Sunny Days: The Children’s Television Revolution That Shaped America

Christopher Owens 🔖 These days, we read an awful lot about ‘cultural elites.’

Blamed (with some justification) for attempts to suppress speech through to helping facilitate cancel culture and a kind of moral disarmament that would lead to the war in Ukraine, such types are often depicted as utterly out of touch with the average person on the street, but with a deep seated desire to be an avenger of the night, righting wrongs with approaches that are akin to buying a new car every time they run out of petrol.

Yet, once upon a time, such types were at the cutting edge of popular culture and had a genuine social conscience. One that focused on the socially deprived but with an egalitarian approach that would encompass everyone.

Such an approach gave us Sesame Street.

Originally intended to be for two- to five-year-olds living in inner cities to help them learn English and Maths before starting school, it has now evolved into a worldwide phenomenon, with 95% of American children having watched the show at least once. And, thanks to this book from David Kamp, we can now be reminded of the radical origins of the show. In the introduction, Kamp lays out the case for Sesame Street as an act of public service:

What’s notable from today’s standpoint is that there was no financial incentive…Jon Stone, one of Sesame Street’s original producers…later said…’None of us was going to get rich…But the challenge of the assignment and the creative freedom granted to us to meet that challenge was heady stuff, and we took our responsibility very seriously.’

Beginning with FCC chairman Newton Minow’s famous speech ‘Television and the Public Interest’, where he advised people to “Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off” as he could “…assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland”, Kamp looks at two people who agreed with Minow but saw vast, untapped potential in TV as an medium for education: Fred Rogers and Joan Ganz. Both well educated and coming from affluent backgrounds, they both shared a strong interest in the welfare and education of children. Although the two would never meet, they left an indelible mark on children’s TV with Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street respectively.

Often depicted as an old-fashioned, out of touch type, the turbulence of America in the 60’s was reflected on Rogers’ show (be it racial equality or the RFK assassination), segwaying into Jesse Jackson appearing on Sesame Street delivering his famous ‘I Am Somebody’ speech. Children’s TV could be radical.

One of the most fascinating segments deals with Roosevelt Franklin, the show’s first break out star. Adored by kids and adults alike (even B.B King gave him the thumbs up), he was a controversial character within the production staff, some of whom felt that he was a stereotypical black kid in terms of his dialect and mannerisms. While this faction eventually won, with the character largely disappearing after 1975, there are some fascinating comments from cast members, such as this:

It was a sign of the times that there were a lot of black people who were trying to put race under the mat…They were so damn bougie that they were embarrassed by Roosevelt. They were busy thinking that the whiter you acted, the better off you would be. Those people were embarrassed by their own culture. It’s the same people who were embarrassed by rap when it first started.

A debate as old as time but, in the context of a kids show, one to give serious consideration to.

Addressing other shows such as Schoolhouse Rock and The Electric Company, Kamp has delivered a fascinating page turner that will not only make you marvel at what has come before, but also make you weep at how dumbed down popular culture is today.

David Kamp, 2022, Sunny Days: The Children’s Television Revolution that Shaped America. Simon and Schuster, ISBN-13: 978-1501137808.

🕮 Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist and author of A Vortex Of Securocrats.