Sesame Street Season 57 brings kindness and big feelings to Netflix – Elmo, Cookie Monster and their neighbours return with a new social-emotional curriculum and a fresh group of celebrity guests.
The first of three Season 57 volumes begins streaming in Australia on Monday 23 November. Two further volumes are due in 2027, giving families a staggered run of new stories rather than one single-season drop.
This season centres on the skills young children can use when emotions become difficult. Kindness, compassion, inclusion and problem-solving are built into 11-minute interactive stories designed to bring viewers into the action.
The shorter story format gives each instalment room to focus on one clear emotional challenge. Rather than presenting the lesson separately, the characters model what happens when someone feels excluded, jealous, worried or sad, and then try a practical response together.
Celebrity guests join Sesame Street
Zara Larsson, Post Malone, Tyler James Williams and Michelle Buteau are among the celebrity guests appearing during the season. Additional guests will also feature in digital segments.
Larsson joins a Puppy Dance Party, while the wider season combines music, comedy and character-led lessons. Familiar segments Elmo’s World, Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck and Tales from 123 also return.
The guest appearances are spread across the season’s entertainment and learning moments. They sit alongside the regular Sesame Street ensemble, allowing the show to keep its familiar neighbourhood structure while introducing new musical and comic combinations.
Executive producer Sal Perez said the new season keeps learning at the centre of its adventures.
This season Sesame Street continues to bring children right into the action through meaningful learning moments, big adventures, and plenty of surprises that make them laugh out loud,
Sal Perez, executive producer
Kindness, compassion and managing emotions
Sesame Workshop’s curriculum is aimed at helping children recognise big feelings and respond with practical strategies. Those ideas appear through apologies, breathing exercises, memory-making and inclusive play.
Several of the opening stories deliberately show that resolving a feeling is a process. A character may first name the emotion, take a calming step and then return to a friend to repair what happened. The approach gives parents and carers language they can reuse away from the screen.
Sesame Workshop senior vice-president of curriculum and content Dr Rosemarie Truglio said the themes reflect what children need now.
Sesame Street’s curriculum is built around what children need most in the moment, and kindness and compassion are needed today more than ever.
Dr Rosemarie Truglio, Sesame Workshop senior vice-president of curriculum and content
What happens in the first volume
Elmo & Tango’s Puppy Playdate
Elmo loses a present during a puppy playdate, and Grover helps him work through the problem. Cookie Monster also meets a dog, while Zara Larsson performs the Puppy Dance Party.
Elmo’s Treasure Hunt
Rudy feels left out during a treasure hunt. An apology, a hug and the Buddy Rock help repair the friendship, while Grover and Cookie Monster search for treasure of their own.
Abby’s Beastie Bestie
Abby teaches a beastie to fly, then feels sad when it leaves. A memory box helps her hold on to the friendship. Elsewhere, Super Grover tries to teach Cookie Monster how to fly.
Elmo’s Game Night
Elmo experiences jealousy during game night. A calming heart breath helps him reset before he apologises and returns to the group.
Across the four opening stories, the lesson is never that children should avoid difficult emotions. Instead, the characters show that feelings can be named, understood and managed with support. Friends and trusted adults help, but the young characters are also given simple tools they can practise themselves.
The combination of recurring segments and self-contained adventures means families can watch the episodes individually while still following a consistent curriculum across the volume.
A long-term Netflix partnership
Season 57 will be available in more than 30 languages globally. The Netflix and Sesame Workshop partnership extends new episodes through Season 62 and also includes a Sesame Street film in development with Rideback and Sesame Workshop.
That multi-season commitment gives the programme a long runway on the streaming service while preserving the educational foundations that have defined Sesame Street. For Australian families, the November launch begins a release plan that will continue across 2027 when the remaining two Season 57 volumes arrive.
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