| Play with Me Sesame | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Genre | Children's television series |
| Based on | Sesame Street byJoan Ganz Cooney andLloyd Morrisett |
| Developed by | Jocelyn Hassenfeld Karen Kuflik |
| Presented by | Steve Whitmire Eric Jacobson Fran Brill David Rudman John Tartaglia Martin P. Robinson |
| Theme music composer | Joe Raposo |
| Opening theme | "Somebody Come and Play" |
| Ending theme | "Somebody Come and Play" (instrumental) |
| Composers | Michael Ungar Russell Velazquez |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 69 (Noggin) 104 (international/Sprout) |
| Production | |
| Producers | Tom Ascheim Lewis Bernstein Alyssa Cooper Dana Greengross Kenny Miller Jodi Nussbaum Sarah Tomassi Lindman |
| Production locations | Kaufman Astoria Studios,New York |
| Camera setup | Videotape, Multi-camera |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production companies | Nick Digital[1] Noggin LLC Sesame Workshop |
| Original release | |
| Network | Noggin |
| Release | April 1, 2002 (2002-04-01) – September 2, 2007 (2007-09-02) |
| Related | |
| Sesame Street Elmo's World | |
Play with Me Sesame is an Americanchildren's television series, created bySesame Workshop andNickelodeon for their former joint ventureNoggin. It is a spin-off ofSesame Street hosted byErnie,Bert,Prairie Dawn, andGrover. The series' backgrounds and animated elements were made byNickelodeon Digital[1] in New York City. Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop developed the show to expand onSesame Street by directly encouraging young viewers to interact with the characters. The series combines classicSesame Street sketches with new segments, where the hosts invite preschoolers to join them in games.
The show began development in 1999, whenthe Jim Henson Company still co-owned the rights to theSesame characters. To start production, Nickelodeon had to seek approval from Henson.Kidscreen reported that "the series marks the first time a State-side entity other than Sesame Workshop has been given permission by Henson to use theSesame StreetMuppets."[2] Noggin shot footage of the characters on agreen screen, and animators at Nick Digital added in new graphics. Many of the background designs inPlay with Me Sesame were simultaneously used in Nickelodeon'sMoose and Zee interstitials.
Play with Me Sesame premiered on April 1, 2002 and ran for three seasons. The show was heavily linked with Noggin's website, featuring a regular segment wherecomputer games from the site were played. At its launch, it was announced thatPlay with Me Sesame would continue to be produced for Noggin through 2009,[3] but the show instead wrapped in 2007. It last aired on Noggin on September 2, 2007. Reruns moved toPBS Kids Sprout, where it aired until December 31, 2015.
Play with Me Sesame was the first long-form preschool series created by and for Noggin. The show encourages its young viewers to join in on the movement and learning they see onscreen, making television an active experience rather than a passive one. The format was meant to mimic a child's playdate.Tom Ascheim, one of the show's producers and the general manager of Noggin, said "all the things kids do—running around, coloring, playing computer games—are funneled into the experience."[4]
The show's backgrounds and animated elements were created atNickelodeon Digital[1] in New York. These include the title sequence, the Sesame Computer game segments, and the background designs. The background designs, many of which resemble a child's crayon drawings, are the same ones featured in Noggin'sMoose and Zee interstitials. Some of the designs (such as a lion, a dinosaur, and a bird) were featured as part of Noggin's channel logo, both in promotions forPlay with Me Sesame and in general use. Sesame Workshop listsNickelodeon Animation Studio and its former name, Games Productions, as a "project partner" for the series.[5]
The third season's credits list Nickelodeon's parent company,Viacom, as the owner of the "Play with Me" trademark.[6]Play with Me Sesame is unique in that it was a specially made co-production of Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop,[7] rather than a syndication package like Noggin'sprevious collections ofSesame Street segments.
Nickelodeon extensively promoted the launch ofPlay with Me Sesame in 2002. Their marketing team created a 40-second promo for Noggin featuring Grover and called the "Grover Song," as a sample of thePlay with Me Sesame format. In the promo,Play with Me Sesame is highlighted as the main attraction of Noggin's lineup, and Grover encourages the viewer in song to play along with Noggin's shows. The promo was aired across all of Nickelodeon's networks throughout spring 2002. In July 2003, the "Grover Song" promo won a Mark Award for brand image and awareness.[8]
The show premiered on April 1, 2002. Its premiere was part of a major rebranding of Noggin.[9] When the show's first season was airing, it was Noggin's only original half-hour show for preschoolers; all others were short-form interstitials or simply reruns from Nickelodeon and Sesame's archives. In 2003, theLos Angeles Times wrote that Noggin "filled its days with old episodes ofSesame Street, several Nick Jr. shows and one new series,Play With Me Sesame."
On April 6, 2002,MTV Networks launched a live version of thePlay with Me Sesame series.[10] It featuredwalk-around characters of Bert, Ernie, and Grover performing interactive skits and songs from the show. Marketed asNoggin's Play with Me Sesame Mall Tour, the live show was presented at malls in nine cities.[11] It became a finalist in the 2003 Beacon Awards[12] and received national coverage onCBS's news programThe Early Show.[13]
Tom Ascheim said, "We are very excited to bringPlay with Me Sesame to local markets across the US...Play with Me Sesame gives kids a whole new way to Sesame with their favorite characters—Bert, Ernie and Grover—and we are confident it will be a hit on Noggin and in the malls."[14]
Pam Arciero,Lisa Buckley,Tyler Bunch,Tim Lagasse,Jim Martin,Carmen Osbahr, andMatt Vogel are also credited as additional puppeteers. The classic Muppet footage features performances by a wide variety of Muppet performers, but they are not listed in the credits.
Nancy Davis Kho ofCommon Sense Media said that the show "exhibits the high-quality, thoughtful programming that parents have come to expect fromSesame Street," while also taking note that "a smattering of more sophisticated humor in the dialog is a nod to the parents who will likely be watching."[15]
The series' episodes were released onto DVD in the end of 2007 byGenius Entertainment.[16] In Australia and Oceanic territories, the show was released onVHS andDVD byAustralian Broadcasting Corporation andRoadshow Entertainment.
The newest addition to that sked is Noggin-produced seriesPlay With Me Sesame... the series marks the first time a State-side entity other than Sesame Workshop has been given permission by Henson to use the Sesame Street Muppets.
Play with Me Sesame on Muppet Wiki
