The beloved children’s television show “Sesame Street” is undergoing a really grown up battle. In fact, the situation is so serious Gina, Gordon, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, and friends might be moving off of Sesame Street very soon. Why? Budget cuts.
Some of the show’s actors and producers are busy protesting budget cuts in Washington as we speak. Many of the main actors of “Sesame Street” have temporarily moved to Capitol Hill to fight the proposed federal spending cuts to public broadcasting. If you didn’t already know, “Sesame Street” has aired on PBS for the last 30 years.
Unions and other activist groups were already in our nation’s capital protesting when Emilio Delgado who plays Luis, Bob McGrath who plays Bob, and Roscoe Orman who plays Gordon arrived. Gina, played by Alison Bartlett O’Reilly and Alan, played by Alan Muraoka, were also in attendance as members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists moved as a force on the Senate.
No one wants “Sesame Street” or other important public programming to move. So, the actors delivered petitions requesting that the Senate fully fund PBS. This is in direct response to the House’s vote to end more than $400 million in spending on public broadcasting.
Of course, “Sesame Street” is probably fine – it is probably one of the biggest moneymaking public broadcasted shows known. But the lack of funding would certainly change the daily access to television shows that so many kids have now.
Katie Steil
