NEW YORK CITY (WTVR) – It seems Sesame Street has been dealing with a rough year. First, presidential candidate Mitt Romney threatens to effectively fire the Muppets by defunding PBS. Now on Friday, Big Bird and the rest will face the threat of a devastating hurricane.
This isn’t the first time Big Bird has faced a superstorm. The disaster-themed Sesame Street episode that will play tomorrow is actually a condensed, edited version of a five-part Sesame series that first aired in 2001. Back then the shows were meant to teach kids what they needed to do to get ready for, and recover from, a big storm.
In 2005, Sesame Street re-aired the series in its entirety weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. And last week, the show’s producers decided to bring the special out once more in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
For this latest airing, the show’s team removed the portion about hurricane preparation and edited the hour so that it focuses on Big Bird’s loss; his nest is ruined, and after it’s been repaired, he returns home only to find that the nest still isn’t safe for habitation. (A city nest inspector tells Big Bird that its mud isn’t dry yet.) The show’s new opening and transitions have also been incorporated. The hope is that the hour will resonate with anyone suffering a loss caused by Sandy or another natural disaster.
Check your local listings to find out when you can watch Sesame‘s hurricane special on TV. The original five-part series is also available on a subsection of Sesame Street‘s website, sesamestreet.org/hurricane. No Muppets were harmed in the making of this episode.
