Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street

This review is brought to you by the letter J and the numbers 1, 6, and 9. Most of the important movers and shakers involved in the early days of Sesame Street had first names that started with J. In addition, the first episode aired in 1969. If you've every enjoyed an episode of Sesame Street and wondered how the show got to where it is, this book will fill you in on the behind-the-scenes decisions and conflicts that led to what you enjoyed. As such, this book is more of a thumbnail view of the key players in Sesame Street along with brief descriptions of critical decisions than it is "The Complete History of Sesame Street" as the subtitle claims. The story is a little different from the impression I had. In the early days, Sesame Street was so high profile that virtually every aspect of its origins and development was front page news in our community. Over time, Sesame Street grew to resemble more of an iceberg where the bulk of what was going on was submerged beneath the output of the many hundreds of episodes. In Street Gang, former TV Guide editor and columnist (and Nieman fellow) Michael Davis wisely concentrates on the events between the fateful conversation between Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett and the untimely death of beloved genius Jim Henson. You'll get more of the events after Henson's death, but everything is much telescoped. If you don't know what Elmo's World is, this book won't advance your knowledge very much. Michael Davis shows the warts . . . on the people . . . and there were plenty. But he does so in a respectful and balanced way. If you are like I was, you don't realize that the creative people who brought Sesame Street to life often had serious illnesses, untimely deaths, and troubled personal lives. Although the book doesn't say it, my impression is that creating this show was difficult and took a high price from the talented originators. I loved the little stories that were fully developed in the book such as how the letters and numbers came to be presented as advertisements, the show that explained Mr. Hooper's death, how the show was cast at different times, and the processes involved in making changes. I wish that the book could have been 600 pages longer and included more of those stories. But as they say in show business, "Leave them wanting more." Perhaps Mr. Davis will write a related book that focuses more on the show. Students of management should study this book for how to turn academic theory about achieving social purposes into practical reality. The truth is that Sesame Street worked, while many academically based well-intentioned experiments did not. There's also a model here for how television, the Internet, and whatever the next media channel is could become far more valuable to society. I hope that point won't be lost in our loving nostalgia for this remarkable show, incredible organization, and great accomplishment.

One of the favorite stories I've heard my parents tell is about how, on the morning of their wedding, the whole crew of bridesmaids, groomsmen --- even the groom himself --- nearly missed getting to the church on time because they were so transfixed by a hip new television show they were watching in my dad's hotel room. That program? "Sesame Street." When I was younger, having been raised on a steady diet of "Sesame Street" and its offspring, the idea of a bunch of grownups sitting around watching a kids' show seemed bizarrely funny to me. In the historical and pop cultural context explained by Michael Davis in STREET GANG, however, the behavior of my parents' wedding party makes a whole lot more sense. The first generation of kids who saw "Sesame Street" as preschoolers are now in their 40s, so anyone younger than that probably has a hard time grasping just how revolutionary the show was when it debuted in 1969. Compared with other children's television options --- which ranged from the ridiculous (such as "Howdy Doody") to the painfully didactic --- it was clear that "Sesame Street" took a radically different approach to reaching, and teaching, its young target audience. Peopled with a multiethnic cast (not to mention those many-hued Muppets), the show used (and still uses) a gritty, realistic urban environment as a backdrop for its silly, sublime segments, thereby directly relating to the kids who need the show most --- those who don't necessarily have access to high-quality, early-childhood education programs. Like its predecessors, "Sesame Street" successfully used advertising taglines and jingles to reach an impressionable young audience. But the product it was selling was not toys or breakfast cereal --- it was numbers, letters and other early learning concepts. Because it has flourished for so long, it's easy to overlook just how much the show in its infancy was a product of its times. The creators --- many of whom learned their trade as part of the staff of CBS's "Captain Kangaroo" --- were idealistic, progressive thinkers who saw the rapid rise of television as an opportunity to extend smaller-scale educational initiatives to reach the largest possible audience and have a positive influence on children's lives and educational success. "They came together at a star-crossed moment in American life," writes Davis, "when people of means who lived in comfort chose to dedicate their energies to the less fortunate and the forgotten, the rural poor and the underprivileged of the urban ghettos." Davis clearly relates how a show like "Sesame Street" can be seen as part of the larger civil rights and social justice initiatives that inspired this generation in the 1960s. Readers who come to STREET GANG expecting a tell-all account of behind-the-scenes mayhem and secret scandals might be slightly disappointed with the book. Although Davis does relate some of the show's darker moments and personality clashes, the bulk of the book actually takes pl

Posted January 1st, 2008, 8:09 AM EST: What a great book ! This is the story of the "perfect storm" that resulted in the creation of Sesame Street, the uniquely wonderful show for pre-schoolers. We rarely think of the "behind the scenes" aspects of things we see every day and take for granted. But often there is a story, and a fascinating one at that. Sesame Street was a revolutionary show and it required the collaboration of many unique and talented personalities. As with any monumental group effort involving multiple talents, there are stories of intrigue, love and heartache. And who better to tell this tale than the author, Michael Davis, who has an extensive history as a journalist and human interest writer. Read this book ! You will love it and will be lending it to your friends and relatives so they can share the experience with you !

I highly recommend this book. The depth of research (5 years and dozens of interviews) is evident from the first chapter onward. I grew up watching the show in the 80s and being able to understand the inner workings, struggles and triumphs of the show I know so well made for a wonderful read!