Sesame Street’s dark side as Netflix drops first trailer for TV reboot

After more than half a century off air, Sesame Street is being reborn for a new generation, making its return to Netflix with a shiny new reboot. 

The streaming giant has repurposed the show into an ‘interactive’ experience, packed with the same heart-warming lessons as the original that launched in the late 1960s. 

The show first started five decades ago after being created by former classmates Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett.  

Now re-designed to capture a whole new generation of children’s imaginations, Big Bird, Elmo, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster will be back for more lessons in counting, sharing, kindness and belonging, all through song.  

And with the first four episodes already available to stream, and more to come, it marks the first time the series has gone global in over 30 languages. 

The 11-minute episodes launch on the same day as they did back in 1969.

Executive producer Sal Perez, who has been at the heart of the Sesame Street family for over 15 years, teased: ‘Season 56 reimagines Sesame Street.

‘Inviting children into the action and bringing them hand-in-hand through high-stakes stories, there’s powerful learning moments, and laugh-out-loud surprises.

‘And, as always, Sesame Street’s curriculum is designed to meet children’s most pressing needs — so our focus this season is on kindness and compassion, something we can all use more of today.’

But the happy childhood series hasn’t been without its trials and tribulations, with a series of scandals that likely many of its fans have forgotten about. 

From banned episodes to mass complaints and even sex scandals, Sesame Street has been through its fair share of dark times.

The series was most rocked when the voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash, had taken a leave of absence from the series after allegedly having a sexual relationship with an underage boy. 

While another scandal rocked the series when pop sensation Katy Perry’s guest appearance was cut from a 2010 episode over a revealing dress. 

Suffice to say there are plenty of controversial moments bosses would like to sweep under the carpet as the show makes its comeback. 

Elmo voice actor investigated  

In 2012, allegations had surfaced that Elmo voice actor Kevin Clash had engaged in a sexual relationship with a series of young men, including a 16-year-old boy. 

The allegations included that of the underage boy who had a relationship with Clash, with the voice actor long denying any misconduct saying any relationship that took place was only after the boy was an adult. 

A second lawsuit followed that alleged Clash had a second sexual relationship with a young boy while working on Sesame Street in 1993. 

Sesame Street said that the controversy was just a ‘distraction’ – and removed Clash from his role in the series in November 2012. 

Despite the allegations, no criminal charges were ever brought against the voice actor, and a number of the cases were dismissed. 

Sesame Street soon replaced him with a new voice actor, Ryan Dillon, who has been voicing the iconic red puppet ever since. 

Nonetheless, long-time viewers who loved and watched the show found the allegations to be shaking and that it tarnished the child-friendly nature of the show. 

Negative stereotypes with characters

In 1970, a new character was launched on the series, but just five years later he was permanently removed after allegations he promoted negative stereotypes of black children. 

The young character, called Roosevelt Franklin and who was voiced by Matt Robinson, was often seen teaching about Africa and its history. 

But the character was also often seen in after school detention, and his rowdy nature caused a stir among parents who felt he was negatively portraying black values. 

There was said to be tension behind the scenes of the show as while many wanted to create a black Muppet to showcase a different cultural perspective, others felt the character had been caricatured. 

Eventually, the production organisation behind Sesame Street, the Children’s Television Workshop, decided the character should be pulled from the series. 

Bert and Ernie’s sexuality questioned

The legalities of LGBTQ+ relationships in the late 60s and early 70s when Sesame Street first launched varied around the world, so when rumours circulated that main characters Bert and Ernie were more than roommates, controversy followed. 

There has been decades-long debate ongoing as to whether the pair are a gay couple or simply close friends – especially given those involved in the series have given different opinions. 

In 2002, matters became complicated when a spoof documentary by Peter Spears, titled Ernest and Bertram, was released showing the puppets as lovers. 

In 2018, the discussion rose again when Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman admitted he had ‘always felt they were a couple’ – and public interest rose again. 

But Sesame Workshop only reiterated its long-standing position that the two characters, who live together in the series, have no sexual orientation at all. 

Frank Oz, the original voice actor and puppeteer for Bert, told fans on social media: ‘They’re not gay. They’re not straight. They’re puppets. You can interpret them as you wish.’

In 2021, Sesame Street finally answered calls from fans to make the series more inclusive, by introducing a pair of same-sex parents to the series. 

Complaints over a HIV-positive character

In 2002, the series introduced five-year-old Muppet character Kami, a HIV-positive young puppet who contracted the virus through a blood transfusion as an infant. 

The backstory of the character saw her mother die of AIDS – and the aim of the character was supposed to reduce stigma surrounding the disease, and encourage discussions in everyday life. 

Part of Kami’s involvement in the show was to demonstrate how those suffering from HIV can still play, hug friends and be part of a wider community. 

However, it was a controversial topic for a number of family viewers, who felt the topic was too serious for its mainly young viewership. 

It saw some American conservative politicians weighing in on the debate on whether it opened the door to other contentious social issues in children’s media would be acceptable.  

The Cookie Monster and child obesity

After being made famous for his relentless pursuit of cookies, often shouting his iconic phrase of ‘me want cookie!’ – Cookie Monster received a surprising makeover. 

In 2005, everything changed for the star as obesity concerns started to grow across the United States, and health experts and educators encouraged the series to make a change. 

In response, Sesame Street introduced a new approach to the Cookie Monster’s diet, with plenty of fruits and vegetables to keep him full. 

Reinforcing the message that young viewers at home should have cookies as part of a balanced diet, the show released the song, A Cookie is a Sometime Food. 

The Katy Perry banned episode

The children’s show was met with more controversy in 2010, when Sesame Street was forced to pull a musical duet between Elmo and Katy Perry. 

The video, which was a revised version of the pop singer’s hit song Hot ‘N Cold, was released online – and immediately outraged parents due to Perry’s low-cut, cleavage-revealing outfit. 

Following the episode being pulled the show hit back: ‘Sesame Street’ has a long history of working with celebrities across all genres, including athletes, actors, musicians and artists. 

‘Sesame Street has always been written on two levels, for the child and adult. We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or caregiver. 

‘In light of the feedback we’ve received on the Katy Perry music video, which was released on YouTube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers.’

Poking fun at the decision, Katy took to X, formerly Twitter, to write in response: ‘Wow, looks like my play date with Elmo has been cut short!’

The YouTube hacking

Sesame Street once again hit the headlines in 2011, when the child-friendly YouTube channel was hacked and the videos replaced with pornography. 

While YouTube quickly fixed the problem, some of the pages 148,000 subscribers had already gone on to view the offending material.   

Apologising to the family viewers, Sesame Workshop said: ‘We apologise for any inconvenience our audience may have experienced on our Sesame Street YouTube channel.

‘Our channel was compromised and we worked with YouTube/Google to restore our original content. We always strive to provide age-appropriate content for our viewers.’

A series of banned episodes 

Not all of the episodes have made it down in history, as some of the have been removed after a series of complaints from parents.

In 1976, an episode was pulled from having any reruns – the Wizard of Oz saw Margaret Hamilton reprise her role as the Wicked Witch of the West. 

But viewers complained their children had been left terrified watching the scenes, and Sesame Street made the decision to never air it again. 

A few years later, the show was forced to deal with the topic of death after actor Will Lee, who played shopkeeper Mr Hooper, passed away. 

The famous episode Farewell Mr Hooper that aired in 1983 saw Big Bird trying to understand the concept of death – and again received mixed reviews from fans. 

Sesame Street is available to stream on Netflix now.