It was easy to find Sesame Street back in 1969, when there were few options for kids to watch, and even fewer channels—but to stay relevant to today’s children, the show needed a reimagining. 

The series has five generations of fans now, and the way to reach all of these audiences can be vastly different, says Aaron Bisman, SVP of marketing—ranging from parodies and comedy skits to memes on social media. It helps that after years sequestered away on HBO, the show is now streaming on platforms that attract tons of kids: YouTube and Netflix, in addition to its longtime home on PBS. 

But while being easier to access helps the show reach more viewers, the quality of its content is crucial in retaining its kids audience and fostering their development. To that end, Sesame Workshop has made several big changes to its latest 56th season. 

Emotional beats

Halcyon Person, head writer for Sesame Workshop, and Kim Foulds, VP of research & insights at the Workshop, spoke about how internal research was key to their evolution of the show during a Kidscreen Summit session last month called “Smarter by Design: The research behind Sesame Street‘s new era”. 

Halcyon Person, head writer for Sesame Workshop, and Kim Foulds, VP of research & insights at the Workshop, spoke about how research influenced the show at Kidscreen Summit. (Ryan Tuchow)

One big update implemented in the newest season involves changes to the show’s familiar format. Instead of magazine-style episodes featuring disconnected segments, the series now has A and B storylines (each 11 minutes long) that run throughout the 30-minute episode. The A story focuses on core emotional beats and plot, and the B functions as a chance for more humor. Foulds discussed how the research showed that kids could follow the longer stories throughout the whole episode, but that the B plot had to support the A plot, so that its wackiness didn’t overwhelm the teaching moments of the A story.

There’s also a new focus on having characters speak directly to the audience. While talking directly to the camera is nothing new (kids TV is full of hosts asking for kids’ help, or asking them a question and waiting for a response), Sesame is taking the unique approach to let the characters voice their emotions to the viewer, taking kids into their confidence. The research found that inserting these close-up moments increased kids’ engagement and understanding about the feelings being communicated, and the social lessons the writers were trying to teach. 

In an example shared during the Summit panel, Cookie Monster is feeling down because Elmo doesn’t want the cookie he usually takes. In a moment received many “awws” from the industry audience, a sad Cookie Monster wonders aloud whether that means Elmo doesn’t like him any more. 

“We’re leaning into that feeling, which I think is so accessible to preschoolers, of a friend not liking something that you really like,” said Person. “At that age, social problem-solving is so tough. For Cookie Monster, [it’s a] question of understanding perspective.” By the end of the episode, Cookie Monster learns that it’s OK if a friend doesn’t like all the same things that you do, and it doesn’t mean that they like you any less.

Character focus

After growing a cast of characters for the last 50-plus years, the long-running series also needed focus. That’s why the new season centers around four core characters, which are among its most popular with kids: Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover and Abby Cadabby. 

The goal is to build stronger relationships between kids and the Sesame crew. And though Sesame Street continues to include its full cast of supporting characters, kids will have a new reason to tune in, since they know their favorite core character will always be in the episode, says Kay Wilson Stallings, Sesame Workshop’s EVP and chief creative development and production officer. 

These four weren’t just picked because they’re big names, though; each character highlights specific play patterns that the company can lean into in ways it hasn’t before:

Elmo will focus on imaginative play. He’ll be featured in animated song sequences, where he can imagine being anything and learn a valuable lesson. For example, he imagines himself as a racecar driver and learns how to handle a loss. 

Grover will focus on dress-up play. He has a suitcase he can open to retrieve a costume, like a doctor or chef, and he tries (in ridiculous fashion) to take on these jobs. “We’re giving children, who maybe just have a cardboard box at home the chance to say, ‘Oh, I can play Grover too,'” said Person. “[It’s] giving kids that access point to him.” 

Cookie Monster will focus on food, baking and cooking for friends and restaurant/transaction play.  

And Abby Cadabby will focus on gardening, caretaker and nature play. The fairy hasn’t always been kids’ favorite, but the Workshop is seeing an uptick in her popularity, said Foulds. Her play involves taking care of “magical beasties” in her garden, tapping into kids’ curiosity about the natural world, “which we know is core to children’s interests at this age,” says Foulds.  

The future of Sesame

Some of the franchise’s content priorities for the year, across both the series and social, include digital and emotional well-being, healthy habits and a love of nature. There’s also a focus on how to deal with extreme weather conditions, which are becoming increasingly common amid climate change. 

All these efforts in this reimagination are ways of keeping the show relevant to today’s kids. And there’s always opportunity to discover more ways to help kids find their way to Sesame Street, says Stallings. 

“When Joan Ganz Cooney created Sesame Street, she always said that it was an experiment,” Stallings said. “And what do you do with an experiment? You’re constantly reiterating.”