 According to author Louise A. Gikow, Sesame Street's use of research to create individual episodes and to test its effect on its young viewers set it apart from other children's programming. Co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney called the idea of combining research with television production "positively heretical" because it had never been done before. Before Sesame Street, most children's television shows were locally produced, with hosts who, according to researchers Edward L. Palmer and Shalom M. Fisch, "represented the scope and vision of a single individual" and were often condescending to their audience. Scriptwriters of these shows had no training in education or child development.
