‘Sesame Street’: another sunny day

“Sesame Street,” a monumental groundbreaker in preschool educational programming when it began in 1969, is one of a crowd now, thanks to a growing slate of top-quality learning fare on PBS, Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, Noggin and the Learning Channel.

But as it launches its 34th season at 7 a.m. today on KCET (its regular weekday time), the show that made household names out of a host of Jim Henson’s lovable Muppets has a remarkable just-out-of-the-box quality.

There’s a comfier pace to the warm and reassuring live-action themes, and the presentation of academic building blocks and life lessons is as creative and vibrant as ever.

The season opener begins with a neighborhood karaoke bash -- Big Bird warbles the classic Joe Raposo-Jon Stone alphabet song; Maria sings a Jeff Moss classic, “The People in Your Neighborhood” -- and when the karaoke machine goes bust, it’s an opportunity for togetherness as everyone joins in.

The number and the letter of the day are celebrated with the show’s sparkling animation and songs, and there’s sparkle, too, in the Bert and Ernie bits, Cookie Monster bits, “Elmo’s World” and other familiar fare. Improv comedian extraordinaire Wayne Brady adds hilarity in a demonstration of “between,” with the help of assorted Muppet monsters. (First Lady Laura Bush, Sheryl Crow, Diane Sawyer and Natalie Portman are among the notables who pop up in subsequent shows.)

Two new short features, created to help young viewers relate to a wider world, fit snugly into the show’s careful mix: “Global Grover” puts the comic blue monster (always my personal favorite) into the spotlight as he hosts short films of children in different countries playing, working and going to school.

“Global Thingy” is a series of sweet, simple but resonant cartoons in which Mother Earth helps assorted big and little fantasy characters (representing unnamed countries) learn to share, cooperate and empathize with one another.

(The show itself doesn’t address the war, but “Sesame Street’s” Maria, Gordon and Elmo are featured in a series of useful public service announcements that air intermittently during the day, suggesting ways that caregivers can help assuage children’s concerns.)

At age 34, this landmark series has never looked better. And, despite new elements and characters, the back-to-basics quality making it shine means that adults can tune in and immediately recognize it as their “Street,” too. You can go home again....

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‘Sesame Street’

Channel: KCET

When: 7 a.m. weekdays, repeated at noon the following day.

Rating: PBS has rated the show TVY (appropriate for all children).

What else: Also airs at 10 a.m. weekdays on KVCR in San Bernardino.