Uh Oh: Sesame Street Getting 'Reimagined' to Extend 'Narrative'

The most significant change will see the program drop the “magazine”-style format it has long used in favor of two longer, more narrative-driven segments, which will be paired with a new animated series, Tales from 123. The new format will feature two 11-minute story segments, with the new animated series sandwiched in between them.

“It’s going to give us an opportunity to dive further into the narrative,” says Kay Wilson Stallings, the executive vp and chief creative development and production officer for Sesame Workshop, calling the changes a “reimagining” of the show, and adding that the longer segments will allow for more “dynamic” and “sophisticated” stories.

[Those are curious changes for a toddler-to-3rd-grade audience, no? This may be entirely benign, and maybe there’s value in getting young kids more comfortable with longer segments. But whenever I hear ‘narrative’ and ‘sophisticated’ in relation to children’s entertainment from Hollywood, I tend to hear ‘social justice’ and ‘woke’ as a translation. — Ed]