Everything you need to know about big 'Sesame Street' changes on Netflix

• Legendary preschool show "Sesame Street" has moved to Netflix.
• The first four episodes of the new season are streaming now.
• Will fans still find "Sesame Street" on PBS?

Elmo has always looked good in red, and he's fitting right in now that "Sesame Street" is on Netflix.

The legendary preschool show, which has been a staple of American children's programming since November 1969 on PBS and more recently HBO, has a new home on the ubiquitous streaming service. Netflix announced that Season 56 of the series will be "freshly reimagined" and invite children to "play along in new ways."

Browsing on Netflix, you'll find a first volume of four new 30-minute episodes with a slightly different format and tone from previous seasons in the more than half-century of "Sesame" programming. With all this change, parents raised on the show and their kids might be worried that things are a bit too different on everyone's favorite block.

But the jump to Netflix is really a matter of making "Sesame" even more accessible to kids around the world, and continuing to change with the times, says executive producer Sal Perez.

"We pride ourselves in being innovative and knowing what our audience is really attuned to," Perez tells USA TODAY. "We've changed the show in a lot of different ways over the last 56 years. ... As many new things that we have in the show, I think kids in our audience are still going to feel like they're watching the 'Sesame Street' that they love."

Perez answered all our pressing questions about Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird's big move to streaming, and what that means for the characters and all the kids watching at home.

What's different in the new Netflix 'Sesame Street' episodes?

"Season 56 will feature all of the characters that people know and love, but in particular, we're going to be focusing on Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby and Grover, and our adventure stories," Perez says. "They're slightly longer stories than we've had over the last few years. And they're really focusing on the humor and the joy that's on 'Sesame Street.'"

While continuing to emphasize themes that are important for early childhood education, this season will focus on "emotional well-being," Perez says.

"[We're] giving kids a lot of strategies on how to deal with emotions and how to talk to their friends and family," Perez says. "There's an episode on being 'hangry' and the very kid-like emotions that kids go through. And that will also be supplemented by a lot of great songs and music that we have within every story, as well as pops of animation – a whole new look and feel to the show."

Why is 'Sesame Street' changing up its format on Netflix?

"Sesame" has been through countless changes over its long history, and it was just time for a new one this year, says Perez.

"This felt like a really great opportunity to refresh the look and feel. And really tell stories through the perspective of a child, and bring in that humor," he says. The producer emphasized how the show will leverage animation thoughtfully in the new season. "Animation really helps push some of the jokes [and themes] that we're doing within the show. All of that lends itself to a better understanding of the show for our audience. So that's a big reason why we wanted to do it and bring in 'Sesame Street' to the current audiences."

Will 'Sesame Street' start to look like every other flashy, attention-grabbing kids' show?

"Obviously, we're paying attention to what other shows are doing," Perez says. "But for 'Sesame Street,' we like to be really deliberate with what our pace is, in particular in the new season. We don't want to be loud or fast for loud or fast's sake.

"We know that kids are used to watching much faster-paced content in a lot of different areas. We're not looking to replicate that exactly," he adds. "We're looking to make something that feels very 'Sesame' that kids and families are really going to [love]. They are getting the best out of both."

Will 'Sesame Street' still air on PBS?

Yes. Much like when new episodes of the iconic show debuted on HBO in recent years, the Netflix deal allows for episodes to continue to air on public television, something Perez says remains integral to the "Sesame" mission.

"The fact that we're on Netflix and in 30 different languages around the world ... is something that we've never had the opportunity to do," Perez says. "At the same time, being on PBS, being on public media in the U.S., is so important and has been core to the DNA of 'Sesame Street.'"

Just ahead of a dramatic slashing of federal funding of public broadcasting by Congress and the Trump administration in August, PBS announced in May a multiyear deal to remain the broadcast home of "Sesame," meaning new episodes will be released on PBS stations, the PBS KIDS Channel, and across PBS KIDS digital platforms, if not necessarily on the same timeline as Netflix.

"Having the Netflix and the PBS partnerships allows us to reach as many kids in the world as possible," Perez says.