Elmo Is Hosting a Virtual Playdate to Bring Comfort to Kids Everywhere

Elmo is on Zoom! Next week on April 14, one of America’s favorite fuzzy muppets is inviting viewers to join him for Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate, a half-hour special that will feature celebrity guests including Lin-Manual Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross.

The special is part of Sesame Street’s new Caring for Each Other initiative and aims to bring comfort to kids as they struggle to understand the ongoing pandemic and lockdown. The special, which is taped to look like a video conference call—a sight that is becoming increasingly familiar to parents and kids, alike—will follow Elmo and his neighborhood friends, including Grover, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby, as they discover new ways to learn new things together online and find fun new ways to spend time with their families at home. They will also sing songs, take dance breaks, play games and celebrate today’s heroes, such as doctors and EMTs.

“We hope Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate will entertain and inspire families at a moment when so many are feeling isolated and overwhelmed by current events,” Steve Youngwood, Sesame Workshop’s President, Media & Education and Chief Operating Officer, stated in a press release. “With help from our distribution partners around the world, this special will encourage parents and kids to gather and relax as a family — in a way that only the Sesame Street Muppets can,” he says.

The special will air on Tuesday, April 14 at 7 pm EST. It will be available on all WarnerMedia Networks, including HBO, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TBS, TNT, truTV, PBS KIDS and streaming platforms. The special will also air in the U.K., Mexico, Singapore and Canada beginning April 15.

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