Crave gets rights to stream recent 'Sesame Street' episodes

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It hasn't been the easiest to find the latest episodes of Sesame Street in the country. We had to wait for it to show up on PBS. But the Bell Media-owned Crave secured rights to bring the educational children's show to the streaming service starting Friday. Crave will roll out all 35 episodes of season 51, which debuted on HBO Max in late 2020 in the US and through the Public Broadcasting Service last year.

And then, in September, it will add 35 episodes from season 52, which is now rolling out in the US through HBO Max. This latest season introduces Ji-Young, the first Asian-American muppet in the show's canon.

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Netflix Original Series Stranger Things 2 is turning our world upside down again

Things just got even stranger for the launch of Stranger Things Season 2. We pick up in the year 1984 when hanging out at the Arcade to play video games was fun and Ghostbusters was released in theatres. We really don't want to spoil anything but all you know is that Hawkins is getting darker. If you haven't watched any of the series, please, please go and start at Season 1. You need the background info to move on.

If you've binged through the first season and ready to jump right into Season 2, be prepared to be stuck on your couch for a while unless you're like many other Netflix members who like to sprint through episodes as fast as you humanly can! Yes, all of Season 2 can be streamed of this series because the show's directors and producers  probably know that we need answers after each show. But again, we won't give anything away but it seriously fun for those who grew up in the 80s and all the references from cars to shoes to food. Keep a close eye! And the soundtrack to this series is so good! 

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Amazon Alexa adds kid-friendly skills, lets your child play with SpongeBob and Elmo

We haven’t really seen kid-related skills because of strict child privacy protection laws but Amazon has found a way to comply with the laws and encourage a new set of users to keep using its smart assistant and home speakers. The new Alexa skills rolling out in the US first will let kids play a SpongeBob game and an Elmo-related skill are debuting alongside a new Verified Parental Consent feature, where parents will need to approve use of the features via the Alexa companion app the first time the “kid skill” is enabled. Parents or guardians will need to enter a one-time password via SMS or phone or verify by credit card. It’s a one-time approval process. This new feature is sure to entice more companies itching to reach out to a younger demographic. And making it easier for children to access this tech will make them more reliant on them in the future

The new skills include a SpongeBob SquarePants game where kids need to take and relay increasingly difficult food orders to the staff that include the likes of SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs. For the Sesame Street’s skill, you get to play hide-and-seek with Elmo using audio clues to find out where he’s hiding. You can also practice the alphabet. On top of that, Amazon is launching its own Storytime skills that can read bedtime stories to kids from ages 5 to 12. The collection features stories read by Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant and Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Source: TechCrunch

‘Sesame Street’ brings Julia, a Muppet with autism, to the TV show

Hoping to reach out to more children, Sesame Street is bringing one of the characters it introduced digitally into the show. Julia, a Muppet with autism who was introduced a couple of years back, will now be a regular on the show. To get her character right, the Sesame Street team worked not just with child psychologists but also with autism organizations. It was done in an effort to normalize children’s interaction with other kids who might have autism. According to Sesame Street writer Christine Ferraro, Julia’s inclusion in the show is happening “so that when [children] encounter [autistic children] in their real life, it’s familiar. And they see that these—these can be their friends, too.” Julia’s character will be making an appearance on the TV show in the next few weeks.

With its 1st Julia ep, Sesame Street hopes to deliver a message of inclusion. Elmo: We really like Julia. She’s really special to us.” pic.twitter.com/UpgbMQr1pt

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 20, 2017

Source: Mashable