Michael Davis (1) (1952–)
Author of Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street
For other authors named Michael Davis, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Michael Davis has worked for the Baltimore Sun and Chicago Sun-Times. From 1998 - 2007, he was the senior editor and family TV columnist for TV Guide. Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street is his first book. (Bowker Author Biography)
Works by Michael Davis
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1952-04-22
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Northwestern University (MA|Journalism)
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (BA|Psychology) - Occupations
- journalist
Head Start teacher - Short biography
- [from author's website]
Michael Davis has held an array of top leadership and creative positions at digital news sites, magazines, newspapers and broadcasting outlets. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University during the 1986-87 academic year. Later he wrote the New York Times non-fiction best seller Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street and is a co-executive producer of the feature-length documentary film adapted from the book.
He received his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where he later taught as an adjunct professor. He describes himself as a storyteller who helps others become better storytellers. - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Davidson, North Carolina, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- North Carolina, USA
Members
Reviews
Like many in my generation, I grew up with Sesame Street. It was an integral part of my childhood, so as an adult I was thrilled to find a book about the show's conception and history. I found this book absolutely fascinating. The sheer vision behind the show was astounding, as was the dedication of all involved. I actually teared up when Davis was writing about Jim Henson's funeral. Davis did a fantastic job detailing Sesame Street's predecessors, its creation, and it's evolution over the show more years. show less
Street Gang covers a lot more than just Sesame Street - it covers a lot of the history of children's television, setting the stage for why Sesame Street was needed but also groundbreaking. At the same time it gives fairly thorough biographies of the people involved in the series. The first third of the book is a bit hard to get through and I think it could really use a cast of characters listing, just to help keep the huge number of people straight. That being said, I found it compelling show more reading and did enjoy it quite a bit, especially the latter half. The thing that give me the most pause are the author's disdainful treatment of the entire feminist movement, because what the heck is that about? show less
After reading the excellent Jim Henson: The Biography, I grew interested in a book my wife has owned for a long time but never read, Michael Davis's complete history of Sesame Street. I have read a lot of histories of television shows, and Street Gang is one of the worst. It is confusing, choppy, and filled with too many people. I understand that they were all real, but Davis does a very poor job orienting you in who they are and why they matter. I often felt like important events had been show more glossed over between chapters and that unimportant events had been dwelt upon in excruciating detail. The best parts of the book were the ones about Sesame Street's predecessors, but I'm not sure what they actually had to do with the topic. show less
"If Sesame Street is the most successful show on television, it is also the most analyzed, criticized, evaluated, debated, debunked, championed, viewed with alarm, pointed to with pride, interpreted, misinterpreted, and overinterpreted media event since William Randolph Hearst declared war on Spain:---Ron Powers, television critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, 1970 (one year into the life of "Sesame Street").
Conceived in 1965 by television producer Joan Cooney and experimental psychologist show more Lloyd Morrisett, and born in 1969, "Sesame Street" became an overnight success after four years of gestation.
In Street Gang, Michael Davis takes us through the entire history of "Sesame Street". From research into how children watch television and learn (short segments, "jingles", colors, animation) to the decision to have Sesame Street, itself, an inner city street, to funding, to hiring everybody both in front of and behind the cameras.
Davis includes small biographies on each of the players as they arrive on the scene. The reader gets to know "Gordon and Susan" (Matt Robinson/Roscoe Orman and Loretta Long), Jim Henson and Frank Oz, Joe Raposo and Jon Stone, and countless other professionals and entertainers who strove to make "Sesame Street" the most innovative children's program on television yet.
Street Gang also gives a bit of background on earlier children's programming..."The Howdy Doody Show", "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" and, possibly most importantly, "Captain Kangaroo".
Writers and producers (including Jon Stone) from "Captain Kangaroo" were involved in the development and production of "Sesame Street". The character of Mr. Hooper (portrayed by Will Lee) was created as homage to Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo). Although, reading through Street Gang, one would think it was actually Oscar the Grouch (brought to life by Caroll Spinney) who was meant to mirror Keeshan.
This is probably the most comprehensive book you will ever read about any television show. Yet, far from being a dry tome, author Michael Davis keeps Street Gang flowing (much like "Sesame Street", itself) with quick moving scenes, so the reader is never bogged down in the details that could easily become tiresome, such as the financial and political wranglings in creating and keeping this show on the air. Davis gives us just enough at just the right time to keep the story flowing.
If you have any doubt about whether you should read Street Gang, pick it up, read the prologue...and then enjoy the rest of the book. show less
Conceived in 1965 by television producer Joan Cooney and experimental psychologist show more Lloyd Morrisett, and born in 1969, "Sesame Street" became an overnight success after four years of gestation.
In Street Gang, Michael Davis takes us through the entire history of "Sesame Street". From research into how children watch television and learn (short segments, "jingles", colors, animation) to the decision to have Sesame Street, itself, an inner city street, to funding, to hiring everybody both in front of and behind the cameras.
Davis includes small biographies on each of the players as they arrive on the scene. The reader gets to know "Gordon and Susan" (Matt Robinson/Roscoe Orman and Loretta Long), Jim Henson and Frank Oz, Joe Raposo and Jon Stone, and countless other professionals and entertainers who strove to make "Sesame Street" the most innovative children's program on television yet.
Street Gang also gives a bit of background on earlier children's programming..."The Howdy Doody Show", "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" and, possibly most importantly, "Captain Kangaroo".
Writers and producers (including Jon Stone) from "Captain Kangaroo" were involved in the development and production of "Sesame Street". The character of Mr. Hooper (portrayed by Will Lee) was created as homage to Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo). Although, reading through Street Gang, one would think it was actually Oscar the Grouch (brought to life by Caroll Spinney) who was meant to mirror Keeshan.
This is probably the most comprehensive book you will ever read about any television show. Yet, far from being a dry tome, author Michael Davis keeps Street Gang flowing (much like "Sesame Street", itself) with quick moving scenes, so the reader is never bogged down in the details that could easily become tiresome, such as the financial and political wranglings in creating and keeping this show on the air. Davis gives us just enough at just the right time to keep the story flowing.
If you have any doubt about whether you should read Street Gang, pick it up, read the prologue...and then enjoy the rest of the book. show less
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