Rechov Sumsum

Rechov Sumsum (רחוב סומסום [ʁeˈχov sumˈsum]; lit. 'Sesame Street') is the Israeli adaptation of the American children's show Sesame Street.

The first three series of the show were a joint production of the Israeli Educational Television and the Sesame Workshop, a Worldwide American non-profit organization that has been co-producing the original American Sesame Street since 1969.

The storyline and cast of Rechov Sumsum are tailored to an Israeli audience.

The idea for Sesame Street being aired in Israel goes back to 1971 when black and white episodes of the show broadcast in English were briefly shown on Israeli television. The Israeli Ministry of Education thought it was entertaining, but not educational enough for Children, so it was eventually taken off air.

Rechov Sumsum consists of five television series and one short-lived spin-off: Rechov Sumsum, Shalom Sesame, Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim, Sippuray Sumsum and Rechov Sumsum (2006), Shalom Sesame (2009).

This original Israeli version of the series was the most popular. 195 episodes were produced and broadcast between 1983 and 1986 on the Israeli Educational Television. Puppet segments were taken from the American series and dubbed in Hebrew (the same has been done in all other Israeli versions of the series). All other aspects of the production were local: The program took place in an Israeli neighborhood in which children and adults played together. Original connecting segments were added in which Israeli children shared a view of their lives. The series had a parallel character to Big Bird – a big porcupine, by the name of "Kippi" and a parallel character to Oscar The Grouch, by the name of "Moishe Oofnik". Oofnik was a punk and used to complain a lot and bother the neighborhood's residents, but even so, he soon became friends with the children in the neighborhood. The residents who lived in the street included Avner and Hanna, who were the owners of the coffee shop near Kipi's burrow. After they moved to a different city they were replaced by a new coffee shop named Gabi (Gabi Amrani [he]). Opposite the coffee house lived Miki (Miki Kam) and Nathan (Nathan Dattner [he]). Nathan lived in front of an older resident named Yona (Yona Atari). In front of Yona's apartment was Shmil's (Shmuel Shilo) electricity appliance repairing shop, where Miki worked as Shmil's assistant.

Occasionally Albert (Albert Iluz [he]) used to come over to the neighborhood for visits – a peculiar character with a French accent with whom Kipi used to consult on different issues. Salim (Salim Dau [fr; he; ar]) used to explain to the children in the neighborhood the meaning of different words in Arabic and the show also included different famous Israeli guest stars, such as the duo "HaDodaim", Haim Moshe, Gidi Gov and Rotem Abuhab [he].

The opening theme song of the original series was written by Eli Mohar and composed by Yoni Rechter which also performed it together with Gidi Gov, Mazi Cohen [he], Dafna Armoni [he; de] and a group of children from the Tzadikov choir [he].