text: plaza sésamo plaza sésamo ( spanish : sesame square ) , is one of the first international co - productions of the american children 's television program sesame street . its first season premiered in mexico in 1972 , and was immediately a ratings hit . it also aired throughout latin america , to a potential audience of 25 million children in 34 countries . unlike some of the earliest co - productions , which consisted of dubbed versions of sesame street with local language voice - overs , plaza sésamo was a true co - production . half of the show was adapted from the american show , and half was original material , created in mexico by mexican writers , performers , and producers . the first season consisted of 130 half - hour episodes . the show 's goals , similar to the process begun in the u.s. , were developed by local experts in television , child development , and early education during curriculum seminars in caracas , venezuela . plaza sésamo 's goals emphasized problem solving and reasoning , and also included perception , symbolic representation , human diversity , and the child 's environment . other goals included community cooperation , family life , nutrition , health , safety , self - esteem , and expressing emotions . early reading skills were taught through the whole language method . the show 's budget for the first and second seasons was approximately us $ 1 . 6 million . the show 's set consisted of a typical neighborhood square ( or plaza ) found throughout the region . new muppets and human characters were created . in all , four seasons of plaza sésamo were filmed . the first season resulted in some of the highest ratings in mexico . the fourth season , filmed in 1995 , was broadcast in the u.s. , making it the first foreign - language co - production shown in the u.s. studies conducted after the first season of plaza sésamo showed that it had a demonstrable impact on the educational achievement levels of its young audience . highly significant difference were found in tests about general knowledge , letters , and numbers after children were exposed to the show . significant gains were made in several cognitive and perceptual areas by regular viewers , even in subjects that were not taught by the show . characters from the show participated in campaigns promoting health and nutrition ; in 2009 , the sesame workshop , the organization responsible for the american show , was awarded the " champion of health " award by the pan american health organization ( paho ) for its efforts . sesame workshop recently produced sesame amigos for spanish - speakers from the united states . background a few months after the 1969 debut of sesame street on pbs in the us , producers from several countries all around the world approached the children 's television workshop ( ctw , later the sesame workshop , or " the workshop " ) , the organization responsible for the show 's production , to create and produce versions of sesame street in their countries . co - creator joan ganz cooney was approached by german public television officials about a year after the us version debuted . many years later , cooney recalled , " to be frank , i was really surprised , because we thought we were creating the quintessential american show . we thought the muppets were quintessentially american , and it turns out they 're the most international characters ever created " . she hired former cbs executive mike dann , who left commercial television to become her assistant , as a ctw vice - president . one of dann 's tasks was to field offers to produce versions of sesame street in other countries . by summer 1970 , he had made the first international agreements for what the ctw came to call " co - productions " . as of 2006 , there were 20 active co - productions . in 2001 , ctw vice - president charlotte cole estimated that there were over 120 million viewers of all international versions of sesame street , and by the show 's 40th anniversary in 2009 , they were seen in more than 140 countries . doreen carvajal of the new york times reported that income from the co - productions accounted for us $ 96 million in 1994 . cole stated , " children 's television workshop ( ctw ) can be regarded as the single largest informal educator of young children in the world " . most of the early international versions were what cole called " fairly simple " , consisting of dubbed versions of the show with local language voice - overs and instructional cutaways . studies conducted on the effects of several co - productions found that viewers of these shows gain basic skills from watching them . production plaza sésamo debuted in mexico on the televisa network in 1972 . according to sesame street producer gregory j. gettas , sésamo was one of sesame street 's first true co - productions , programs that were developed using a variant of a flexible model , called the ctw model , created by the producers and creators of the american show , in the countries they aired . like the american show in the late 1960s , the producers and researchers in mexico conducted a curriculum seminar in caracas , venezuela . the goals they developed , however , were significantly different than the goals developed in the u.s. for example , the plaza sésamo team emphasized problem solving and reasoning . their educational goals included perception , symbolic representation , human diversity , and the child 's environment . other goals included community cooperation , family life , nutrition , health , safety , self - esteem , and expressing emotions . the show was designed to address the educational needs of the region 's 25 million children in 34 countries , including its target audience of 7 million children between the ages of 3 and 6 in mexico alone . despite their common language , the show 's latin american viewers had a wide variety of customs and lifestyles . the show 's budget for the first and second seasons was approximately us $ 1 . 6 million . the american - produced and dubbed segments were analyzed for cultural appropriateness . if any segments were considered " too american " , meaning that they contained english writing on the screen , showed the american flag , or overtly referred to american history , they were removed . the board was responsible for choosing content from the ctw 's inventory , and it had to satisfy the curriculum goals chosen by the latin american researchers . they chose to teach reading through the whole language method , which emphasizes teaching children to recognize entire words or phrases , as opposed to phonetics , the way the american show taught reading . the mexican producers and writers designed a distinctive set that appeared different than the american set and consisted of a typical neighborhood square ( or plaza ) found throughout the region . the set included a background of mountains , a vacant lot with playground equipment , houses , a combination repair shop and store - cafe , and the plaza 's central fountain and benches . new music , written and performed by latin american artists , was recorded , and writers and performers from mexico , argentina , chile , and venezuela , were hired . new muppet characters were created and performed by puppeteers trained in mexico city . abelardo , a giant parrot , was modeled after the american show 's big bird , and like big bird , was a full - body puppet that was controlled by the puppeteer from inside the costume . paco , a grouchy green parrot , was based on oscar the grouch . abelardo and paco were both played by justo martinez . the muppets beto and enrique , who were based upon bert and ernie of the american show , were called " national favorites " by the upi less than three years after the show 's premiere . in 1975 , enrique and beto were used to promote mexico 's nationwide free vaccination campaign . 