5, Rue Sésame

5, Rue Sésame
Format	Children's television series
Created by	Based on a concept by Joan Ganz Cooney, with Jim Henson
Country of origin	France
No. of episodes	75
Production
Running time	26 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	France 5
Original run	22 october 2005 – 21 december 2007

5, Rue Sésame is a French language children's television series based on the popular U.S. children's show Sesame Street, aired by France 5. This series is the second Sesame Workshop co-production for France, the first being 1, rue Sesame.

Seventy-five 26-minute-long episodes were created for the first season, directed by François Basset and Jul Mallard. The series is produced for France 5 by Expand-Drama with Sesame Workshop. Executive producer of the series is Georges Campana. The show debuted airing daily, Sunday to Friday at 6:30 am, and Saturdays at 7:00 am and 12:30 pm.

Terry Fitzpatrick, Sesame Workshop's executive VP for distribution:

"France has always been a priority market for Sesame Workshop. We first provided local programming and licensed products in the 1970s, and have since seen the preschool media landscape evolve tremendously. We are excited to be re-entering the French market with two of the strongest partners in the television business — France's number one preschool broadcaster and the most innovative production company — to deliver compelling educational television that serves the needs of today's children."

Although the show is now cancelled, it is still airing re-runs.

Contents 1 Characters 1.1 Origins of the puppet designs 2 Season 1 3 See Also 4 External links

Characters

For the most part, characters in 5, Rue Sésame are unique to the series.

• Nac — Gentle, positive and generous, he is 2.2m tall. He is considered to be the program's "mascot".
• Griotte — She has a handicap, but still participates with all the activities in the Street. Her name can be literally translated as Morello cherry.
• Yoyo — He is fearful, super hyperemotional but even more anxious. Yoyo has a heart of gold and its qualities are very attaching.
• Olive — Naughty, fearless, giggles and grins: Olive is all that at once!
• Elmo — Three-and-a-half years old, he is the youngest character in the series. Originally from the American version.
• Georges — Georges arrived on Rue Sésame inside an ice cube. A likeable character, he made friends with the rest of the Rue's residents.
• Titouan, The neighbor — Jolly, this retired man is considered to be a "true modern dad".
• Baya, the baker — Her good mood and her generosity gives the street a lot of confidence.
• Juliette — This young student works as a paperstand manager in the street.

Origins of the puppet designs

The puppet of Griotte is based on that of Roxie Marie, a character who appeared on the original American Sesame Street during part of the 1990s. Besides being in a wheelchair unlike Roxie, Griotte also has longer hair. The puppet design for Yoyo debuted on Sesame Street as Narf, in the 33rd season segments called Monster's Clubhouse. After the segment was dropped, Narf strictly became a background player, an Anything Muppet monster; it is possible Narf will continue to appear in such limited fashion on the American program. Olive debuted as Carina the Ballerina, a one-off character in a season 35 episode of Sesame Street. Carina was a friend of Zoe and Elmo, who enjoyed dancing ballet with them. The American version of Sesame Street has regularly included penguins, and they have become a Muppet standard addition in gags since The Muppet Show, but this Georges is the first fully developed penguin character.

Season 1

The show follows the original Sesame Street format, in which the extended storyline (known as "a Street scene") continues throughout the show, in four parts.

Twenty songs are feature in this season, ten of which are exclusive to the show. The music is composed by Madeleine Going with lyrics by D’Alexandra Pic.

Each episode includes a 1:30 segment featuring sign language, exercise segments around the country, and Le monde de Nac, which uses the international films from the American Global Grover series. La lettre du jour (Letter of the Day) with Cookie Monster and Prairie Dawn is dubbed and shown on 5, Rue Sésame, as well as Le chiffre du jour (Number of the Day), with Comte von Compte (Count von Count).

See Also

• Plaza Sésamo

External links

• Page about the program on France 5's website