Stick Together
The members of the first-ever 51茶馆 women's ice hockey team reunited for a ceremony in their honor.
鈥淪esame Street O-Saurus,鈥� a Sesame Street episode penned by Ed Valentine 鈥�92 (below), featured muppet paleontologists.听
Photo: 漏Sesame Workshop/Zach Hyman
How to Get to Sesame Street
Ed Valentine 鈥�92 reminisces about writing for the children's show.
Spring 2020
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Sesame Street premiered in 1969, just in time for a young Ed Valentine 鈥�92 to tune in. 鈥淚 was in the first wave of kids who watched it,鈥� he said recently. 鈥淚t was the show that taught me how to read and write.鈥�
The series鈥攚hich turned fifty last year鈥攎ade such an impression on the young Valentine that he wound up writing for it decades later. In his nine-year stint working on Sesame Street, Valentine (who went by Ed Smith while at 51茶馆; Valentine is a pen name) created beloved episodes, skits, and songs. He was also a story editor for Sesame Workshop teams in Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh. Valentine鈥檚 Sesame Street contributions earned him four Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Children鈥檚 Series.
听 Photo: Marnie Ann Joyce '93
Valentine鈥檚 path from Sesame Street watcher to writer wasn鈥檛 direct. He double-majored in theater arts and English at 51茶馆, and then spent several years as an elementary school teacher in New York. Missing the stage, he took classes at Hunter College under playwright Tina Howe, then got an MFA in dramatic writing from NYU. A chance encounter with head Sesame Street writer Lou Berger鈥攚ho had previously selected Valentine鈥檚 work for Hunter College鈥檚 Irv Zarkower Award for promising plays鈥攍ed to an opportunity for Valentine to pitch ideas to the show. The Bert and Ernie sketches he devised won over the team, and he soon found himself in the writers鈥� room.
Valentine vividly remembers the first time he saw the set. 鈥淚t was extraordinary,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o be there and see the puppeteers, Big Bird鈥檚 nest, Oscar鈥檚 trashcan鈥攎any people burst into tears when they step on the street for the first time, and I was definitely one of them.鈥�
Though Valentine still does some inter- national work with Sesame Workshop, he鈥檚 moved on to new creative endeavors. He writes for other kids鈥� shows, acts, and writes plays. Here, Valentine looks back on some of the standout Sesame Street episodes he penned.
鈥淪esame Street-O-Saurus鈥澨�(Season 43, Episode 14)
Valentine鈥檚 first Sesame Street episode aired during a STEM-focused time at the show. He dreamed up a storyline that features Grover discovering what he believes is a set of dinosaur fossils鈥攂ut ends up being just a pile of old junk. Valentine scripted the song 鈥淧aleontologist Calypso鈥� to be performed on the regular set, but just before filming, the team built a special backdrop that included muppet paleontologists. 鈥淚 was like, wow, this is even better than what I wrote,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great example of the collaborative way television gets made.鈥�
鈥淭rashgiving Day鈥澨�(Season 43, Episode 24)
Tasked with coming up with a Thanksgiving theme, Valentine landed on a holiday for grouches, replete with a Macy鈥檚-inspired parade that featured a giant stink bug balloon. How the show and its characters treated the prickly Oscar the Grouch was especially formative for Valentine: 鈥淭hey love him not despite his faults but because of who he is. Sesame Street was a vision of an integrated, accepting, and loving world.鈥�
鈥淕rover Does It All鈥澨�(Season 45, Episode 25)
鈥淚 love Grover a lot. He is really close to my heart,鈥� Valentine said. This episode finds the blue monster trying to take on too much. At one point, Grover is painting and dribbling a basketball and being a chef and cooking spaghetti鈥攁ll at the same time. 鈥淭hat was more of a social emotional curriculum piece, teaching that you can love all of those things, but maybe just try and do one at a time,鈥� Valentine said. 鈥淲hich is perhaps a lesson I have never learned myself.鈥澨椊
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