2008

The new human character Leela, with Mr. Snuffleupagus and Big Bird on Sesame Street.

Television & Movies

• Sesame Street: Dinosaurs! limited theatrical release, May
• Frances premieres on PBS Kids Sprout, June 20
• Studio DC Hosted by Dylan and Cole Sprouse premieres on Disney Channel, August 3
• Sesame Street season 39, August 11
• Sesame Street: Abby in Wonderland limited theatrical release, September
• Sid the Science Kid Season 1 premieres on PBS, September 1
• Studio DC Hosted by Selena Gomez premieres on Disney Channel, October 5
• Made in Hollywood: Teen Edition (episode 3.05 with focus on the Jim Henson Company) airs syndicated, October 27 - November 2
• Jim Henson's Pajanimals premieres on PBS Kids Sprout, November 2
• A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa premieres on NBC, December 17

International Television

• Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures
• Jalan Sesama begins airing on Trans7 in Indonesia, February 18
• Sesame Tree begins airing in Ireland, April 5
• Plaza Sésamo new season, March 21
• Germany's Sesamstrasse celebrates 35th Anniversary
• Sesamstrasse new season with the episode 2457 on ARD, November 16, expanding from 4:3 aspect radio to 16:9 aspect radio
• Weihnachten mit Ernie und Bert airs in Germany, December 24 and 25 on Kika and December 26 on NDR
• Studio DC Hosted by Dylan and Cole Sprouse premieres on German Disney Channel, December 24

Appearances

• Oscar the Grouch on 1 vs 100, January 11 (and throughout the entire season)
• Sesame Street Live on PIX 11 Morning News, February 7
• Kermit and Pepe at the Grammy Awards for The Late Late Show, February 10
• Prairie Dawn on The Sunny Side Up Show, February 14
• Elmo on Paula's Party, February 23
• Oscar on The Sunny Side Up Show, April 24
• Rosita on The Early Show, May 3
• Rosita on Good Morning America, May 4
• Rosita and Gary Knell on Tell Me More, May 15
• Kermit and Fozzie on The View, May 21
• Kermit and Fozzie on PIX 11 Morning News, May
• Kermit and Fozzie on Hollywood 411, May
• Cookie Monster on The Colbert Report, June 19
• Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Bunsen and Beaker appear on ESPY ads, July
• Melissa Dino and Zoe on CNN.com Live, July 2
• Elmo and Nitya Vidyasagar on PIX 11 Morning News, August 12
• Elmo on The Bonnie Hunt Show, September 19
• Miss Piggy on The View, October 1
• Abby Cadabby, Elmo, Grover, and Cookie Monster on Martha, October 6
• Abby Cadabby and Elmo on Hollywood 411, October 8
• Abby Cadabby and Elmo on The Bonnie Hunt Show, October 13
• Oscar the Grouch on The Hour, October 22
• Pepe the King Prawn on The Late Late Show, October 28
• The Muppets, under leadership of some Whatnots take over The Today Show, November 13
• Kermit and Pepe on PIX 11 Morning News, November 14
• Pepe on Good Morning America's ABC News Now, November 17
• Kermit the Frog and a Sesame Street Float at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, November 27
• A Whatnot, a Muppet turkey and a Muppet bull on The Today Show, November 27
• Kermit and Miss Piggy on Christmas in Rockefeller Center, December 3
• Kermit and Fozzie on Fox & Friends, December
• Fozzie and a Whatnot on The Early Show, December 6
• Miss Piggy on WBAL, December 15
• Kermit the Frog on Dr. Phil, December 16
• Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, December 17
• Miss Piggy on The Today Show, December 17
• Pepe the King Prawn on The Bonnie Hunt Show, December 17
• Grover on The Sunny Side Up Show, December 31

Live appearances

• Dr. Bunsen Honeydew at World Science Festival press conference, April 2
• Grover and Abby Cadabby at BlogHer08 in San Francisco, July 18 & 19
• Elmo at the USO World Gala, October 1
• Big Bird and Elmo at Macy's 150th Birthday Gala, October 28
• Kermit, Pepe, and Gonzo at The Whatnot Workshop at FAO Schwarz, November 13

Home Video

• Sesame Street Double Features, January 8
• Elmo's World: Opposites, February 8
• The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss Gift Sets, Volumes 1-3, February 18
• Unstable Fables: 3 Pigs and a Baby, March 4
• Play With Me Sesame: Imagine with Me, March 11
• Play With Me Sesame: Let's Play Games, March 11
• Sesame Street: Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes, April 29
• Sesame Street: Dinosaurs, May 13
• Sesame Street: Love the Earth!, May 13
• The Muppet Show: Season Three, May 20
• Elmo's World: Summer Vacation, June 24
• Sesame Street: Count on Sports, July 22
• Play with me Sesame: Furry, Fun and Healthy Too, August 12
• The Jim Henson Company Discoveries: The Blue Elephant, September 2
• Gulliver's Travels: Special Edition, September 9
• Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare, September 9
• Sesame Street Playground, September 16
• Sesame Street: Abby in Wonderland, September 30
• Elmo and Friends: Tales of Adventure, October 7
• Sesame Street: Elmo's Christmas Countdown, October 14
• Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection, November 4
• The Christmas Toy, November 4
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, November 4
• Sesame Street: Everyday Heroes, November 11
• Shalom Sesame: Oofnik's World, November 25
• Unstable Fables: The Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Show, December 16

