''Takalani Sesame'' ("be happy Sesame" in Venda) is the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n co-production of the

children's television program Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', co-produced by

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and Television station, television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's ...

and

n partners. The series debuted in 2000 and has been airing for the past 25 years.

Content

According to Sesame Workshop, ''Takalani Sesame'' is a "uniquely

n interpretation of the Sesame model, engaging children and their parents and promoting basic school readiness, literacy, numeracy, and health and hygiene." ''Takalani Sesame'' also has a special focus on

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

awareness and seeks to introduce HIV/AIDS safety while promoting tolerance and reducing stigma. The Takalani series also includes a popular radio program, a newspaper and magazine comic strip series, and a national campaign which encourages adults to talk to their children about HIV/AIDS and related issues. The show incorporates 11 of South Africa's 12

official languages An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, English, Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele,

Sesotho Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

Northern Sotho Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho, is one of South Africa’s twelve official languages and belongs to the Bantu language family, specifically the Sotho-Tswana group. The language is spoken mainly in Limpopo Province, and to a lesser exten ...

Tsonga Tsonga may refer to: * Tsonga language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa * Tsonga people, a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique and South Africa. * Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) ...

, Tswana and TshiVenda.

Characters

The series features a number of muppet characters.

Kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

, an HIV-positive five-year old muppet, joined the show in its second season in 2002. Basma and Jad, who both originated on '' Ahlan Simsim'', debuted on ''Takalani'' in its eleventh season. Other muppet characters include

Elmo Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full 15-minute segmen ...

Grover Grover is a blue Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Self-described as lovable, cute, and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originally perfo ...

, Kupukeji, Moshe, Zikwe, and Zuzu.

Guests

Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

, and Nane Annan have made guest appearances on the show. Season 13 featured guest appearances from celebrities like Jason and Nicholas Goliath, David Kau, Sho Madjozi and Holly Rey.

Episodes

Season 11 of the show aired from 1 June 2020-27 November 2020 on South African television channel

SABC 2 SABC 2 is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The channel was createdin its current form on 4 February 1996, due to the restructuring of the three national SABC networks. As ...

. Season 12 played from 7 June 2021 to 3 December 2021 at 15:30 weekdays on

. Season 12 aired weekdays at 07:00 on SABC 1. Season 12 repeated Mondays & Saturdays at 05:00 & Mondays at 16:30 on S3. Season 13 started on 6 June 2022-2 December 2022 on

at 15:30 and ran for 130 episodes. Season 14 aired weekdays on

at 15:30 from 5 June 2023-2 December and ran for 130 episodes. Seasons 15 and 16 aired on Sabc2 weekdays at 15:00 between December 2024-February 2025 in Sesotho and isiNdebele. Season 17 aired on Sabc2 weekdays at 15:00(13 episodes in Sesotho and 13 episodes in isiNdebele) from 7 April and 13 May 2025. Season 18 premiered on Sabc2 on 14 May 2025 and airs weekdays at 15:00(Sesotho and isiNdebele)

List of episodes

* Season 1 (July 2000 – March 2001) # The Muppets sing "Doing the Family Thing" (2000) # The Muppets see the importance of exercise in "What I Can Do" and "Mika Skipping Rope" (2000) # The song "That's what friends are for" explores the qualities of a friend (2000) # Zikwe writes a "book about me" (2000) # Takalani Sesame is holding a party about food (2000) # In "Sunrise to Sunset", we see the movement of the Sun during the day; a farmer plants corn and waits for rain (2000) # The Muppets learn that whenever we talk about transport we must also talk about safety; a bird helps a monkey get bananas (2000) # This is what my body can do (2000) # The children look at some special things that they can make or do (2000) # Children make their own elephant masks for a performance (2000) # Children greet each other in 11 languages (2000) # A little boy's sister has HIV and learns coping strategies (2000) # Losing things, looking for them and finding them are at the heart of this show (2001) # This show looks at different feelings and how we can express these feelings (2001) # Zuzu and Moshe share memories of toys they used to have; combing your hair can be fun (2001) # In a song we learn that insects are part of the circle of life (2001) # The Muppets and the children learn that everything and everybody needs water (2001) # In this show we see the Muppets busy with activities that need persistence and concentration; an ant works around an obstacle in his path (2001) # Zikwe and Zuzu use a telescope to look at the Moon (2001)

Nominations and Awards

In late 2022 the program was nominated for an Annual Kidscreen Award in the Preschool Programming category. In September 2024, the program was nominated for an

International Emmy Award The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York City, New York–based International Academy of Televisi ...

in the Kids Factual category for ''The Takalani Sesame'' ''Big Feelings'' special.

Controversy

The introduction of an HIV-positive Muppet,

, to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS was widely criticised by the U.S. political right, with such groups as the American Family Association seeing it as a means for HIV activists to influence young viewers.

References

External links

Official Website

IMDb - ''Takalani Sesame''Sesame Workshop Website

Kami formally appointed by the UN as a global champion for children

{{Triggerfish 2000 South African television series debuts 2000s South African television series 2010s South African television series 2020s South African television series Sesame Street international co-productions South African Broadcasting Corporation television shows South African children's television series South African television shows featuring puppetry South African television series based on American television series LGBTQ-related controversies in television Obscenity controversies in television