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We all know that many bullies get their start in the sandbox, not the boardroom, and that their youngest victims can nurture the resulting hurt for a lifetime. No surprise, then, that next week, "Sesame Street's" Big Bird and Elmo--who despite their agelessness have been around a long time--will tackle the subject of bullying in its earliest phases. Three new episodes devoted to bullying air Monday, Tuesday and Friday (Oct. 17, 18 and 21), kicking off a broad initiative that includes a Web page with advice and discussion for parents and activities for kids and a five-part video series that...

Sesame Street has a new muppet who is hungry for more than just cookies. The iconic kids show is set to unveil a new impoverished puppet named Lily, whose family faces an ongoing struggle with hunger issues. Lily will be revealed in a one-hour Sesame Street primetime special, Growing Hope Against Hunger, which is being sponsored by Walmart. The special will star country singer Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly Williams Paisley, as well as the Sesame Street Muppets. “Food insecurity is a growing and difficult issue for adults to discuss, much less children,” said the Paisleys in a statement....

Bert & Ernie from Sesame Street August 29, 2011 (Breakpoint.org) - Sesame Workshop, the company that produces the kid’s show “Sesame Street,” announced last week the Bert and Ernie will not be getting married. Bert and Ernie, two of the show’s Muppets, are best buddies. They live in the same house and sleep in the same room — in separate twin beds. They bicker, they share, they enjoy a bedtime cookie together every night. They’re such good friends that some assume they must be gay. And one group used an online petition to ask “Sesame Street” to let the truth...

They've lived together for 42 years and share a bedroom, but the people who produce "Sesame Street" made it clear on Thursday: Bert and Ernie are not gay. Nor are they heterosexual. They just are. "Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. "Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics, they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation," Sesame Workshop said in a statement posted on Facebook. ...

An online petition that has amassed more than 4,000 signatures is calling on producers of venerable children's show "Sesame Street" to have Bert and Ernie tie the knot. The change.org petition, started by Lair Scott on August 4, insists that "Sesame Street" can help teach children about "the tolerance of those that are different." "We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful. Only that they allow Bert & Ernie to marry or even add a transgender character to the show," the petition reads. Producers of the show say Bert and Ernie, two male characters who have...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Will the Children’s Television Workshop give way to same-sex puppet love? An online campaign is calling for the producers of TV’s “Sesame Street” to allow characters Bert and Ernie to get married in an attempt to “put an end to the bullying and suicides of LGBT youth”, according to the group’s Facebook page. The petition letter adds that “[w]e are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful by allowing Bert & Ernie to marry”, suggesting that the show “even add a transgender character to the show…in a tasteful way”.

This idea isn't going to make a big splash with Rubber Duckie. An online campaign to pressure the producers of "Sesame Street" into having lovable roommates Bert and Ernie get married is gathering steam. Getting hitched would change things for Ernie, who has long sang about how his bath toy, Rubber Duckie, "was the one." More than 700 people have signed on to the petition, posted at change.org. "We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful," reads the petition for the muppet merger. "It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of...

<p>The are-they-or-aren't-they gay jokes about Ernie and Bert have a long history. I think an image of them holding hands was carved by early man in the caves at Lascaux.</p> <p>But could the two actually get married? Huffington Post reports today that more than 900 people have signed petition urging the makers of "Sesame Street" get married. Lair Scott started the petition which reads, in part, "In this horrific age of LGBT kids taking their own lives, they need to know that they ARE Beautiful and their lives are worth living."</p>

Online campaign urges Sesame Street to 'teach tolerance' Big Bird could be best man. That's the image if an online push looking to join Bert and Ernie in gay matrimony is successful. "We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful," reads the petition at Change.org. "It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different." Sesame Street spokesmen insist the muppet pair are merely "best friends" with "no sexual orientation," reports the New York Daily News. They were "created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with...

Conservative columnist and author Ben Shapiro accused television executives and writers of pushing a liberal agenda in several high profile American television entertainment shows. His book will show how the "most powerful medium of mass communication in human history became a vehicle for spreading the radical agenda of the left side of the political spectrum," according to the publishers HarperCollins. Shapiro interviewed dozens of leading industry figures, some of whom admitted to including a left wing bias in their shows. The results showed "unrepentant abuses of the Hollywood entertainment industry" and how movers and shakers in the television world tried...

