History Awesome / SesameStreet

* Creator/PatrickStewart on ''Sesame Street'' delivering [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA7lv1SDzno a Theatre/{{Hamlet}}-style soliloquy about the letter B]]. Go ahead; watch it and try to tell yourself this isn't awesome. He went and topped himself later on with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNatvLe18ro "Make it so, number one!"]]

* Patrick Stewart on ''Sesame Street'' delivering [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA7lv1SDzno a Hamlet-style soliloquy about the letter B]]. Go ahead; watch it and try to tell yourself this isn't awesome. He went and topped himself later on with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNatvLe18ro "Make it so, number one!"]]

* Music/StevieWonder performing a mind-blowing, nearly seven-minute version of "Superstition" during the peak of his artistic powers in 1973 is something any program of the time would have killed for...and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE he did it for]] '''SESAME STREET'''. Later when ''Sesame Street'' did ''My Sesame Moments'' retrospectives for Season 40, singer Donny Osmond remarked in his retrospective that when he first saw ''Sesame Street'', he only thought it was good... until Music/StevieWonder, who was his musical icon, appeared, which made it great.

* Not only was "Superstition" a major coup for ''Sesame Street'', so was one of its signature songs from its early years becoming a huge hit for one of America's most popular duos. "Sing" was conceived and written as a children's song by Joe Raposo, a staff songwriter on the Children's Television Workshop staff; in late 1972, Richard Carpenter decided that he and his sister, Karen, should record the song (perhaps seeing an adult message in the song). With the Jimmy Joyce Children's Choir providing backing vocals, ''Sesame Street'' got its biggest mainstream hit ever -- "Sing", a No. 3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1973.

* The 1983 TV movie "Don't Eat the Pictures" have the Sesame Street gang trapped in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art after it closes. Big Bird meets the ghost of a young Egyptian prince cursed by a demon, to never be with his parents in the afterlife for 4000 years unless he solves a riddle. Big Bird helps him solve it, and then when '''Osiris, god of the Underworld''' (filling in for Anubis, apparently) appears and judges the prince not worthy, Big Bird ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktnG_2-VXA0 tells him off]]'' and his support actually changes the nature of the child's soul so that it can ascend. Yes, ''Big Bird'' overruled a god's judgment.

* Big Bird responding to threats to cut Creator/{{PBS}} funding (from Mitt Romney, then trying to run for President again) by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tSPtkRSFCA appearing on Saturday Night Live]]. Rather than taking sides, he lets his presence speak for itself. His arrival nearly brought down the house.

* The entire season-long "Slimey To The Moon" plot of season 29. In fact, it could even qualify as a [[WhamEpisode Wham]] '''''[[WhamEpisode SEASON!]]''''' Very young children may be hard to keep their attention on something, but the fact that Sesame Street; a series known only for its number counting, alphabetical teaching, shape and color recognition, social studies for children, and comedy for children and parents alike, decided to tackle an overarching idea as complex as space missions, training, scientific knowledge, the unknown of science and the universe (brought down to just the level of the moon), and the very '''''real''''' dangers involved, for children from 3 to 5 years old, and treat it as seriously as adults would (as seriously as ''Sesame Street'' could within its own boundaries), is pretty big and heavy stuff! Plus, this was not just a one-and-done episode deal. This was spread out non-consecutively over approximately one-third of a YEAR (18 weeks!), with frequent callbacks in the form of "Worms in Space" interstitial segments (to teach alphabet, number, and shape recognition), or even entire ''episodes'' based around the event, and after each episode in the season, in the vein of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'', the Wiggleprise's progress to the moon before landing, and its progress back to Earth afterwards!

*** At the end of the storyline, the rocket has made it back to Earth orbit, the return capsule separates just fine, and begins to enter the atmosphere. However, The Count accidentally sends the capsule veering off-course (with his ''[[HairTriggerSoundEffect thunder]]'' after laughing), and at first, everyone freaks out on learning that they're not landing in the Atlantic Ocean, but on '''''[[FromBadToWorse SESAME STREET!]]''''' Telly spells out that they'll crash on the concrete with no water. Then the worm scientists tell the humans they "[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness need to secure a portable mini splashdown facility]]" (Translation: A water-filled wash bucket) to catch the worm capsule, and fast! Maria remembers that there is a wash bucket by her garage. She, Gabi, Lynne, and Gordon go to grab it, fill it with water, and carry it around Sesame Street to soften the landing. They ''keep'' moving around as the crowd gives them directions and the capsule zigzags on its parachute. The end result is the humans get splashed, but the worm astronauts are safe and Oscar goes to check on Slimey. Lynne wipes her face with dignity, looks into the camera, and says, "We ''have splashdown''." Everyone cheers, for a good reason. Now ''that'' is HeroicBystander, and RankScalesWithAsskicking for Lynne Thigpen as WASA commander.

