By Neirin Gray Desai for Dailymail.Com 02:04 May 11, 2023, updated 02:04 May 11, 2023
- A Filipino-American Muppet has been introduced to Sesame Street in a new episode
- New character TJ was introduced in a segment alongside Kal Penn
The children’s show Sesame Street introduced its first Filipino-American Muppet on Sunday.
In a section on what it means to be confident, new Muppet TJ explained that having his family’s support gave him the confidence to speak the Filipino dialect of Tagalog.
TJ appeared alongside Ji-Young, a Korean-American character who was introduced during a Thanksgiving episode in 2021, and human character Kal Penn, a former White House aide in the Obama administration and actor
Sesame Street has aired on PBS since its debut in 1969, and numerous characters have been incorporated into the series over the years.
The children’s show Sesame Street introduced its first Filipino-American Muppet on Sunday. New character TJ is pictured. TJ (left) appeared alongside Ji-Young (right), a Korean-American character introduced during a 2021 Thanksgiving episode, and human character Kal Penn (center).
During the Sunday segment, TJ was featured in a scene where Penn discusses the idea of confidence, where it comes from and how it can be empowered.
“Confidence is when you believe in yourself and your abilities,” Penn said in the episode. “When I’m insecure, I know I have people who support me and believe in me.”
Ji-Young then strummed her guitar, saying that playing the instrument gave her confidence.
“TJ, how do you show your confidence?” Penn asked the new character.
“I’m learning Tagalog. It’s a language my Filipino family speaks. And I have confidence because I can always ask my Lola for help if I can’t speak a word,” TJ replied, using the Tagalog word for grandmother.
TJ was the brainchild of Filipino-American animation director Bobby Pontillas, who made a post on Instagram explaining how he envisioned the character and showing how he was developing.
“I took inspiration from the kids of my longtime friends Max and Mateo for his look, thanks for the inspiration guys.” “I’ve been fortunate to work with master puppeteer Louis Mitchell, the most beautiful person alive,” he wrote .
“TJ” was the brainchild of Filipino-American animation director Bobby Pontillas. “Sesame Street” has aired on PBS since its debut in 1969, and a number of characters have been brought into the series over the years
In recent years, the creators of the series, Sesame Workshop, have added a number of characters – in 2021 they introduced Elijah Walker and his son Wes – African American characters.
Rosemary Espina Palacios, director of talent development, inclusion and content development at Sesame Workshop, who is of Filipino descent, also posted on Instagram to celebrate TJ’s arrival.
“I am so proud to help bring a Filipino representation to the neighborhood, and just in time for API Heritage Month to show the diversity in our diaspora,” she wrote.
“His first segment with @kalpenn and Ji-Young is all about confidence, something I think can help clear up the minority model stereotype,” she added.
TJ is played by voice actor and puppeteer Yinan Shentu.