Sesame Street, 50th Special, Muppet Babies and More Win Emmys!

The Daytime Emmy awards were announced this week and Sesame Workshop picked up 11 awards including 3 for Sesame Street, 1 for Ghostwriter, and 6 for Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.

Matt Danner picked up an Emmy for Best Performer in a Preschool Animated Program for Muppet Babies, Ryan Dillon won Best Principle Performance in a Daytime Program for Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration and Sesame Street itself was awarded Best Preschool Children’s Series. 

Check out the the full list of Muppet wins and losses along with their competition is below. 

Won: 

Best Special Class Special
“93rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day”
“Hate Among Us”
X — “Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration”
“This Old House: 40th Anniversary Special”
“The Young and the Restless: Kristoff St. John Tribute” 

Best Writing for a Special Class Special
“Mind Field: What Is the Scariest Thing?”
X — “Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration”
“This Old House: 40th Anniversary Special”
“2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards”
“The 2019 Rose Parade with Cord and Tish” 

Best Technical Team
“CBS This Morning”
“Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade”
“The Kelly Clarkson Show”
“The Price Is Right”
X — “Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration”
“The View”

Best Preschool Children’s Series
“Blue’s Clues and You”
“Dino Dana”
“Helpsters”
“Ryan’s Mystery Playdate”
X — “Sesame Street”

Best Short Format Children’s Program
“Muppet Babies: Play Date”
“Mushroom and the Forest of the World”
“Sesame Street in Communities: A Place for You”
X — “Sesame Street in Communities: Meet Salia”
“Snoopy in Space”

Best Principal Performance in a Daytime Program
X — Ryan Dillon, “Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration”
Liana Liberato, “Light as a Feather”
Damian Toofeek Raven, “The Chadwick Journals, Season 3: Oren”
Jordan Rodrigues, “Light as a Feather”
Brianne Tju, “Light as a Feather”

Best Directing for a Children’s/Young Adult Program
“Ghostwriter”
“Light as a Feather”
“Pup Academy”
X — “Sesame Street”
“Trinkets”

Best Performer in a Preschool Animated Program
Eric Bauza, “Muppet Babies”
X — Matt Danner, “Muppet Babies”
Maurice LaMarche, “The Rocketeer”
Kevin Michael Richardson, “Puppy Dog Pals”
Christian Simon, “T.O.T.S.”

Best Multiple Camera Editing
“Articulate with Jim Cotter”
“Consumer 101”
“Milk Street”
X — “Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration”
“The View”

Best Special Effects Costume/Makeup/Hairstyling
X — “Dino Dana”
“Ghostwriter”
“Helpsters”
“Odd Squad”
X — “Sesame Street”


Lost: 

Best Daytime Promotional Announcement (Brand Image Campaign)
“Archibald’s Next Big Thing” (Series Launch)
“Disney Team of Heroes”
“Family Feud” (On Pause)
“Sesame Street” (50th Memories: #ThisIsMyStreet Campaign)
X — “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” (She-Ra International Women’s Day 2019) 

Best Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
“A Holiday Reunion”
X — “The Kelly Clarkson Show”
“Sesame Street”
“The View” 

Best Lighting Direction
“Ghostwriter”
“A Holiday Reunion”
X — “The Kelly Clarkson Show”
“Sesame Street”
“The View”

Best Cinematography
“Ghostwriter”
“A Holiday Reunion”
“Just Add Magic”
“The Square Root”
X — “Tumble Leaf”

Best Writing for a Children’s/Young Adult Program
“Free Rein”
“Ghostwriter”
“Helpsters”
“Sesame Street”
X — “Trinkets”

Best Directing for a Preschool Animated Program
“Ask the StoryBots”
“Elena of Avalor”
“Muppet Babies”
“Norman Picklestripes”
“True and the Rainbow Kingdom”
X — “Tumble Leaf”

“Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum

Best Single Camera Editing
“CBS Sunday Morning”
“Helpsters”
“MTV News Presents: White Supremacy Destroyed My Life”
“Odd Squad”
X — “Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10”
“Rock the Park”
“This Old House: 40th Anniversary Special

Best Sound Mixing
X — “Articulate with Jim Cotter”
“Beyond Your Backyard”
“The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation”
“A Holiday Reunion”
“Mission Unstoppable”
“Sesame Street”

Best Sound Editing for Live Action
“El Corazon de Sergio Ramos”
“Dino Dana”
“Ghostwriter”
X — “Odd Squad”
“Trinkets”

