September 1989 - KCET Celebrates 25th Anniversary

On September 28, 1989, KCET celebrated its silver anniversary with a multitude of special events throughout the year, celebrating a quarter century on the air.

The 25th Anniversary celebration kicked off in November 1988, with the debut of KCET's 25th anniversary parade float, which rode down the streets of Tinseltown and televised to a national audience during the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade. With panels depicting various KCET shows, and adult and children riders, the centerpiece of the float was a giant Cookie Monster from PBS' "Sesame Street." The float also made appearances at the Kingdom Day Parade in the Crenshaw district, the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown, and other festivities around Southern and Central California through 1989.

Cookie Monster, along with other "Sesame Street" characters, made appearances at museums in Los Angeles, Orange, and Kern counties, and at several hospitals in the L.A. area.

In June, the KCET Women's Council threw a star-studded Gala Event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, which raised $200,000 for the station. In July, the Museum of Broadcasting sponsored an event at the Director's Guild Theatre in Hollywood, screening a film on KCET's 25-year history and attended by many station staff and alumni. The station also earned a Governor's Award by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences during the local Emmy awards presentation.

The July 26, 1989 edition of the entertainment industry newspaper Daily Variety featured a 20-page special pullout section on KCET's 25th Anniversary.

The station also aired an hour-long televised special on KCET's highlights of the past quarter century.