130 half - hour episodes of the show 's first season were shot in mexico city entirely in spanish , under the control of a mexican research and production team . about half the show 's material was adapted from the american show and dubbed into spanish , while the other half was produced in mexico and included animation , live - action films , and studio sequences with human actors and muppets . a mexican board of advisers , who set curriculum goals for the show , approved all content , both mexican and american , something that followed the newly established policies of the ctw . mexican psychologist rogelio diaz - guerrero was the first chair of the show 's advisory board , which was later expanded to include child - development and educators from other latin american countries , so that sésamo could be broadcast throughout central and south america , including the dominican republic and puerto rico . the third season , which was filmed in 1983 and consisted of 130 half - hour episodes , had different goals than the previous seasons . one of its goals was instructing its viewers and their families about basic hygiene , " a matter of critical importance in an area of the world where gastrointestinal diseases abound and infant mortality rates are high " . the third season of the show included characters created to " expose young latin american children to both traditional and nontraditional role models " . the producers created characters that demonstrated family diversity , in order to fulfill their curriculum goal of presenting more egalitarian lifestyles by modeling overcoming stereotypes , demonstrating different career options for both men and women , and exhibiting the sharing of household responsibilities . they cast performers in two different families . the first family was more traditional and consisted of a middle - aged couple named tono , a mechanic ( played by herrara ) , and alicia , a public health nurse ( alicia de bari ) , who had two children . the adults in the second family were young working professionals ; the wife was a veterinarian and the husband was a music teacher who worked from home . other human characters included : jose , a shopkeeper and his young assistant , a student named mercedes ( vigil ) : a truck driver played by tony diaz ; and a pilot ( fernando ) , who travelled throughout latin american and came home to tell his adventures to his friends on the plaza . as of 1990 , the third season was still airing in reruns . in 1995 , a fourth season of plaza sésamo was produced . it featured a larger cast of children , more original music , and a new set designed by renowned mexican architect ricardo . the season focused on a more innovative curriculum , developed by a board of latin american educators and unicef , and included topics such as health , hygiene , safety issues , cooperation , counting , and the alphabet . the producers created outreach materials for hispanic families , for the purpose of promoting media literacy and helping parents improve their roles as their children 's first teachers . the fourth season aired in the u.s. because of the large population of spanish - speakers in the country ; it was the first time an original co - production was shown in the u.s. as gary knell , an executive at the ctw stated , " our mission is to educate all kids . and the fact is , in the u.s. , especially in cities like los angeles , there 's an enormous number of spanish - speaking households " . the fourth season was test - marketed for american audiences in april on pbs and univision stations in miami , dallas , and los angeles . the test - run was successful , so pbs and univision began airing it nationally in december ; it reached 92 % of the country 's spanish - speaking households . at first , plaza sésamo 's producers were concerned that the show would be attacked , but the los angeles times reported that " even some staunch opponents of bilingual education concede that plaza sésamo has its merits " . the l.a. times also stated that its broadcast in the u.s. was an acknowledgment that spanish was a prominent language in the u.s. and that more children were bilingual . the show 's supporters believed that exposure to an educational program like plaza sésamo would result in the transfer of spanish skills to english and increase literacy in both languages . bilingual education opponents disagreed , but were not against the show 's entertainment value . according to knell , the ctw found that watching the spanish version did not draw children away from the english version . in 2012 , plaza sésamo celebrated its 40th anniversary with the creation of a new website and a traveling photo exhibit . in december 2013 , the show 's 15th season premiered with 52 episodes . segments were shot throughout latin america ; it was the first time the show was filmed in colombia . its curriculum focused on math , literacy , diversity , and health . a stakeholders meeting was convened in bogotá in october 2012 , consisting of interested parties from government and the private sector , and included officials from unicef . influence when plaza sésamo 's first season premiered , it was the highest rated tv program ever broadcast in mexico . the upi reported that all three seasons of the show had some of the highest ratings in mexico ; its second season , which premiered in 1975 , " had piled on ratings that only mexico 's popular soap operas could rival " . gettas claimed that plaza sésamo was " the model for all subsequent sesame street co - productions throughout the world " . he also stated that the first season " had a demonstrable impact on the educational achievement levels of its young audience " . in 1974 , a study was conducted by american and mexican researchers that studied the effect of plaza sésamo on its viewers . highly significant differences were found in tests about general knowledge , letters , and numbers after children were exposed to the show . significant gains were made in several cognitive and perceptual areas by regular viewers , even in subjects that were not taught by the show . in 1995 , parque plaza sésamo , a 12 - acre theme park based on the show , was opened in monterrey , mexico , within the gates of the theme park parque . it is the first theme park of its kind in mexico . according to a press release announcing its opening , parque plaza sésamo includes water rides , live entertainment , interactive , and educational elements . it is privately owned , with mexican investments , and features the show 's characters , along with the american sesame street , via a licensing agreement with sesame workshop . the park 's focus audience is around northern mexico and south texas . in 2003 , the pan american health organization ( paho ) and the sesame workshop collaborated in a program promoting vaccinations . their promotion reached over 147 million children and adults . in 2007 , the workshop participated in an extensive health promotion in mexico ; they put many of the characters of plaza sésamo on milk containers , which were given to schools , with positive messages about nutrition and exercise . studies showed that the promotion was effective . children choose healthy food associated with the show 's characters , and 68 percent of families exposed to the promotion reported positive changes in their children 's nutrition and hygiene habits . in 2009 , the workshop was awarded the " champion of health " award by paho for its efforts . in response to a flu pandemic in mexico , various national celebrities appeared in public service announcements with the plaza muppets , discussing flu prevention . international broadcasting