* The very fact that in 1976, almost 40 years after ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' was released, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West was ''still'' able to evoke terror in children despite being in her seventies, to the point of her episode still being banned and unavailable forty-something years later (see the NightmareFuel page), is [[StillGotIt quite an accomplishment]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Fz44SCwd0 His epic]] TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at Zoe for letting "Rocco," the [[CompanionCube rock]] that she's been lugging around all day, dictate their playtime and ultimately blurting out the number of the day, the ''one'' thing that Elmo wanted to do that day, right after Zoe said he could do it. When Zoe refuses to apologize and shrugs off his anger with a nonchalant "Oh, well.", Elmo puts his furry red foot down, stating that he's not going to play with Zoe ''or'' Rocco anymore, and storms off to play by himself. When Gina sees Zoe guiltily looking at a sullen Elmo, she says that [[HardTruthAesop regardless of Zoe's intentions or pretending, she hurt Elmo's feelings]] and Zoe has to fix that.

* Music/StevieWonder performing a mind-blowing, nearly seven-minute version of "Superstition" during the peak of his artistic powers in 1973 is something any program of the time would have killed for...and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE he did it for]] '''SESAME STREET'''. Later when ''Sesame Street'' did ''My Sesame Moments'' retrospectives for Season 40, singer Donny Osmond remarked in his retrospective that when he first saw ''Sesame Street'', he only thought it was good... until Stevie Wonder, who was his musical icon, appeared, which made it great.
* While we're on the subject of special guests, the 30th Anniversary special "Elmopalooza" deserves points for not only getting GloriaEstefan to sing "Mambo I, I, I", ShawnColvin to duet with Ernie on "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon," KennyLoggins putting his sweet spin on "One Small Voice," or Fugees to sing and rap on "Happy To Be Me," but getting '''''JIMMY BUFFETT''''' to sing "Caribbean Amphibian with Kermit! And as if THAT wasn't awesome enough, the music video for "Caribbean Amphibian" had special animation by ''Sesame'' cartoonist Sally Cruikshank, the person famous for animating musical shorts like "Above it All", "Island of Emotion," and "Beginning, Middle, and End" on the show.

* The simple fact that the show is still going after 50 years. Most shows don't last anywhere near that long.

*** At the end of the storyline, the rocket has made it back to Earth orbit, the return capsule separates just fine, and begins to enter the atmosphere. However, The Count accidentally sends the capsule veering off-course (with his ''[[HairTriggerSoundEffect thunder]]'' after laughing), and at first, everyone freaks out on learning that they're not landing in the Atlantic Ocean, but on '''''[[FromBadToWorse SESAME STREET!]]''''' Telly spells out that they'll crash on the concrete with no water. Then the worm scientists tell the humans they "[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness need to secure a portable mini splashdown facility]]" (Translation: A water-filled wash bucket) to catch the worm capsule, and fast! Maria remembers that there is a wash bucket by her garage. She, Gabi, Lynne, and Gordon go to grab it, fill it with water, and carry it around Sesame Street to soften the landing. They ''keep'' moving around as the crowd gives them directions and the capsule zigzags on its parachute. The end result is the humans get splashed, but the worm astronauts are safe and Oscar goes to check on Slimey. Lynne wipes her face with dignity, looks into the camera, and says, "We ''have splashdown''." Everyone cheers, for a good reason. Now ''that'' is HeroicBystander, and AuthorityEqualsAsskicking for Lynne Thigpen as WASA commander.

* Big Bird ''finally'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BtemfoJ-WI proving that Snuffy is real]]. And the reason it was done was to show kids that they could trust adults to believe them about things like sexual abuse.

* You want to know how powerful this show was from the very beginning? How about when the Mississippi state government initially refused to have it aired on their PBS stations on account of it having Blacks and Whites living together in harmony, various commercial broadcasters responded with "If you won't air it, ''we will!''", and forced the state government to back down. The show began airing there a month later. The greatest secret to Sesame Street's longevity is that the production team keeps a great handle on what works for the show and its viewers. When things need to change, they take what they learn on board, and they make the necessary adjustments. They're just very conscientious, and that's why they stay at the top of the heap.

