Sesame Street turns 40 this year (I guess today?) and I hope it continues on the air for some time. I grew up watching Sesame Street, even if the show wasn’t for me; it was for the kids in the Bronx, the Southside of Chicago, West Philadelphia and other parts of the nation which were left behind by local, state and federal policies which encouraged the strangulation of urbanity. But I watched anyway, because the show was about learning and inclusion. I’ve recently watched children’s shows while babysitting, and they are awful: Dora the Explorer is just a pure mindfuck which pacifies children, while Spongebob (no matter how funny) is just a clown. It is sad that Sesame Street often ranks 12th in children’s programming. This is unsurprising given how parents these days believe that Baby Einstein works – even if the creators admit it doesn’t work.
No matter! We are here to praise Sesame Street, not to bury it. Below are some of my favorite clips, starting with Big Bird being told about Mr. Hopper’s death, to Feist and REM signing about numbers and happy monsters.



You can watch more movies on Sesame Street.org or Sesame Street’s YouTube Page.