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The city I loved was shut down this year. I found comfort in the beloved TV show’s idealized version of it.

Episode 4116 of Sesame Street, which first aired in 2006 but which premiered in our apartment in the spring of 2020, starts with Elmo playing school.

Elmo has paper and crayons but needs a teacher, so he recruits Alan, the human who runs the convenience store on Sesame Street. It’s stressful for Alan not only because he has never taught school before, but also because he still has to deal with the store. Just as he’s starting to get used to his new role in Elmo’s life, a Muppet bus driver delivers at least a dozen human students to the convenience store, backpacks on, ready to learn.

“I hear you’re up for