Sesame Street in the United Kingdom
A few months after the 1969 premiere of the
The 1971 report stated that educators "abhorred" Sesame Street, while parents and young children viewed it more positively. The report was sceptical of the educational methods used to produce the show, and agreed with the BBC that quality children's programming was already in place in the UK, although it recognised that the public debate surrounding the show had improved children's television in Britain. It also stated that the producers of children's television programmes in Britain should follow the producers of Sesame Street's example and base their content on the feedback of its audience.
BBC
Sesame Street premiered on
The BBC disliked the series from the very beginning and refused to air a British version, claiming that there were already children's television programmes that accomplished the same goals as Sesame Street. Throughout 1970 and 1971, debates raged in the British media about broadcasting the show in the UK. Joan Ganz Cooney, the creator of Sesame Street, expressed her hopes that a British version of the show could expose British children to "something more telling than The Magic Roundabout".[4] Monica Sims, head of children's programming at the BBC at the time, stated, "This sounds like indoctrination, and a dangerous extension of the use of television".[5] A teacher in North London showed the series to over 400 educators and reported that the most negative feedback was that Sesame Street was "brash and vulgar but utterly lovable".[6]
On 24 November 1970, a half hour extract of the programme was shown at a meeting for the Society for Film and Television Arts. One member stated, "There is not much chance of it appearing on British television, but the Department of Education and Science was looking into using the programme in schools". Cooney said, "One day we thought: Can't we use commercials, not to sell products but to teach letters and numbers".[7]
As the public debate over the series increased, Sims wrote a letter of reply in The Guardian outlining the BBC's decision and its objections regarding Sesame Street.
The decision of Sims and the BBC engendered both praise and disappointment and generated an investigation into the network's scheduling practices. The controversy also stalled development of a British co-production. In 1974, the BBC broadcast 13 episodes of
ITV
After the BBC rejected Sesame Street, the
After the trials, Grampian dropped the series until July 1978, while HTV continued to air it. LWT continued to air it, but dropped it in August 1973, and reacquired it on 15 October 1977. The ITA and The Authority Schools Committee agreed to allow both companies to continue broadcasting the series after their study concluded in March 1971, with three additional ITV companies agreeing to air it the following year.[12] Like the BBC, some ITV companies opposed Sesame Street, and certain ITV companies created their own original children's programmes. At the same time, the British government decided to require extra hours of children's programming in the afternoon.[10]
In 1974,
Sesame Street broadcast dates in Britain
- HTV - 29 March 1971
- LWT and Grampian - 25 September 1971
- Granada- 8 July 1972
- UTV- 6 January 1973
- Westward Television - May 1973 (originally on Sundays, before moving to Saturdays in summer 1974)
- ATV - 6 July 1977 [13]
- Southern Television - 19 November 1977
- Border- 8 July 1978
- STV - 16 March 1979
- Anglia Television- July 1981
- Yorkshire- 29 March 1982
- Tyne Tees- 5 July 1982
- Channel Television- 4 April 1984
ITV's
Independent Television Authority Report
Reactions to Sesame Street in Britain 1971[12] was a report commissioned by the ITA in association with the National Council for Educational Technology and three ITV companies. The report was not distributed or published in the national press at first because the ITA believed that the increase in British children's programmes had decreased the demand for Sesame Street's broadcast in the UK, although both ITV and the BBC used the report to improve children's programming. The report found that educators "abhorred" Sesame Street for discrediting and possibly corrupting educational objectives. It also questioned the success of the educational approaches used by the show.
Frank Blackwell, the director of the primary extension programmes for the National Council for Educational Technology, carried out the research reported in ITA's report. Both children and their parents were questioned about their interaction with Sesame Street, and sociologists watched children's reactions while watching it. They found that 98—99% of young viewers enjoyed it, and were surprised to discover that most of the negative reactions were from educators. Most parents had positive reactions.
The report cited the concerns raised by Americans such as John Holt and Arnold Arnold about the educational techniques used in Sesame Street, as well as the validity of the research used by the CTW to produce the show. The investigators recognised the show's success in the U.S., but agreed with the BBC that both the ITA and the BBC had over twenty years of experience producing high-quality educational programmes for children, unlike in the U.S., where the production of Sesame Street was the first time a "proper pre-school television programme" was made. The report also agreed that the BBC's carefully selected imported programmes upheld their high standards.
