Still The Coolest Street-Happy 43rd Birthday Sesame Street!

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"Sesame Street's mission is to "create innovative, engaging content that maximizes the educational power of media to help children reach their highest potential."

  This week everyone's favorite 8' 2"yellow feathered friend, along with all his neighbors on one of the world's most famous streets, celebrated 43 years of educating kids while having a lot of fun! The first episode of Sesame Street aired November 10,1969.

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  It has been anxious time for our friends on Sesame Street as they became the center of the PBS funding cut chatter during the election-Good news pals Barack has your back!

  The importance of Sesame Street in the lives of pre-schoolers across the globe kids cannot be overstated.  In a society becoming more fractured economically kids with limited to no access to the plugged in world of apps and the internet and cable do have access to public broadcasting and Sesame Street at no charge-no special technology or fees required.  Sesame Street provides all kids the start they need to succeed in the critical early learning grades.

via The Atlantic and Mental Floss

  Sesame Street has not only helped kids learn their letters and numbers, but it has also held their hand through difficult time and taught them important life lessons-caring, friendship, sharing, tolerance, understanding...and coping skills-most memorably after the death of Mr. Hooper the grocer and September 11 and this week in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Sesame Street announced that it would air a special episode to help kids understand the effects of a hurricane as Big Bird's nest is destroyed in a storm.

 Sesame Street has always been a hot destination for celebrities, many of whom would never make public appearances on any other show...and of course every First Lady since Pat Nixon has stopped in to say Hi to the gang including Michelle Obama who along with Elmo talked about the importance of healthy eating and gardening.

  Sesame Street is seen in over 140 countries worldwide from South Africa, where an HIV Positive character was included, to Israel where Oscar's Israeli counterpart is Moishe Oofnik, whose last name means "grouch" in Hebrew,  and last season in Afghanistan   where supposedly the characters of Oscar the Grouch and The Count von Count were set aside due to cultural taboos around trash and vampires

 In Egypt 's version-Alam Simsim, a strong and gutsy girl character named Khokha not only teaches the alphabet and numbers but also inspires and eductates girls that they can grow up to be anything they want and she wants to be a lawyer and a doctor and an engineer when she grows up! In Bangladesh Tuktuki intends to learn to read and go to school just like the boys do!  This week Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor came to Sesame Street to talk to Abby Cadabby about careers.  Abby wants to be a Princess but Justice Sotomayor explains that really isn't a career  "... a career is "a job you train for, or prepare for and plan on doing for a long time...pretending to be a princess is fun, but it is definitely not a career... you can go to school and train to be a teacher, a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, and even a scientist..."  Abby decides to go for the gavel!

 

Sesame Street weaves the culture and societal concerns of each country through the characters and lessons of each show, and for the original Sesame Street, the characters and cast reflect who we are-different, special, unique and a melting pot of cultures and customs and beliefs -maybe the next political party should come from a special neighborhood called Sesame Street!

   

Did you know...

- According to Sesame Workshop, Elmo is the only non-human to testify before Congress.
 He lobbied for more funding for music education, so that “when Elmo goes to school, there will be the instruments to play.”

-Oscar the Grouch used to be orange 

-Mr. Snuffleupagus has a first name--Aloysius

- All Sesame Street's main Muppets have four fingers except Cookie Monster, who has five

Return to Eaton Place

  "This house is going to see such life! Lady Agnes Holland

Tonight the laptop will be closed-no email, no phone calls...tonight I have an appointment to return to Eaton Place-165 Eaton Place to be precise.  As part of this lovely 40th anniversary season of Masterpiece Theatre, Masterpiece will air the loooong overdue sequel to Upstairs Downstairs. Created by the original creators Jean Marsh, who reprises her role as the cornerstone of the downstairs staff Rose, and Eileen Atkins who will portray the new family's matriarch Lady Maud, The new series of Upstairs Downstairs begins in 1936  as the new family- The Hollands- move into Eaton Place.

Production Designer Eve Stewart's sketches for 165 Eaton Place

The beloved old home  has been neglected and requires a restoration to not only restore it to its gracious glory but also to bring it up to the standards and needs of the new family and the new age.  For that task Masterpiece turned to Eve Stewart,nominated for an Academy Award for her work on The King's Speech, to take on the daunting task of recreating a beloved address, painstakingly getting all the architectural and ornamental details just so at this Georgian style home so many remember. The home after all is at the center of the drama, arguably the main character, and other than Rose the only character to return from the original series-The main hall and chandelier bring viewers instantly back to familiar surroundings. 

