ABSTRACT

We began this volume with the observation that, since the late 1960s, Sesame Street has become the most heavily researched series in the history of television. Formative research has informed the production of both the domestic U.S. version of Sesame Street and its many coproductions in other countries (see Cole, Richman, & McCann Brown, chap. 9, this volume; Fisch & Bernstein, chap. 3, this volume; Palmer & Fisch, chap. 1, this volume; Truglio, Lovelace, Seguí, & Scheiner, chap. 4, this volume). In addition, formative research has been instrumental in the creation of Sesame Street-based material for magazines, outreach, interactive technology, and many other media (Cherow-O'Leary, chap. 11, this volume; Revelle, Medoff, & Strommen, chap. 12, this volume; Yotive & Fisch, chap. 10, this volume).