Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting
Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting is a 1989 television special celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Sesame Street. Hosted by Bill Cosby, the special aired on Friday, April 7, 1989, on NBC.
This special was originally produced by The Children’s Television Workshop, in association with The Jim Henson Company (one of the few Sesame Street productions the company directly produced, though "Executive Producer for CTW" credit was included in the end credits). The special was originally intended to air as part of The Jim Henson Hour, but instead ended up airing as a solo special the week before The Jim Henson Hour premiered.
In the special, comedian Bill Cosby details the history of the show while interacting with various Muppet characters. Among the subjects featured are the curriculum, the show's adult humor and the foreign co-productions from around the world (e.g. Plaza Sésamo—now Sésamo—and Rechov Sumsum). There are also guest-star appearances; opera singer Plácido Domingo sings with Placido Flamingo, and Ray Charles sings Kermit's version of the song "It's Not Easy Bein' Green".
Meanwhile, Bert and Ernie are filming the street with their video camera so they can watch Sesame Street on television, but Cookie Monster appears and eats both the video camera and the video tape. Bert, Ernie & Cookie Monster tell everybody on Sesame Street that they'll be sad because people don't like to watch Sesame Street anymore. Then Kermit the Frog appears in his "Sesame Street News" attire, asking various people (all of which are played by the Muppet Grover) how to get to Sesame Street, and occasionally running into people who had appeared on the show when they were kids.
The special ends with all the characters singing the Sesame Street song “Sing.” The program is dedicated to the memory of Joe Raposo, who had died on February 5, 1989, in Bronxville, New York, of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, three days before his 52nd birthday.
Cast
Humans
- Emilio Delgado as Luis
- Sonia Manzano as Maria
- Bob McGrath as Bob
- Loretta Long as Susan
- Roscoe Orman as Gordon
- Miles Orman as Miles
- Linda Bove as Linda
- Bill McCutcheon as Uncle Wally
- Alison Bartlett as Gina
- Northern Calloway as David
- Jim Henson as himself
Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppet Performers
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch
- Frank Oz as Bert, Grover and Cookie Monster
- Fran Brill as Prairie Dawn
- Jerry Nelson as Count von Count and Herry Monster
- Jim Henson as Ernie and Kermit the Frog
- Kevin Clash as Elmo and Baby Natasha
- Richard Hunt as Don Music and Placido Flamingo
- Martin P. Robinson as Telly Monster and Snuffy
- Bryant Young as Snuffy (back half)
- Judy Sladky as Alice Snuffleupagus
- Fred "Garbo" Garver as Barkley
- Camille Bonora as Ruby
- Pam Arciero as Lavender Anything Muppet
- David Rudman as Swiss
Additional Muppet Performers: Noel MacNeal (uncredited)
Nielsen ratings
The special ranked 68th out of 80 shows that week and brought in a 7.7/14 rating/share and was watched by around 12.6 million viewers, finishing third in its timeslot behind ABC's Perfect Strangers (13.0/25, 18.6 million, 44th) and Full House (14.6/26, 21.5 million, 30th), and CBS's Beauty and the Beast (10.7/20, 15.2 million, 55th).[1][2]
References
- v
- t
- e
- Fictional location
- Sesame Workshop
- Characters
- Educational goals
- Format
- Influence
- Licensing
- Recurring segments
- Accolades
- Fran Brill
- Kevin Clash
- Joan Ganz Cooney
- Ryan Dillon
- Louise Gold
- Jim Henson
- Richard Hunt
- Eric Jacobson
- Gerald S. Lesser
- Peter Linz
- Kermit Love
- Joey Mazzarino
- Lloyd Morrisett
- Jerry Nelson
- Carmen Osbahr
- Frank Oz
- Carol-Lynn Parente
- Joe Raposo
- Martin P. Robinson
- David Rudman
- Jon Stone
- Caroll Spinney
- Matt Vogel
- Steve Whitmire
- List of guest stars
- List of puppeteers
- Theme song
- "Bein' Green"
- "C Is For Cookie"
- "I Love Trash"
- "Mah Nà Mah Nà"
- "Monster in the Mirror"
- "One of These Things (Is Not Like the Others)"
- "Rubber Duckie"
- "Sesame's Treet"
- "Sing"
- Follow That Bird (1985)
- The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
Cameos |
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Upcoming |
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specials
- Julie on Sesame Street (1973)
- Out to Lunch (1974)
- Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
- A Special Sesame Street Christmas (1978)
- Big Bird in China (1983)
- Don't Eat the Pictures (1983)
- A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
- Sesame Street, Special (1988)
- Big Bird in Japan (1989)
- Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting (1989)
- Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake (1991)
- Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years (1993)
- Sesame Street Stays Up Late! (1993)
- Elmo Saves Christmas (1996)
- Elmopalooza (1998)
- The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street (1998)
- CinderElmo (1999)
- Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2007)
- Abby in Wonderland (2008)
- The Cookie Thief (2015)
- Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas (2016)
- Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2019)
- Sesame Street: Elmo's Playdate (2020)
- The Monster at the End of This Story (2020)
- The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover (1971)
- Sesame Street Together Book (1971)
- The House of Seven Colors (1985)
- Happy Birthday, Cookie Monster (1986)
- Sesame Street Magazine
- Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street
- The Sesame Street Dictionary
- Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street
- Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America
- Big Bird's Egg Catch
- Alpha Beam with Ernie
- The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
- Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure
- Cookie's Counting Carnival
- Ready, Set, Grover!
- Once Upon a Monster
- Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece
- Kinect Sesame Street TV
- The Jim Henson Company
- Noggin (1999-2002)
- Sesame Street in the UK
- Sesame Street Live
- Comic strip
- Syndication packages
- The Muppets
- Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
- I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story
- The World According to Sesame Street
- Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
- Big Bag
- Oobi (episodes)
- Panwapa
- Jim Henson Idea Man
- Teletape Studios
- Kaufman Astoria Studios
- The Joan Ganz Cooney Center