Sesamstraße

Sesamstraße (Sesame Street in English) is the German-language version of Sesame Street, a children's television series. It airs primarily in Germany and the surrounding German-speaking countries. The show premièred on 8 January 1973, Sesamstraße has been running on Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) since 1973; it's now in its 40th season. Sesamstraße is also broadcast on Das Erste and KiKa.

History

After a short test run of a few original, undubbed Sesame Street episodes from August 1972 onward, the German version of the show premiered on January 8, 1973.

The first three seasons, or 250 episodes of Sesamstrasse consisted of the original American episodes dubbed to German in Hamburg. Merely the opening and closing songs and sequences were changed, featuring new lyrics written by Volker Ludwig and tunes by Ingfried Hoffmann. The title of the German theme song is Der, die, das (wer, wie, was – wieso, weshalb, warum – wer nicht fragt, bleibt dumm!), almost literally translating to This, this and that (who, how, what – why, why and why – those who don't ask stay dumb!).

The exception to air the program was Germany's most southern state of Bavaria, where the local TV station felt that the Sesame Street set was too gritty to suit German children, and consequently had to develop its own children's programming called Das feuerrote Spielmobil (The fire-red Play-mobile).

Variety shows like Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten in 1975 promoted the show by stopping by the original US-set, and taping special footage.

Yet from 1976 through 1977 the street scenes were dropped, due in part to a consistent onslaught of protesting parents that were unhappy with the "controversial" character of Oscar the Grouch. Instead a new framing story was created, following the antics of a boy named Bumfidel and his mother. Since these stories did not take place on a street, the show's title was temporarily rendered incomprehensible.

The most controversial moment of this early period was a film showing the unconcealed birth of a human baby.

German version

In 1977, a German street set was built at Studio Hamburg for German framing stories. Samson the bear (1978–present) and Tiffy the bird (1978–2005) replaced Big Bird (Bibo) and Oscar the Grouch (Oskar der Griesgram) as main characters, and the new version debuted on January 2, 1978.

The early puppets were built by Kermit Love; nowadays Sesame Workshop builds the puppets for Sesamstrasse.

Each episode featured the new puppets interacting with a pair of human characters; consistently one male, one female. The individual sketches of Sesame Street's original American inhabitants remained the dubbed main part of the show, but some were edited due to intros that exhibited English words (such as The Adventures of Super Grover, or the Sesame Street News Flash skits).

In the following years more characters were added to the German street scenes, such as the German-built, androgynous Uli von Bödefeld (Uli is short for Ulrich), also called Herr von Bödefeld (1978–1988), and Finchen the Snail (1983, 1989–present).

Just as in its American counterpart, the German characters have been remodeled over the decades. Most obvious were changes in the first main characters Samson and Tiffy (as can be seen here for Samson 1978–2000 and Tiffy Through the Years). Finchen has also had his fair share of fabric surgery.

From 1978 to 1988, the fact that the street stories took place in a studio was never kept a secret. Some parts of the street were simply 'matted in' during an episode, or the characters would ask for help from the studio crew; one episode about Samson trying to scratch an annoying flea ends with the entire studio crew itching. The matting also allowed the characters to show up in different locations, like a beach, a small deserted island that would be surrounded by an entire ocean through the snap of one's fingers, a nearby train station, or the roof of the studio.

While Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, both performed by Caroll Spinney, had visited Sesamstrasse for the 10th Anniversary special before, a highlight of this era was the celebration of Sesamstrasse's 1000th episode; the "Sesamelly Zirkusshow," a circus gala performance taped at "Zirkus Althoff" in which Big Bird appeared alongside the German characters one more time.

In the years 1985 and 1986 no new episodes were taped; instead a wild mix of repeats was shown on TV. From 1986 onward new episodes with two new human actors were produced, and while the studio set remained largely the same, a bicycle shop was added, run by the new residents. Tiffy and Samson were slightly remodeled for the first time for these episodes.

In 1988, the studio set and original puppets were destroyed in a fire.

The puppets were rebuilt in 1989 with significant changes. The new set was centered around the new bicycle shop that was introduced in 1986, but the street stories no longer took place in a studio set.

