Sesame Street characters
Author Christopher Finch reported that director Jon Stone, who had worked with Henson previously, felt that if they could not bring him on board, they should "make do without puppets".
He also agreed to waive his performance fee for full ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets and to split any revenue they generated with the Children's Television Workshop, the series' non-profit producer.
[4] During the production of Sesame Street's first season, producers created five one-hour episodes to test the show's appeal to children and examine their comprehension of the material.
The producers decided to reject the advisers' advice and reshot the Street segments; Henson and his coworkers created Muppets that could interact with the human actors.
[8][9] These test episodes were directly responsible for what writer Malcolm Gladwell called "the essence of Sesame Street—the artful blend of fluffy monsters and earnest adults".
[14][15] Also living outside of the building is Oscar the Grouch, a trash can-dwelling creature belonging to his own unique species, who is portrayed as a habitual pessimist[16] and was designed to give children "permission to feel grouchy—and to demonstrate differing opinions".
[33][failed verification] Prairie Dawn is a methodic and driven young girl who loves to write and direct pageants featuring her friends.
[36] Typically, he is portrayed as friendly and cheerful, he has a distinctive giggling laughter, and every so often he falls over backwards to amuse viewers, such as in the 2002 video, Elmo Visits the Firehouse (except that Maria caught him on that occasion).
[44] In addition to these regular characters, others that occasionally appear are: the Twiddlebugs, a family of cute and innovative insects;[44] the Yip Yips, a species of Martians who "valiantly explore our world despite their frequent terrifying encounters with everyday objects";[45] game show host Guy Smiley;[46] construction workers Biff and Sully;[47] Herry Monster, a burly blue monster who does not know his own strength;[48] Forgetful Jones, a "simpleton cowboy"[47] with a short-term memory disorder;[49] and even Kermit the Frog, the flagship character of The Muppets.
[66] In 1971, the show introduced a Mexican-American character named Luis Rodriguez (Emilio Delgado), a repairman who has been called the "Mr. Fix-It" of Sesame Street.
[71] When Lee died (and Mr. Hooper with him), Sesame Street dealt with his death in what Davis called a "landmark broadcast"[60] aired on Thanksgiving Day 1983.
[72] Gina Jefferson (played by Alison Bartlett O'Reilly)[73] started on the show as a teenager working at Hooper's Store, later ran a day care center, and eventually became a veterinarian.
[74][75] The most recently introduced human characters on Sesame Street include Chris (Chris Knowings), Gordon and Susan's nephew, who works part-time at Hooper's Store;[76][77] Indian-American laundromat owner Leela (Nitya Vidyasagar);[78] and Armando (Ismael Cruz Córdova), an energetic Latino writer and "techie [who] loves his gadgets".
[79] Mr. Noodle, a major character in the "Elmo's World" segment, was played by Broadway actor Bill Irwin, who had previously worked with Arlene Sherman (one of the show's executive producers) in short films for Sesame Street.
[80][full citation needed] When he became unavailable, Sherman asked her friend Michael Jeter to replace Irwin as Mr. Noodle's brother Mr.
Writer Louise A. Gikow called the Noodles "a dynasty of mimes...in the tradition of great silent film comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd".
[83] In addition to its "variety of distinctive and reliable personalities",[62] both Muppet and human, Sesame Street has featured a few animated characters throughout its history, who have included (among others) Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes, described by Lesser as an "arrogant, sanctimonious know-it-all",[62] and the Teeny Little Super Guy, a typical problem solver.
