Nick Martel

With Big Bird and Oscar now in the mix, Joan and her team screen some new scenes for test audiences. The difference is night and day. Oh, totally different. During every segment, the kids can't take their eyes off the screen. Muppets and humans together at last. So Jack, add it all up.

With Big Bird and Oscar now in the mix, Joan and her team screen some new scenes for test audiences. The difference is night and day. Oh, totally different. During every segment, the kids can't take their eyes off the screen. Muppets and humans together at last. So Jack, add it all up.

With Big Bird and Oscar now in the mix, Joan and her team screen some new scenes for test audiences. The difference is night and day. Oh, totally different. During every segment, the kids can't take their eyes off the screen. Muppets and humans together at last. So Jack, add it all up.

After nearly three years of development, the idea that started in Joan Cooney's Gramercy apartment over a bottle of Chardonnay is almost a reality. The street looks great. The content, top notch. The puppets, fantastic. We finally have a show. All right, lights, camera. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, yeah, yeah. There's one little thing we have to solve. Oh, you're kidding me.

After nearly three years of development, the idea that started in Joan Cooney's Gramercy apartment over a bottle of Chardonnay is almost a reality. The street looks great. The content, top notch. The puppets, fantastic. We finally have a show. All right, lights, camera. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, yeah, yeah. There's one little thing we have to solve. Oh, you're kidding me.

After nearly three years of development, the idea that started in Joan Cooney's Gramercy apartment over a bottle of Chardonnay is almost a reality. The street looks great. The content, top notch. The puppets, fantastic. We finally have a show. All right, lights, camera. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, yeah, yeah. There's one little thing we have to solve. Oh, you're kidding me.

The show doesn't have a name. Joan Cooney, oh, she is stressed. She feels like she's about to lose her mind. It is May 6th, 1969. The sets, yeah, they're built. The shooting schedule, it is locked in. The press conference announcing her unprecedented, history-changing show, it's this afternoon. But Joan is worried about what she's going to say when people ask her what to call it.

The show doesn't have a name. Joan Cooney, oh, she is stressed. She feels like she's about to lose her mind. It is May 6th, 1969. The sets, yeah, they're built. The shooting schedule, it is locked in. The press conference announcing her unprecedented, history-changing show, it's this afternoon. But Joan is worried about what she's going to say when people ask her what to call it.

The show doesn't have a name. Joan Cooney, oh, she is stressed. She feels like she's about to lose her mind. It is May 6th, 1969. The sets, yeah, they're built. The shooting schedule, it is locked in. The press conference announcing her unprecedented, history-changing show, it's this afternoon. But Joan is worried about what she's going to say when people ask her what to call it.

Because this labor of love that she's been building for the past two years, alongside hundreds of staffers... they still don't have a name for it. Inside the writer's room, one of the writers sheepishly raises her hand. What if we make the name sound like a magic word or a pasky that opens up into another realm? Kids will like that. Like open sesame. Okay, that works-ish. I don't know.

Because this labor of love that she's been building for the past two years, alongside hundreds of staffers... they still don't have a name for it. Inside the writer's room, one of the writers sheepishly raises her hand. What if we make the name sound like a magic word or a pasky that opens up into another realm? Kids will like that. Like open sesame. Okay, that works-ish. I don't know.

Because this labor of love that she's been building for the past two years, alongside hundreds of staffers... they still don't have a name for it. Inside the writer's room, one of the writers sheepishly raises her hand. What if we make the name sound like a magic word or a pasky that opens up into another realm? Kids will like that. Like open sesame. Okay, that works-ish. I don't know.

Actually, the showrunner thinks that's the corniest idea he's ever heard. Yeah, we gotta workshop this thing and we don't have time to workshop this thing. Well, outside the room, Joan is done waiting. Oh, yeah. She sticks her head in and says, what's it going to be? Finally, the showrunner says, Joan, we're going to run with Sesame Street.

Actually, the showrunner thinks that's the corniest idea he's ever heard. Yeah, we gotta workshop this thing and we don't have time to workshop this thing. Well, outside the room, Joan is done waiting. Oh, yeah. She sticks her head in and says, what's it going to be? Finally, the showrunner says, Joan, we're going to run with Sesame Street.

Actually, the showrunner thinks that's the corniest idea he's ever heard. Yeah, we gotta workshop this thing and we don't have time to workshop this thing. Well, outside the room, Joan is done waiting. Oh, yeah. She sticks her head in and says, what's it going to be? Finally, the showrunner says, Joan, we're going to run with Sesame Street.

One of the most iconic names in TV history is created at the buzzer because they're completely out of time. That's the power of a deadline. You kind of got to decide and commit. Sesame Street kicks off on PBS a few months later. Sponsored by the letters W, S, and E, and the numbers 2 and 3. Nonprofits, they don't have commercial sponsors. They just have alphanumerical ones.

One of the most iconic names in TV history is created at the buzzer because they're completely out of time. That's the power of a deadline. You kind of got to decide and commit. Sesame Street kicks off on PBS a few months later. Sponsored by the letters W, S, and E, and the numbers 2 and 3. Nonprofits, they don't have commercial sponsors. They just have alphanumerical ones.

One of the most iconic names in TV history is created at the buzzer because they're completely out of time. That's the power of a deadline. You kind of got to decide and commit. Sesame Street kicks off on PBS a few months later. Sponsored by the letters W, S, and E, and the numbers 2 and 3. Nonprofits, they don't have commercial sponsors. They just have alphanumerical ones.

Kermit is in the pilot episode. So is Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch. Starting lineup, I like the way it looks, Jack. Smooth. They even get a cameo from star comedian Carol Burnett for a little celebrity riz, a technique that Sesame Street will go back to again and again. But it's also fun to look at who's not there. Sesame Street launches without Grover.

Kermit is in the pilot episode. So is Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch. Starting lineup, I like the way it looks, Jack. Smooth. They even get a cameo from star comedian Carol Burnett for a little celebrity riz, a technique that Sesame Street will go back to again and again. But it's also fun to look at who's not there. Sesame Street launches without Grover.