An Oscar Obsession

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street and coincidentally ... Oscar's birthday!

NPR had a great story on this morning, which spoke about the lessons learned over the years. It is interesting to hear that beyond just numbers and letters, the Street has had to focus on things like competition in the marketplace and child psychology. Be sure to check it out at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120245506.

And Google really can make one's weekend.

With Sesame Street gearing up to celebrate its 40th anniversary on November 10th, more and more stories of the gang have been appearing on the web. Google has paid homage to Big Bird's legs in it's doodle yesterday, and today Cookie is the featured character:















So one Oscar Obsessed person must wonder ... when is Oscar coming? CNN certainly chose the perfect image for its article on Sesame Street days of yore (http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/04/sesame.street.anniversary/index.html), in which Oscar is described as being "much grouchier than he is today" and "just plain nasty" -- compliments where a trashcan-dwelling grouch is concerned.

So we will patiently wait to see a Google rendition of OTG, but in the meantime, check out their doodles for homepages around the world: Sesame Street Google Doodles Around the World

There are several stories circulating on the Internet about Oscar's origins. Some say he was inspired by a New York city cab driver; others say he was inspired by a rude waited at Oscar's Tavern in Manhattan. My travels recently took me to Philadelphia, where I got caught in the rain and tried to shortcut my way back to a familiar street, when I came face to face with a place that I felt was calling me ... a familiar "Street" indeed.