Where are the older humans?

Censored

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It would be nice to know Bob, Emilio, and Roscoe have the option to come back if they so desire. I generally don't believe in entitlements, but after each of them put in at least four decades on the show, you'd think they would have at least the SMALLEST say in if they want to continue.
They're fortunate enough to have other extraneous activities to keep them from sitting home and doing nothing. Book signings, personal appearances, etc.
Plus, like Bob, who does a telethon in Canada every year, Sesame has generated enough goodwill to keep him relevant there, if not on the Street.

If it's in their fate to come back, great, hopefully no hard feelings.
If any of them decide to walk, like Joey did, who could blame them?
But the answer shouldn't be, "Well, we really don't want them here anymore, but we'll put up with them if we have to." They are cast members, who contribute to the show, have done so for years very well, and frankly were on the front lines helping to make the show the great success it was.
 

Drtooth

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There are 2 issues. The many changes that have been made on Sesame Street through the years are debatable and there are arguments on each side. However, betraying veteran members who have been loyal to the show for years and years is quite another issue. Prejudice and hatred of seniors is a major, and often overlooked, problem in this society. One doesn't have to watch a show to see the injustice in it.

My issue is, frankly, if they didn't report that the show let them go, I don't think anyone really would have noticed, at least immediately. They were being slowly phased out anyway, and other than the fact that Roscoe was still around for some time and they brought Luis back a season or so ago, they weren't shown that much in recent seasons. I don't know if it truly is ageism no matter how much I do suspect it, but it seems they've just been in the process of whittling down the cast for the past several years. I don't know if its because of the budget or actors being unavailable or the writers having favorite characters to write... but whatever the reason, I'm not surprised the show's basically Alan and Chris and one other character now.

I just want to know at this point the status of other actors if they were fired or they left on their own. I'm not sure I'd be more comfortable if it was just a full sweep that lessened the street's population. The point is, this could have been handled so much better than it was. I blame the new Ex-Hit Entertainment executive. Talk to a Thomas the Tank Engine fan about them, you'll see where I'm coming from about this (they're terrible and humorless is the short version).
 

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My issue is, frankly, if they didn't report that the show let them go, I don't think anyone really would have noticed, at least immediately. They were being slowly phased out anyway, and other than the fact that Roscoe was still around for some time and they brought Luis back a season or so ago, they weren't shown that much in recent seasons. I don't know if it truly is ageism no matter how much I do suspect it, but it seems they've just been in the process of whittling down the cast for the past several years. I don't know if its because of the budget or actors being unavailable or the writers having favorite characters to write... but whatever the reason, I'm not surprised the show's basically Alan and Chris and one other character now.

I just want to know at this point the status of other actors if they were fired or they left on their own. I'm not sure I'd be more comfortable if it was just a full sweep that lessened the street's population. The point is, this could have been handled so much better than it was. I blame the new Ex-Hit Entertainment executive. Talk to a Thomas the Tank Engine fan about them, you'll see where I'm coming from about this (they're terrible and humorless is the short version).
“As of this season, 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. And 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,” McGrath said. (His statement can be heard on the Muppet-centric podcast The MuppetCast, which broke this story.)
 

Drtooth

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Sounds like Leela and Gina were also part of that sweep.

I'd need confirmation on that.
 

Mo Frackle

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Sounds like Leela and Gina were also part of that sweep.

I'd need confirmation on that.
Susan and Gina. Leela left with Mando.

But yeah, we'd need confirmation. The MuppetCast was really the first one to claim that specifically Bob, Gordan, and Luis were being let go, even though Bob seemed to imply - if not directly state - that almost everyone was released. Ditto for Emilio's tweet some pages back. And yet, Sesame has made no mention of the others.
 

Pig'sSaysAdios

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But yeah, we'd need confirmation. The MuppetCast was really the first one to claim that specifically Bob, Gordan, and Luis were being let go, even though Bob seemed to imply - if not directly state - that almost everyone was released. Ditto for Emilio's tweet some pages back. And yet, Sesame has made no mention of the others.
That's probably for the best. At this point I can imagine Sesame not wanting an even bigger backlash than they're already getting. No need to add insult to injury by announcing Susan and Gina's departure as well.
 
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Well, unfortunately, kids these days don't even know or care about the human characters, I could understand from a commerical standpoint why they were let go, it's not like they were used much in the seasons before, though seriously that was pretty rude. Here's three guys who dedicated 40+ years to working with a TV show and no goodbye, they're just yanked away, that's just pathetic in my opinion.

There was a time when Sesame Street was about commercialism.
 

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This was just posted on Emilio Delgado's Facebook page:

Thanks to everyone for your love and appreciation of Bob, Luis & Gordon. It's very gratifying to experience the outpouring of love and appreciation from our fans. My dear friend and colleague Roscoe (Gordon) prepared a statement that speaks for all of us. It accurately sums up the current news about the fate of Bob, Luis & Gordon ...

"To all of you who have expressed your appreciation and support for the years of work and service to Sesame Street by me and my colleagues, I thank you! Due to your overwhelming reaction regarding the status of myself and others on the show, the new producers of Sesame Street have reached out to us with an expressed desire to continue our longstanding relationship, to be initiated with a meeting in September. Hopefully, this will result in the inclusion of veteran cast members in upcoming productions. I look forward to sharing with you at such time, the results of that conversation. Thanks again for your loving support and devotion to Sesame Street and to what it has meant to the children of the world."

Hopefully we had some effect, but I'm not holding my breath...

It's good to know the cast feels supported by their real fans and that Sesame Workshop is at least hearing it.

Even if it came down to budget cuts, cast members who have been on the show that long should be the very LAST ones to be let go! Not the FIRST! The had loyalty to the show. I don't see why the show wouldn't give that loyalty back to them.
 

Pig'sSaysAdios

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Even if it came down to budget cuts, cast members who have been on the show that long should be the very LAST ones to be let go! Not the FIRST! The had loyalty to the show. I don't see why the show wouldn't give that loyalty back to them.
Well no, at this point, since Alan and Chris have been the cast members who have appeared the most out of all the cast members it makes sense to keep them. Those are the guys that kids would recognize at this point. And another thing, to put it bluntly, the older cast members are, well, old. Kids don't respond or relate to older people as well as they do to younger adults/teens. As evident with many other current preschool shows. As some have pointed out on another thread, most of those shows only have about one or two main adult characters, and they're usually in their 20s to mid 30s. And as we know, Sesame Street has been trying to have younger cast members for many years. Drtooth has even pointed out that we tend to forget that Susan, Bob and Gordon were all in their 30s when the show started. Maria and David were added because they were younger than the other guys. Eventually all those guys were in their 40s and 50s, so the writers kept struggling to maintain youth on the show. They brought in Petey and Micki who related well to the younger characters and therefore the young audience. They left, so they had to bring in Gina, who filled the babysitter/older sibling role that the older cast members once did. In the 90s they brought in a whole slew of teenage and kid characters, none of them lasted. When Miles and Gabi were finally old enough, they began to disappear. So Chris and Leela came along, as you can see it's a cycle. I don't think it's age discrimination, it's just keeping up with what the target audience wants. I'm sure the same thing will eventually happen to Chris and Alan eventually, if the show lasts long enough.

Heck, they've even done the same thing on the German version of the show.
 
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