Franchise / Sesame Street

Sunny day
Sweeping the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street?

— Lyrics to the main theme of the show..

Sesame Street is a children's franchise whose base installment is a TV show of the same name, aired by PBS Kids (and later by HBO/HBO Max) and produced by Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop). The show, which is still running to this day, has proved popular enough to spawn numerous films, video games, and other derivative works - among them international adaptations of the original series. Primetime television specials featuring the show's characters have premiered on every "Big Four" commercial network in the U.S. — a rare enough accomplishment^note shared at least by the Peanuts specials and, oddly enough, Get Smart — but also on its home at PBS, a mark which will probably never be duplicated.^note Three of the classic Peanuts specials have made their annual airings on PBS, but none have premiered there.

This series used to be a part of the Muppets franchise since it uses puppets created by Jim Henson as main characters; the Sesame Street puppets have appeared in mainline Muppets franchise installments multiple times. However, after Sesame Workshop purchased the puppets from The Jim Henson Company in 2000 and Disney purchased The Muppets in 2004, the two franchises have become legally separated. Despite this, Sesame Workshop has a license that allows them to continue referring to the puppet characters as "muppets" via Grandfather Clause, and the two still make occasional crossovers.

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Main series:

Base series

• Sesame Street (1969-present)

Segments

• Elmo's World
  • Elmo the Musical
  • Furry Friends Forever: Elmo and Tango's Mysterious Mysteries
• Journey To Ernie
  • Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures
• Abby's Flying Fairy School
  • Abby's Amazing Adventures
• Global Grover
  • Super Grover 2.0
• Cookie's Crumby Pictures
  • Smart Cookies
  • Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck
• Murray Has a Little Lamb
• Sesame Street Nature Explorers

International versions

• Plaza Sésamo (Latin America)
• Sesamstraße (Germany)
• Sesamstraat (Netherlands)
• Takalani Sesame (South Africa)

Spin-Off series:

• Play With Me Sesame (2002-2007)
• The Furchester Hotel (2014-2017)
• The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo (2020-2021)
• Mecha Builders (2022-present)

International-exclusive spin-offs/mini-series

• Sesame English
• Super Healthy Monsters
• Best Friends
• Count TV
• I Heart Elmo
• 3, 2, 1 Let's Go!
• Bert's Experiments

Direct to Video series:

• My Sesame Street Home Video (1986-1996)
• Sesame Street Start-to-Read Video (1988-1991)
• Sesame Songs Home Video (1990-1995)
• Sesame Street Home Video Visits (1990)

Films and specials:

• This Way to Sesame Street (1969)^note A preview show that aired on NBC two days before the series debuted
• Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)^note A PBS special produced by CTW featuring the entire cast
• A Special Sesame Street Christmas (1978)^note A CBS special produced by the makers of The Carol Burnett Show that only featured a handful of characters—Big Bird, Oscar, Barkley, Bob, Maria, David, Mr. Hooper—alongside an All-Star Cast of guest performers, which aired five days after Christmas Eve debuted
• A Walking Tour of Sesame Street (1979)^note A 10th anniversary Clip Show
• Big Bird in China (1983)^note Co-produced by CTW and CCTV, and it debuted in the US on NBC
• Don't Eat the Pictures (1983)
• Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985)
• Sesame Street, Special (1988)^note This special was released on home video in 1994 with the alternate title "Put Down the Duckie", and a number of additional alterations, including removing the pledge break segments.
• Big Bird in Japan (1988)^note Co-produced with NHK
• Sesame Street: 20 Years and Still Counting (1989)^note A 20th anniversary Clip Show that aired on NBC, which was produced for The Jim Henson Hour, but aired as a separate special a week before The Jim Henson Hour's debut, in the same time slot; it's still usually included with The Jim Henson Hour
• Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake (1991)^note This special later aired as a regular Sesame Street episode nearly a week after its initial airing, albeit with the pledge break segments removed and several non-Muppet segments added in.
• Sesame Street Stays Up Late! (1993) ^note Retitled Sesame Street Celebrates Around the World for home media until the Amazon Prime release in 2017.
• Elmo Saves Christmas (1996)
• Elmopalooza (1998)
• CinderElmo (1999)
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
• Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf (2001)
• The Street We Live On (2004)
• Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2007)
• Abby in Wonderland (2008)
• The Cookie Thief (2015)
• Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas (2016^note It premiered first on HBO in 2016; it aired on PBS in 2017)
• The Magical Wand Chase (2017^note Aired on HBO in 2017 and on PBS in 2019)
• When You Wish Upon a Pickle (2018^note Aired on HBO in 2018 and on PBS in 2020)
• Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2019)
• Elmo's Playdate (2020)
• The Monster at the End of This Story (2020^note Animated adaptation of the iconic book, The Monster at the End of This Book. Premiered first on HBO Max in 2020 and aired on PBS in 2022)
• Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets a Puppy (2021)
• The Nutcracker Starring Elmo & Tango (2022)
• Untitled theatrical film (TBA)

Albums:

• The Sesame Street Book & Record (1970)
• Sesame Street Grover Sings The Blues (1974)
• Sesame Street Ernie And Bert Sing Along (1975)
• Sesame Street Signs (1977)
• Sesame Street Fever (1978)
• Sesame Street Sing Along (1982)
• Sesame Street Born To Add (1983)
• Sesame Street: Platinum All-Time Favorites (1995)

Video games:

• Sesame Street (page contains list of games based off of the series)

Books:

• The Monster at the End of This Book (1971)
• Another Monster at the End of This Book (1996)
• Some Friend!

Related media:

• Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
• I Am Big Bird

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