Sesame Street

For shows aimed squarely at little kids, you really can't do better. The early years with Jim Henson were clearly the best, but I give the show massive kudos for maintaining a fairly high baseline of quality for as long as it has (Elmo notwithstanding).

Some pretty great characters for children: Oscar the Grouch, the Count, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Bert, Grover, Guy Smiley, Sherlock Hemlock and of course Kermit the Frog. What made them great is that they actually HAD character. In the mid-1980s this changed when the babyish Elmo was given centre stage, for reasons presumably related to a desire to increase merchandising revenue. During my childhood the show seemed to possess some virtues that, one suspects, have long since been abandoned.

Like many people, I watched many, many episodes of this as a kid. I would never watch it today - make no mistake, it is for children, not for families - but it's good at what it does. Way better than, say, Barney the Dinosaur.

A bit of an educational variety show for toddlers. For older kids it won't do much other than the sometimes remarkably deep issues tackled in the early years.

This has to be the best kids show for a lot of reasons. Educational. They showed you the typical jobs like Firemen, Policemen and that's all I remember them showcasing. Big Bird and friends and they had good story lines for kids.

Not that I would watch it again or anything, but I really appreciate the effort in making a show both entertaining for kids and have an educational purpose (more specially important in the time it was created). Compare this with some "educational" shows of today and cry.

70s and 80s shows are fantastic! If you stick to the seasons before the character “Elmo” is introduced, you’ll enjoy it. Ever since Elmo appeared on the scene, which I believe was the early 90s, SS has become more and more infantile and, lately, woke.

It seems a little distressing what has happened as the budgets have thinned and HBO has taken over primary distribution. I don't get the Elmo hate: the little punk has spirit! The current crew clearly reveres the characters and the mission, and still have creative spark: The Monster Foodie Truck is a great example (and doesn't have Elmo).

Good for what it is, I guess.