Elmo Needs You!

Even Elmo and friends are not immune to the recession. Sesame Workshop, the non-profit producer of Sesame Street, announced that they will be cutting 20% of their workforce. This fact has not escaped mainstream media, with news organizations like Time Magazine, MSNBC and Newsweek all writing about it, perhaps hoping that awareness of the show’s problems will help drive viewership, sales of their licensed toy products and donations to public television.

You never know what your kids will gravitate to. We’ve gone through periods of fascination with Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer, Diego, Mickey Mouse, The Backyardigans, The Wiggles and even the Teletubbies. Unfortunately, the twins only recently began recognizing characters from Sesame Street and it’s largely from Max and Natalie’s book collection.

My husband didn’t grow up with Sesame Street. I don’t think he even knows what channel PBS is on now. In our mega cable channel universe, whoever controls the dial largely determines what your children know and become attached to. I have very fond memories of watching Sesame Street with my brothers and still marvel at how they make the show entertaining while also teaching basic developmental concepts. I also remember the show featuring ballerinas, fine art, jazz music, the Eiffel Tower and actors and singers from every genre. It gave me the sense of a world beyond my neighborhood. It made me want to live there.

Now that I know that the recession has hit Sesame Street, I will now make sure to set the dial to PBS, buy some Sesame street DVDs and maybe even buy the twins Tickle Me Elmo for Christmas. It’s the least I can do. My life might have been very different if I had never seen Sesame Street.