What do Patti Labelle, Elvis Costello, Smokey Robinson, BB King, Michael Stipe and The Dixie Chicks have in common? Correct!
They all appeared in the long history of the US children’s series “Sesame Street” to more or less educational serenade with Cookie Monster and Co. The legendary hit track “Just The Way You Are” by Billy Joel, commented by Oskar from the dustbin and accompanied in sign language by the deaf actress Marlee Matlin. Also nice: “Grover” (in our case: Grobi) sings Stevie Wonder on the wall. In Germany, the first episode of the German adaptation went on the air 50 years ago.
January 8, 1973 was the day of the first broadcast, the leading ARD broadcaster is the Norddeutscher Rundfunk to this day. A time when albums like “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd, Bowie’s “Aladdin Sane” or “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” by (Sir) Elton John were released.
In the United States, the first black-and-white version of Sesame Street aired a few years earlier, on November 10, 1969. The pre-school program has its roots in the educational reform movement of the late 1960s. Developmental psychology, early childhood education and also the approach to cultural diversity played an important role in the conception.
Television producer Joan Ganz Cooney developed the format with Lloyd Morrisett, Vice President of Carnegie Corporation. The aim was to create a children’s show that “masters the addictive qualities of television – and does something good with it”.
For example, when Leslie Feist sings her hit “1, 2, 3, 4” in the middle of a weird gang of dolls, the idea of “learning through play and music” is already anchored in the original track. Rapper Queen Latifah, on the other hand, raps about the letter “O” in a specially composed track in one of the 1990s episodes. The often dissonant voices of the Sesame Street characters shoot up the performance of the stars often enough. And make it imperfect and funny at the same time.
Legendary, for example, Jonny Cash with “Nasty Dan” (in our case: Oskar from the garbage can), whose bad mood dedicates a song to the “man in black”. “Dan” is flattered in his gruff way.
For the 40th anniversary in the USA in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries. As in Germany, 19 other regionally independent versions were produced. In its long history, it has received eleven Grammy music awards and over 150 TV awards at the Emmys.
When the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) now pulls out all the anniversary stops with extensive special broadcasts, a concert in the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie (on January 20, 2022) and a museum exhibition, it should not go unmentioned that the German implementation always got a bit stuffy in pop culture.
Udo Jürgens or Helene Fischer as guests in the Germanized puppet show are among the highlights. There is also little to say against Reinhard Mey’s interpretation of “Above the Clouds”. A didactic play against fear of flying, in which the puppet protagonists squeeze themselves into a small propeller plane. Ernie and Bert take over some verses.
But below Tim Bendzko it goes quickly into the lowlands of NDR-Denke, which has also been responsible for the German ESC misery for years.
It’s really a pity that the anarchic element of the US originals has been replaced with German creations such as “Herr von Bödefeld” and his puppet partner “Tiffy” (developed since the late 1970s) in favor of staid stupidity. Far more popular: Samson with his cuddle cloth – every child has wished for a giant bear to cuddle with.
Today’s “hosts” Elke Wiswedel and Jens Mahrhold are nice at best, many gags too shallow even for four-year-olds and intentionally “funny”. In the PR speech of the responsible NDR program director Frank Beckmann, it is correct in terms of public law: “’Sesame Street’ is a classic of public children’s television. She teaches – not only – the youngest ones and is hilarious at the same time. ‘Sesame Street’ conveys values, promotes fairness and tolerance, celebrates differences and similarities. Above all, ‘Sesame Street’ takes children seriously and treats them as equals”.
Well then. We recommend the US old-school version of “Manna manna patipi tipi” as an antidote: