Netflix scores deal for beloved long-running kids TV show
Sesame Street’s new 56th season, plus 90 hours of previous episodes, will be available on the streaming service
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Beloved children’s show Sesame Street has found a new home at Netflix.
The streaming service announced it struck a new deal with Sesame Workshop, the production company behind the much-loved series, and will begin showing new episodes from the show’s 56th season later this year.
The Netflix deal will also allow Sesame Street to remain available through its longtime home PBS. New episodes will premiere on Netflix, PBS, and the PBS Kids app on the same day. No specific premiere date has yet been announced.
Netflix will also make 90 hours worth of previous episode available to viewers in addition to the upcoming season. The company also plans to develop in-app video games based on characters from the iconic franchise.
An article in Netflix’s online magazine Tudum states: “The new season will feature fresh format changes and the return of fan-favorite segments like Elmo’s World and Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck. Expect new ways to play along as Cookie Monster opens his very own Cookie Cart on Sesame Street, and explore Abby’s Fairy Garden, a home to surprising and delightful magical creatures.”
At the end of last year, Warner Bros. Discovery chose not to renew a previous five-year deal that made Sesame Street available on HBO Max, sparking fears the hit show would be canceled.
Sesame Street has been considered a leading educational television show for children for over five decades, and regularly engages with real life and issues such as bullying, homelessness and poverty.
In a 2019 piece marking the show’s 50th anniversary, The Independent’s Martin Chilton wrote: “‘Sally, you’ve never seen a street like Sesame Street. Everything happens here. You’re gonna love it!’ That line, from the character Gordon Robinson, was the first spoken on an ambitious show that premiered on National Educational Television on 10 November 1969.
“Over the next 50 years, the groundbreaking children’s programme became a global success and a cultural trailblazer. Guests as eminent as Muhammad Ali, Burt Lancaster, David Beckham, Beyoncé, BB King, Robin Williams, David Bowie, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift have relished appearing alongside the show’s famous puppets, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Kermit.
Sesame Street is coming to Netflix (Getty Images)
“Sesame Street, which was later shown on PBS and HBO, went on to win a record 189 Emmy awards – and 11 Grammys. It has been watched by an estimated audience of more than 100 million people in more than 150 countries, something that would have been unimaginable to psychologist Lloyd Morrisett and television producer Joan Ganz Cooney when they chatted about children’s television at a dinner party in 1966.”