Katy Perry gives up Sesame Street for The Simpsons

After being evicted from Sesame Street (see yesterday's post) for being too hot, super-star Katy Perry might just have found a new home on The Simpsons. Perry will apparently be guest in a Christmas-themed episode of the animated comedy performing with puppets. First Sesame Street with Elmo, now on The Simpsons with puppets - has this pop idol an obsession with puppets you might well ask?

“In the wake of Elmo’s terrible betrayal, the Simpsons puppets wish to announce they stand felt-shoulder-to-shoulder with Katy Perry,” quipped series executive producer Al Jean in a statement to EW.com. Not only does the singer wind up leading Homer & amp; Co. in a rendition of “The 39 Days of Christmas,” she plays the unlikely role of… Moe’s girlfriend! Yes, from Elmo to Moe she goes. (And as you can see in the picture above, her sartorial selection for this gig probably wouldn’t have been Street-approved either: The PBS show announced on 23 September that it wouldn’t air Perry’s performance after previewing it on You Tube and receiving complaints about her cleavage-revealing outfit. By the way, her Simpsons bit was shot in mid-September, prior to the fuss.) Perry, the musical guest on Saturday Night Live tonight, won’t be the only celebrity gracing this Simpsons episode; Martha Stewart also pops up, but in cartoon form. “The Fight Before Christmas” airs 5 December on Fox.

Our thanks to California-based Puppet 101

Elmo & Katy get too hot for Sesame Street

Before pop star, Katy Perry could get her milk teeth into young Elmo, their Sesame Street debut was canceled by the producers. Sesame Street's You Tube site apparently had US parents up in arms cause Katy wasn't dressed accordingly for her Sesame Street appearance. But who's being conservative here? You judge for yourselves. No porn, no nudity, not even any sexual innuendos, just a misunderstood fashion statement made by the American hit singer. It has given Katy 3.5 million You Tube hits though. You can watch the actual report here!
PS. If you want to watch a bizarre report on how they make her smell like cotton candy, click here!

Sesame Street turns 40

Over the past week, Sesame Street has been congratulated all over the net for it's 40th anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been forty years, since that day in 1969, when its founder Joan Cooney introduced Sesame Street to the world. In 1998, Joan Cooney conducted a fascinating 9-part interview series about Sesame Street, which is now hosted on You Tube. Check it out here!
Big Bird featured in a US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live. You can catch it here!
You can even find the Sesame Street characters embedded all over the Google search engine logo over the past week. Even US First Lady Michelle Obama took Elmo on a walk through Sesame Street recently - here! Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!

36th Annual Emmy Awards Sesame Street

I'm sure that most of you guys were brought up on a daily diet of Sesame Street. Well unfortunately I wasn't, because we never had television in South Africa when I was growing up. But as soon as I was eventually introduced to it, I loved it and I'm sure my little boy will benefit by Sesame Street very soon too. Last Sunday the winners of the 36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards were televised live on The CW Television Network from the historic Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

The telecast specifically honoured 'Sesame Street' with the “Lifetime Achievement Emmy® Award - “On the occasion of Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences proudly honors the acclaimed series as a pioneer of the contemporary standard, and presents this Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of its place as the most highly regarded and most watched educational television show for children around the world."
Thanks to Puppeteers Unite!

Joan Ganz Cooney's World in the 21st Century

How can emerging media help children learn? This question was asked forty years ago by a great innovator in the United States, Joan Ganz Cooney. She was the woman who started Children's Television Workshop which produced Sesame Street together with Jim Henson in 1968. That question is as relevant today as we try to get inside the minds of young children and how they are looking at our world and figure out the engagement points in the new digital media to educate them in this 21st century. Cooney's legacy was to improve children's lives a little more urgently and figure how we can all contribute to this goal together. You can watch a short documentary of the Joan Ganz Cooney Centre here!

You can watch a full interview in nine parts with Cooney in New York, recorded in 1998, here! Many famous people have appeared on Sesame Street in recent years. Michele Obama even recently promoted a healthy lifestyle on Sesame Street. You can watch her here!

Sesame Street Satire

For the past few months I have been discovering the kids TV show 'Sesame Street' becoming more 'adult friendly' as it tackles satire - ripping off well-known TV shows and also inviting popular guest artists into their studio, like David Beckham; Feist and James Blunt.
Well now they are doing spoofs on popular shows 'Law and Order' Special Letters Unit and Sesame Street's hilarious parody of CSI "RSI: Rhyme Scene Investigation". Check them out!
(Thanks to PuppetVision)

Elmo interviewed on Rove Live in Australia

While on tour here in Jerusalem, I discovered an online video from an interview I caught while in Australia last year, but still it's certainly worth checking out, if you haven't seen it. Rove Live is a popular talk TV show down under and here Sesame Street's Elmo and his manipulator, Kevin Clash are being interviewed in Melbourne. Take a look at the Elmo interview here and the Kevin Clash interview here!