WarnerMedia has announced it will air the half-hour special, Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate, simultaneously across HBO, HBO Latino, TBS, TNT, truTV, Cartoon Network and Boomerang on Tuesday, April 14 from 7-7:30 p.m. EST.
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The special will also air on PBS KIDS at the same time, and will later air internationally in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Part of Sesame Workshop’s Caring for Each Other initiative, the special is aimed at helping kids and families around the world feel connected in this time of uncertainty and features everyone’s favorite “Sesame Street” friends and celebrity guests including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross.
“WarnerMedia recognizes how difficult these isolation efforts are for families, especially ones with children,” Bob Greenblatt, Chairman, WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer, said in a statement. “With Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate airing simultaneously across our networks, we are confident that this special will bring family members together for a unique in-home viewing experience that will provide laughter, joy and relief during this challenging time.”
The half-hour special follows Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby and a few famous friends as they find new ways to play and learn together. Celebrating everything from the EMTs, doctors and other everyday heroes who are helping families through the health crisis to the simple pleasures of baking cookies at home, the playdate takes the form of a cozy video conference that will feel very familiar to today’s viewers. Celebrities and Sesame Street friends will sing songs, play games and take silly dance breaks.
Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish) plays a game of “Elmo Says,” Lin-Manuel Miranda (In The Heights) pops in for a few rounds of “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” Anne Hathaway (Ocean’s 8) and Elmo get moving with “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” and more. Kids will love getting a visit from their Sesame Street friends, and caregivers will appreciate how the special models playful learning opportunities they can use at home.
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“We hope Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate will entertain and delight families at a moment when so many are feeling isolated and overwhelmed by current events,” said Steve Youngwood, Sesame Workshop’s President, Media & Education and Chief Operating Officer. “With help from our distribution partners around the world, this special will encourage parents and kids to gather and relax as a family — in a way that only the Sesame Street Muppets can.”
Sesame Workshop is committed to supporting families through this unprecedented time of uncertainty with the new Caring for Each Other initiative. As the situation evolves, SesameStreet.org/caring will be updated to meet the changing needs of caregivers and young children. Caring for Each Other resources are designed to help parents provide comfort and manage anxiety, create routines, foster playful learning at home, and keep kids physically and mentally healthy. Families can also watch Sesame Street episodes on HBO, PBS stations, and the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel, with an expanded offering of free on-demand episodes of Sesame Street on PBS KIDS digital platforms.
