Talk: Season 1 (1969-1970)

Sponsors for Season 1

Taken from this thread. --MuppetVJ 06:47, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Professor Hastings?

When did Professor Hastings actually appear in Season 1? I don't think he's in any of the Unpaved episodes. -- Danny (talk) 17:35, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, unfortunately, I never saw him in an Unpaved episode either, but here's one printed source that indicates him being a character in Season 1, from Look Magazine: "The Secrets of Sesame Street" Sept 22, 1970. "When the new season starts November 9, expect changes. ..... There will be a lot less of Professor Hastings, the dusty old bore who can't keep awake during his own lectures. It seems he was putting the kids to sleep too." The same article has a not very clear photo of Jim and Frank holding Kermit and Hastings. I'll try to scan in a good enough picture of that. -- User:Splurge 15:28, June 4, 2006

Some of the international Sesame Street versions (Sesamstrasse, Sesamstraat) show scenes featuring Hastings that were clearly shot in 1969, judging by the plain backdrop and the use of backup Muppets. This includes a "part of the bodies" sketch with Kermit, and a sketch about "happy/sad" with Kermit and various Anything Muppets and monsters. -- Jog 23:28, 4 June 2006 (UTC) Jog

That line in the newspaper article, "Expect less of Proffessor Hastings", sounds interesting. It makes it sound as if he was a very major character in the first season, only to be seen less often after that. And if he was more of a major character in the debut season, then I wonder if it is a coincidence that none of his episodes aired on Noggin (assuming none of his skecthes were cut from episodes shown on Noggin). --Minor muppetz 14:25, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Holly Robinson Peete?

This has niggled at me for awhile. I know I've seen fan speculation and IMDb listings and such claiming that Matt Robinson's daughter Holly Robinson Peete played "Sally" in the first season, but does anyone have any concrete sources for her inclusion? Here's what I've found, this interview, which raises serious doubts for me: Born into show business, her father was the original “Gordon” on Sesame Street in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. “There was my dad on TV with his pork chop sideburns,” she recalls. And though her father was vehemently opposed to her being in front of the camera (he himself went on to be a producer on The Cosby Show), Robinson Peete begged him to let her go on Sesame Street just once. “I had one line, and that was ‘Hi Gordon,’ but I couldn’t get it right. All I could manage was ‘Hi, Dad!’ and that was the end of that.” That paragraph seems to imply that a) she only appeared on the show once, an appearance which may not have actually aired if she couldn't get her lines straight, and b) that this presumptive appearance was not in the pilot episode, given the context of having to beg to be on Sesame Street. Anyone have any other facts or sources? Otherwise, I'm inclined to remove her from the season 1 cast list. --Andrew, Aleal 18:10, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

I totally agree. You should make that into an HRP page -- it's a great quote! -- Danny Toughpigs 18:27, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

It is cool, isn't it? I especially like the "pork chop sideburns" bit. "Gordon and His Pork Chop Sideburns" would be a great name for a Muppet Band. --Andrew, Aleal 19:00, 14 April 2006 (UTC)