Series / Sesamstraße

The Muppet cast of Sesamstrasse.^note The original German Muppets are Samson (bear), Tiffy (pink bird), Finchen (snail), Buh (owl), Feli Filu (blue monster), and Rumpel the Grouch.

Der, die, das - wer, wie, was – wieso, weshalb, warum – wer nicht fragt bleibt dumm!^note This, this, that - who, how, what - why, why, why - those who don't ask stay dumb!

— Opening theme

Sesamstrasse (Sesamstraße in German, literally translates to Sesame Street) is the German co-production of Sesame Street. Beginning production in West Germany in 1973 and airing in the unified country since then, Sesamstrasse was the third co-production of Sesame Street outside the United States, after Latin America's Plaza Sésamo and Brazil's Vila Sesamo.

The first three seasons (or 250 episodes) of the series consisted of the original American episodes dubbed into German in Hamburg. Merely the opening and closing songs and sequences were changed. In late 1977, however, a German street set was built in Hamburg for filming original stories. Samson the bear and Tiffy the bird replaced Big Bird (named Bibo) and Oscar the Grouch (Oskar der Griesgram) as main characters, and the new version debuted in January 1978. In the following years more characters were added to the German street scenes, such as Rumpel the Grouch and Finchen the snail. Each episode featured the new puppets interacting with a pair of human characters; consistently one male, one female. In 1988, the set and original puppets were destroyed in a fire, but were rebuilt the next year.

---

This series provides examples of:

• Beary Friendly: Samson is a large bear who is friends with the other characters and is a child in spite of his size and voice.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Tiffy was removed from the show in 2005 to allow Moni and her daughter Lena to debut.
• Commuting on a Bus: Samson was removed from the show for unknown reasons in 2010, but occasionally returns now and then.
• Expy:
  • Samson fills the role of Big Bird as a full-sized Muppet character, with Big Bird himself appearing on special occasions.
  • Rumpel is a Grouch who is similar to America's Oscar the Grouch if he was more cheerful.
• Loyal Animal Companion: Like Oscar, Rumpel has a pet worm called Gustav.
• Rewritten Pop Version: The theme song got this treatment thanks to Blümchen.
• Spinoff: The show has two in Eine Möhre für Zwei (A Carrot For Two) and Pizza Mit Biss (Pizza With A Bite). Both sitcom-esque shows are aimed at an older audience than the main series (as well as its Periphery Demographic, something that most Sesame Workshop shows have).