Sesame Street has been a beloved television institution since 1969, teaching young children basic life lessons with lovable puppets created by Jim Henson. And these days, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Elmo are icons who sell tons of merch to kids. Although Sesame Street aired on PBS for decades, in 2016 HBO started to bankroll new episodes. Later, Netflix took over in 2025. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, several classic episodes from the show’s first 38 years on the air are now on the free streaming service Tubi. Among those episodes is one from 1980, where Star Wars‘ beloved droids R2-D2 and C-3PO appear.
Fox owns Tubi, bringing select episodes from Sesame Street’s first 38 seasons to its platform, which started on April 1. Some 250 episodes of Sesame Street were shot between 1969 and 2007. Now, several of them will be available on the platform as part of a one-year deal. If your favorite episode from your childhood is not among that initial batch, don’t worry. Tubi plans to swap out about ten percent of the available Sesame Street episodes every quarter. So there’s a good chance that one episode that triggers a core memory for you from your childhood will appear down the line.
Tubi’s chief content officer, Adam Lewinson, said in a statement, “Few brands have shaped young minds and sparked imagination quite like Sesame Street. By bringing hundreds of episodes to Tubi for free, we’re giving today’s kids access to joyful, foundational learning while inviting parents to share a piece of their own childhood with the next generation.” These days, public broadcasting remains in danger. Other networks have had to pitch in to continue new episodes of Sesame Street. But we’re glad that at least the old episodes have a home for the time being.