Sesame Street (1970) There is no single program in the history of children''s television that had a more pronounced effect on the genre than Sesame Street, for an alphabet of reasons. The globally recognized television institution had many architects, but its genesis can be traced back to a 1966 dinner conversation between television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Carnegie Corporation vice-president Lloyd Morrisett. Cooney was marvelling at the power of commercial television advertising after witnessing a child reciting a beer commercial jingle word-for-word. Morrisett suggested a new program could apply those same slick Madison-Avenue production techniques to teach the basics to underprivileged children in America. Between 1966 and 1968, research on how to best merge the latest production methods of television and advertising with educational and curriculum goals, sustained by robust audience testing, was conducted by the non-profit consortium Children''s Television Workshop (CTW) based in New York City. Cooney became CTW''s first executive director after travelling across the United States and Canada researching the current state of children''s television along with various academic and social initiatives that might be communicated through the medium. Cooney''s findings were published in a 1967 document entitled "The Potential Uses of Television in Preschool Education," which outlined her vision for in-house formative research and independent summative evaluations that could monitor young viewers'' responses and inform future creative work. Cooney''s approach became the basis for all CTW productions.

Cooney concluded that "a show devised to present letters and numbers could be done in the format of commercial messages." With an $8-million combined grant from the Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and others, the CTW set about creating a new, fast-paced children''s series that would mix animation, live action, and puppetry. Working titles "1,2,3 Street" and "Open Sesame" were blended to create Sesame Street. Many veterans of CBS''s Captain Kangaroo (1955) -- itself initially seen as an educational alternative to The Howdy Doody Show (1947) -- helped shape the original concept, including writers Jon Stone and Matt Robinson. Through the CTW''s extensive research in television advertising, Stone and Robinson became aware of Jim Henson, whose Muppet troupe was being used to sell junk food though brands such as Frito-Lay and Royal Crown Cola. Joe Raposo, an old friend of Stone, was invited to contribute music. The creative team was bolstered by child psychologists and educational supervisors at every stage of development. After rudimentary segments were road-tested with a wide range of children, parents, and teachers, it was determined that the punchier animated and puppetry segments performed best, while live longer-action dialogue scenes between the human hosts lost viewers'' attention.

This four-square method of research-shoot-test-restructure was adhered to for the remainder of production. Sesame Street premiered across the PBS network in the United States on Monday, November 10, 1969, and could be seen in Toronto via UHF broadcast from PBS affiliate WNED-TV in Buffalo, New York. Its listing in Starweek magazine read: "Sesame Street is a new daily series aimed at helping prepare preschool children for school, using entertainment techniques common to commercial television." Almost immediately, Sesame Street became the most talked about television series on-air, and magazines and newspapers filled with breathless reports on its effectiveness in teaching children. "My two-year-old son already has learned the alphabet from watching Sesame Street," one Toronto-area parent told The Toronto Star in February, 1970. The article went on: Technically it is the slickest show on television today, abounding in split-second psychedelic pyrotechnics, combining (sometimes simultaneously) animated cartoons, puppets, and live performers, making inventive use of sound and edited so tightly that Laugh-In, by comparison, resembles The Ed Sullivan Show. CBC''s director of informational programming, Knowlton Nash, had begun negotiating for exclusive Canadian broadcast rights ("a superb piece of television," gushed Nash), although such an acquisition might have been problematic due to the CTW''s resolve that the program air free of commercials, twice a day. Prophetically, The Toronto Star article also suggested the Ontario government''s educational television division, whose Channel 19 would not air until September 1970, would be unable to create a similar program owing to its first year''s operating budget of $8 million -- the exact cost of one season of Sesame Street.

"Obviously, Ontario''s [educational television] programmers cannot afford to duplicate Sesame Street, even if they wish to -- but they can learn a lot from it for free." CBC''s attempt to acquire Sesame Street was impeded when privately held CTV joined the bidding war. The Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC) further complicated issues in February 1970 when it revised its Canadian-content rulings, mandating a minimum of 60 percent Canadian content from all broadcasters. In May 1970, CRTC president Pierre Juneau signalled possible wiggle room by announcing that programs that the commission considered "of significant merit" would qualify as "no nationality," and therefore would not count toward the critical 40 percent of foreign content. CBC took this announcement on good faith, believing that "superior educational TV should know no geographic boundaries," and promptly upped its bid, winning the prized Canadian broadcast rights to Sesame Street at an enormous cost (apparently one of the CBC''s most expensive imports ever). There was still the issue of the second daily run, which the CBC did not wish to impose upon its affiliate channels, who were struggling to squeeze in more commercial time during their broadcast hours. In July 1970, the CRTC changed course and dropped the concept of "no nationality," leaving the CBC "stuck with Sesame Street." However, the CBC''s incipient relationship with the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (OECA) and its soon-to-be-launched Channel 19 presented a solution to the second-run issue and an irresistible opportunity for Toronto-based Channel 19.

The CBC essentially gifted the second run to the OECA. A similar arrangement was made with ACCESS, Alberta''s public broadcaster, allowing it to feature the marquee series at a fraction of the cost. The CRTC did eventually bow to pressure and allow Sesame Street a "no nationality" hall-pass for its inaugural season. After a press screening of the first episode in Toronto in September 1970, Sesame Street''s executive producer David Connell sought to downplay its reputation as the second coming: "Sesame Street is not going to revolutionize the educational world. It''s just one little program," he humbly announced. CBC''s head of children''s programming Daniel (Dan) McCarthy was on hand to publicly ask Connel if he saw any future viability of a Canadianized version of the program "that could be repackaged to show Indian reservations and reflect Canadian bilingualism." Connel mused it was something that might be considered down the line. McCarthy announced that a Canadian-produced children''s show similar in scale to Sesame Street could never occur due to the costs: "It would require enormous investment .

I would like to see more commitment at the taxpayer level. Kids'' TV is not at the top of the priority list." Sesame Street premiered to great acclaim on CBC on Monday, September 28, 1970 (for those who had been unable to watch the cross-border UHF broadcasts from PBS). It proved there was a mass audience for children''s programs that achieved their pedagogical objectives through innovative entertainment.