Sesame Street celebrates 40 years

The colorful and furry cast and crew of "Sesame Street" gathered on Broadway in New York City on Monday to celebrate the landmark educational TV program's fortieth year.

Big Bird, Grover, Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, and Cookie Monster were only a handful of the VIP's on hand, during which a proclamation from the city declaring the day "Sesame Street Day" was given to the show's creator Joan Ganz Cooney.

Cooney had pioneered the idea of using television as an educational medium in the 1960's, when she first set out to raise 8 million US dollars, the equivalent of 40 million US dollars today. She only expected the show to run for at most two seasons, so nobody was more surprised it was a hit than the woman called the "mommy of Sesame Street."

Joan Ganz Cooney, creator of "Sesame Street", said, "It just went on and on. How could you guess forty years? I was hoping for two years when we started. I mean, we didn't know if we'd make it past the first year, and when we did, we said another year, and then another, and then it just became an American institution, and then a worldwide institution, and it goes on and on."

"Sesame Street" first came to air on November 10th, 1969, and has since grown to become one of the best-known brands in television. The program is a veritable melting pot: not only has it employed a diverse cast of human and muppet characters since its founding, but it is now seen in 140 countries and translated or produced in several languages.

The day was full of good cheer and positive attitudes, especially from muppets Grover and Elmo.

To mark the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Place," U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama appears on the first episode of the newest season.