* This stereotype-busting skit shows two boys playing a stereotypical cowboys-and-Indians game, when an actual Native American boy shows up:

** At the end of the episode, Gina and Savion are about to head home, but they start to believe that the racist caller is watching them. They decide to walk home together and start singing a "best friend" song that Telly and Baby Bear sang earlier, just to show the caller that they are still friends no matter what they say.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Fz44SCwd0 His epic]] TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at Zoe for letting "Rocco," the rock that she's been lugging around all day, dictate their playtime and ultimately blurting out the number of the day, the ''one'' thing that Elmo wanted to do that day, right after Zoe said he could do it. When Zoe refuses to apologize and shrugs off his anger with a nonchalant "Oh, well.", Elmo puts his furry red foot down, stating that he's not going to play with Zoe ''or'' Rocco anymore, and storms off to play by himself. When Gina sees Zoe guiltily looking at a sullen Elmo, she says that [[HardTruthAesop regardless of Zoe's intentions or pretending, she hurt Elmo's feelings]] and Zoe has to fix that.

-->'''Savion:''' (Pretends to answer the phone) Hello? What? What's that you say? You don't think me and Gina should be friends? Gina. This person on the phone thinks that you and I shouldn't be friends. What on earth do you think we should reply? ( They both blow a huge raspberry into the phone, causing Telly to laugh and cheer)

----->'''Launch Commander:''' Space, the final frontier. This is the voyage of the Wormship "Wiggleprise" and its crew of five very brave, very smart, ''very'' '''''cute''''' little worms, whose mission is to explore space and the moon, and... ''to wiggle'' '''''where no worm has wiggled before!'''''
----->'''Launch Commander:''' Sesame Street has been brought to you today by the letter G, and the number 5. Sesame Street is a production of the Creator/ChildrensTelevisionWorkshop.
----->'''Launch Commander:''' Good Luck, Slimey.

*** The fact that the late [[Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse Lynne]] [[Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego Thig]][[Series/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego pen]] played the WASA Official.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Fz44SCwd0 His epic]] TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at Zoe for letting "Rocco," the rock that she's been lugging around all day, dictate their playtime and blurting out the number of the day, the ''one'' thing that Elmo wanted to do that day, right after Zoe said he could do it. When Zoe refuses to apologize and shrugs off his anger with a nonchalant "Oh, well.", Elmo puts his furry red foot down, stating that he's not going to play with Zoe ''or'' Rocco anymore, and storms off to play by himself. When Gina sees Zoe guiltily looking at a sullen Elmo, she says that [[HardTruthAesop regardless of Zoe's intentions or pretending, she hurt Elmo's feelings]] and Zoe has to fix that.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Fz44SCwd0 His epic]] TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at Zoe for letting "Rocco," the rock that she's been lugging around all day, dictate their playtime and blurting out the number of the day, the ''one'' thing that Elmo wanted to do that day, right after Zoe said he could do it. When Zoe refuses to apologize and shrugs off his anger with a nonchalant "Oh, well.", Elmo puts his furry red foot down, stating that he's not goint to play with Zoe ''or'' Rocco anymore, and storms off to play by himself. When Gina sees Zoe guiltily looking at a sullen Elmo, she says that [[HardTruthAesop regardless of Zoe's intentions or pretending, she hurt Elmo's feelings]] and Zoe has to fix that.

** Oscar freaks out the Witch. Let us repeat: Oscar the Grouch ''out-scared the Wicked Witch of the West''. How does he do it? By proclaming that she's beautiful and he likes her methods. The Witch can only tell him to shoo.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Fz44SCwd0 His epic]] TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at Zoe for letting "Rocco," the rock that she's been lugging around all day, dictate their playtime and not letting him do the ''one'' thing that he wanted: to say the number of the day. When Zoe refuses to apologize and says, "Oh well, let's play with Rocco," Elmo gives a BigNo. He says he'd be happier playing by himself and doesn't want to play with Zoe ''or'' Rocco anymore. When Gina sees Zoe guiltily looking at a sullen Elmo, she says that [[HardTruthAesop regardless of Zoe's intentions or pretending, she hurt Elmo's feelings]] and Zoe has to fix that.

* The show gets one for planning and filming "Goodbye, Mr. Hooper", as well as airing it on Thanksgiving Day [[WordOfGod so that parents could be home to explain death to the little ones]].

