Sesame Street (fictional location)

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Signpost of Sesame Street BlogHer 08 - Sesame Street Suite (2682321763).jpg
Signpost of Sesame Street

Sesame Street is a fictional street located in Manhattan, [1] a borough in New York City. The street serves as the location for the American children's television series of the same name, which is centered on 123 Sesame Street, a fictional brownstone building. [2]

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In honor of Sesame Street's 50th anniversary on May 1, 2019, the intersection between Broadway and West 63rd Street was officially renamed Sesame Street, and an actual sign was placed permanently at the intersection. Characters from the show joined the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, for the unveiling. The location of the permanent sign and designated intersection were chosen because they are near the Sesame Workshop. [3]

Fictional location

The fictional Sesame Street represents an unspecified neighborhood in New York City. Art director Victor DiNapoli has said it is supposed to be located on the Upper West Side. Sesame Street's co-creator, Joan Ganz Cooney, said in 1994 that she originally wanted to call the show 123 Avenue B after the Alphabet City area of the Lower East Side and East Village. [2]

The opposite side of Sesame Street is not part of the set, although the other side is occasionally shown from another location. The opposite side has been seen in the two Sesame Street movies.

Notable fiction locations

123 Sesame Street

Sesame Street primarily revolves around a brownstone-type row house called 123 Sesame Street. The house is a three-story building with a daylight basement, totaling three known apartments. [2]

The building is meant to appear typical of New York neighborhood brownstones, being described as a "survivor of gentrification" by DiNapoli. [4]

Oscar's trash can

Oscar the Grouch's trash can is his home, and sits in front of a fence made of salvaged doors. Gordon states that the trash can has three and a half bedrooms. Oscar's girlfriend Grundgetta is the most frequent visitor to his trash can.

In the episode Sesame Street Visits the Firehouse, Gordon mentions that Oscar's trash can has "Two elephants, a puppy, a rhino, a goat, and a worm." The interior of Oscar's trash can was first explored in the 1999 film The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland when Elmo impatiently enters the trash can in search of his blanket. In season 46, as part of a set redesign, the trash can is moved to the other end of the front of 123 Sesame Street. It is now part of a recycling center with a compost bin and Oscar can appear at different locations throughout the street.

Big Bird's nest

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Big bird on Sesame Street

Big Bird lives in his nest. One of the windows of Gordon and Susan's apartment overlooks the nest. Big Bird's Nest was redesigned following a hurricane that hit Sesame Street. Big Bird's best friend Mr. Snuffleupagus is the most frequent visitor to his nest. In Season 46 the nest was moved to a tree.

The Arbor

The Arbor is a forecourt that serves as the entrance to a carriage house; it is also a playground, and separates 123 from a tenement. In the first season, the Arbor was a tiny location between the two buildings. In the late 1990s, the characters decided that the neighborhood needed more green space and built a community garden in a vacant lot behind the Arbor. [2] The garden behind the Arbor is where Stinky the Stinkweed resides.

At one time, the carriage house that serves as its backdrop housed a garage. Susan kept her Volkswagen there and Hiroshi used the space as his art studio. At other points, Oscar the Grouch (who has also been shown as the owner of the garage) has kept his Sloppy Jalopy there. The Sloppy Jalopy is the name of the car Oscar uses for his taxi service, which was first introduced on the show in episode 1252. For a while, it was also the location of Gina's veterinary practice, and later Charlie's Auto Repair garage. During the Season 46 set redesign, it was converted to a community center with the community garden being extended behind 123, connecting onto Big Bird's nest area while becoming Abby Cadabby's home.

Hooper's Store

Hooper's Store serves as a lunch counter and general store. Above the store were the apartments of Bob, David, and most recently, Charlie.

Hooper's Store was opened by Mr. Harold Hooper in 1951. David worked at the store from 1971 to 1983, becoming the proprietor of Hooper's Store following the death of Mr. Hooper (due to the death of actor Will Lee).

In 1989, David moved away to live with his grandmother and left the store in the hands of a retired firefighter named Mr. Handford. The store's current proprietor is Alan who bought the store from Mr. Handford in 1998.

Owners

Employees

The Sesame Street Library

The Sesame Street Library is a common point of interest on Sesame Street. A Lending Library was located next to Hooper's Store in the spot that has since housed the Fix-It Shop, the Mail-It Shop, the Laundromat, and a pet shop. Maria worked there while Grover would occasionally help out. All the residents of Sesame Street would come to borrow books. Linda worked as a librarian for several years in a different library that has, at different times, been located across the street from 123 as well as in another part of New York City. The library was later seen located next to the Subway Station where the bike shop is now (in a 2007 episode), and as a pop-up library in The Arbor featured in an episode that aired in 2019.

The Fix-It Shop

The Fix-It Shop opened in Season 3 as the L & R Fix-It Shop run by Luis and Rafael. Rafael departed at the end of the season and Luis ran the business by himself until he hired Maria in 1976. Maria was later promoted to full-time partner in 1981 and in 1988 the two got married. The street's residents would bring their broken items to be fixed; toasters were the shop's specialty.

Mail-It Shop

In 2002, Maria and Luis converted the Fix-It Shop into the Mail-It Shop which they ran with their daughter Gabi. Residents of Sesame Street would use the Mail-It Shop to send and receive letters and packages. Grover occasionally did delivery work for the Mail-It Shop. It was converted back into the Fix-It Shop in 2006.

Laundromat

The Laundromat is the current business operating next to Hooper's Store after the Fix-It Shop was removed in 2008. The Laundromat was originally run by Leela and has since been seen in the care of Nina and Grover among others. [4]

Previously, in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland , a Laundromat was seen across from 123 Sesame Street.

Subway Station

Sesame Street has its own Subway Station , which is a replica of the 72nd Street Subway entrance. It was originally seen on the "Around the Corner" part of Sesame Street until it was transferred to the main Sesame Street set, next to the Fix-It Shop, when Around the Corner was removed.

Bicycle Shop

In Season 45, a Bicycle Shop appeared in the vacant storefront near the Subway Station that was briefly used for a flower shop. It was opened by Luis who sold bicycles, repaired them, and sold other bike-related items. It was opened as a result of the closure of the Fix-It Shop, while Maria became the superintendent of 123. It is now run by Nina who started working there part-time in Season 46 and took over management the following season. As part of the rare views of the other side of Sesame Street, the Bicycle Shop is next to a CGI depiction of Manhattan where it shows a playground and the Triborough Bridge among the cityscape.

Newsstand

In Season 46, a newsstand was added in between the Subway Station and what is currently the Laundromat. It is run by The Two-Headed Monster. There previously was a newsstand Around the Corner that was run by Oscar. It was located in between the Subway Station and the park. Grouch sold newspapers, regular newspapers, out-of-date newspapers, and magazines with dirt or fish inside them. Hooper's Store has also functioned as a Newsstand.

Other locations in the neighborhood

Other locations on Sesame Street include the following:

Around the Corner

Around the Corner was an expansion of the set seen from season 25 to season 29.

Sonia Manzano said that "By expanding the street and going around the corner, we will have other places to hang out beyond the stoop of 123 Sesame Street, and we will be able to explore family issues which we think are so important to kids today." [5]

The Around the Corner parts were dropped by season 29, though they did appear in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland . Caroll Spinney and Martin P. Robinson further commented that viewers had a hard time keeping up with all the new characters.

Among the known locations of Around the Corner include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar the Grouch</span> Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street

Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character created by Jim Henson and Jon Stone for the PBS/HBO children's television program Sesame Street. He has a green body, no visible nose, and lives in a trash can. Oscar's favorite thing is trash, as evidenced by the song "I Love Trash", with a running theme being his collection of seemingly useless items. Although the term "Grouch" aptly describes Oscar's misanthropic interaction with the other characters, it also refers to his species. The character was originally performed by Caroll Spinney from the show's first episode until Spinney's retirement in 2018. Eric Jacobson began understudying for the character in 2015, and officially took on the full role after Spinney's retirement in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmo</span> Muppet character on the childrens television show Sesame Street

Elmo Monster is a red Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full five-minute segment on Sesame Street, "Elmo's World", which is aimed at toddlers. He was most often puppeteered by Kevin Clash, but since Clash's resignation in late 2012, Elmo has been puppeteered by Ryan Dillon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroll Spinney</span> American puppeteer (1933–2019)

Caroll Edwin Spinney was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author, artist and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street from its inception in 1969 until 2018.