At the same time the set needed to be designed to reflect the style and  characters of the new young family in a very different world than the Bellamy family lived in-lavish and opulent for Lady Agnes upstairs and  proper bell and calling system for downstairs.  Ms. Stewart created a bird motif throughout the house because  she "... felt that all the young people were like little birds trapped in this gilded cage, whether they're the posh birds at the top or the common little sparrows, they're all kind of fluttering around and making nests for themselves."  I for one am pleased to be invited back to this nest. 

The new series of Upstairs Downstairs premiers tonight  on PBS for three episodes..and there will be another season!!  Check your local listings and you can also watch on line beginning tomorrow.

A Masterpiece of an Escape-40 Years of Special Sundays

                                                                                                                                     Downton Abbey
Sundays in January...what do you do with them?? The festive season is over, there are bits and bobs of holiday littered throughout the house...it is cold and snowy, The Pats are on bi-week and it seems like everything needs my attention...too bad!  Sundays in January mean the return of an old friend and this year is very exciting as that old friend is celebrating 40 years of  special Sundays.

 I grew up watching Masterpiece Theatre every Sunday night in the winter and spring... In many ways I actually credit my love of great books not to any specific literature professor but to Masterpiece Theatre!  Stories filled with unforgettable characters, handsome brooding men on horseback, women in elegant dress complete with hats and gloves...all with secrets!!  Proper tea, perfectly manicured gardens ...drama, humour, intrigue,English country houses, gorgeous landscapes...sublime soap opera dressed to the nines!

 It is fun to revisit the original Masterpiece Theatre episodes, classics such as Poldark, The Golden Bowl, The Six Wives of Henry the VIII, I Claudius, Pride and Prejudice, A Town Like Alice, Elizabeth R,The Jewel in the Crown... many appear grainy and a bit over staged in comparison to recent productions but beautifully scripted with memorable performances by extraordinary actors and all still a joy to watch.

The original and new Upstairs Downstairs

   

                                                                                                                                Downton Abbey
Upstairs Downstairs  of course remains the signature piece for Masterpiece Theatre, now known as Masterpiece Classic, and this season's schedule sparkles with not only the premier of the much anticipated Downton Abbey, from Gosford Park's Julian Fellowes with a grand cast including Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Maggie Smith, but also a return to 165 Eaton Place! featuring original series creators Eileen Atkins and Jean Marsh. Phone on mute, laptop shut off...Sunday nights are Classic!

A Masterpiece of a Season :

Downton Abbey January 9, 16, 23 & 30  A delicious family drama chronicling the lives both upstairs and downstairs in the early 20th century  as The Crawley family fights to hold to their aristocratic way of life that has endured for generations in the face of change and upheaval.

The Unseen Alistair Cooke   February 6 -Reprise

Masterpiece Theatre's beloved host chronicled is years as a correspondent in America with an 8mm camera and this piece highlights the discovered footage as it celebrates Cooke's life and work.

Any Human Heart  February 13, 20 , 27

Based on William Boyd's novel three actors portray Logan Montstuart at three stages of his life -Sam Claflin, the delicious Matthew MacFadyen, and the brilliant Jim Broadbent portray the ups and downs of the character's life filled with romance and adventure as lover, a writer, art dealer and spy.

The 39 Steps March 27-Reprise

A wonderful stylish remake of the classic made famous by Alfred Hitchcock starring Rupert Penry- Jones , The 39 Steps is a fabulous romantic thriller filled with surprises.


Upstairs Downstairs  April 10, 17 24

A new family moves into 165 Eaton Place...it is 1936 and a whole new world for this famous abode--if those walls could talk! It has been 30 years since Rose closed that door and how wonderful that it has been reopened for new drama and romance...scripted by Cranford writer Heidi Thomas and featuring original series creators Eileen Atkins and Jean Marsh.

-South Riding May 1, 8, 15

Andrew Davies has brought some of the most lush productions to Masterpiece including Bleak House and Little Dorritt.  This 3 part series is based on Winifred Holtby's  novel of a young headmistress at a girl's school set in Yorkshire in the 1930s.