Tag Archives: taormina-film

Big Bird Goes To the Big House

Civil disobedience. HIV. Smoking. Poor diet. Incarceration. What do those things have in common?  Sesame Street .  The latest special episode set on everyone’s favorite street, Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration,  will focus on children who have parents who are in prison . Since an estimated 1 in 28 children have a parent in the pokey, the topic is timely. Sesame Street – Little Children, Big Challenges “What’s ‘carcerated’,” Zoe asks. “And why was your dad in it?”    The latest  Sesame Street special episode features a muppet named Alex and is intended to help children who find themselves in situations where a parent is in prison navigate that life. If  Evil Elmo  is Elmo’s dad, then Elmo should totally watch this. With new characters, musical numbers, special storybooks, and even its own app,  Incarceration  hopes to help ease the fears and frustrations real children feel when a parent is behind bars. Having tackled such topics as divorce and deployment, both of which mark changes to the family unit,  Incarceration  is an extension of what  Sesame Street has already done. As an online-only kit, Incarceration  clips won’t air during normal programming, and Alex won’t become a regular on  Sesame Street . But since Oscar’s been in the can for 44 years now, Alex joining the show could totally work.  The Jim Henson-created series, which has been on the air since 1969, has rarely shied away from controversy. Its audience was and has always been children and its purpose to talk to children about big issues in ways they can understand. So what do you think of Sesame Street’s latest special, Hollywood Gossips?   Great idea! Way to go, Sesame Street! Totally terrible. What is this world coming to? View Poll »

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Big Bird Goes To the Big House

James Gandolfini Dies of Heart Attack; The Sopranos Star Was 51

James Gandolfini died earlier today in Italy, according to reports. The Sopranos star is believed to have suffered a heart attack, and was just 51 years old. Deadline was the first source to report Gandolfini’s death . He was in Italy to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, and was scheduled to appear in an event this weekend with director Gabriele Muccino. “Everyone is in tears,” a N.Y. Daily News source said. Gandolfini has appeared in many successful TV shows and films, but he truly became a Hollywood star when he was cast as Tony Soprano in 1999. He won three Emmy awards for The Sopranos . The press-shy star got his start as a character actr, became famous relatively late in his career, and stayed largely out of the limelight once The Sopranos ended. The burly Westwood, N.J. native is survived by his wife, former model Deborah Lin, who gave birth to a baby girl last October. The pair wed in 2008. Gandolfini, who spent part of his early career supporting himself as a bartender and nightclub manager, also has a son with his ex-wife, Marcy Wudarski. R.I.P.

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James Gandolfini Dies of Heart Attack; The Sopranos Star Was 51