Elmo Says....BOOO! As HBO Max Removes About 200 ‘Sesame Street’ Episodes!

Just yesterday it was announced that HBO Max removed the HBO Max Originals Esme & Roy, The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo, and an unspecified “select group of Sesame Street specials. Now we Variety is reporting that the streamer has removed something even scarier...about 200 classic Sesame Street episodes!

I wish I could say you had until the end of the month to see them, but the worst part of the decision to remove these titles is that there wasn't any warning for fans to view them before they were pulled.

As of today, HBO Max listed 456 total episodes of Sesame Street, with a selection from Seasons 1, 5 and 7 and the full lineup from the most recent Seasons 39-52. 

Of those, only 29 are from the earliest seasons. Previously, the streaming service offered about 650 total Sesame Street episodes, including episodes from Seasons 2-4, Season 6 and those from every season between 8 and 35.


Per Variety: 

HBO and Sesame Workshop first struck an agreement in 2015, providing a new revenue stream for “Sesame Street,” while granting HBO rights to run new episodes of the landmark series first before they appeared on its longtime home, PBS.

Their current agreement keeps new Sesame Street seasons first-run on HBO Max through 2025.

Still available for now on HBO Max, in addition to remaining episodes of the Sesame Street series, are the 10-episode Sesame Street Mecha Builders, seven seasons of My Sesame Street Friends and The Magical Wand Chase special.

We're not sure what this means for the future of Warner Bros. Discovery's relationship with Sesame Workshop, or their commitment to renewing their contract to fund the series.