Published: November 08, 2009 05:00 am      

Looking back at Sesame Street

A favorite position of any child is as follows: Indian-style, elbows on the knees with chin and cheeks cushioned by the palms of the hands. The only movement is the rapid blinking of eyelashes as the child stares directly into the television screen. I know this position well as it was my favorite place to watch cartoons. I didn’t mind the rough carpet, which left a criss-cross pattern on my bare legs. Nor did I notice how my elbows dug into my knees. Far away, a voice would shatter my concentration. A parent — always my mom — would say I was too close to the television screen; I would hurt my eyes.

I didn’t listen. For some reason, I listened to my mom about everything else — like not talking to strangers or walking in traffic. But I ignored every attempt to put distance between my body and the television set. In what I like to call an act of defiance, I would scoot even closer and narrow my eyes until all I could see were colored dots on the screen. I would pull back, look at the big picture and wonder how millions of dots could make Big Bird and his friends act, play and sing on the screen. Other times, I would press my nose to the glass and feel the warm yet static hum of electricity on my face. Odd, maybe. Childlike? Absolutely.

It is hard to believe, but “Sesame Street” will celebrate its 40th birthday on Wednesday, Nov. 10. Big Bird was always my favorite character. I even remember Big Bird going to China in the early ’80s. (The Great Wall of China and a big yellow bird made a good impression.) Before Elmo, I like to think my favorite character ruled the popularity polls. I even asked my dad if he knew my favorite character on “Sesame Street.” I like to randomly test the parents to see if they remember important facts of my childhood, like favorite shows, cereals and toys. Not hesitating, he immediately said “Big Bird.”

I don’t watch “Sesame Street” anymore but the show’s jingle still lives inside my head. I admit I have a soft spot for the pop culture of my past. Using the Internet, I have looked up You Tube videos showing clips of forgotten cartoons like “Fraggle Rock”, the “Smurfs” and “He-Man.” And so when I read about “Sesame Street’s” 40th anniversary, I clicked my way into a pile of useless trivia. There is something — only an adult can understand — about reliving silly childhood pop culture phenomenon. The entertaining trivia doesn’t make one want to watch “Sesame Street”, but it reminds us of a moment. My moment is sitting in front of the television screen and hearing the reassuring background noise of my mom as she fussed over my choice of seating and cleaned the house. For some, it might be the intense craving for cookies or counting numbers using a Count Von Count accent in grade school. Whatever the moment — brought on by “Sesame Street” or other television shows — indulge in these facts about the longest children’s show in television history.



l Cookie monster used to have pointy teeth.



l In season one, Oscar the Grouch was orange.



l Big Bird is covered in exactly 6,000 North American turkey, coq, ostrich and hackle feathers.



l Bert and Ernie’s sweaters are hand knit to match the original pattern from 1969.



l Bert has more than 368 bottle caps.



l All the characters have four fingers, except for Cookie Monster, who has five fingers.



l More than 440 celebrities have visited “Sesame Street.”



l Ernie is the only character to have a built-in smile.



l The first words Oscar said were “Don’t bang on my can! Go away.”



l Elmo arrived on “Sesame Street” in 1984.

Jamie Parsell is the Lifestyle editor of the Daily Telegraph. Contact her at jparsell@bdtonline.com