'Sesame Street's 46th Season Premieres on HBO
As the newly improved 46th season of "Sesame Street" premieres this Saturday on HBO, drastic changes are expected to be featured. The show will be coming back in a new kind of light and its length will be trimmed down to 30 minutes compared to its hour-long episodes in the past.
The famed PBS children's show featuring the characters Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch are finally returning, but this time, it will be aired in their new address: HBO. According to Calgary Herald, the show took great risks with shorter episodes and a more focused theme.
There will also be fewer characters as the show aims to gain the attention of the children rather than simply producing entertainment.
"It's a very competitive marketplace ... and it really is the kids now who are making the decisions," executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente said.
"'Sesame' is the most-tested show in the history of television. We're trying to diagnose what makes these kids tick," she added. Furthermore, "Sesame Street" will still be featuring the vampire Count von Count, "Letter of the Day" and many more.
Meanwhile, CBS San Francisco reports that the show will be under a five-season contract with HBO and will also be available in its related platforms like HBO GO and HBO on Demand in both English and Spanish.
The two-part episode premiere will kick off on Saturday at 9 a.m. EST and will also air on HBO Latino in the same timeslot. The news outlet further reveals that the fun and educational episodes will have a one-hour repeat on HBO Family at 8 a.m. every day.
According to the Calgary Herald, this time, the most famous children's show in America partnered up with developmental psychologists in identifying the kind of children that will possibly watch the show. This is because it wants to cater a show that children can relate to.
"My first rule is know your audience ... and we have very tough critics," said Sesame Workshop creative director Brown Johnson, a Nickelodeon veteran known for his works on "Blues Clues" and "Dora the Explorer."
"If they don't understand what's going on or what's happening in the story, they'll basically walk away," he added.
Meanwhile, Rosemarie Truglio, Sesame Workshop's vice president of education and research further explained why the sudden changes were made.
"We live in a media competitive world, and that's why we have to spend time listening to children, observing children and constantly evolving," she said. "The child has not changed, but their environment has changed, and they can get 'Sesame' whenever they want."
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