NEW YORK - Here's a kids show that still boasts plenty of streetcred.
Now beginning its 35th season, "Sesame Street" remains a dailydestination for millions of preschoolers, an evergreen cityscape asmuch a part of their world as any other play space.
It's been that way for generations of kids, as any of the show'sestimated 74 million "grads" will recall from "Sesame StreetPresents: The Street We Live On." This retrospective airs on WVPBS at8 p.m. Sunday, then serves as the season opener at 11 a.m. Monday.
Even if you haven't caught "Sesame Street" since around the timeit premiered Nov. 10, 1969, you will be struck by how things seemmuch like you left them. The Muppets; the diverse community ofhumans; the letters and numbers that "sponsor" each hour.
Even parts of the 'hood are the same, notably the set for thebrownstone apartment building at 123 Sesame St. (as it exists onStage G at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens). Now nearly 35 yearsold, it should qualify for landmark status.
Clearly "Sesame Street" was designed for the ages by the "urbanplanners" at the upstart Children's Television Workshop (now renamedSesame Workshop). But the era that gave rise to "Sesame Street"remains part of its culture.
A telling trace lives on in the theme song: "Sunny day,everything's A-OK." Popularized by pioneers of the U.S. spaceprogram, the term A-OK is as identified with the 1960s as grannyglasses and tie-dye jeans.
Today, after 4,057 episodes, more than 8 million viewers tune inat least once a week. The show remains a top 10 weekday program amongchildren aged 2 to 5, with its preschool audience up 9 percent in2002-03 from the season before.
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