Call it piece survival tactic,piece reinvention. The producers of "Sesame Street" are debuting a new-glance program Saturday on HBO after falling revenues forced it to change strategy. Episodes will air first on HBO before airing for free on PBS nine months later. The new program will feature half-hour episodes, rather than the normal 1-hour time slot.
But it's the show's new set that's raising some eyebrows. "Sesame Street has been gentrified, and " said James Poniewozik,a television critic for the New York Time who reviewed the new shows. "If you go back and glance at the original Sesame Street, it's a far shout from the very sort of gritty, or littered Sesame street you saw in the early days."Elmo has moved from an apartment to a brownstone. The character,Abby Caddabby, has a new organic garden and external Hooper's, and you'll find a chic,cafe vibe. Poniewozik said the show is still focused on kids, but he added there's something off approximately the changes."I think symbolically it's kind of unhappy that this show that was created in the spirit of providing a head start, and free for everybody,even the most underprivileged kids now has sort of a tiered system."Poniewozik spoke to WNYC's Soterios Johnson.
Source: wnyc.org