Globally loved 'Sesame Street' is in a constant state of renewal

As Sesame Street kicks off its 40th anniversary season Tuesday (PBS, check local listings), with first lady Michelle Obama and Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda as guests, it is indisputably the most beloved children's show in history, and one of television's biggest and most enduring success stories. The series holds a record 122 Emmy Awards, not including a lifetime-achievement trophy, and has been adapted in more than 120 countries and territories around the globe. An estimated 100,000 Sesame products have been made available internationally, from T-shirts and costumes to high-tech toys such as Elmo Live. Toys R Us is re-introducing the original Tickle Me Elmo doll — a sensation in 1996 — for this holiday season. Sesame's cross-cultural, multi-generational appeal has a lot to do with the specific age group it targets. "The bulk of our audience is in the 2s and 3s, though we shoot for 2 to 4," says executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente. At that early stage, says Spinney — who is 75, and has been with the show since Day 1 (he plays Oscar as well) — "children are basically the same, and have been through the years." But if preschoolers' fundamental needs and sensibilities haven't changed much, the world around them has — not least of all on the media landscape, where Sesame Street now competes with many other kids' shows and an ever-expanding array of new media.