What's New on Sesame Street

Elmo & Tango’s Mysterious Mysteries
Season 52 Special: Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets a Puppy
Season 52 Curriculum: Playful Problem-Solving: Positive Approaches to Learning
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Elmo & Tango’s Mysterious Mysteries

Elmo & Tango’s Mysterious Mysteries is a brand-new animated segment in Sesame Street Season 52. Each of the 13 five-minute episodes, interspersed throughout the season, follow Elmo and Tango as they search for clues and help their friends solve mysteries.

New dog characters Ziggy and Dax join Elmo and Tango for these segments, and viewers will see the Sesame Street neighborhood dog park.

The new series continues to teach playful problem-solving, while Elmo and Tango’s growing bond helps model for young viewers how to care for furry friends.

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Season 52 Special: Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets a Puppy

Sesame Workshop invites fans to learn the origin story of Tango, Elmo’s new adopted puppy, in the Sesame Street special “Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets a Puppy,” available now on HBO Max and coming to PBS in 2022.

In this 30-minute animated special, Elmo and Grover discover a sweet, stray puppy – whom they quickly name Tango – and embark on an adventure throughout the neighborhood with Sesame Street friends Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, and Oscar the Grouch. Together, they search for the local pet adoption fair in the hopes of finding her a “forever home.” A clip from the special is available on the Sesame Street YouTube channel here, detailing how this music-loving pup got her name.

“For generations, our Sesame Street Muppets have been kids’ first friends, modeling valuable lessons about life, learning, and friendship,” said Sesame Workshop’s Executive Vice President of Creative & Production Kay Wilson Stallings. “After nearly two years of development, we are thrilled to introduce Tango, Elmo’s spirited, adventurous, and adorable furry friend.”

The introduction of Tango—who will be a mainstay in Sesame Street content—allows for consistent modeling of safe behavior and age-appropriate help with a pet. In the forthcoming special and beyond, Elmo and his friends will show preschoolers how to meet a new animal, gently play with and brush a pet, teach new tricks, give baths, and, most especially, show love and affection for their furry friends.

Sesame Workshop has rolled out exclusive digital content featuring Elmo, Tango, and other furry friends on the Sesame Street YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter platforms. Families can also visit Sesame Workshop’s Furry Friends Forever webpage for games and printable activities.

In celebration of Tango, Sesame Workshop partners have introduced a variety of new books, toys, apparel, and more for kids and adults. For a full list of new and forthcoming Tango and Furry Friends Forever products, check out the press release here.

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Season 52 Curriculum: Playful Problem-Solving: Positive Approaches to Learning

Sesame Street’s 52nd season continues a playful problem-solving curriculum. After conducting expansive research, Sesame Workshop identified that today’s preschoolers struggle to maintain curiosity, creativity, and perseverance in the face of challenges. This impacts their ability to navigate obstacles at school and beyond, particularly through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In Season 52, Sesame Street Muppets, human cast members, and guest stars face challenges that require flexible thinking – a critical school readiness skill that is particularly crucial as children continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on learning. They use the phrase “I Wonder…What if…Let’s Try!” along with corresponding gestures of pointer finger to temple, chin, and in the air, respectively, to aid comprehension. This framework for finding solutions is used in Street Stories, new Elmo & Tango’s Mysterious Mysteries segments, and interstitials, helping kids solve new problems that are directly connected to each episode.

Read on for examples of “I Wonder…What If…Let’s Try” coming to life in this season’s episodes:

  • Episode 5201 Elmo Builds a Robot Dog – November 11, 2021: Elmo, Tamir, and Alan build a robot dog for Norbert the Robot, but the tail isn’t upright and “waggedy” like Tango’s tail. What if they use a wooden paint brush and wrap it with shiny foil? Let’s try!
  • Episode 5205 Bug Scouts – December 9, 2021: Bug Scouts Elmo, Abby, and Cookie Monster want to help Artie the ant carry a heavy crumb. They try pushing the crumb but the crumb is too heavy to move. What if they break the crumb into smaller pieces? Let’s try!
  • Episode 5217 Rainy Day Picnic – March 3, 2022: Elmo and Abby wanted to have a picnic in Abby’s garden, but it’s raining. What if they use craft supplies to make flowers, birds, and bugs to make the living room look like the garden? Let’s try!
  • Episode 5218 Fort Rudy – March 10, 2022: Elmo and Rudy are having a sleepover and making a pillow fort—but they don’t have a pillow big enough for the roof. What if they use a blanket and weigh it down with books so it doesn’t fall down? Let’s try!
  • Episode 5219 Gingerbread Man – March 17, 2022: Cookie Monster makes a gingerbread man come alive by following a storybook recipe. The gingerbread man quickly runs away and is too fast for Cookie Monster and his friends to catch. Maybe the gingerbread man is thirsty. What if they put a glass of milk under the net to catch him? Let’s try!
  • Episode 5227 Haymobile – May 12, 2022: Elmo and Abby are at the farm and they’re helping Farmer Todd feed the cows. They need the tractor to carry the heavy hay, but the tractor is broken. What if they use a wagon to move the hay? Let’s try!

Select Episode Descriptions

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Episode 5202 Elmo Mails a Letter – November 18, 2021

Elmo is mailing his first letter and follows mail carrier Ms. Hampton to the post office, where he sees how everyone’s mail gets sorted to go to the right place. Celebrity guest Jon Batiste sings about the heroes in our neighborhoods.

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Episode 5204 Sesame Street Art Museum – December 2, 2021

Everyone on Sesame Street is making a painting to hang in their own art museum. Celebrity guest Kacey Musgraves sings about the beauty of every color.

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Episode 5209 Hike Pirates – January 6, 2022

Abby, Rudy, and Freddy are going on a hike. Freddy shows Abby and Rudy a map they can follow to find the hidden treasure left by hike pirates. Celebrity guest Naomi Osaka joins Elmo and friends for a tennis lesson.

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Episode 5210 Martin Luther King Day – January 13, 2022

Elmo, Tamir and their friends are making a Peace Tree to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Celebrity guest Anderson .Paak sings about holidays and how we can all celebrate together.

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Episode 5215 Let’s Grow Together – February 17, 2022

Tamir has the idea to open a garden stand to share the things he and his Sesame Street friends grow in the community garden. Alan’s friends help him make pickled daikon for the stand and learn more about his cultural heritage.

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Episode 5220 Friendship Celebration – March 24, 2022

Elmo and celebrity guest Amanda Gorman work together to create a poem about friends.

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Episode 5224 Sesame Street Goes to the Farm – April 21, 2022

In this first of five on-location farm episodes, the Sesame Street gang learns all about how a farm works. Celebrity guest Keke Palmer leads the gang in a fun rendition of “Old McDonald Had a Farm.”

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Episode 5232 Elmo’s Number Adventure – June 16, 2022

A number convention comes to Sesame Street and Elmo helps solve problems using math. The Count and celebrity guest Billie Eilish sing about the joys of counting.

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