New York - Sesame Street, the iconic children's television show that has educated and entertained kids in over 125 countries around the world, marked its 40th birthday Tuesday with a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama. The city of New York officially proclaimed the day as Sesame Street Day and temporarily named a street after the landmark programme.
Obama appeared on the set to tout the benefits of fresh and healthy food, planting a mini vegetable garden on the show, to mirror the one she planted on the White House grounds.
"Veggies taste so good when they come fresh from the garden, don't they?" she said. "If you eat all these healthy foods, you are going to grow up to be big and strong." Then she flexed her famous arms and added: "Just like me."
Sesame Street was started in 1969 with grants from the Carnegie Institute and the federal government, with the goal of using the latest knowledge of child development, psychology, TV innovations and and preschool education to stimulate young viewers' minds.
The programme aimed to improve children's letter recognition, math and problem solving skills and teach them essential life skills needed to thrive in modern society.
"By the fifth season I thought, 'Well the world seems to love us'," said the show's creator Joan Ganz Cooney. "One thing led to another and pretty soon it was 40 years old. But it was one year at a time."
The show was originally designed to appeal to inner city kids, who had been mostly ignored by makers of children's television at the time. In addition to the fuzzy and loveable "muppets" created for the show by Jim Henson, it also featured African-American actors in its cast, and the action played out on a somewhat grimy city street as its set.
Sesame Street has won over 100 Emmy Awards. It is the longest- running children's television show in the US, has been the subject of over 1,000 academic studies and is widely regarded as one of the most influential shows in television history.
