Kennedy Center Honors Sesame Street!

Already one of the longest running shows in TV history, Sesame Street is about to add another milestone to it's vast accomplishments: the first TV show ever honored by the Kennedy Center. 

The event will also make it only the second time the Kennedy Center has bestowed the honor on a work of art rather than an individual, after last year's recipient Hamilton.

Accepting the honor will be Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, who co-founded the Children’s Television Workshop, which has since been renamed Sesame Workshop. 

At least 33 Kennedy Center honorees have appeared on Sesame Street, including Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Tom Hanks, and Barbra Streisand.

“We started thinking about what it would be like here in this 50th anniversary year for ‘Sesame Street,’ and it was a runaway hit with the selection committee,” Deborah F. Rutter, the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, said in an interview. “It really felt right to do this for ‘Sesame Street.’”

Other recipients this year include Earth, Wind & Fire, actress Sally Field, singer Linda Ronstadt, and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.  

The Kennedy Center Honors will be held Dec. 8 and CBS will broadcast the gala Dec. 15th.