International Home Video

• Fraggle Rock: The Animated Collection, February 6
• Die Fraggles: Episodes 1-12, July 21

Albums

• Platinum All-Time Favorites re-issue, March 4
• Kids' Favorite Songs re-issue, March 4
• Sing the Alphabet re-issue, March 4
• Elmopalooza! re-issue, March 4
• Sesame Street Playground, September 16
• A Sesame Street Christmas re-issue, October 14
• Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites re-issue, October 14

Books

• Sesame Subjects: My First Book about Horses and Ponies, January 22
• Sesame Street: Super Grover to the Rescue!, January 28
• Sesame Street: Ready, Set, Brush, February 5
• Sesame Street: Elmo's Animal Mix & Match, February 5
• Sesame Street: A To Z Read To Me, February 15
• Sesame Street: My Storytime Carry-Along Collection, February 15
• Sesame Street: A Day with Daddy!, March
• Sesame Street: Elmo & Friends Picture Stories, April 1
• Sesame Street: I Want to Be President, April
• Mind Your Manners
• Elmo's World: Doctors!, July 22
• Jim Henson's Doodle Dreams, September 2
• It's Hard Out Here for a Shrimp, October 28
• Return to Labyrinth: Volume 3, November
• Farscape: The Beginning of the End of the Beginning: Part 1: The Return of the King, December 24
• Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, December 26

Misc. Merchandise

• Gonzo photo puppet replica, February
• Kermit the Frog Supreme Apparel, March
• Sesame Street K'nex, July
• The Muppet Whatnot Workshop opens at FAO.com, October 22
• The Muppet Whatnot Workshop opens at FAO Schwarz New York City, November 13

Events

• The Tournament of Roses Parade features a Sesame Street float, January 1
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), January 25
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), May 24
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), June 21
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), July 26
• Dave Goelz, Karen Prell and Red Fraggle at the San Diego Comic-Con, July 27
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), August 23
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), September 27
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), October 25
• Puppet Up! (The Avalon Hollywood), December 13

On the Web

• Muppets.com relaunched on Disney Xtreme Digital, February 3
• Sam Plenty, March 10
• Red Hot Skrumpy Drummer on Yahoo! Kids, March 28
• Talk, Listen, Connect: Homecomings, April 29
• Talk, Listen, Connect: Changes, April 29
• Stars & Stripes FOREVER! posted on YouTube, MySpace and Vimeo, June 27
• online videos "Ode to Joy," "Habanera" and "Classical Chicken" are posted on YouTube, MySpace and Vimeo, July 16
• SesameStreet's YouTube Channel launches, July 18
• Sesamestreet.org launches, August 11
• Rolling with the Skateboarding Dog posted on YouTube, MySpace and Vimeo, October 20
• Skateboarding Dog gets served posted on YouTube, MySpace and Vimeo, October 23
• The Muppet Experiment, December

Behind the scenes

• Matt Vogel begins to regularly perform Floyd Pepper, Robin the Frog, and Lew Zealand
• David Rudman begins to regularly perform Scooter and Janice

Stage Shows

• Sesame Street Live presents Elmo's Green Thumb debuts

Attractions and Events

• Jim Henson's Fantastic World
  • Arizona Museum for Youth (Mesa, AZ), January 1 - March 9
  • Louisiana Art and Science Museum (Baton Rouge, LA), March 29 - June 22
  • International Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC), July 12 - October 5
  • Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, GA), October 25 - December 31
• Sesame Street Presents: The Body
  • Discovery Gateway (Salt Lake City, UT), February 9 - May 4
• The Muppet Experiment is held at the Disneyland resort, December
• Jim Henson: Wonders from His Workshop
  • Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta, GA), September 16 - December 31

Theme Parks

• SeaWorld San Diego opens Sesame Street Bay of Play area, with attractions including Sesame Street "Lights, Camera, Imagination!"
• Sesame Street characters appear at PortAventura

People

• Anthony Minghella dies, March 18
• Del Ankers dies, May 15
• Kermit Love dies, June 21
• Bernie Brillstein dies, August 7

Muppet Character Debuts

• Sesame Street: Ovejita
• Sesame Tree: Potto, Hilda, Claribelle

Parades

• The Tournament of Roses Parade features a Sesame Street float, January 1
• Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade features Kermit the Frog rides in the Central Park float performing "I Believe", the Kermit the Frog balloon, the Abby Cadabby balloon, 123 Sesame Street float with Lang Lang
• McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade features balloon versions of Elmo, Animal, Cookie Monster, and Super Grover
• 6abc Thanksgiving Day Parade features balloons version of Big Bird, Elmo, Bear with Tutter and Kermit and the walk-around character cast of Sesame Street
• Bob McGrath appears on a Sesame Street float for the Oakland Holiday Parade, December 6

Sources

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