You’d have be a monster to be pleased about the social distancing measures needed to stem the coronavirus’s spread—yet CNN managed to find one such monster during a special program Saturday.
The creature in question, a green, bug-eyed wretch who lives in a garbage can, is known by many as Oscar the Grouch. He and his neighbors from Sesame Street got 90 minutes of air time in a town hall-style news discussion on the cable news network. (The full special, in six chunks, is available here.)
While Oscar sung the praises of everyone staying home and leaving him alone, Elmo asked why people were wearing masks when it wasn’t Halloween, and Abby Cadabby explained the virtues of self-care.
While kids of all ages tend to get a kick out of seeing these Jim Henson-designed creatures, this show was specifically aimed at kids of kid ages, answering their questions about COVID-19 and, hopefully, allaying their fears with the power of information.
The ABCs of Coronavirus was moderated by Erica Hill and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and brought in experts like Dr. Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore and emergency room doctor. Dr. Wen had the honor of fielding a question that quite possibly had been inspired by the words of President Donald Trump, who had previously floated the brilliant idea of getting disinfectant to the lungs “either by injection or almost a cleaning.”
“Do not drink soap or detergent or bleach,” Dr. Wen told twin six-year-olds Bryce and Brody from Sands Point, New York, who asked a very logical question about drinking soap, because they are six. “You should use soap on your hands.”
“I hope that the twins and everyone who is watching will help us to spread that message,” Dr. Wen said.
Tear ducts got a workout, though, thanks to our old yellow-feathered buddy Big Bird, during a segment about grief and loss. Bird brought up the time he lost his friend Mr. Hooper, the late owner of Sesame Street’s finest candy story. Granted, Mr. Hooper died 35 years ago, so this may have been more to trip the memories of the parents watching rather than the kids—but it was effective nevertheless.