who was the first character on sesame street
Sesame Street characters The first Muppet to appear on the show[11] was Big Bird, an 8-foot-tall yellow bird believed by writer Shalom M. Fisch and Dr. Lewis Bernstein to be a canary,[9] who resides in a large nest alongside the "123 Sesame Street" building[11] and represents the 6-year-old child with his tendency to question everything.[12][13] 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[14] and was designed to give children "permission to feel grouchy—and to demonstrate differing opinions".[15] Oscar and Big Bird were specifically created for the reshooting of the "Street" scenes with the idea that they would be able to interact with the human characters.[16] Big Bird's best friend is Aloysius Snuffleupagus (better known as "Snuffy"), who was portrayed as the bird's imaginary friend until revealed to the human cast in 1985.[17][18] For his part, Oscar has several friends of his own despite his pessimism; these include the Grouch's pet worm, Slimey,[14] and his girlfriend Grundgetta.[19] Two other Muppets who have appeared on the show since its beginning are Ernie and Bert, a pair of best friends with contrasting personalities; Ernie is portrayed as a free-spirited trickster who loves his rubber duck,[20][21] while Bert is the world-weary foil to his friend's naïve trouble-making, and shows himself to be obsessed with things like pigeons and paper clips.[22]
Sesame Street in the UK After the BBC rejected Sesame Street, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) considered giving it a network slot on ITV, after concluding that further research was needed. In March and April 1971, HTV broadcast a three-week weekday test run; the series was received favourably, but the ITA concluded the more testing would be required. They passed the enquiry to The Authority Schools Committee, who authorised LWT, Grampian Television and HTV to broadcast another test run of Sesame Street, under the understanding that its permission "should not be construed as educational endorsement of Sesame Street for British children".[9] HTV's second trial ran in December 1971 for a three-week daily run, and LWT and Grampian broadcast it for thirteen weeks on Saturday mornings from September to December 1971.[10]