Elmo, Lin-Manuel Miranda team up for 'Sesame Street' coronavirus special

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Elmo and Cookie Monster are reaching out to young children confused at being stuck at home during the coronavirus epidemic with a special “Sesame Street” episode airing next week.

“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and actors Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross will be celebrity guests in the 30-minute “Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate” that is aimed at entertaining kids and their families during uncertain times, broadcaster WarnerMedia and Sesame Workshop said on Wednesday.

“We hope ‘Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate’ will entertain and delight families at a moment when so many are feeling isolated and overwhelmed by current events,” said Steve Youngwood, president of Sesame Workshop.

The April 14 show, in a video conferencing style that has become familiar due to coronavirus social distancing and quarantine restrictions, will air on HBO, PBS Kids and other WarnerMedia television channels. It will be broadcast in Australia, Canada and the U.K. at a later date.

In the show, Muppets Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster and the magical Abby Cadabby will find new ways to play and learn together through songs, games and silly dance breaks.

Miranda will sing a few rounds of “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” Ross will play a game of “Elmo Says,” and Hathaway and Elmo get moving with “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.”

Schools and daycare centers have been closed across much of the United States for several weeks, leaving parents and family members in the role of teachers while simultaneously working in essential industries, or from home.

The makers of Sesame Street have also launched a Caring for Each Other initiative aimed at helping parents to provide comfort and manage anxiety during the epidemic.

Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

-Reuters-

'Sesame Street' and Earth, Wind & Fire among Kennedy Center honorees

The iconic children's television program "Sesame Street" along with the R&B collective Earth, Wind & Fire will be among those recognized at this year's Kennedy Center Honors, one of America's most prestigious arts awards.

The Kennedy Center -- Washington's performing arts complex that serves as a living monument to slain president John F. Kennedy -- announced Thursday that actress Sally Field, genre-spanning singer Linda Ronstadt and 11-time Grammy winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas would also be among the 2019 class.

The choice of "Sesame Street" -- a childhood staple that premiered in 1969 to high viewership and glowing reviews, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary -- marks the first time the Kennedy Center will honor a television program and the second time it chose a work of art rather than individuals.

Last year's inclusion of the groundbreaking musical "Hamilton" was the first such instance.

The program's co-founders will accept the award on the show's behalf, the Kennedy Center said. There was no word yet on whether cast members including the bright yellow Big Bird and furry red monster Elmo, known for his falsetto voice, will attend the December 8 gala.

"In this class of Honorees, we are witnessing a uniquely American story: one that is representative of so many cultural touchstones and musical moments that make our nation great," said Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter in a statement. 

"We're not just looking back; these Honorees are urging us to look forward as well."

Criticism of Trump
The Kennedy Center Honors traditionally take place in the presence of the president, but Donald Trump, despised by many cultural and entertainment figures, has skipped Washington's rare night of red-carpet glamour for the past two years.

A number of this year's nominees have criticized the president: the funk-inflected Earth, Wind and Fire requested Trump stop using its music during his 2016 campaign, and folk-tinged Ronstadt has voiced anger over the White House separation of immigrant families at the US-Mexico border.

The 73-year-old Ronstadt -- who the Center dubbed the "consummate American artist -- sang her last concert in 2009 after a four-decade career that saw her deftly perform everything from country and rock to opera and Broadway standards.

Earth, Wind and Fire's unique poppy blend of funk, jazz, soul and R&B has made them one of the best-selling musical groups of all time. The legendary group has played before former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Tilson Thomas, 74, currently the director of the San Francisco Symphony, has conducted major orchestras throughout the US and Europe, garnering accolades including France's Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

And the Oscar-winning Field, 72, boasts extensive film credits including "Forrest Gump" and "Steel Magnolias" along with top television roles including on "Sybil" and "ER."

The gala, now in its 42nd year, will be broadcast on US network CBS on December 15. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sesame Street goes global to teach kids about money

(The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.)

NEW YORK - Translating money messages to 100 million kids around the world is not a feat for ordinary humans - you need monsters.

Elmo and Cookie Monster, to be specific.

These two and their furry band of Muppets have been part of Sesame Workshop's "Dream, Save, Do" program, a joint venture of Sesame Street and the MetLife Foundation. Operating for the last four years, the initiative has been leveraging famous Sesame characters to foster financial empowerment for families in nine countries: Mexico, Brazil, Chile, China, Japan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt and the UAE

The outreach has so far been a whopping success in terms of the numbers reached, Sesame Workshop concluded at a summit last month that brought together country directors. The most difficult challenge they identified was how hard it was to translate money messages across different countries and cultures.

One example: A Cookie Monster cartoon about the concept of delayed gratification - which involved waiting for an apple pie to bake - did not make much sense in the Chinese diet. So what did they do? They changed the desired object to dumplings - and it was a hit.

In India, the idea of 'work' was conveyed by the image of a woman sewing; in Brazil, it was someone answering a phone in an office. In some countries 'water' was a tap in a crowded alley; in others it was a sink in a home.

