Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street

Zusatztext 76105354 Informationen zum Autor Michael Davis Klappentext Coming soon as a documentary from Focus Films, The New York Times bestselling account of the story behind one of the most influential, durable, and beloved shows in the history of television: Sesame Street. "Davis tracks down every Sesame anecdote and every Sesame personality in his book . . . Finally, we get to touch Big Bird's feathers." -The New York Times Book Review Sesame Street is the longest-running-and arguably most beloved- children's television program ever created. Today, it reaches some six million preschoolers weekly in the United States and countless others in 140 countries around the world. Street Gang is the compelling, comical, and inspiring story of a media masterpiece and pop-culture landmark. Television reporter and columnist Michael Davis-with the complete participation of Joan Ganz Cooney, one of the show's founders-unveils the idealistic personalities, decades of social and cultural change, stories of compassion and personal sacrifice, and miraculous efforts of writers, producers, directors, and puppeteers that together transformed an empty soundstage into the most recognizable block of real estate in television history. Prologue Joan Ganz Coney walked toward the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 112th Street, lost in a fog of grief. Ahead were the crenelated parapets that crown the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a Gothic Revival Glory on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Black limousines lined the curbside, clogging the street, as NYPD officers waved their arms in a futile effort to get vehicles moving. The sidewalks were overrun by pedestrians, hundreds of them, all moving toward the cathedral steps. Cooney walked alongside mothers with toddlers clutching Ernie dolls, students playing hooky from school, executives in crisp suits, Midtown secretaries in heels, Latinas in scoop-necked tops, and bohemian types sporting jeans, running shoes, and long ponytails. It was May 21, 1990, five days after Jim Henson, her friend and creative partner since 1969, had died from a runaway strep infection gone stubbornly, foolishly untreated. There was no other word to describe his passing other than shocking, and it was played just that way in the papers and on the nightly news. People who didn't know him wept as if a favorite uncle had died, that subversive adult who sat with the adults at Thanksgiving but would have preferred dinner at the kids' table. They came out in force for the public memorial, filling the vast, vaulted sanctuary, even more than the organizers of the event had anticipated. Some five thousand attendees filled the pews, standing in the antechamber and spilling into the aisles. The overflow was so great that people had simply dropped their backpacks, folded up their strollers, and sat on the hard stone floor. Clustered row upon row near them were mourners bound by their years together working for and with the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the nonprofit corporation Cooney helped build. Cooney took a seat next to Christopher Cerf, one of the founding fathers of "Sesame Street." From the alter, the congregation was an impressionistic canvas, dappled with a profusion of spring green. That was to be expected. Just as teams, tribes, and nations have representative colors, Jim Henson owned Kermit green. Cooney's thoughts wandered to Kermit and the early days of "Sesame Street." Reminders of that time were everywhere. Sitting nearby was Frank Oz, who in 1969Sesame's debut yearbecame a Henson protégé, having joined the Muppets right out of high school. For more than twenty years, Oz had been uptight Bert to Henson's mischievous Ernie, the straight man of the odd-couple comedy duo. On "The Muppet Show," their roles had reversed; Oz was outrageously pushy Miss Piggy to Henson's pushed-on-the-brink Kermit. At no time had Jim Henson'...

ldquo;Davis spins an evocative, insidery tale out of the wildly creative personalities and political ups and downs of the cozily delivered show.”
—Washington Post
 
“Davis tracks down every Sesame anecdote and every Sesame personality in his book. . . . Finally, we get to touch Big Bird’s feathers.”
—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Davis writes that when the show débuted, in 1969, the goal of its creators was nothing short of righting ‘the inequities in our society’ through the education of lower-class preschoolers. Such populist choices as an urban setting, a multiracial cast, and a catchy brand of ‘edutainment’ reflected both the mood of the era (it should ‘jump and move fast and feel and sound like 1969,’ a producer said) and painstaking research: a series of seminars held in the summer of 1968 was attended by developmental psychologists, television-industry insiders, and children’s authors and entertainers (Maurice Sendak endured boring sessions by making X-rated doodles; Jim Henson’s sandals and beard sparked fears that he was a Weatherman).”
—The New Yorker
 
“It was a pleasure to spend some time back were everything’s A-OK.”
—Los Angeles Times
 
“Street Gang is informative, heartbreaking, hilarious, and often eye-opening, even for the most Sesame Street-wise . . . Davis is a sensitive and subtly brilliant writer who conveys the soul of the program that has earned more Emmys than any other in history while managing to stay true to its founders’ idealistic vision: ‘All children deserve a chance to learn and grow. To be prepared for school. To better understand the world and each other. To think, dream and discover. To reach their highest potential.’”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“Davis shows just how revolutionary [Sesame Street] was, from its tackling of taboo themes like death to its diverse cast and gritty urban setting. Boasting a panel of academic advisers, it was the first show to successfully teach kids letters and numbers in a way that was hip and raucous. Davis delves into the lives of the colorful folk who made it all happen, including Children's Television Workshop cofounder Joan Ganz Cooney and Muppets creator Jim Henson. . . . Davis's chronicle is as joyfully compelling as Sesame Street itself.”
—People
 
“Davis writes with such vivid details that one can almost see the brownstone houses and the furry, feathery, fresh-faced Muppets.”
—The Baltimore Sun
 
“A fascinating page-turner chock full of juicy revelations.”
—Atlanta Journal Constitution
 
“Davis culls insights from the show’s creators and cast to serve up this painstakingly detailed history of television’s most famous address.”
—Time.com
 
“The author’s swift narrative—the product of hundreds of interviews—is essentially a Dumpster dive into Oscar’s trash can of cast stories. . . . A sensitive, honest account that could jog fond memories even from the amnesiac Street denizen Forgetful Jones.”
—Time Out New York
 
“Well-researched details and an unflinching eye make Davis’s book continuously fascinating.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“Anyone who has ever seen Sesame Street as parent or child—or both—will love the detail and exuberance of this book.”
—Booklist

“What I appreciate about Michael Davis’s new book on Sesame Street is the depth of his research and how he spotlights those people who deserve to have more light shed upon them for their great contributions to the…