Media World: After 40 years, it's not always a sunny day on Sesame Street

It should be a year of celebration on Sesame Street. With First Lady Michelle Obama kicking off the season for the show's 40th anniversary next Tuesday, the program has no shortage or accomplishments to smile about. Sesame Street has won more than a hundred Emmys, and a handful of its staffers have been there from the beginning, including award-winning cameraman Frank Biondo, and Caroll Spinney, who still plays Big Bird at age 75.

But even as the beloved children's public-TV show turns 40, its milestone is tarnished by the March announcement from Sesame Workshop, the New York–based nonprofit behind the show, that it would lay off a fifth of its staff of 355. Turns out you can't always count on a sunny day sweeping the clouds away.