Sesame Street has recently announced its plans to help families amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, in the form of a 30-minute special themed around the issue and celebrating frontline workers like EMTs and doctors.
This comes as a part of the show's recently-announced "Caring for Each Other" initiative, which endeavors to help families "create a new sense of normalcy." It will be broadcast simultaneously on a series of WarnerMedia owned platforms including HBO, Cartoon Network, and truTV as well as PBS, airing later internationally.
Likely in order to work around filming restrictions that many productions are facing, the show will be themed as a "virtual playdate," with a setup reminiscent of a group video call. It features celebrity guest stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross, who will accompany the Sesame Street cast in musical numbers like “Old McDonald Had a Farm” and “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.”
This comes at the tail end of HBO's original five-year partnership with Sesame Workshop, the company that produces Sesame Street, which started in 2015. The two companies have since announced another deal which moves the popular kids' show over to HBO's new streaming service, HBO Max.
WarnerMedia emphasized that the special was intended to help families during this time, with the Chairman of WarnerMedia and Direct-to-Consumer Bob Greenblatt stating that the company was "confident that this special will bring family members together for a unique in-home viewing experience that will provide laughter, joy and relief during this challenging time."
Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate will air on Tuesday, April 14 at 7 pm ET simultaneously on HBO, HBO Latino, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT, truTV and PBS.