HBO's latest brilliant maneuver: Acquiring the rights to air Sesame Street


HBO's ongoing effort to become the only TV you'll ever need just scored a major victory: a trip to Sesame Street. Starting this fall (and continuing for the next five years), the beloved, long-running children's series will premiere all of its new episodes on HBO, as part of the network's aggressive push to expand its reach beyond Hollywood movies and original TV series aimed at adults.
The influx of resources from the HBO partnership will allow Sesame Street to dramatically increase its output; while the series produced just 18 episodes last season, it will produce 35 for the new season. A spin-off, focused on the Sesame Street Muppets, is also in the works.
For those who don't subscribe to HBO, new Sesame Street episodes will still air on PBS — but only after HBO's nine-month exclusive window on new episodes has lapsed. To make up for the gap, PBS will spend the fall of 2015 airing "new" episodes cobbled together from segments of old Sesame Street episodes.
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The new season of Sesame Street will premiere on all HBO platforms in the fall. Until then, if you want to see what an HBO-ified Sesame Street might look like, we have you covered. Scott Meslow
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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