PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, is an American public television network.
One of PBS' most successful programs is Sesame Street, which has aired on the network for over 50 years. Sesame Street’s first season was broadcast on National Educational Television (NET), the predecessor to PBS. Since 2016, Sesame Street has aired first-run episodes on HBO, and then HBO Max starting in 2020, before airing on PBS following a window of 8-10 months. PBS is also home to the Jim Henson Company's television series Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train and Splash and Bubbles.
A popular series on the channel, Great Performances, aired the documentary The World of Jim Henson. Independent Lens, an anthology series airing independently made documentaries, broadcast The World According to Sesame Street in 2006 and Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey in 2012.
The television specials Sesame Street, Special and Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake were both produced as pledge-drive specials and included sequences that discussed public television, mentioned various PBS shows, and led to real pledge breaks.
Muppet characters, usually from Sesame Street, have appeared in various specially-made PBS promos, including a batch taped in April 1974.[1] In 1979, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, and Grover all appeared in a PBS fundraiser marathon, while Statler and Waldorf appeared in a fundraiser in 1983.[2]
The Sesame Street Muppets have made guest appearances on other PBS shows including The Electric Company, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, and Between the Lions. PBS also broadcast Here Come the Puppets, which was hosted by Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog, with appearances by other Muppets. In 2013, Cookie Monster made a guest appearance on the online video series National Film Society.