Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia By Natasha Lance Rogoff
On December 25, 1991, the hammer and sickle of the Soviet flag was lowered for the final time and replaced by the three bar version of the Russian Federation we see today. The timing appeared perfect to bring Sesame Street to millions of children living in the former USSR. With the Muppets envisioned as ideal ambassadors of Western values, no one anticipated just how challenging and dangerous this would prove to be.
In Muppets in Moscow, author Natasha Lance Rogoff brings this gripping tale to life. Amid bombings, assassinations, and a military takeover of the of Moscow artists office, Lance Rogoff and the talented team of artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and puppeteers remained determined to bring laughter and a new way of seeing the world to children throughout the former Soviet empire.
Despite sharing common goals, cultural clashes colored nearly every aspect of the production – from the show’s educational framework to writing comedy to the new Russian Muppets themselves. Lance Rogoff discovered that adapting the American children’s show in Moscow often pitted Sesame Street’s progressive values against three hundred years of Russian thought. The clash of views about individualism, capitalism, race, education, and equality offered a window into the cultural discord and conflict between East and West that is still present.
Brimming with insight and compassion, Muppets in Moscow skillfully explores the post-Soviet societal tensions that continue to thwart the Russian people’s aspirations to create a better future for their country. More than just a story of a children’s show, this book provides an invaluable perspective on Russia’s diverse people, their culture, and their complicated relationship with the West that remains relevant today.
Despite all the obstacles that constantly plagued the creation of the show, Ulitsa Sezam became an unprecedented hit, broadcasting on Russia’s largest two television networks in prime time, across the former Soviet Union. The series premiered in October 1996 reaching millions of children and families across eleven time zones. The television show was transmitted to Ukraine, the Baltics, and most former Soviet republics where children were still accustomed to viewing Russian-language programs. In 2010, the series aired for the last time, no longer supported by Putin’s people at the television networks.
Natasha Lance Rogoff is an award-winning American television producer and filmmaker. She has reported for major Western media outlets on Soviet underground culture and produced television programs for NBC, ABC and PBS. She served as lead producer of the Russian adaptation of Sesame Street and also produced the Mexican adaptation. Lance Rogoff is the founder and creator of KickinNutrition.TV, an ed-tech nonprofit, and an associate fellow in Harvard University’s Art, Film, and Visual Studies department.