This is sad news. I am surprised that Loretta Long hasn't been specifically mentioned here, as she seems to have been making significantly less appearances since around season 30. I would have thought she'd be let go before Gordon, who I feel has been on the show a lot. Of course, I guess I haven't been watching the recent seasons that often, as I'm always surprised when I see it pointed out that a lot of the cast hasn't done much in years.
It would be great if they'd do a TV special or DVD release honoring the best of the humans. Maybe a screening would be most likely (or one of those "collections" Sesame Workshop does on YouTube).
I wonder if Sesame Workshop will make an official press release about this. It seems like we only know this because a couple of the cast members in question just recently confirmed it. Has Sesame Workshop put out official press releases announcing certain cast members would be gone before?
On Facebook, the SST page said this;
"Bob McGrath, Emilio Delgado (“Luis") and Roscoe Orman (“Gordon") remain a beloved part of the Sesame family and continue to represent us at public events. To us, and for millions of people worldwide, they are a treasured part of Sesame Street. Since the show began, we are constantly evolving our content and curriculum, and hence, our characters, to meet the educational needs of children. As a result of this, our cast has changed over the years, though you can still expect to see many of them in upcoming productions. As we’ve stated previously, Sesame Workshop retains sole creative control over the show. HBO does not oversee the production."
Probably the closest we'll get to a press release.