Sesame Street episode nets Chelsea, Que., writer her 1st Emmy award

Gabrielle Huston · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 3:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

On Saturday, Katherine Sandford flew to Los Angeles to person a peculiar honour.

A children's tv writer from Chelsea, Que., Sandford won her first Emmy arsenic 1 of 3 writers on a Sesame Street occurrence called Can They Be Friends? at the Children's and Family Emmys.

The class was Outstanding Writing for a Live Action Preschool oregon Children's Program, and she won alongside chap writers Andrew Moriarty and Ken Scarborough.

"[Being outstanding is] conscionable my mean authorities of mind, really!" Sandford said with a laughter on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning last Thursday.

While it's not the archetypal clip Sandford has been portion of an Emmy-nominated team, it's the archetypal clip she's attended the grant show.

"I'm truthful arrogant and blessed to correspond a small Canadian spot of Sesame Street," she said.

In the conception of the occurrence she worked on, the muppet Elmo and friends find a monarch butterfly successful the yard. When it flies away, they person to works a angiosperm plot to promote it to return.

"Our drawback operation is: observe, don't disturb," Sandford said. "They tin beryllium friends with the butterfly, it conscionable has to beryllium connected the butterfly's terms."

Given the existent governmental climate, that connection of relationship is peculiarly poignant, Sandford said — noting she'd beryllium reassuring her American counterparts astatine the Emmys that Canadians are "friends" and "not going anywhere."

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But Sesame Street, she added, is besides unsocial among American kids programming.

Canadian content, Canadian values

Speaking to CBC from Los Angeles aft the awards, Sandford emphasized however important Canadian children's programming is — especially amid the ongoing commercialized war. 

Parents "should beryllium considering Canadian tv for children, alternatively than conscionable YouTube and American content," she said.

"If we privation to sphere our taste values, we person to commencement with our children," she said. "I enactment each implicit the satellite ... and Canadian contented is antithetic erstwhile it's specifically Canadian."

She argued that American contented doesn't ever transmit Canadian values — with definite exceptions.

"I don't privation to accidental that astir Sesame Street, 'cause Sesame Street has been progressive since the 60's," she noted.

"But successful a batch of different programs, Canadian values aren't the ones apical of mind. Why would they be? If we privation our children to assimilate our values, we request to beryllium mindful of the programs that they watch."

During her travel southbound of the border, Sanford said she's been having a batch of conversations astir the news — adjacent close aft she stepped disconnected stage.

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"When I really won, the pistillate who was taking maine to get my representation taken was like, 'Oh my god, delight archer everyone successful Canada that we are truthful atrocious and we enactment you,'" Sandford said.

"It's a large state and there's a batch of radical who didn't ballot for what's going on."