Delight in the old-timey wonder of Sesame Street's holiday special
The snow tumbles down on Muppets in top hats as a mustachioed Cookie Monster offers a Santa'd Jim Gaffigan a chocolate chip cookie. This is the scene on set as Sesame Street shoots its first holiday special in 10 years.
"Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas" is a Dickensian tale told through a furry lens of children's television. Much of the special takes place in an old-timey Sesame Street populated by the ancestors of the street's familiar, fuzzy faces.
Set designer David Gallo took modern Sesame Street back to the 19th century with sepia tones, ivy-covered iron gates and laundry dangling by clothespins over the familiar cobblestone. The characters themselves underwent their own period makeovers, trading their regular clothes and monster fur for dashing, hand-sewed tweed outerwear and exaggerated facial hair.
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The story starts inside the bedroom of Elmo as his dad tells him the story of a Sesame Street from long ago that was so unfriendly, Santa put the entire block on the naughty list. Only through the kindness and cheer of Elmo's great-great-grandmonster (also named Elmo) does Sesame Street transform into the warm fuzzy-filled neighborhood millions of children know today.
That's the short version -- the longer version that unfolds in "Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas" includes musical numbers featuring Broadway legend Audra McDonald, Girls star Zosia Mamet and Jim Gaffigan in the perfectly casted role of Santa Claus.
In between takes, Gaffigan sits in his sleigh, joking with the Muppeteers and Muppets readying for the next shot. He skeptically nibbles on a cookie handed over by a fuzzy-handed monster, and says, "All I taste is beard" with a hearty and jolly laugh worthy of the red suit he's wearing.
When asked how producers settled on Gaffigan for the role of Santa, Brown Johnson, EVP and Creative Director of Sesame Workshop, said: "He's the perfect Santa, very fun, and very funny. And he must love kids because he has so many! He had such a good time with us that he did all of his press interviews that day in his Santa costume in his Santa voice."
The father-of-five and clear Sesame Street fan paused before wrapping his final day on set by asking the Muppets to shoot selfies and videos for his kids. Because only the coolest of dads pal around with Bert and Ernie.
"Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas" re-airs Dec. 24 at 9 a.m. ET on HBO.
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Annie Colbert* is the Executive Editor at Mashable.
