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January 23, 2017

Sesame Street and Those Who Were Children in the Eighties

The day is sunny, people are happy,
come and play on Sesame Street…

Friendship and love surround everything,
come join us, let’s hold hands.

Almost everyone who was a child in the eighties knows Susam Sokağı, the Turkish version of Sesame Street. TRT bought only two seasons and replayed this legendary production from the eighties into the early nineties. In my opinion, it was the best programme made for children. Now, in 2017, decades later, we still see no alternative children’s production made with such care and effort. Considering that today’s little ones grow up watching cartoons such asPepee, we can appreciate its importance and value all over again. Wonderful performances by theatre actors, together with harmonious dubbing and music, brought this American production beautifully to Turkish children. Its variety may still make it the richest of its kind: educational animations, short cartoons, shadow plays, puppets and scenes with actors, all representing enormous effort on children’s behalf. The people responsible for adapting it deserve credit too. I want to share the names and production process behind this television programme embedded in our childhood memories. From Cookie Monster and Big Bird to Bert, Ernie and Oscar, what did the Muppets’ creators go through before the characters reached our country? Why did they come together, and who were they? Let’s look.

Sesame Street was originally made by a group established in America as Sesame Workshop, aiming to create entertaining, educational programmes for children. Its creators wereJoan Ganz CooneyandLloyd Morrisett.Joan Ganz Cooney

In the winter of 1966, Cooney hosted a small dinner party at her home near Gramercy Park. Among those present were her husband Tim Cooney,her boss Lewis Freedman, and Lloyd and Mary Morrisett, whom the Cooneys knew socially.Lloyd Morrisettwas responsible for funding educational research at an organisation. The conversation turned to how television could help educate young children. Morrisett asked Joan Ganz Cooney whether television could be used to teach them. She replied that she didn’t know, but would like to discuss it. That little dinner party began a working partnership lasting five to ten years. A week later, the two met to begin a feasibility study for an educational programme for preschool children. Cooney’s boss Freedman initially opposed the work, fearing that one of his channel’s best producers would leave because of the project. Cooney nevertheless chose to continue with Morrisett.In summer 1967, Cooney left the channel and travelled around the United States and Canada with funding from Morrisett’s organisation. She interviewed specialists in child development, television and education, producing a 55-page report. That document also served as a blueprint for Sesame Street. Based on it, she proposed establishing an organisation devoted to producing the programme. Cooney said her education degree had helped enormously during research and preparation, while also increasing confidence in her ability to secure funding. Her journalism skills and idealistic effort enabled this woman, whose aim was to ‘make a difference’, to succeed and leave a mark. In an interview, she explained:She could have made thousands of documentaries about poor and disadvantaged people, but only a handful of already-aware viewers would have watched, with little real effect. Working for preschool children had not been her original priority; asking how television could be used constructively had led her to them.

Lloyd Morrisett

In December 1965, Morrisett’s three-year-old daughter Sarah became absorbed in the test patterns shown before daily television broadcasts while waiting for cartoons. Watching her, her father realised that television held something fascinating, something that drew her in.

The overseas equivalent of the colour test image familiar to us: a static pattern displayed when no programmes were being broadcast.

And this colour image is the one we know.
Sarah knew all the advertising jingles of the period by heart and sang along when they appeared. What made adverts so attractive to children? What helped them memorise words and music so easily? Could identifying those effective ingredients produce an alternative to programmes made for commercial reasons? Sarah’s response became one of the approaches studied in developing Sesame Street.

Sesame Streetofficially premiered on public television in the United States in November 1969. The organisation producing it operated at the time as the Children’s Television Workshop.Television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and foundation executive Lloyd Morrisett had now realised their idea of creating an organisation to oversee a show helping children, especially those from low-income families, prepare for school. They spent two years, from 1966 to 1968, researching, developing and raising money for the new show. Cooney’s knowledge and research in journalism and education combined with Morrisett’s training and experience in experimental psychology. Of the $4 million needed to establish the workshop, $1 million came from US Commissioner of Education Harold Howe; the remaining $3 million came from the Ford Foundation and other supporters. The organisation established a planning, production and evaluation system called the CTW model, under which writers and staff would remain in constant contact with educational specialists. After Sesame Street’s initial success, the founders explored how to keep the workshop alive. A difficult period followed until 1980. Productions beyond Sesame Street struggled to attract enough viewers, and a series of mistaken investments brought the organisation close to bankruptcy. These difficulties continued until licensing income stabilised around 1985.By 2005, CTW’s international co-productions generated $96 million in revenue.By 2008, the Sesame Street Muppets generated $15–17 million annually through licensing and appearance fees.Cooney stepped down as CEO in 1990;David Britt was chosen to succeed her. At the time of writing,Sesame Workshopcontinues its work with 813 employees.

Now to the people who brought this project to Turkish children. Sesame Street was a complete and immensely useful production, but adapting it for Turkey without damaging its content required a separate effort. We pay our respects to the entire team who accomplished that with such dedication, from dubbing and music to acting. In particular, I remember the gentleness and kindness of Aslı Öyken Taylan, who played Zeynep Abla, as clearly as yesterday through my childhood eyes.

  • Fictional Characters
    • Edi and Büdü: the Turkish adaptations of Ernie and Bert. Edi was voiced by Altan Erkekli; Büdü by Köksal Engür during one period and Atilla Şendil during another. They became among the most memorable characters for a generation. Büdü lives with Edi and is known for their constant bickering, his serious, know-it-all manner contrasting with Edi’s flightier, childlike behaviour. He likes pigeons and loves draughts.
    • Minik Kuş: the adaptation of Big Bird. Despite a Turkish name meaning ‘Little Bird’, he is a large yellow-orange bird living alongside the street’s other residents.
    • Kırpık: the adaptation of Oscar the Grouch. He lives in a basket beside the greengrocer’s.
    • Kurbağacık: the adaptation of Kermit. He doesn’t live on the street, has no tail and swims in the stream.
    • Kurabiye Canavarı: the adaptation of Cookie Monster. He doesn’t live on the street.
    • Açıkgöz: Grover.
  • Human Characters

Unfortunately, beyond these names, I couldn’t find the opera singers and soloists who performed the music online. We pay our respects to them too.

And of course, I couldn’t leave out that unforgettable opening sequence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl5qfmEdUZcAn episode for anyone who has never watched Susam Sokağı, to give you an idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFI04-ug1YA