|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sicilian Culture: News & Views
Sesame Street Responds to Annotico/Antonuccio
Complaint on Soprano's Star Edie Falco
January 11, 2002
Dear Mr. Annotico:
Thank you for your interest in Sesame Street. We take the concerns of our viewers very seriously and we appreciate your taking the time to express your thoughts in writing. On behalf of Sesame Workshop, I want to formally respond to your inquiry regarding Edie Falco's upcoming appearance on Sesame Street.
Our research indicates that when parents or caregivers watch the show with their children the learning experience is enhanced. The use of celebrity appearances on Sesame Street is intended to encourage adult viewing. As you may know, the show has been graced over the years with a wide variety of well known celebrity appearances, ranging from Ray Romano, Christopher Reeve and Julia Roberts to Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN. These celebrity decisions are made by our executive producers in the course of their creative development of each season and are in no way shaped by our relationships with corporate sponsors or partners.
In addition, while adults may be familiar with Ms. Falco's role on The Sopranos, we believe they can make the distinction between the character she plays and Ms. Falco herself. Most importantly, our core audience of pre-school children are not aware of the identity of our celebrities much less the characters they may portray.
Sesame Workshop is committed to developing media content that addresses the educational and developmental needs of children. We certainly would never intend to offend you or any of our audience and hope you can respect our position in this matter. Thanks again for writing.
Sincerely,
Ellen Lewis
Acting Vice President, Communications
Sesame Workshop
Ellen.Lewis@sesameworkshop.org (Lewis, Ellen)
Required Reading for
Italian-Americans...
© Copyright 1999-2002
(MCMXCIX) Cristaldi Communications
Web Design, Hosting & Promotion -
- February 19,
2002