A frantic, fretful talking frog. An insecure, asexual eight-foot canary. A googly-eyed, cookie-craving, shambling shag carpet. A miserable, filthy homeless guy in a can.

These were the people in our neighbourhood – the furry, felt and flesh-and-blood friends that awaited us every day in the idealized urban environs of that most magical thoroughfare, Sesame Street.

And 40 years later, they’re still there, more or less unchanged, with perhaps a few new additions. Their audience has turned over now several generations. But the Street remains essentially the same.

In November of 1969, when Sesame Street made its debut, I was 11 years old – well beyond its pre-school demographic, but still young enough to relate to the colour, the characters, the music and the sly humour. And maybe to unconsciously absorb a few subtle life lessons along the way.

To any kid in 1969, the show arrived as a revelation. The morning kiddie programs we had been raised on had stayed mired in 1950s values, production and otherwise. They existed merely to fill local stations’ morning hours, to sell toys and snacks to impressionable young consumers.

Related searches:
sesame street google, sesame street google logos, sesame street google doodles, cations, sesame street 40th anniversary google