Instead a courtyard was added, and new characters were introduced: Rumpel the Grouch (1989–present), living inside a water barrel, and Buh the Owl (1989–2002), housed inside a hollow tree. While the set offered Tiffy a new apartment-like living room in the coming years, it still featured Samson's cave in which he had lived in prior to the set change.

Sesamstrasse fans divide the series between the Studio Episodes and the Bicycle Shop Episodes in the same way that American fans talk about the pre-Elmo days. In recent years the courtyard slowly transitioned into an entire marketplace, a common social center for German towns and even city districts.

Leonie Löwenherz (Leonie Lionheart in English), a female lion (1989-early 1990s), was featured for a very short time after the set and puppets were destroyed in the fire. Just like Uli von Bödefeld, she was built by German puppet makers and not the Muppet Workshop. After her short-lived Sesame career, she got her own (ALF-like) show called "Leonie Löwenherz" on ARD, featuring herself, her two lion brothers and a few human characters.

During the early years of this era, older puppets were re-used for new characters such as Simson (on and off in 1989–2000), Samson's cousin; with slight changes being made to his appearance (equipped with a hat, a tie, etc.). For the first few episodes that his name was mentioned, Simson was only imagined by Samson and other characters doubted his existence, similarly to as it happened with Snuffy on Sesame Street when he was only being seen by Big Bird.

In 2000, the cast expanded anew. The additions to the puppet cast were Feli Filu (2000–2007) the Monster reporter, the comic duo Pferd the horse (2000–present) and Wolle the sheep (2000–present), as well as a few recurring grouches, and some Anything Muppets.

In 2005, after a 27 year-presence on the show, Tiffy was replaced with single mom Moni (2005–2007) and her pink and furry daughter Lena (2005–present).

Since then, Sesamstrasse has been visited by the most diverse cast of supporting Muppets than any other international version. One-shot characters include for example Super Franky, Grouchella, Knut Köffelström, Turbo Theo, as well as a whole slew of wolves, dogs and other creatures.

In 2006, German audience's long-time favorites Ernie and Bert began appearing regularly in newly produced German segments. For the 36th season the two moved into their own apartment on Sesamstrasse, above new human character Frau Kowalski, commenting on the street events from their balcony.

As more and more previously used Muppets were borrowed from Sesame Workshop, more secondary characters evolved in their own sketches, such as the green Wolf vom Wörtersee in 2007.

For decades the show used to consist of around 50 percent of American material, like most international co-productions of Sesame Street. But from 2007 onwards, the American material has been used less and less, so that by today an average Sesamstrasse episode only contains one or two American produced sketches. Also, just as it has become common practice on Sesame Street since 2002 to drop the framing story format, Sesamstrasse's street scenes began airing as a whole at the beginning of each episode. Beginning in 2008, the show was shot in high definition.

On December 24, 2008, a German-produced, 45-minute Christmas special called Weihnachten mit Ernie und Bert aired, featuring Ernie, Bert, and an Anything Muppet Santa Claus.

Characters

The main character is Samson, a large brown bear that replaced Big Bird. Like Big Bird, Samson is a full-body muppet and is the main character. Samson likes to dance the mambo. "Feli Filu" is a reporter for the show, and has interviewed a number of German celebrities for the show, including president Horst Köhler. Samson the bear and Tiffy the bird/monster replaced Big Bird (Bibo) as a main character in 1978.

Other characters that were added later were Uli von Bödefeld, also called Herr von Bödefeld (1978–1988), Finchen the Snail (1980s), Rumpel the Grouch (1989) and Buh the Owl (1989). Newer additions are Feli Filu the Monster reporter, the comic duo Pferd the Horse and Wolle the sheep, a few grouches (including Grouchella and an Übergrouch) and some Anything Muppets.

Germany's Grouch character is called Rumpel. He hates rain when others love it, but loves rain when others complain about it. He lives in a rain barrel. His best friend is his pet caterpillar named Gustav. Little Bird has made some cameos,

Ernie and Bert are among the most popular characters on 'Sesamstraße's In Germany, there were dubbed by:

• Ernie: Gerd Duwner (1973–1996), in the years 1997–2001 by Peter Kirchberger, and finally in 2001 by Michael Habeck .
• Bert's: Wolfgang Kieling (1973–1985). From 1986, death took over after KIELING Horst Schön synchronization, followed by other speakers as Rolf Julich and Christian Rode . Since 2007, both of Martin Paas (Ernie) and Carsten Morar, Haffke (Bert) played, talked and synchronized.