Best Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
“A Holiday Reunion”
X — “The Kelly Clarkson Show”
“Sesame Street”
“The View”

Best Costume Design/Styling
“Ghostwriter”
“Helpsters”
“No Good Nick”
X — “The Real”
“The Talk”
“Tamron Hall”

Here's Matt Danner's Best Performer in a Preschool Animated Program acceptance 

speech performing the voices of Kermit, Rowlf, Beaker, Waldorf and Chef on Muppet Babies:

Holy moly! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I never thought I’d be an Emmy winner. I still can’t believe it! Here’s a video of my acceptance speech which perfectly illustrates how award shows work during a pandemic. Wait til the end. #MuppetBabies #Emmys2020 pic.twitter.com/gd1eHy2vIn

— Matt Danner (@MattyDanner) July 27, 2020

Congratulations to all the winners!

DVR Arlet: Sesame Street & CNN Come Together to Confront Racism!

Last weekend as Sesame Street was set join CNN for a second town hall about COVID-19, peaceful protest turned into riots as America's anger and heartbreak over the killing of yet another black man at the hands of police boiled over.

Now, instead of doing another COVID special CNN and Sesame Street are refocusing their second town hall to address racism.

Big Bird will join CNN commentator Van Jones and CNN anchor and national correspondent Erica Hill to moderate the event.
Elmo, Abby Cadabby, and Rosita will be joining them from Sesame Street, as will experts answering questions submitted by families.

The town hall will air on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español. It will stream live on CNN.com's homepage and across mobile devices via CNN's apps, without requiring a cable log-in.
The first CNN "Sesame Street" town hall about the dangers of covid-19 to their children can be viewed here.

The 60-minute special Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism. A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Kids and Families will air on Saturday, June 6, at 10 a.m. ET.

RIP Little Richard (1932 - 2020)

The music world lost another legend today as Little Richard has died.

Richard's hit songs "Tutti Frutti" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" made him an early 50's rock 'n' roll pioneer.

Over his storied career Little Richard made several appearances with the Muppets.

In 1994, he appeared on Sesame Street performing a very "Little Richarized" version of "Rubber Duckie."

This version appeared on the albums Sesame Street Celebrates! and Splish Splash: Bath Time Fun.

Later that same year he sang about feelings with Rosita.

Also in 1994, Little Richard was one of several celebrities to make cameos in the Muppets' music video "She Drives Me Crazy."

Richard made his final appearance with the Muppets in a 1997 episode of Muppet Tonight where we learned Beaker does an uncanny Little Richard impression. He later performed "I Hear You Knocking" with Zoot and Animal. 

Little Richard was 87.

Sesame Street Arts & Crafts!

Arts and Crafts retailer AC Moore, may be shutting it doors, but that doesn't mean there aren't good deals on Muppet items inside. 

They have a large section of Sesame Street crafts available at steep discounts. They have dough, rollers, shapes, creativity sets, art cases and back packs full of arts supplies. 

The first location I saw them had each item for 30% off, and a week or so later I spotted them again at another location for 50% off. 

Check your local AC Moore while you can for these great deals on Sesame Street arts and crafts.

Kennedy Center Honors Sesame Street!

Last night CBS aired The Kennedy Center Honors featuring Sesame Street, the first ever TV show to be recognized by the center.

Check out some news coverage, backstage interviews, and highlights from the ceremony  which included and nice tribute to Caroll Spinney.

In case you missed it, The entire 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors is available On Demand and on CBS All Access.

Sneak Peak: Kennedy Center Honors Sesame Street!

Last weekend Sesame Street was honored at the Kennedy Center where Sesame Workshop co-founders Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett accepted the award.

The Sesame Street cast honored Carroll Spinney, who died the day of the ceremony, by wearing yellow Big Bird feathers.

Below are some highlights of the red carpet, backstage, and ceremony:

The 42nd annual Kennedy Center Honors marks the first time a television program will receive the award. The co-founders of Sesame Street, Joan Ganz Cooney and Dr. Lloyd Morrisett, will accept the Kennedy Center Honors on behalf of the show, Muppets creator Jim Henson, seminal Muppets artists Caroll Spinney and Frank Oz, and the thousands of creatives who have built the program’s 50-year legacy.

The Kennedy Center Honors airs Sunday Dec. 15th at 8pm‎ on CBS.