Honestly, I don’t think I watched a lot of Sesame Street when I was a child. I remember some vague things, like Kermit wearing an overcoat and a hat with a press card, but other than that, I think I missed out on the Sesame Street train. Sadly, that means I missed out on a lot of Cookie Monster and Count Von Count, but I also fortunately missed out on Elmo, too. Several long-time Sesame Street cast members are going to be missing out too. Bob the Music Teacher, Gordon the Science Teacher, and Luis the Mister Fix-It have all been fired from Sesame Street.
These are the longest-serving cast members on the show, with actors Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, and Emilio Delgado having been on the show for decades at this point. McGrath had been on the show since the very beginning in 1969; Delgado has been on the show since 1971, and Orman had been on the show since 1974.
“They let all of the original cast members go, with the exception of Alan Muraoka — who is probably 20 years younger than the rest of us — and Chris Knowings, who is also young,” said the 84-year-old McGrath. “I have completed my 45th season this year. And the show has gone under a major turnaround, going from an hour to a half-hour. HBO has gotten involved also.”
The cast cutting was done at the behest of Sesame Workshop, who produces Sesame Street. HBO, who denies involvement, is the current home of Sesame Street for the next five years; the show will continue to run on PBS with a nine-month delay after the HBO air date. The fact that the show had been trimmed from an hour to half-an-hour might have something to do with it, too.
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