Sesame Street Shake-Up: Bob, Others Cut as Result of 'Evolving' Curriculum

The cutting of three veteran Sesame Street cast members was the result of the educational children’s series’ “evolving” curriculum and thus characters, and not any HBO interference, producers said in a statement on Thursday.

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In the wake of recent reports that Bob McGrath and Emilio Delgado (pictured above) and Roscoe Orman — who played Bob, Luis and Gordon for 45, 45 and 42 years, respectively — had been let go concurrent with the show’s retooling for HBO, Sesame Workshop issued a statement stating that cast changes go hand-in-hand with curriculum and content changes. It was also stated that Sesame Workshop, even in its new pay-cable home, “retains sole creative control, while HBO “does not” have a hand in production decisions.

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The retooled Sesame Street aired its Season 46 premiere on HBO this past January, running a “dynamic” 30 minutes (versus an hour) and offering a new episode every Saturday morning.

Sesame Workshop noted that the three “beloved cast members” “remain a part of the Sesame family” and as such “will continue to represent us at public events.”

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