* The 1983 TV movie "Don't Eat the Pictures" have the Sesame Street gang trapped in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art after it closes. Big Bird meets the ghost of a young Egyptian prince cursed by a demon, to never be with his parents in the afterlife for 4000 years unless he solves a riddle. Big Bird helps him solve it, and then when '''Osiris, god of the Underworld''' (filling in for Anubis, apparently) appears and judges the prince not worthy, Big Bird ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktnG_2-VXA0 tells him off]]'' and his support actually changes the nature of the child's soul so that it can ascend. Let me repeat, ''Big Bird'' overruled a god's judgment.

* The entire season-long "Slimey To The Moon" plot of season 29. In fact, it could even qualify as a [[WhamEpisode Wham]] '''''[[WhamEpisode SEASON!]]''''' Very young children may be hard to keep their attention on something, but the fact that Sesame Street; a series known only for its number counting, alphabetical teaching, shape and color recognition, social studies for children, and comedy for children and parents alike, decided to tackle an overarching idea as complex as space missions, training, scientific knowledge, the unknown of science and the universe (brought down to just the level of the moon), and the very '''''real''''' dangers involved, for children from 3 to 5 years old, is pretty big and heavy stuff! Plus, this was not just a one-and-done episode deal. This was spread out non-consecutively over approximately one-third of a YEAR (18 weeks!), with frequent callbacks in the form of "Worms in Space" interstitial segments (to teach alphabet, number, and shape recognition), or even entire ''episodes'' based around the event, and after each episode in the season, in the vein of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'', the Wiggleprise's progress to the moon before landing, and its progress back to Earth afterwards!

*** The event of the worms landing on the moon was so big in the story that:
*** It brought Kermit the Frog back to the show in his former capacity as the News Flash roving reporter, who had not been seen on the show in any new official form in almost 8 years! (Since 1990)
*** Former ''PBS [=NewsHour=]'' anchor Robert [=MacNeil=] anchored the in-universe news coverage (he retired about three years prior to the storyline)!

*** At the end of the storyline, the rocket has made it back to Earth orbit, the return capsule separates just fine, and begins to enter the atmosphere. However, The Count accidentally sends the capsule veering off-course (with his ''[[HairTriggerSoundEffect thunder]]'' after laughing), and at first, everyone freaks out on learning that they're not landing in the Atlantic Ocean, but '''''[[FromBadToWorse Sesame Street!]]''''' Telly spells out that they'll crash on the concrete with no water. Then the worm scientists tell the humans they "[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness need to secure a portable mini splashdown facility]]" (Translation: A water-filled wash bucket) to catch the worm capsule, and fast! Maria remembers that there is a wash bucket by her garage. She, Gabi, Lynne, and Gordon go to grab it, fill it with water, and carry it around Sesame Street to soften the landing. They ''keep'' moving around as the crowd gives them directions and the capsule zigzags on its parachute. The end result is the humans get splashed, but the worm astronauts are safe and Oscar goes to check on Slimey. Lynne wipes her face with dignity, looks into the camera, and says, "We ''have splashdown''." Everyone cheers, for a good reason. Now ''that'' is HeroicBystander, and AuthorityEqualsAsskicking for Lynne Thigpen as WASA commander.

* In ''Follow That Bird'', Gordon urges Big Bird to jump from one moving vehicle to another during the latter's rescue. [[MoralDissonance Big Bird points out that he's not allowed to do anything that dangerous]], leading to a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}.

* Nearly 20 years after their first attempt fell flat, the production team gave the subject of divorce [[http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/topicsandactivities/toolkits/divorce#0 another shot]]. [[spoiler: Who better than [[TeamDad Gordon]] to help Abby?]]

*** Topping it all off at the end is a touching tribute to the late Jon Stone (1932-1997), co-creator of Sesame Street.

*** At the end of the storyline, the rocket has made it back to Earth orbit, the return capsule separates just fine, and begins to enter the atmosphere. However, The Count accidentally sends the capsule veering off-course (with his ''[[HairTriggerSoundEffect thunder]]'' after laughing), and at first, everyone freaks out on learning that they're not landing in the ocean, but Sesame Street. Telly spells out that they'll crash on the concrete with no water. Then the worm scientists tell the humans they "[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness need to secure a portable mini splashdown facility]]" (Translation: A water-filled wash bucket) to catch the worm capsule, and fast! Maria remembers that there is a wash bucket by her garage. She, Gabby, Lynne, and Gordon go to grab it, fill it with water, and carry it around Sesame Street to soften the landing. They ''keep'' moving around as the crowd gives them directions and the capsule zigzags on its parachute. The end result is the humans get splashed, but the worm astronauts are safe and Oscar goes to check on Slimey. Lynne wipes her face with dignity, looks into the camera, and says, "We ''have splashdown''." Everyone cheers, for a good reason. Now ''that'' is HeroicBystander, and AuthorityEqualsAsskicking for Lynne Thigpen as WASA commander.

