Sesame Street (Various Dubs and International Co-productions, 1970s-1990s)

Shortly after Sesame Street premiered in the United States in 1969, television producers, teachers, and officials of several countries approached the show's producers and the executives of Children's Television Workshop (CTW) about the possibility of airing international versions of Sesame Street. Creator Joan Ganz Cooney hired former CBS executive Michael Dann to field offers to translate and adapt the show into a number of international co-productions in other countries.

Originally, international co-productions had a certain amount of American Sesame Street episodes dubbed and repackaged, or cut to a half hour running time. Later international co-productions, beginning with Brazil's Vila Sésamo, started taping their own original street scenes with new original characters, puppets, and sets.

As characters and set designs for these co-productions had been changed or the entire international franchise is revamped over the years, older international co-productions are believed to have ended up becoming lost in the shuffle, due to the lack of their availability on DVD, VHS, or online. While classic episodes of some of the well-known international co-productions like Sesamstrasse (the German co-production) made their way onto DVD or online, other classic foreign co-productions from the 70s are believed to be lost. Here are some international co-productions that are believed to be lost, not taped off television broadcasts, or hard to find anywhere on home media or online.

Plaza Sésamo (classic episodes; 1972-2000)
Plaza Sésamo is the Mexican version of Sesame Street that debuted in November of 1972 (at the time of the fourth season premiere of Sesame Street). The cast consisted of Panamanian, Argentinian, and mostly Mexican performers and featured "neutral Spanish." The original series also featured two Muppet characters, Abelardo and a small grouchy green parrot called Paco. The set of the street was turn into a plaza that would be a typical city block in Central or South America with a center fountain, benches, vacant lot with playground equipment, houses, a combination grocery store-cafe, and mechanic's repair shop.

While new Plaza Sésamo episodes from 2001-present are available, no episodes of the original Plaza Sésamo from the 70s-90s can be found nor seen online. All that survives are some photos and a screenshot of the show's opening title card. Only one classic episode, Episodio 327 (aired in 1976), has been documented.