorite links that have to do with all of Jim Henson's characters:
The Jim Henson Company Homepage
The Muppets
Sesame Street
Children's Television WorkshopI also enjoy pages that talk about educational theater for children using puppets. Some of my favorites are:
Storytelling and Puppets Homepage
The Bread & Puppet Theater
Last but not least, if you're as excited about this summer's big releases like I am, you'll want to head on over to the Muppets From Space homepage where you can download the trailer for the absolute biggest movie of the summer.
