the keys to writing a good "Sesame Street" script: remain true to character, integrate educational goals seamlessly into the story, and make sure the parents enjoy it, too. "What I like about 'Sesame Street' is that I am writing on two different levels," says Ward. In fact, executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente describes Ward and her colleagues as "true comedy writers who can also speak to kids." That multi-generational appeal is most evident in the inserts—featuring letters, numbers, and celebrities—that are a favorite "Sesame Street" staple.
Ward has written parodies over the years such as "Desperate Houseplants" and "The Taming of the Shoe," as well as a version of "The Closer" in which viewers learned about relational concepts (open/close). She has written for celebrities ranging from John Goodman to Diane Sawyer to four members of the New York Jets. Last year, she penned a song for Adam Sand-ler to sing to Elmo ("This is a song about Elmo/Who likes to play and yellmo…"). Among the several dozen songs for which Ward has written lyrics are titles like "C Drives Me Crazy" (performed by the Fine Young Camels), "Stand by Your Can" (an anti-litter ditty sung by Hammy Swinette), and "I Could Have Counted All Night" (performed, of course, by the Count).
"Sesame Street" has long been unafraid to take on delicate subjects—be it the 1982 death of Will Lee (who played Mr. Hooper, the beloved grocer, for thirteen years), the 9/11 attacks, or the existence of Santa Claus. Generally, these matters are handled deftly, generating far more praise than controversy, but sometimes the hullabaloo arrives unexpectedly. In 2007, Ward wrote a sketch in which Oscar, after reporting for the Grouch News Network (GNN), received a phone call from his girlfriend, Grundgetta, who complained that the news wasn't grouchy enough. "From now on," she declared, "I am watching Pox News. Now there's a trashy news show!"
At the time, nobody seemed to notice. But two years later, an anonymous writer for the conservative blog Big Hollywood complained, "I can't even sit my kids in front of 'Sesame Street' without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority." The debate hit the media circuit. Bill O'Reilly devoted a segment to the controversy. PBS ombudsman Michael Getler determined that the joke "should have been resisted," while Sesame Workshop vice president of communication Ellen Lewis shrugged it off as "just another one of the many parodies that 'Sesame Street' has done over the years."
And as for Ward, who wrote the bit? Did she have any regrets?
"Are you kidding?" she says, laughing. "It was the highlight of my career."
Toddler's Troubadour
Meet longtime "Sesame Street" songster Tony Geiss '48, MA '50
"a national treasure"—that's how former "Sesame Street" head writer Lou Berger describes Tony Geiss '48, MA '50. Indeed, if there were a Mount Rushmore of the show's scribes, Teddy Roosevelt's spot might belong to Geiss, who retired last year after more than three decades. "I always thought of Tony as our resident creative genius," says Belinda Ward, who calls him "the Cole Porter of the preschool set."
Geiss, who grew up and still lives in Greenwich Village, scripted witty banter for "The David Frost Show" before joining 
"Sesame Street" in the mid-Seventies. "It took me a year or two to learn how to write for the show," says the eighty-five-year-old. "It had to be good comedy. You had to write for all the characters. It's entertainment that educates, and it took me a while." The best preparation for a would-be "Street" writer, Geiss says, is not to watch other children's shows but to read, study history, and soak up comedy classics by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Monty Python.
He eventually became one of the program's most prolific creative forces. It was Geiss who conceived of the Honkers, those friendly monsters who communicate by honking their bulbous noses. And it was Geiss who penned Grover's goofy ditty "My Furry Little Shadow" ("I have a little shadow/He looks a lot like me/It goes wherever I go/As you can plainly see…"). He claims the song had its origins in a science curriculum. "The beginning of all science is observation, and before observation comes noticing," says Geiss. "The trick is to teach the kids complex things but find simple ways to do that."
On the thirtieth anniversary of "Sesame Street," producers reworked the program to appeal to an increasingly younger demographic. Geiss helped develop the show-within-a-show "Elmo's World" and wrote the theme song—the royalties from which, he says with a laugh, "are taking care of me in my old age." A fiddler in his youth, Geiss has contributed the music and lyrics to some 150 "Sesame Street" songs, a number even the Count might find intimidating.
Before the show's thirty-seventh season, the creative team was tasked with conceiving a female Muppet star, partly in response to competing shows with strong female leads like "Dora the Explorer." Geiss came up with Abby Cadabby, a three-year-old fairy godchild who moved to Sesame Street for the schools. She now has her own show-within-the-show. Geiss wrote that theme song, too.
His credits include several TV specials, including "A Sesame Street Christmas Carol" and "Cinderelmo." He also co-wrote the first "Sesame Street" feature film, Follow That Bird (1984), with Judy Freudberg, who is currently head writer of "Elmo's World." Soon after, Freudberg and Geiss co-wrote two animated features, An American Tail and The Land Before Time, for Steven Spielberg.
Geiss has also worked as a freelance comedy writer, contributing jokes and scripting television specials for Robert Klein, Bill Cosby, and Dick Cavett. But nothing trumps the memories of life at 123 Sesame Street. "The great thing about working there is the psychic income," he says. "When you tell someone you write for 'Sesame Street,' a lot of goodwill comes your way."
Sesame Street Trivia
(brought to you by the number 10)
The show was almost called "123 Avenue B," but the title was deemed too provincial to New York. "Sesame Street," a relatively unpopular option, was considered the "least bad" choice.
Mississippi's State Commission for Education Television originally banned the show because of its integrated cast. The edict was reversed only after it made national news.
James Earl Jones was the first of the more than 450 celebrities who have appeared on the program, including four First Ladies. In her 2009 appearance, Michelle Obama extolled the virtues of vegetables.
More than 4,200 episodes have aired, and the show can be seen in more than 120 countries and territories around the world. Among its two-dozen foreign incarnations are "Takalani Sesame" in South Africa (which features an HIV-positive Muppet), "Galli Galli Sim Sim" in India, and "Sesame Tree" in Northern Ireland.
"Sesame Street" has earned a record haul of more than 120 Daytime Emmy Awards (Belinda Ward has thirteen), as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from 2009.
The Jim Henson Company has built more than 5,000 puppets for the show.
An estimated 100,000 "Sesame Street" products—from Big Bird backpacks to Tickle-Me Elmos to toddlers' Oscar the Grouch T-shirts proclaiming "Don't Trash Our Planet"—are sold worldwide.
Oscar the Grouch was colored orange in the show's first season; Cookie Monster is the only Muppet with five fingers (the rest have four); Ernie is the only one with a built-in smile.
Researchers have conducted more than 1,000 studies about the program's influence on early childhood education.
Big Bird could buy a birdseed milkshake at Mr. Hooper's Store for 20 cents in 1969—and for $2.99 four decades later.
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A Song About Elmo (2:57)