In China, there is no huge need to teach kids about the concept of saving - because all of them are doing it. Many, even at extremely young ages, are planning for college or thinking about their first house. So instead of focusing on saving, local course designers in China tacked towards teaching other financial behaviors like sharing or donating.

"Every lesson has core common elements, but it also tailored to the local market, which is the real magic of it," said April Hawkins, an assistant VP at the MetLife Foundation who helps steward the program.

Sesame Workshop also had to be flexible about how it got the word out. For instance, in the slums of India's New Delhi, a typical structured classroom setting just was not going to be possible.

"So in the narrow alleyways of Delhi, we ended up using vegetable carts," said Shari Rosenfeld, Sesame Workshop's Senior VP for international social impact. "We set up DVD players to broadcast our materials, hooked them up to car batteries, loaded them onto carts, and kids and their families would all gather around."

RESTORING HOPE

In some countries, even the name of the program itself was changed. In areas where there is not a lot of money kicking around, and poor kids might not be able to "save" much of anything, the program title was altered to "Dream, Plan, Do."

And which characters, exactly, were tapped to spread the money messages? Not The Count, as you might expect, given his obvious passion for numbers.

Instead, Sesame Street already has an entire cast of popular foreign characters at their disposal. There are existing stars like Lola in Mexico, Chamki in India, Bel in Brazil and Lily in China - all smart, confident young female characters.

In one popular piece of content, all those girl characters from around the globe gathered to sing a song about female empowerment, goal-setting and achievement.

So what is next for Dream, Save, Do? It could very well be the global refugee crisis. Many children have lost everything, so what do you tell a child like that?

"Hope is often lost in communities that have experienced such trauma and distress," says Nada Elattar, Sesame Workshop's director of educational programs. "So that is something we have to focus on next: The idea of having dreams for yourself, and setting goals, as a way to restore hope."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Sesame Street' celebrates 45 years

"Sesame Street," the hit children's television show that has been broadcast in more than 150 countries, reached yet another milestone Monday as it celebrated its 45th anniversary.

An essential part of many childhoods in the US, the show that started in 1969 and features the famous "Muppets" puppets now says it reaches 156 million children worldwide.

"Kermit," "Cookie Monster," "Elmo" and the rest -- the puppets created by Jim Henson -- have become household names far beyond the US.

Celebrity cameos in the show are common -- US First Lady Michelle Obama appeared with the puppets this year.

Its makers, citing a 2013 study, say children who watch one of the international versions of the program average higher "learning outcomes" than kids who don't watch.

"That means Sesame Street’s impact is comparable to dedicated pre-school interventions -- but on a vastly larger scale," the show said.

Sesame Street has received more television Emmy Awards than any other show in history.

Its writers say the name came from the command "Open Sesame!"

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Big Bird' pushed into US political spotlight

REDWOOD CITY, California - It wasn't long ago when Big Bird first learned about death, when the adults on Sesame Street revealed that shopkeeper Mr. Hooper has died.

On Wednesday night, the larger than life avian was forced to face his mortality once again when Mitt Romney threatened to cut funding to PBS if he becomes president.

“I’m going to stop subsidy to PBS. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. But I’m not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay us,” Romney said during the first prime time presidential debate.

That ruffled a lot of feathers on social media, immediately sparking 17,000 tweets per minute.

From a Democrat on Twitter who said she’s got his back to Big Bird himself sticking it to the man and to puppets coming to his defense, the internet was flooded with viral Sesame Street image mash ups. Mashable put it succinctly: you don’t mess with the Big Bird.

No less than the CEO of PBS was on national television a day after the debates, posing the question, what did the world’s most famous feathered friend ever do to Mitt Romney?

“We’re America’s biggest classroom. We taught children across the country, in every home. So the fact that we’re in this debate, this is not about the budget it has to be about politics,” said CEO Paula Kerger.

And it has always been about politics

Never mind that Big Bird didn’t even get to see the debates because it was past his bed time said PBS. Critics say candidates will say anything to get on your consciousness as Election Day draws near.

They just have to keep learning the hard way that it won’t work all the time.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Taiwan man detained in Sesame Street doll scam

TAIPEI -- A Taiwanese man was taken into custody for allegedly swindling millions of Taiwan dollars by selling Sesame Street dolls and other items which he claimed had "magic powers," police said Friday.

The suspect, identified by his surname Lin, was accused of conning some Tw$3 million ($100,000) from a businessman with products including an Elmo doll, a Sesame Street muppet, which he said was "holy" and could bring luck, they said.

The man, who claimed Lin also asked him to "buy property in the underworld," later contacted the police after he realised he had been scammed.

Lin was also suspected of selling the dolls to other victims for up to Tw$1 million apiece, as well as touting a variety of products for their alleged healing effects.

Police said they will continue to investigate Lin, a temple keeper in northern Taoyuan county, after they found documents with information on a large number of "followers" from the past several years at his home and temple.

source: interaksyon.com