NEW YORK (AP) — A new home. Some formatting will change. Same monster.
“Sesame Street” 56th season begins on November 10th with NASCAR champion bubba wallace As a guest, a slightly tweaked format and a new way to watch — Via Netflix.
At the beginning of the program, Elmo calls out to viewers, “Welcome, hello.” “Elmo, it’s so nice to meet you.”
The popular children’s show features an 11-minute main story at the top (up from nine minutes last year), as well as returning favorites and several new segments.
“In the history of ‘Sesame Street,’ over the last 56 years, we’ve always reinvented ourselves in some way,” says executive producer Sal Perez. “We’re always looking for ways to modernize the show and make it feel really appealing to kids today.”
Elmo appears in the 11-minute main story of the first episode, abby Zoe has three different races in her neighborhood, and a surprising amount of puppet chicken and Wallace provides onlooker commentary.
They start with a sprint race with a chicken on each person’s back (“poultry in motion,” suggests Wallace), then a race with a chicken on a spoon, and finally a bag race with chickens also in a bag. At first Elmo is disappointed that he doesn’t win, but he soon realizes that he hasn’t had lunch and is low on fuel, which becomes his lesson for the day.
“We really love bringing celebrities to ‘Sesame Street’ because they bring their own flavor and their own unique perspectives and experiences, and a lot of that Elmo’s Race episode was enhanced by having Bubba there,” says head writer Halcyon Person. (Miley Cyrus will also be a guest.)
Parson says expanding the main story by even a few minutes gives her and her team more runway to add elements they think will connect with kids.
“Those extra two minutes may not seem like a big deal to viewers, but it allows us to put songs in every episode that we know our viewers love,” says Persson, whose credits include “Dee and Friends of Oz” and “Karma.”
“We can have more animation, more comedy, more time for physical humor. We know when kids are laughing, they’re learning, so we’re excited to be able to make them laugh so that our salient message also comes through loud and clear.”
Netflix and the fourth wall
The deal with Netflix is a big change for “Sesame Street.” That’s because the streamer will maintain its long-time home on PBS and the PBS app, while at the same time allowing the new season to stream in 30 languages, giving it a global reach. Episodes will be available on the same day on both Netflix and PBS.
“The partners themselves have been great, really supportive and let us do what ‘Sesame Street’ does,” Perez said. “They know we have a history of knowing how to create content. So they’ve just really supported and elevated the brand.”
“Sesame Street” also leans toward breaking the fourth wall, with creatures turning to viewers to confess their feelings or ask for advice.
“I think this season we really wanted to emphasize that and make it the expected centerpiece of the show. The characters aren’t just talking to you, they’re really drawing you in,” Parson says.
“This is another way to really build relationships and make kids feel like they’re part of the action, that everything that’s happening in the story can’t happen without them, and that our characters really need them.”
Segments such as “Cookie’s Foodie Truck” and “Abby’s Magic Beasties” transition, and a new segment, the animated “Tales from 123,” is introduced, taking viewers into the apartment building where the furry monsters live.
“This gave us a chance to look inside. There’s a great cast of characters living in an apartment building, and Elmo and Tango have really physical comedy adventures, really funny adventures throughout,” Perez says.
In the first, “Tales from 123,” Elmo wants to meet Grover for a playdate, but the two get mixed up and race through elevator rides and stairs until Tango saves the day. When the two finally meet again, they naturally play hide and seek.
It’s like a backstage pass to “Sesame Street,” and of course the grumpy monsters will complain. “The New York apartment building would not have been completed without Oscar as the caretaker,” says Perez.
