TV & VIDEO - May 13, 1988

Not even Big Bird himself has dealt with the birds and the bees on “Sesame Street,” but the marriage today of Maria and Luis--two of the children’s show’s longtime regulars--is intended to acquaint youngsters with romantic love. Valeria Lovelace, the show’s director of research, said the staff found “no books for preschoolers on love and marriage, only death and divorce.” When interviews with 90 Manhattan preschoolers showed that young children did not make the connection between love and marriage, the general outline of the theme was born. The message has been carefully cultivated since last December, when Maria and Luis, longtime friends and partners in the show’s Fix-It Shop, realized that their feelings were changing as they cared for a sick kitten together.