How Sesame Street Got Its Name

The Childrens Television Workshop worked on a new show for a long time to ensure its quality before putting it on the air in 1969. Everything was finally in place, except the show still didn't have a name. A promo sketch shows Muppets mulling over possible titles, but the actual story was more frantic.

The name Sesame Street was not dreamed up by Muppets in a boardroom but the promo sketch does reference the dilemma the Workshop had in finding a name for the show. As producer Jon Stone remembers, “the name was set at the 11th hour and fifty ninth minute.” Early promotional materials simply referred to the show as a “preschool educational television show.” In early spring of 1969, the press conference announcing the show neared and producers had still not made a decision. “We were just frantic for a title,” said Joan Ganz Cooney. “Our press and publicity people were going nuts. How were they going to promote a show that had no name?”

But they managed to come up with the perfect name. Read what happened at the Sesame Workshop blog. More