Sesamstraat

Sesamstraat is the version of Sesame Street that airs in the Netherlands. It is produced by NPS.

The Dutch Muppet characters are Pino (the Dutch Big Bird), Tommie, Ieniemienie and Purk. Troel, a white female version of Tommie, was featured during the second season.

After a pilot episode entitled Sesamplein (Sesam Square), Sesamstraat began broadcasting in 1976. It started as a Dutch/Belgian coproduction, with weekly thirty minute episodes. In 1978, Sesamstraat's format changed to a daily 15 minute show that aired in the evening, around dinnertime. Starting in September 2006, Sesamstraat is 30 minutes long and airs three times a day.

Each episode is centered around a certain theme, like "Animals", "Fear", "Traffic", "Death/Sad", etc. There is also a bit more freedom about subjects like 'going to the bathroom' or 'saying dirty words'. Sesamstraat doesn't focus primarily around letters and numbers, like the American Sesame Street does, but rather around social values. Unlike the original target group in America, all the children in the Netherlands get to learn letters and numbers in school. Some of the cognitive items are adjusted to fit in the Dutch education; letters of the alphabet, for instance, are pronounced phonetically (the letter M is pronounced "m" instead of "em") so that children know how to use them when learning how to read.

A regular Sesamstraat episode starts with a street sequence, and usually ends with one of the actors reading a story to the Muppets or children visiting the set. Fifty percent of the show consists of dubbed American inserts, the other 50 percent is original Dutch material. The Dutch material consists of street scenes, "music videos" (both live action and cartoons), recurring sketches (like "The Question of the Day" where one of the actors asks the viewer a trivia question about previous scenes), performances by mime artists, clowns and puppeteers (like Hakim and Lejo) and live action scenes on location with kids. A new quantity of American clips is dubbed for each season, whereas clips from earlier seasons still remain a big part of the series as well. Edited episodes of Elmo's World have been featured every now and then since the new 30 minute format change, as well as Global Grover. Big Bird and the American human cast don't appear on Sesamstraat.

The first season was shot on location in a half Dutch, half Belgian town. For the second season, a realistic town square was built inside the studio, which slowly evolved into a more abstracted, colourful town, featuring Pino's nest, Sien's store, a workshop, two houses, an apartment building, a trailer and a treehouse. The insides of the house sets could be decorated in different ways, so that the viewers would never have certainty about who lived where.

For the 2005/2006 season, Sesamstraat moved into new scenery. The street is now completely abstract, with toyblock-like buildings, broccoli for trees, and a tower with a giant light-up clock. The scenery was introduced with a TV special. Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster and Elmo flew over to Holland for this special occasion. It was the first time the American characters visited the Dutch street.

Other special Sesamstraat episodes include the 2500th episode, a yearly special episode focused on Sinterklaas, and the 25th Anniversary series in which Dutch celebrities made guest appearances on the street.

Voices

 * Paul Haenen as Bert, Grover, Fred the Wonder Horse, Buster the Horse, Dr. Nobel Price, and Cyrus the Magpie
 * Wim T. Schippers as Ernie, Kermit, Count von Count, Guy Smiley, the Amazing Mumford, Simon Soundman, and Mr. Johnson
 * Hein Boele as Elmo, Benny Rabbit, and Sherlock Hemlock
 * Peter Piekos (1973-1980s) and Hero Muller (1980s onward) as Cookie Monster and Herry Monster
 * Doris Baaten as Meryl Sheep, The Countess, and Polly Darton
 * Tom Meijer as Placido Flamingo,Monty, and Joey Monkey
 * Bill Van Dijk as Roosevelt Franklin, Little Chrissy, and Clementine
 * Hans Boskamp as Oscar the Grouch
 * Dick Poons as Hoots the Owl
 * Sjef Poort as Forgetful Jones
 * Lucie de Lange as Zoe, Roxie Marie, Cookie Monster's Mommy, and Count von Count's Mother
 * Kas van Iersel as Davey Monkey
 * Reinder van de Naalt as Stinky the Stinkweed and Colambo
 * Marjolein Algera as Natasha, Rosita, and Athena
 * Hellen Huisman as Prairie Dawn and Grungetta
 * Marlies Somers as Prairie Dawn
 * Olaf Wijnants as Big Bird
 * Cees van Oyen as Snuffy and Humphrey
 * Marijke Merckens as Thelma Thumb
 * Laura Vasblom as Ruby
 * Edward Reekers as Kingston Livingston III

Crew

 * Producer: Astrid Prickaerts
 * Directors: Rita Goossens, Norbert ter Hall, Jan Keja, Jan Keymeulen, Pieter Kramer, Mike Naber, Leo van der Goot, Remy Van Heugten, Sascha Van der Feer	(assistant director), Aart Staartjes (location director)
 * Writers: Marja Baeten, Richard van Breukelen, Flip Broekman, Marianne Busser, Rob Chrispijn, Sylvia De Boer, Trude de Jong, Hans Dorrestijn, Thea Dubelaar, Karel Eykman, Hans Hagen, Monique Hagen, Marianne Harmsen, Eric Hercules, Mieke van Hooft, Marjet Huiberts, Luc Janssen, Willem Knigge, Mies Koppen, Ben Kuipers, Wim Meuldijk (1982-2002), Ries Moonen, Judith Nieken, Theo Olthuis, Casper Oudshoorn, Fetze Pijlman, Jan Riem, Bennie Roeters, Bas Rompa, Julius Ros, Ron Schröder, Patty Stenger, Otto Treurniet, Conny Van der Heijden, Manfred Van Eijk, Ted van Lieshout, Marianne van Nieuwpoort, Arthur van Norden, Erik Van Os, Driek Van Wissen, Rian Visser, Willem Wilmink, Chris Winsemius
 * Music: Harry Bannink (original music), Henny Vrienten (original music), Harrie Geelen (song translator)
 * Cinematography: Fred Brinkman (location), Paul Staartjes (location)
 * Editing: Ajé Boschhuizen, Mylou Frencken (-2002), Jeroen Pelgrom, Henny Zwanenburg
 * Costume Design: Mariëlle Sas
 * Makeup Department: Gerda Beumer (makeup artist)
 * Art Department: Erly Brugmans	(production designer, 2005)
 * Sound Department: Bert Koops (sound recordist), David Carmiggelt (location), Thanissis Plialis (location)
 * Advisors: Hans Beentjes, Frea Janssen-Vos, Jan Kok, Peter Levelt, Aart Staartjes
 * Translator: John Tak