Counting Is Nice: ‘Sesame Street’s’ Top Seven Enduring

No one would discount the important instruction “Sesame Street” has provided preschoolers on the alphabet, counting and shape identification. The show — which is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a new season, a best-of box set, and a birthday party on Nov. 15 at Lisner — has taught young viewers less academic lessons as well.

Here, we reflect on the enduring messages the series has left with its very impressionable viewers (in a manner the Count would appreciate).

» 1. Multiculturalism is a good thing.
This seems self-evident now, when no live action children’s show would be complete without an adorably diverse collection of tykes onscreen. Back in 1969, this formula was more revolutionary, and “Sesame Street” welcomed all ages, nationalities and, as seen in the following clip, species, and taught them all a few important Spanish words. Peligro, on the off chance you have forgotten, means “danger.”

» 2. Be tolerant of alternative lifestyles.
While Sesame Workshop still maintains that Bert and Ernie are roommates rather than a gay couple, public opinion holds otherwise. Whatever the reality behind the Bert and Ernie relationship is (and with puppets it’s probably better not to know) the pair does model a functioning male-male household, if not one free of annoyances.

» 3. …whatever those lifestyles may include.
Homosexuality seems like even more of a non-issue when you consider the behavior of other Sesame Street characters. Cookie Monster is recovering from a compulsive eating disorder, Oscar has such low self esteem that he resides in a garbage can, and the Count has isolated himself in a bat-ridden remote mansion in order to spend more time counting alone. While the show probably didn’t set out to represent the entire DSM IV with its Muppet characters, it does suggest that individuals should be permitted to conduct themselves as they like, as long as they don’t infringe on others.

» 4. Take your friends where you can find them.
Big Bird’s “imaginary” friend Snuffleupagus was finally revealed to be real in 1985 after over a decade of suspense. Frankly, however, it seems as though Big Bird got more out of the relationship when he and Snuffy were having wild imaginary adventures, rather than interacting with the regulars on the Street. Observe Snuffy’s giant bedazzled cap in the following clip and see if you don’t agree. Ernie’s intense bond with his rubber duckie and Bert’s favorite pigeon Bernice are other examples of unconventional yet rewarding relationships.

» 5. There’s just no talking to some people.
Oscar the Grouch teaches kids the valuable lesson that some people are cranky, that it isn’t anyone’s fault and that in some cases there is nothing to be done about it. As a child this proved an invaluable insight in dealing with certain elderly female relatives, and it comes up just as often as a working adult.

» 6. Parents need adult interaction.
My mother has long maintained that she knew she needed to return to work when she developed crushes on “Sesame Street’s” manliest adult characters. Or, as she put it, “in the absence of real world access to other adults, stay at home moms can develop romantic fantasies about the sensitive, caring men such as Luis and Gordon.” Watching the following clip, in which the pair learns to cooperate, I can almost understand.

» 7. If Grover is waiting your table, find another restaurant.
If you’re a balding blue man in a hurry this holds doubly true.