"Sesame Street" and the Reform of Children's Television“[An] accessible, well-researched introduction to the people and principles behind the show’s creation . . . Essential.” —Choice (An Outstanding Academic Title of the Year) By the late 1960s more than a few critics of American culture groused about the condition of television programming and, in particular, the quality and content of television shows for children. In the eyes of the reform-minded, commercial television crassly exploited young viewers; its violence and tastelessness served no higher purpose than the bottom line. The Children’s Television Workshop (CTW)—and its fresh approach to writing and producing programs for kids—emerged from this growing concern. Sesame Street—CTW’s flagship hour-long show—aimed to demonstrate how television could help all preschoolers, including low-income urban children, prepare for first grade. In this engaging study Robert W. Morrow explores the origins and inner workings of CTW, how the workshop in New York scripted and designed Sesame Street, and how the show became both a model for network television and a thorn in its side. Through extensive archival research and a systematic study of sample programs from Sesame Street’s first ten seasons, Morrow tells the story of Sesame Street’s creation; the ideas, techniques, organization, and funding behind it; its place in public discourse; and its ultimate and unfortunate failure as an agent of commercial television reform. “An insightful look at American children's television.” —Library Journal |
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ACT's adult advertising African-American American audience became began Bert Big Bird Captain Kangaroo Carnegie Corp cartoons censorship characters child development Children and Television children watched children's programming Children's Television Workshop committee Connell Cooney Cooney's created critics CTW Archives CTW Model CTW's culture curriculum Davidson New York Davidson oral history distractor early education Educational Television effects entertainment episode Ernie evaluation example executives experience FCC Panels federal Federal Communications Commission film Gerald Lesser goals groups Hausman Henson idea industry interview by Robert January Jim Henson Joan Ganz Cooney Jon Stone July Kids later learning Lesser Magazine Memo middle-class Morrisett networks October Oscar the Grouch Palmer parents Polsky poor children popular preschool producers proposal psychologists puppet quoted reform Report Robert Davidson season segments seminars Sesame Street Sesame Workshop show's skits social Sprigle staff stations teach teachers University Press wrote young viewers youngsters