The first day that Sesame Street aired in Germany.
At that time there was no Sesamstrasse.
They just broadcasted Sesame Street and dubbed the voices.
There were no actors or muppets for the German show in that time.
A year later they used the original parts and mixed them with short German cartoons and films.
Here you can see Sesamstrasse�s 'little bird' Tiffy.
Now a days she is called the child monster, but then in the eighties she was still a bird.
From left to right you see her evolution, it begins with the prototype that was never on the show. Then the Tiffy that started in the show, until � 1989. The last one is how she looks today.
There came the famous theme 'Der, die, das'. There was a street with real life actors and Bibo was the first and only muppet on the street. And you never guest who played him. That�s right...... Carol Spinney!
This only lasted until 1978.
Parents and pedagogues where disturbed bij the American looks of the programm. They said that the German childeren couldn�t identify with the enviroment they lived in.There for they changed a lot!
Kermit Love worked with his team on new muppets. There came Samson, Tiffy and from a German puppetbuilder: Herrn von Bodefeld.
Now they had their own muppets, they decided that it wasn�t necessary any more to fly Big Bird (Bibo) to Germany.
They made only two birthday episodes with him and after that he dissapeared from the show. He is still mentioned sometime as their friend who lives in America.
There was also a German-build character named Leonie Lowenherz (a female lion) during a short period in the mid 90�s. This was when the Sesamstrasse studio burned down due a big fire.
When the new street opened she didn�t reappear. Also Uli von Bodefeld was kept out.... Now they used only muppets from Jim Henson.
Today the Muppet- regulars on the show are Samson (the bear), Tiffy (unfortunately not a bird anymore, but a child monster) Finchen (the snail), Rumpel (the Grouch), his worm Gustav, Feli Filu (the blue monster), Wolle (the sheep), Pferd (the horse) and sometimes Buh (the owl).
Oh, they also used an old Samson Muppet to impersonate his cousin Simson in the late 90�s!
Well this is all I know from Bibo, but there more about Sesamstrasse in German. When you like to see more pictures or understand German and want to learn more about the beginning, please click here.
If you want to know more about the show on television, you can click here.
Tchuss!