It is official. Not only has HBO Family been excised from the airwaves, but in September, the final two episodes, one of them a repeat, of The Children’s Workshop presentation SESAME STREET are airing on HBO Max. As everyone knows, WBD is purging children’s content from its programming. All but a couple of animated shows are gone, even WB’s classic LOONEY TUNES. Funny, I never classified Bugs Bunny and company as a kid’s cartoon; they are just as much adult humor as anything. Never fear, this content is not lost, just no longer worthy of CEO David Zaslav’s attention. LOONEY TUNES moved to Tubi, and SESAME STREET survives as well.
Netflix will pick up the lovable Muppets when it embarks on its 56th season in 2026, and, of course, the show will still run on local PBS stations, assuming those stations survive their loss of federal funding. The fate of what was going to happen to the show was a great concern for educators and parents. It was a good five to six months after HBO’s cancellation before Netflix picked up the contract. And oddly, even though children’s programming gets the heave-ho, SESAME STREET will still have a presence on HBO Max. One, there are other Children’s Workshop shows that will remain for a time on the service, and old episodes of SESAME STREET will be honored through 2027. Just no new content will be appearing.
I, for one, was never so sure SESAME STREET even belonged at HBO. Sometimes I could argue that yes, it should, and at other times that it should not. First from the beginning, HBO was a tentpole location to get the top programming from a wide range of content, including children’s programming. After all, HBO was the destination for FRAGGLE ROCK and EMMETT OTTER’S JUG BAND CHRISTMAS, back when Kermit the Frog opened the story. Both of those shows were Jim Henson creations. Eventually, SESAME STREET joined the network in 2016, and it was the pinnacle of HBO’s youthful programming. But then Zaslav made a wreck of things, and SESAME STREET was relegated to the background, and so was HBO for that matter, when HBO Max, later just Max, came around and dumbass Discovery content muddled the scene. How about you? Did you like the show’s presence on HBO? Did you settle the kids down in front of it or just wait for them to arrive on PBS?
Anyway, as with everything, evolution happens and not always for the better in non-natural scenarios like television. We said our goodbyes to HBO Family, and I can’t help but wonder if SESAME STREET will just fade away with just Elmo’s little sniffle in early September. The show’s last new installment for HBO Max will debut THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 04, followed by a repeat the following week. Some will miss and others won’t care, but it was fun writing about SESAME STREET on HBO for a time. Now, ship it off to Disney+ where it belongs!
