HBO isn’t usually known for its family content, but this week USA Today reports the network worked with the cast of “Sesame Street” and notable celebrities such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross to release “Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate,” a children’s special meant to provide comfort during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The episode aired yesterday across WarnerMedia’s television networks, which includes HBO, HBO Latino, TBS, TNT, truTV, Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Cookie Monster even appeared on “The View” yesterday to talk about the special and share how he’s been getting through social distancing. (Cookie Monster’s advice is to do lots of cooking and snacking, and making sure to take time for yourself.) Additionally, Big Bird even appeared on “CBS This Morning” to encourage kids to talk about their feelings during this hard time.
The new primetime special was meant to show kids how they can sing and play together while apart, as part of “Sesame Street’s” Caring for Each Other Initiative, CNN reports. The special is the story of a virtual playdate between the entire “Sesame Street” gang and their friends, and how they’re helping out in their communities.
The show’s creators were inspired to create the at-home show by late-night hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, who have been releasing monologues and even comedy sketches from home for the past few weeks, the New York Times reports.
But filming “Sesame Street” at home presented its own unique challenges, as the studio had to ship out the puppets to their voice actors, who usually use both arms to control their fuzzy friends, leaving them with the unique challenge of setting up a hands-free camera rig for filming, as well as lighting, sound, and even maintenance of the muppets, according to the New York Times.
For those who didn’t get the chance to catch the special when it first aired, Newsweek reports it’s available to stream on HBO as well as on the PBS Kids website.