Bringing the Muppets to Moscow
Natasha Lance Rogoff’s daunting task of making Sesame Street in post-Soviet Russia. Along the way, she’d face mobsters with shark tanks, bankruptcy, and the kidnapping of Elmo.
In the early 1990s, American journalist Natasha Lance Rogoff was covering the collapse of the Soviet Union – until the Muppets came calling, and she was tasked with bringing Sesame Street to Moscow. After decades of communism a new Russia was emerging, but could it embrace a US TV show?
Creating Ulitsa Sezam was a daunting challenge for Natasha. She would have to overcome a huge culture clash and, along the way, face mobsters with shark tanks, bankruptcy, and the kidnapping of Elmo. Natasha has written a book called Muppets in Moscow: The unexpected crazy true story of making Sesame Street in Russia. (This episode was first broadcast in 2023)
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Maryam Maruf
Ulitsa Sezam archive is courtesy of Sesame Workshop
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Natasha Lance Rogoff with the Russian Muppet, Businka. Credit: Courtesy of Irina Borisova)
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