Sesame Street on 45th year with 'madcap energy'

You don't get to be the longest-running children's show in TV history by doing the same thing over and over. So even though parents who grew up watching Sesame Street can still see old favorites like Big Bird, things on the street have changed since the show debuted 45 years ago on Nov 10, 1969.

Cookie Monster now exercises self-control and sometimes eats fruits and vegetables. Millions of kids watch the show on smartphones and computers instead of TV. And there's less time spent on the street with human characters. They're just not energetic enough for today's viewers.

That Sesame Street still exists at all says a lot. In 1973, it was one of two TV shows for preschoolers. Now it's competing with 84 kids' shows on US television and countless others online. Yet Sesame Street still holds its own, ranking 20th among kids aged 2 to 5, with 850,000 viewers per TV episode, according to Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the show.