In the UK, the organisations involved in the production of educational television programmes were small, so it was easy for them to work together, thus forming a pool of knowledge accessible to few outside the industry. As a result, it was difficult to compare Sesame Street and British-made series, although Sesame Street helped galvanise the BBC and ITV to produce additional educational programmes for children. The report recommended that British shows follow the example of the producers and creators of Sesame Street, and adjust the content of their programmes based upon their audience's feedback. The report concluded that without Sesame Street, discussion would not have occurred, and the changes to both American and British children's programming would not have happened as quickly.
The ITA's report found that most parents reported that their children were interested in Sesame Street. Parents also reported that children responded well to the show, found the series funny, that it held their attention, and that most learned from viewing it. Most of their children requested to watch the show again. Parents' criticism of the show was that the pace was too fast, that some of the songs included were poor-in-quality, and that children were confused regarding the use of upper and lower case letters. Half of the parents questioned believed that a fifty-minute children's programme was too long. Parents' criticisms of Sesame Street tended to vary depending upon the region. 64% of parents in the HTV test area and 43% of parents in the LWT area considered the show too American.
Overall, the feedback from young viewers was positive. The report found that children's attention levels were highest during the show's
Absence from UK screens
Following the discontinuation of terrestrial broadcasts by Channel 4, Sesame Street has also been shown on satellite and cable channels, such as
As of 2011, the broadcast of Sesame Street in the UK was limited to
In 2014, CBeebies launched a Sesame Street spin-off called The Furchester Hotel, which included Elmo and Cookie Monster as well as new characters. The second season introduced more Sesame Street characters as visitors to the hotel.[15]
Sesame Street returned to UK television on
On 30 May 2020, BBC One aired the half-hour special Elmo's Playdate - produced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic - marking the first time Sesame Street has been broadcast on the BBC's main domestic television network. The special also aired earlier in the month on CBeebies.[18]
VHS releases
VHS Title | Release Date | Episodes |
---|---|---|
Sesame Street 1 (VC1094) | 21 September 1987 | Learning About Numbers, Learning to Add and Subtract |
Sesame Street 2 (VC1095) | 21 September 1987 | Learning About Letters, Getting Ready to Read |
Sesame Street 3 (VC1096) | 21 September 1987 | I'm Glad I'm Me, Sing Along |
Sesame Street 4 (VC1097) | 9 May 1988 | Bedtime Stories and Songs, Getting Ready for School |
Sesame Street 5 (VC1098) | 9 May 1988 | Play Along Games and Songs, Big Bird's Story Time |
Sesame Street - Learn to Read, ABC (VC1215) | 26 August 1991 | Learning About Letters, The Alphabet Game |
Sesame Street - Learn to Count, 123 (VC1216) | 26 August 1991 | Learning About Numbers, Learning to Add and Subtract |
Sesame Street - Playalong - Singalong (VC1217) | 26 August 1991 | Play Along Games and Songs, Sing Along |
Sesame Street - Bedtime Stories (VC1218) | 26 August 1991 | Bedtime Stories and Songs, Big Bird's Story Time |
Sesame Street - Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (VC1220) | 11 November 1991 | Christmas Eve on Sesame Street |
Sesame Street - Dance Along!/Big Bird's Favourite Party Games (VC1234) | 17 February 1992 | Big Bird's Favourite Party Games, Dance Along! |
Sesame Street - Sing Yourself Silly!/Monster Hits (VC1235) | 17 February 1992 | Sing Yourself Silly!, Monster Hits |
Sesame Street - Learning About Letters (VC1334) | 14 February 1994 | Learning About Letters |
Sesame Street - Learn to Read (VC1335) | 14 February 1994 | Getting Ready to Read |
My Little Sesame Street - Big Bird's Favourite Party Games (ML0018) | 5 February 1996 | Big Bird's Favourite Party Games |
Sesame Street - Do the Alphabet/Getting Ready to Read (D610420) | 20 October 1997 | Do the Alphabet, Getting Ready to Read |
Sesame Street - Learning About Numbers/The Best of Bert and Ernie (D610463) | 20 October 1997 | Learning About Numbers, The Best of Bert and Ernie |
