Backstage at Sesame Street

One of the non-kidlit blogs that I always make sure to tune into is Jane in Progress, the blog of TV writer Jane Espenson. She's set her pen to Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, and too many others to mention, and her blog is full of good writing tips even if you're not aiming for the small screen.

I'm sharing this post because it contained a letter from a writer on Sesame Street. Favorite bit:

The folks in Research all have Master's degrees and PhD's in education, child psychology, etc. Research will review each script and give their comments to our head writer. . . .

I always knew Sesame Street had sound educational principles behind the Letter of the Day and Feist singing the "1, 2, 3, 4" song with penguins, but I had no idea they had such high requirements from their staff. I knew I liked those muppets for a reason.