12/22/2024

Inside ‘Sesame Street’ as It Fights to Survive

The show is tackling emotional well-being

Muppet voices bounced around the room as the puppeteers ran through the new script for the first time. The story was a classic conflict between Bert and Ernie — best friends, roommates and stars of this episode of “Sesame Street.”

As the group prepared to move on to the next script, Peter Linz, who plays Ernie, stopped them. Reading the script, which seeks to help children handle their big, sometimes out of control feelings, was emotional for him, he said. He loves Bert and Ernie, but not enough kids today feel the same, and these two don't star in many episodes these days.

"Thank you for keeping these characters alive for little children," Linz told the writers, "and not just having them be nostalgia pieces."

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.