Sunny Days

In choosing to write these articles in November, I didn't initially realize the importance of this month in Muppet history.

Today, November 10, 2009, marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. Possibly the main reason I love the Muppets in the first place, Sesame Street was designed by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett as a means to not only use television as an educational and entertaining tool, but to also put it in a more modern setting than it's predecessors like Howdy Doody and Romper Room. After Jim Henson joined, initially reluctant to perform on a children's show, Sesame Street got the ball rolling in production, with producer Jon Stone casting performers such as singer Bob McGrath (playing Bob), producer Matt Robinson (as the original Gordon), Loretta Long (Susan, who was hired when Stone saw that children would stand up and sing along to her audition tape where she performed "I'm A Little Teapot"), and the late veteran stage performer Will Lee (friendly store owner Mr. Hooper).

From the start of a pilot on NBC promoting the public television program (the only Muppets who appeared in the pilot were Bert and Ernie), the show was a hit. By 1979, the year of the show's 10th anniversary, nine million children in the US under the age of six were watching daily.

Sesame Street was (and maybe still is) one of the most important things in my life. For years, I watched it, learning my alphabet, how to count. I learned the difference between near and far, and the difference between left and right. It taught me to respect people and to like myself for who I am.

I can tell you who Captain Vegetable is or who sang the Pinball Number Count song (it was the Pointer Sisters). I know so many songs by heart, from "Bein' Green" to "Monster In The Mirror." Before I knew Alistair Cooke, I knew Alistair Cookie. Before Placido Domingo, I knew Placido Flamingo.

Sesame Street and the Muppets have been integral to the majority of people reading this, and that's why I did this. As a tribute to the street we all lived on as children.

I don't need to ask for directions, I know how to get there.