"The idea for Sesame Street cropped up at a dinner party near Gramercy Park hosted by its future co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney when a guest who’d found his daughter sitting rapt before a TV test pattern wondered aloud if the tube’s hold on toddlers could be used to educate. It’s been shot here ever since, and its 40th season begins November 10." - Christopher Chung from Bookmarklet

"Big Bird has, amazingly, been played from the beginning by Caroll Spinney, who’s now 75. Says Michael Davis, author of Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street: “His right arm is above his head for twenty minutes at a time, because his hand is up inside Big Bird’s head manipulating his eyes … And they’ve got a video monitor strapped across his body so he can see where he is.”" - Christopher Chung