Leonie Löwenherz

Leonie Löwenherz (Leonie Lionheart in English), a female lion, was featured for a very short time after the set and puppets were destroyed in a fire. Just like Uli von Bödefeld, she was most likely built by German Fabula Filmpuppen Workshop, and not the Sesame Workshop. After her short-lived Sesame career, she got her own (ALF-like) show called "Leonie Löwenherz" on ARD, featuring herself, her two lion brothers, and a few human characters.

German Muppet characters

• Samson, a male bear, similar in role and full-body puppet, to Big Bird (1978–2009)
• Simson, Samson's cousin and lookalike, often seen with a hat or a tie to distinguish him from Samson (on and off in 1989–2000)
• Tiffy, a pink female bird (1978–2004, expected back in 2006)
• Finchen, a (former male, now female) snail (on and off from 1978, 1989–present)
• Rumpel, an Oscar the Grouch-like male character that lives in a rainbarrel. He has Gustav, a pet caterpillar (1989–2009)
• Buh, a male owl (1989–2000)
• Feli Filu, a blue female monster reporter (2000–present)
• Pferd, a male horse (2000–present)
• Wolle, a male lamb (2000–present)
• Lena, a pink monster baby (2005–2009)
• Moni, a female photographer (2005–2009)
• Uli von Bödefeld, a male hedgehog-like creature (1978–1988)
• Leonie Löwenherz, a lioness (1989-early 1990s)

Humans (1978–1986)

• Henning (Henning Venske, a German actor – 1978–1979)
• Lilo (Lieselotte Pulver, a Swiss actress – 1978–1986)
• Uwe (Uwe Friedrichsen, a German actor – 1979–1982)
• Horst (Horst Janson, a German actor – 1979–1986)
• Ute (Ute Willing, a German actress – 1979–1986)
• Ilse (Ilse Biberti, a German actress – 1979–1982)
• Elisabeth (Elisabeth Vitouch, a German actress – 1979–1982)
• Manfred (Manfred Krug, a German actor – 1982–1986)

Humans (1986–present)

• Schorsch (Gernot Endemann, a German actor – 1986–1999)
• Bettina (Hildegard Krekel, a German actress – 1986–1989)
• Bettina 2 (Kirsten Spick, a German actress – 1989–1999)
• Opa Brass (Grandpa Brass in English)(Ferdinand Dux, a German actor – 1992–2000)
• Pensionswirtin Helmi (Senta Bonneval, a German actress – 1995–1999)
• Musiker Alex (Alexander Geringas, a Hit Music Producer – 1995–2000)
• Jiviana (Vijak Bajani, a German-Turkish actress – 1995–2001)
• Nils (Nils Julius, a German actor – 2000–2010)
• Caro (Caroline Kiesewetter, a German actress – 2000–2002)
• Caro 2 (Miriam Krause, a German actress – 2002–2004)
• Zauberer PePe (Wizard PePe in English) (Dirk Bach, a German comedian – 2000–2007)
• Anke (Anke Engelke, a German comedienne – 2003)
• Mehmet (Mehmet Yılmaz, a German-Turkish actor – 2003–present)
• Ella (Franziska Troegner, a German actress – 2003–present)
• Annette (Annette Frier, a German actress & comedienne – 2005–present)
• Frau Kowalski (Miss Kowalski in English) (Adele Neuhauser, 2008–present)

Theme song

The theme song for Sesamstraße is "Der, die, das", whose melody and lyrics have little resemblance to the English version of Sesame Street. Der, die and das are nominative German articles (so the song's title is literally "The, the, the"). From October 2012 this song is performed by the German Eurovision Song Contest winner Lena Meyer-Landrut who is accompanied by Elmo on the trumpet.

External links

• Sesamstraße on Muppet Wiki
• Sesamstraße on German Wikipedia