*** An agency looking for worm individuals to train for a mission that requires skill, stamina, courage... aaaand the ability to hold onto a spinning platform going faster and faster in the [[BuffySpeak Worm-O-Hold-On-Tight-O]] test (much like a High-G-Force centrifuge in real life), and the ability to not get dizzy and find their footing after being bounced around like a Slinky in the [[BuffySpeak Upsy-Downs-Every-Way-Aroundsy-Wormsy-Bouncy]] test. (Much like real-life prospective astronauts do in the Vomit Comet OR underwater with a spacesuit)

*** The additional plot points that, yes, even the big things can go wrong (As the Space Shuttle Endeavour, and multiple other launch missions aborted on the launch pad, or Aborted-To-Orbit, have shown us). First, the rocket does not lift off. It's figured out that one of the oscillators wasn't oscillating. Then, when it's fixed, it still doesn't lift off, and it's stuck on the launch pad, even though it's giving all the thrust it can give. (Because it's being weighted down by a chicken hiding in the engine, but not fully known by the characters until later.) Thankfully, Snuffleupagus' allergy to the smoke from the rocket is enough to send it roaring off into the wild blue yonder!

*** former ''PBS [=NewsHour=]'' anchor Robert [=MacNeil=] anchored the in-universe news coverage (he retired about three years prior to the storyline)!

* The entire season-long "Slimey To The Moon" plot of season 29. In fact, it could even qualify as a [[WhamEpisode Wham]] '''''[[WhamEpisode SEASON!]]''''' Very young children may be hard to keep their attention on something, but the fact that Sesame Street; a series known only for its number counting, alphabetical teaching, shape and color recognition, social studies for children, and comedy for children and parents alike, decided to tackle an overarching idea as complex as space missions, training, scientific knowledge, the unknown of science and the universe (brought down to just the level of the moon), and the very '''''real''''' dangers involved, for children from 3 to 5 years old, is pretty big and heavy stuff! Plus, this was not just a one-and-done episode deal. This was spread out non-consecutively over approximately one-third of a YEAR (18 weeks!), with frequent callbacks in the form of "Worms in Space" interstitial segments (to teach alphabet, number, and shape recognition), or even entire ''episodes'' based around the event, and after each episode in the season, in the vein of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'', the Wiggleprise's progress to the moon before landing, and its progress back to Earth afterwards! (It was so complex that they introduced the [[OnTheNext "Coming Soon to Sesame Street" after-episode synopses]] this season!)

[[caption-width-right:350:"I told you there was a Snuffleupagus... and at last!"]]

* Big Bird ''finally'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEAX6eo55ss proving that Snuffy is real]]. And the reason it was done was to show kids that they could trust adults to believe them about things like sexual abuse.

*** It brought Kermit the Frog back to the show in his former capacity as the News Flash roving reporter, who had not been seen on the show in any new official form in almost 8 years! (Since 1990)
*** former ''PBS [=NewsHour=]'' anchor Robert [=MacNeil=] anchored the in-universe news coverage (he retired about three years prior to the storyline)!

*** Again, a few episodes later, there's another plot point that highlights that even the big things can go wrong (in this case, like Apollo 13 in 1970), as an emergency alarm sounds at WASA Mission Control, because the worms are fighting over a bowling ball! Despite WASA's, Maria's, Oscar's, and Telly's efforts to calm the situation down, the worms' fight causes an accident that veers the rocket off-course (the ball hits the "Wrong Way" Button on the controls!), and Slimey has to go out on a spacewalk to press the "Right Way" Button, at the tippy-tippy-top of the rocket!

*** It brought Kermit the Frog back to the show in his former capacity as the News Flash roving reporter, who had not been seen on the show in any new official form in almost 8 years! (Since 1990)
*** former ''PBS [=NewsHour=]'' anchor Robert [=MacNeil=] anchored the in-universe news coverage (he retired about three years prior to the storyline)!

*** The fact that Slimey's mission inspired many children, and verily, even the '''adults''' in the story! First, a group of children, monsters, and characters get together to form a club called the "Spaceketeers", who play around as if they are in space or astronauts. On a later episode, many residents of Sesame Street get together to go night-sky-watching.