Sesame Street - Elmo's Sing Along Guessing Game/Elmocize (D610464) | 20 October 1997 | Elmo's Sing Along Guessing Game, Elmocize |
Sesame Street - Cookie Monster's Best Bites/Play Along Games and Songs (D610465) | 20 October 1997 | Cookie Monster's Best Bites, Play Along Games and Songs |
Sesame Street - Elmo Saves Christmas (D610469) | 10 November 1997 | Elmo Saves Christmas |
Sesame Street - Sing Along/Sing, Hoot and Howl (D610570) | 9 February 1998 | Sing Along, Sing, Hoot and Howl |
Sesame Street - Get Up and Dance/Dance Along (D610571) | 9 February 1998 | Get Up and Dance, Dance Along |
Sesame Street - Sleepy Time Songs and Stories/Quiet Time (D610572) | 9 February 1998 | Sleepy Time Songs and Stories, Quiet Time |
Sesame Street - Big Bird's Story Time/Big Bird Sings (D610573) | 9 February 1998 | Big Bird's Story Time, Big Bird Sings |
Sesame Street - Learning to Share/We All Sing Together (D610574) | 13 July 1998 | Learning to Share, We All Sing Together |
Sesame Street - Telling the Truth/A New Baby in My House (D610575) | 13 July 1998 | Telling the Truth, A New Baby in My House |
Sesame Street - Learning About Letters/Sing Yourself Silly! (D610782) | 3 August 1998 | Learning About Letters, Sing Yourself Silly! |
Sesame Street - 123 Count With Me/Imagine That! (D610783) | 3 August 1998 | 123 Count with Me, Imagine That! |
Sesame Street - The Great Numbers Game/Let's Eat (D610916) | 26 April 1999 | The Great Numbers Game, Let's Eat |
Sesame Street - The Alphabet Jungle Game/Monster Hits (D610967) | 26 April 1999 | The Alphabet Jungle Game, Monster Hits |
Sesame Street - The Best of Elmo/Fiesta! (D610978) | 19 July 1999 | The Best of Elmo, Fiesta! |
Sesame Street - Big Bird Gets Lost/Rock 'n' Roll (D610979) | 19 July 1999 | Big Bird Gets Lost, Rock 'n' Roll |
Sesame Street - Elmo Says Boo!/Kids' Favourite Songs (D610980) | 30 August 1999 | Elmo Says Boo!, Kids' Favourite Songs |
Sesame Street - Getting Ready for School/Sing Yourself Sillier! (D610981) | 30 August 1999 | Getting Ready for School, Sing Yourself Sillier! |
Sesame Street - Put Down the Duckie | 25 October 1999 | Put Down the Duckie |
Sesame Street - Christmas Eve on Sesame Street | 29 November 1999 | Christmas Eve on Sesame Street |
References
- ^ Brooke, Jill (13 November 1998). "'Sesame Street' Takes a Bow to 30 Animated Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
- ^ Cole, p. 148
- ^ Perschek, Willa (25 June 1970). "Jingles That Care". The Guardian. p. 11.
- ^ Stott, Catherine (16 December 1970). "How the Nursery Can Open Sesame". The Guardian. p. 7.
- ^ "BBC Won't Show 'Sesame Street'". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Associated Press. 8 September 1971. p. 8. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
- ^ "'Sesame Street' Finds Tough Road in Britain". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. 7 June 1971. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
- ^ TV 'commercials' used to teach children basic skills of literacy. Stephen Jessel, The Times p.3 (London, England), Wednesday, 25 November 1970.
- ^ Sims, Monica (22 December 1970). "Letters to the Editor: Look and Learn Television". The Guardian. p. 14.
- ^ "Son of Sesame Street". The Guardian. 8 April 1974. p. 6.
- ^ a b "History". Rainbow.web.com. 19 March 2002. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
- ^ Christmas, Linda (24 November 1970). "Sesame street Cul de Sac". The Guardian. p. 13.
- ^ a b Reactions to Sesame Street in Britain, 1971: A Report from the Independent Television Authority. London: The Authority. 1972.
- ^ "Broadcasting":The Times. Wednesday,6 July 1977 Issue 60048 p29
- ^ Geoghegan, Tom; Megan Lane (6 November 2009). "Why Did Britain Fall out of Love with Sesame St?". BBC News Magazine. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ Gil, Emma (26 June 2016). "Sesame Street's Big Bird flies in to Manchester Airport as he heads to The Furchester Hotel". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Boomerang UK And Cartoonito UK November 2016 Highlights". RegularCapital: Cartoon Network International News. Turner Broadcasting System Europe (Press Release). 18 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ "Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck". www.tinypop.com.
- ^ Elmo’s Playdate special to air on BBC One, licensingsource.net, 29 May 2020