‘Sesame Street’ Reveals Big Changes

Sesame Street has been a staple of television for several decades, but now it’s been revealed that the show will be undergoing some big changes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, beginning with Season 56 — which is set to debut in 2025 — the long-running children’s series will feature an overhauled look and structure. “With any change you have evolutions, and then you have things that are slightly bigger steps, while still staying core to who we are,” said Steve Youngwood, the CEO of Sesame Workshop, in a recent interview with the outlet. “We felt like this was a moment to step back and think bigger about how we evolve it.”

Notably, the biggest change viewers will notice is how the series forgoes the “magazine”-style format it’s come to be known for, and will instead focus on two 11-minute story segments that will be more narrative-based. These segments will also be accompanied by a new Sesame Street animated series, Tales From 123, which will be sandwiched in the middle. “It’s going to give us an opportunity to dive further into the narrative,” sid Kay Wilson Stallings, the executive vp and chief creative development and production officer for Sesame Workshop. Stallings went on to call the changes a “reimagining” of Sesame Street with more “dynamic” and “sophisticated” stories. Offering an example, Wilson Stallings explained the approach they’re currently taking is having an “A” story that leans on a core character and their personal experience, while the B story adds “a little bit more levity and a lot more character moments.”

“Both the A story and the B story will come together in some way to really help us with whatever curricular focus that we’re trying to have, what lesson we’re trying to make,” she adds. “Kids love a little bit of peril, they love having emotional stakes, and in nine minutes, it’s kind of hard to really dive into those areas really effectively. And so, by opening up these segments and making them longer, it’s going to give us an opportunity to really serve up what we know from research, what we know from across the industry, what we know from our curriculum and education experts, what we know kids are looking for.”

Finally, offering more details about Tales From 123, Wilson Stallings says that the series “for the very first time will give viewers an opportunity to go inside 123 Sesame Street, which is probably the most famous apartment building in the world.” She added, “And there, beyond the stoop, is where monsters and humans and fairies and dinosaurs and talking numbers and letters and even food will call home. So this will be a great opportunity for our audience to explore a whole new part and a whole new world of Sesame Street.” Viewers can catch up with all their favorite Sesame Street friends with the show’s 54th season debuts on Thursday, Nov. 9 on Max.