were singing beer commercials, so they were certainly

learning something from television.

It wasn't a question of-- could it teach?

The question was, could it teach something of potential use

to children.

TV ANNOUNCER: Commercial television did not completely

fill the promise of this medium.

That is the reason educational television was conceived.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: I was plagued in my 20s

that I was going to live and die without having made

any difference, and I think when I heard educational television,

I thought I could make a difference there.

JIM HENSON: Many years ago, Joan realized

that there was an important gap in television programming--

that preschool kids were watching

a great deal of television, but there were almost no programs

specifically designed for them.

So she had this cockamamie idea of doing an entertainment show

for preschoolers that had commercials

for letters and numbers.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: It was absolutely

what I was born to do, and I knew it.

You know, this was the '60s.

It was so traumatic a period.

Everybody who had been somewhat focused

on children and civil rights and educational disadvantage

said, let's go.

Let's go do something.

MAN 1: We're planning to treat them

essentially the same way a commercial enterprise would.

We've created a campaign, but we're

trying to sell the alphabet to preschool children.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: We wanted to show an integrated street.

We wanted to show adults treating one another kindly,

and we wanted the adults to be forceful and dignified.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: Everything was to be

educational, but entertaining as well.

And so when they said Jim Henson, I said,

you could get Jim Henson?

And that was how Big Bird was born, and Oscar the Grouch.

We went on the air in '69, but here

was a project that was to change the world in a way.

MAN 2: [SINGING] Boys and girls, have

you met the 26 letters called the alphabet?

ALL: [SINGING] A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I J, K, L, M, N, O, P.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: It was truly different,

and the Muppets were hip and edgy.

BERT: Do you know that you have a banana in your ear?

ERNIE: What was that, Bert?

JOAN GANZ COONEY: And yet it was very sweet.

DETECTIVE: Yes, John-John?

JOHN-JOHN: Want count?

DETECTIVE: Oh, I'd love to count.

BERT: OK, good.

JOHN-JOHN: OK!

One, two--

JOAN GANZ COONEY: The reaction to that

show was like something that could only happen once

in a half century, that a miracle had

occurred for children.

MAN 3: I am pleased to present the woman who may be more

than any other responsible for one

of the most important events in the history of our business,

Mrs. Joan Ganz Cooney.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: It was everything I'd ever dreamed of,

but it was so crazy.

ERNIE: [SINGING] Oh, Rubber Ducky, you're the one.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: I thought we were creating

the quintessential American television show.

ERNIE: [SINGING GERMAN]

JOAN GANZ COONEY: And it turned out

that they're the most international characters ever

created.

ERNIE: [SINGING CHINESE]

WOMAN: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

JOAN GANZ COONEY: Our producers are

like old-fashioned missionaries.

It's not religion they're spreading,

but it is learning and tolerance and love and mutual respect.

BARACK OBAMA: In the end, that's what

this all about-- giving our kids the best possible shot at life,

equipping them with the skills, the education,

that a 21st century economy demands.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: What we want to do

is see if we can affect the new media the way

we affected televisions.

We want to introduce educational value

without taking the fun away.

BILL CLINTON: Joan Ganz Cooney has

proven that the powerful medium of television

can be a tool to help build young lives up rather than tear

them down.

She helped teach a generation of children

to count and to read and to think.

They also teach us more about how we should live together.

JIM HENSON: I consider it an enormous honor

to have worked with Joan all these years.

She showed us that television can

be used to do really good things.

In all of these accomplishments, Joan

has led and inspired us all.

JOAN GANZ COONEY: A legacy is when something's over,

and this isn't over.