The TV series Friends undermined family values; Sesame Street taught ethnic minorities about civil disobedience; Happy Days had a subtle anti-Vietnam subtext; and the 1980s cop show MacGyver tried to persuade pistol-packing Americans that guns are bad. That, at least, is the considered opinion of Ben Shapiro, an investigative author and right-wing columnist who will publish a detailed exposé tomorrow telling how Hollywood producers, writers and actors have been secretly using TV to promote what he calls a "radical" left-leaning political agenda. Shapiro's book, Primetime Propaganda runs to 416 pages and revolves around comments by 70-odd industry heavyweights who he...

It’s a good thing we’re flush with money, highly influential and well respected around the world. Otherwise, this plan might not seem like such a spectacularly fabulous idea. The United States is funding a Pakistani remake of the popular TV children’s show Sesame Street. In a new effort to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, USAID – the development arm of the US government – is donating $20m (£12m) to the country to create a local Urdu version of the show… The remake will star a puppet called Rani, the six-year-old daughter of a peasant farmer, with pigtails and a...

In a new effort to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, USAID - the development arm of the US government - is donating $20m (£12m) to the country to create a local Urdu version of the show. The project aims to boost education in Pakistan, where many children have no access to regular schooling. The show is to be filmed in Lahore and aired later in the year. "The programme is part of a series of ventures that is aimed at developing the educational infrastructure in the country," Virginia Morgan, a spokesperson for USAID, told the BBC. "Education is one...

As we all know, the Republican Party is the single most evil organization in human history. Republicans hate the poor, hate the environment, hate teachers, hate foreigners, and generally hate joy and happiness in all its forms. And now the Daily Beast’s Samuel Jacobs says the GOP is poised to undertake their most heartless act yet: “kill Big Bird.” Jacobs is citing a report in the New York Times which describes House Republicans’ latest batch of proposed budget cuts, meant to reduce federal spending by $100 billion. “Dozens of programs” are on the chopping block, including the Corporation for Public...

(edit)  But Bert has now ignited fresh debate about his sexuality after using a slang word for gay to describe himself. In a message posted on Twitter about the premiere of the recent A-Team film remake, the mono-browed Muppet said on his official page: "Ever notice how similar my hair is to Mr. T's? "The only difference is mine is a little more 'mo,' a little less 'hawk.'" The remark meant nothing to most readers, but sparked intrigue in certain gay circles, where "mo" is shorthand for "homosexual". Writing on the gay blog AfterElton.com, Ed Kennedy noted that the tweet...

Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have some new friends, but they're a long way from "Sesame Street." One of America's best-loved children's shows, which began life on a fictional New York street over 40 years ago, is about to land in Nigeria under the title of "Sesame Square" -- bringing with it some distinctly West African twists. The show stars Kami, a girl Muppet who is HIV-positive, has golden hair and a zest for adventure; and Kobi, an energetic, furry, blue Muppet whose troublesome escapades help others learn from his mistakes.

"Sesame Street" started previewing its 41st season on the Web this week, releasing teaser clips featuring stars like Jude Law, Will.i.am, Colin Farrell, and Run-DMC's Reverend Run. One of the shorts, however, got a lot more attention than the rest: a two-and-a-half minute video of pop star Katy Perry singing a reworked version of her 2008 hit "Hot N Cold" with Elmo. The issue: the perception that Perry's outfit wasn't appropriate for a show geared toward children ages one to six.

This is an unaired clip from Sesame Street. According to the DailyCaller blog, the show's producer have already announced they are editing it out. Not terrible but not appropriate either.

Producers of the hit children's TV show Sesame Street have canceled an appearance by pop singer Katy Perry following feedback from parents. Perry, who rose to stardom in 2008 with the No. 1 single, "I Kissed A Girl, was set to appear on the premiere of the show's 41st season on Sept 27. But after a segment of the show appeared online on Monday Sesame Workshop, which produces the show, decided not to air it. "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...

If you can’t fool Big Bird, who can you?