Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street (ISBN 0670019968) is a book by Michael Davis, published by Viking Press in 2008. It chronicles the history of the children's television program, Sesame Street. Published in time for the show's 40th anniversary in 2009, the book developed out of a TV Guide article Davis wrote to commemorate the show's 35th anniversary in 2004. Davis spent five years researching and writing the book.

Summary

Prologue: A description of the funeral of Muppet creator Jim Henson in New York City in 1990, from the viewpoint of Joan Ganz Cooney, one of the creators of Sesame Street.

Chapters 1—12: The origins and development of the show and the creation of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW). Sesame Street was created after a dinner party hosted by Cooney and her husband in early 1966, attended by Carnegie Institute vice-president Lloyd Morrisett and Cooney's boss at New York City educational television station WNDT, Lewis Freedman. The discussion inspired them to create a children's television program, different than what was offered at the time, that could "master the addictive qualities of television" and help young children, especially from low-income families, learn and prepare for school. Davis includes the biographies of key players in the show's development: Cooney, Morrisett, Jon Stone, Sam Gibbon, Tom Whedon, Jim Henson, Carroll Spinney, Gerry Lesser, Edward Palmer, Joe Raposo, Loretta Long, Bob McGrath, Will Lee, and Matt Robinson. There is also a discussion of the history of early children's television; specifically, Captain Kangaroo and The Howdy Doody Show. Davis emphasizes the coincidence that many involved with the show had first names that started with the letter J: Joan Cooney, Jon Stone, Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, and Joe Raposo.

Chapter 13 ("Intermission"): A description of the first episode of Sesame Street, which debuted on PBS on November 10, 1969. As Davis states, "To see that first episode today—and the four succeeding ones in Sesame's first week—is to be transported back to 1969". The first show was sponsored by the letters W, S, and E and by the numbers 2 and 3.

Chapter 14: The influence of Sesame Street during its first season, and a description of its success and critics.

Chapter 15—16: The 1970s. These chapters include a description of the production team, the cast who joined the show, and the Muppets that were created during this time. The biographies that Davis depicts are of producer Dulcy Singer, Chris Cerf, Sonia Manzano, Northern Calloway, Emilio Delgado, Linda Bove, Richard Hunt, and Fran Brill. The Muppet characters Cookie Monster and Roosevelt Franklin were also created during these years. Davis describes the music of Sesame Street, Jim Henson's struggle with fame, the end of Cooney's marriage, and CTW's funding difficulties.

Chapter 17: The late 70s and 1980s. Davis describes the production of the show's first special (Christmas Eve on Sesame Street), the decompensation and death of Northern Calloway, the death of Will Lee and the groundbreaking way Sesame Street dealt with it, the creation of Elmo and biography of his portrayer, Kevin Clash, and the wedding of Maria and Luis. Davis calls the show's depiction of Mr. Hooper's death and the wedding "the poles that held up the canvas tent that was Sesame Street in the 1980s, a reflection of the sometimes silly, sometimes sad, always surprising, relentlessly spinning cyclical circus of life". The biography of Alison Bartlett-O'Reilly is also described.

Chapter 18: The 1990s and 2000s. This chapter describes the cast's response to the deaths of Northern Calloway, Jim Henson, Joe Raposo, Dave Connell, Jon Stone. It discusses Henson's business dealings with Disney in 1990, a few months before Henson's death, and Sesame Street's ratings decrease. In 1993, the show went through substantial changes in response to the show's decline ("Around the Corner"); the only thing that ultimately survived this restructuring of the show was the Muppet character Zoe, performed by Fran Brill. There were also attempts to include more female Muppet characters. Davis discusses the "Tickle Me Elmo" phenomenon of Christmas 1996, Avenue Q, "Elmo's World", and the character Mr. Noodle.

Epilogue: Davis ends his book as he begins it, focusing on Joan Ganz Cooney, during her retirement years. He also discusses the development of Sesame Street's newest character, Abby Cadabby, and the show's international influence.

Reviews

Judith Fitzgerald of The Philadelphia Inquirer calls Street Gang "a compulsively readable compendium of all things Sesame Street". Fitzgerald states that the book is likely to become the definitive source of the show. She further praises the book in this way: "Street Gang is informative, heartbreaking, hilarious, and often eye-opening", and credited its "involving and often comical" story with the cooperation Davis received from Cooney when writing his book. Fitzgerald also praises Davis, calling him "a sensitive and subtly brilliant writer who conveys the soul of the program". Reviewer Drew Toal calls Street Gang a "swift narrative" and "a sensitive, honest account". Davis' hundreds of interviews, Toal states, results in "a Dumpster dive into Oscar’s trash can of cast stories...and even public controversy". Frazier Moore of the Associated Press states that the book is a "fascinating account" of the creation of Sesame Street. He also states that Davis' writes his account with "thoroughness and obvious affection".

James Panero, reviewer for the New York Times called Street Gang a "behind the lens story" and the "first comprehensive account" of Sesame Street. Panero found Davis' history "tireless", but objected to Davis' emphasis on "trivial details". As a result, and due to Davis' inclusion of "every 'Sesame' anecdote and every 'Sesame' personality", Panero calls the book an "oral history" rather than a tightly organized narrative. Other reviewers note that Street Gang is too much like its subject, episodic and unfocused. Diana Wagman of the L.A. Times states that Davis "chooses his focus oddly"; for example, there is a great deal of focus in the book on things like the licensing and merchandising agreement of the Muppets, but very little attention on Mississippi's 1970 ban of the show. Wagman states, "Yes, we get a little past-tense womanizing, a lot of drinking and a psychotic breakdown later in the book, but it all seems sad, not salacious, and not germane to the basic story". Nick Gillespie of the Washington Post agrees. He calls Jim Henson, who is "much discussed in the book", "an almost completely enigmatic character".

Wagman takes issue with the way Davis moves from topic to topic and time period to time period: "Davis is everywhere, from 1958 to 2008 and back again". Davis gives long personal histories of the principle players in his history, but fails to explain the reason they are important. In spite of this, Wagman states, Davis demonstrates "the love and respect Cooney and her 'Sesame Street' gang had for one another". For example, when Northern Calloway was diagnosed with a mental illness, the show never fired him. Henson's funeral is "heartbreaking". Gillespie finds the "nasty backstage wrangling" and behind-the-scenes stories "always compelling". Gillespie calls Davis "quick to repeat every positive claim ever made about 'Sesame Street'". Alex Altman of Time Magazine agrees, and calls Davis "an unabased fan of the show's charms rather than a dispassionate historian". Altman calls Davis' language "breathless" and his portrayals of the show's creators "hagiographic".

Reviewer Molly O'Donnell states that the book is "broad in scope yet exercises a meticulous attention to detail". O'Donnell views Davis as "doggedly balanced" in his account because although Davis praises Sesame Street, he describes the public criticism the show has received and relates the personality flaws of the people who helped create it. Even with the book's lulls, which O'Donnell attibutes to the large amount of personal histories Davis has to tell to give a complete picture of the show's creation, she says that the book "overall is far from dull". The reviewer from Publishers Weekly agrees, praising Street Gang as a "continuously fascinating" work with "well-researched details and an unflinching eye". This reviewer goes on to state, "Any grown-up fan will relish this account, gaining an even greater appreciation for the cultural contributions of Kermit, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and all their neighbors".

Audio version

The audio version of Street Gang was released at the same time as the book. It was narrated by Carroll Spinney and was sold separately from the book.

References

1. Davis, p. 8
2. Davis, p. 192
3. Davis, p. 294

External links

• Street Gang website
• Street Gang at Muppet Wiki