<i>The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland</i> 1999 musical adventure comedy film

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland is a 1999 American musical adventure comedy film directed by Gary Halvorson in his feature film debut. This was the second of the two theatrical feature films to be based on the children's television series Sesame Street, after Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird. It stars Mandy Patinkin and Vanessa Williams alongside Muppet performers Kevin Clash, Caroll Spinney, Steve Whitmire, and Frank Oz.

Hooper's Store is a fictional business and meeting-place on the television show Sesame Street. When the show began, the store was one of the four main locations on the set representing the fictional Sesame Street, with the 123 Sesame Street brownstone, the Fix-It Shop, and the carriage house. In the show, the original owner was Mr. Hooper, a gruff but friendly grocer.

Martin P. Robinson is an American puppeteer who works for the Jim Henson Company. He is best known for his work on Sesame Street, having performed the characters of Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch's pet worm Slimey, Oscar's niece Irvine, Buster the Horse, and Shelley the Turtle for over 40 years. He also designed, built, and performed the Audrey II puppets for Little Shop of Horrors. Robinson performed the characters Riff the Cat and Clef the dad on Allegra's Window, and was an animatronic puppeteer for Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He was responsible for training the puppeteers on Sesame Tree, and performed the Cat in the Hat in the second season of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.

Sesame Place Philadelphia is a children's theme park and water park based on the children's educational television program Sesame Street. It is one of the twelve Sesame Place theme parks owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts under an exclusive license from Sesame Workshop, the non-profit owner of Sesame Street. Located outside of Philadelphia in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, it is the oldest of the two Sesame Street theme parks in the United States. Sesame Place Philadelphia includes a variety of rides, shows and water attractions suited for young children, and is the first theme park in the world to become a certified autism center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rudman</span> American puppeteer

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A wide variety of characters have appeared on the American children's television series Sesame Street. Many of the characters are Muppets, which are puppets made in Jim Henson's distinctive puppet-creation style. Most of the non-Muppet characters are human characters, but there are many characters that are animated.

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Sesame Street is an American children's television program that is known for its use of format and structure to convey educational concepts to its preschool audience, and to help them prepare for school. It utilizes the conventions of television such as music, humor, sustained action, and a strong visual style, and combines Jim Henson's Muppets, animation, short films, humor, and cultural references. The show, which premiered in 1969, was the first to base its contents, format, and production values on laboratory and formative research. According to researchers, it was also the first to include a curriculum "detailed or stated in terms of measurable outcomes".

"I Love Trash" is a song with music and lyrics by Jeff Moss. It was sung by the Muppet character Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. The song was first sung in the first season of the series and has been re-taped several times.

<i>The Furchester Hotel</i> British TV series or program

The Furchester Hotel is a puppet series that aired on CBeebies. It was the second British-American spin-off of Sesame Street that the BBC had made after Sesame Tree 6 years before. The show ran on CBeebies on 26 September 2014. The show aired in 2016 on Sprout until March 2, 2019.

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Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration is a 2019 musical television special to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street. Hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the special aired on November 9, 2019, on HBO, followed by a November 17 airing on PBS. It stars the cast and Muppets of Sesame Street, including Kermit the Frog, from the past and present. Many retired cast members and characters reunited on the street for the first time in years since their last appearances. This is the final Sesame Street special to feature long-time Muppet performer Caroll Spinney, who performed Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for 50 years as well as the cast members Emilio Delgado and Bob McGrath, who played Luis and Bob, respectively, for 45 years.

References

  1. Hughes, Mallory (May 2, 2019). "Sesame Street becomes a real intersection in New York City". CNN.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Frederickson, Eric (December 2, 1999). "How to Get to Sesame Street". The Stranger . Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  3. McCarthy, AnnMarie (May 3, 2019). "You can finally visit Sesame Street in New York City". Lonely Planet.
  4. 1 2 Lee, James Y. (November 12, 2008). "Sesame Street: Made in NY". This week in New York. Time Out. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 5 Sep 2011.
  5. Zurawick, David (August 2, 1993). "'Sesame Street' to change while entering 25th season". Bangor Daily News. p. 19 via Google News.