The Robinson family (Sesame Street)

For the family on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, see The Robinson Family.

The Robinson family on the children's television series Sesame Street consists of husband and schoolteacher Gordon, his wife and nurse Susan, and eventually their adopted son Miles, as well as Gordon's sister Olivia, and his father Mr. Robinson. As African-Americans, the family was created as leads for the show, originally targeted to underprivileged inner-city children. Even as human roles were slowly reduced over the years, their characters maintained a constant presence.

Character and production history

Inception

Sesame Street was created through private and federal grants, as a television series to "give the disadvantaged child a fair chance at the beginning", as co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney wrote in the 1967 study The Potential Uses of Television in Preschool Education.

Especially before the inclusion of the Muppets in Street scenes, Sesame Street was centred on Gordon and Susan. As per suggested by Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan, Cooney advised in The Potential Uses that a series should feature a male lead, to "provide continuity from one segment to another, establish the tone, and function, subtly, as the master teacher". A male teacher would both encourage kids to emulate an intelligent adult, and "defeminize the early learning atmosphere". The decision to create such a character was backed up by research in the US government study The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. Known better as the Moynihan report, Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan suggested "the Negro community has been forced into a matriarchal structure which, because it is so out of line with the rest of the American society, seriously retards the progress of the group as a whole". His report suggested that, after the Slavery-era of US history, the rise of out-of-wedlock births, absent fathers, and female-headed families only perpetuated cyclical poverty.

In his memoirs, eventual Gordon actor Roscoe Orman commented that "what the character most significantly symbolizes, his most distinguishing and praiseworthy attribute, may lie in the simple fact that he is a man of African descent who for over three decades has been a respected and beloved father figure to young people of all races and all social classes all across America and beyond." He continues to say that while "born in a country that was founded and has continued to thrive upon the subjugation of his ancestors, he harbors no hatred or thirst for revenge but, on the contrary, is a model of patience, understanding, and civic responsibility who embraces all of humankind."

Orman went on to describe Susan as an "exemplary model of African-American womanhood," and the couple's on-going relationship "in sharp contrast to the prevailing images of black men that have been projected within mainstream American culture since and especially prior to Sesame Street’s premiere and certainly during the formative years of my own generation."

Casting

Actors were selected for the roles of Gordon, Susan, Bob, and Mr. Hooper by an audience of children who had watched videotaped performances. While some shows replace actors appearing in pilot episodes due to audience involvement, casting control this early on was and is unusual. Matt Robinson and Loretta Long were chosen to play the lead roles of Gordon and Susan.

Loretta Long’s prior experience included hosting "Soul", a variety series on PBS. Initially, Long was a supply teacher for schools in the Bronx area, which reportedly surprised and confused many young students. Long earned her Ph.D. in Urban Education in 1973 from the University of Massachusetts, during the show's fourth season. Because Long had grown up on a farm in Michigan, the show's writers established that Susan had as well.

Matt Robinson, meanwhile, not only served as the "host" for the early episodes of the series -- it was Gordon who was often seen greeting viewers and telling them to "come back and visit us anytime" -- but he was also credited as one of the show's producers during his time with the series.

1969–1971

Sesame Street’s first episode centers on Gordon taking a girl named Sally around Sesame Street, to get acquainted with everyone and everything in her new neighbourhood.

While there were many references on the show to Gordon being a teacher, and there have continued to be references in recent seasons, Gordon is never actually shown in that environment. He instead would teach the characters lessons in the Children Television Workshop's four main focuses, much like every other character: Symbolic Representation, Cognitive Processes, the Physical Environment, and Social Environment.

Susan gets a job

Right from its inception, Sesame Street has been highly scrutinised by critics of all kinds. While the program was specially conceived to represent racial harmony, as suggested by followers of Dr. King, the "second-wave" feminist movement had not yet risen to prominence. Cynthia Eaton and Susan Chase of the National Organization of Women (NOW) studied the series, in particular male and female interaction. NOW insisted that the program marginalised women and their role in society.

"After they presented their observations and concerns about our institutionalising stereotypes, Jon Stone said 'Well, let's give Susan a career.'" Stone was the primary director for the show. Susan became a public health nurse, who would run immunization clinics on Sesame Street. Gordon also was regularly shown helping Susan with household chores. Long recalled to Cooney in 1976 that, "I was too nice at the beginning, the great dispenser of milk and cookies." Some feminists still referred to her as a "a hapless, hopelessly vague mother", even after the change.

Even with the addition of Sonia Manzano as the young, single woman Maria in the third season, critics still chided "All in all, Sesame Street has changed, from being incredibly sexist to being slightly less sexist" This view was helped by characters like Betty Lou, "a simpering, querulous little girl with pigtails and a squeaky voice".

Hip Muppet deemed stereotype

Matt Robinson was, however, the voice of Roosevelt Franklin, a purple Muppet meant to represent an African American boy. While the skits with the character musically provided reading and writing concepts, critics found his jive-talking to be a cultural stereotype, and the producers of the series removed him. Interestingly, Roscoe Orman provided the voice of one of Roosevelt's classmates, Hardhat Henry Harris, before joining the series as the third actor to play Gordon. The Roosevelt Franklin Muppet occasionally turned up in multi-Muppet musical routines such as "Clap, Clap, Clap" and the Canadian edition of Sesame Street continued to air the Franklin segments well into the late 1970s.

1971–1973

Miller as Gordon, with Long as Susan and Caroll Spinney as Oscar the Grouch. Undated publicity photo, likely from 1971.

Hal Miller became Gordon for a brief stretch, 1971 to 1973. Unlike Matt Robinson, Miller didn't sport a moustache, and was slightly heavier-set.

1973 on

Roscoe Orman became the third Gordon in 1973. "The kids who were on the show that first season would not accept me as Gordon. One day there's Hal [Miller] as Gordon and the next day there's this new guy who says he's Gordon... the kids, both on the show and at home... they just assume that we are that person we're playing."

Adopting Miles

In 1985, Roscoe Orman and his wife were about to have their second child together; Big Bird puppeteer Caroll Spinney mentioned this to his wife Debra. The two went to producer Dulcy Singer, suggesting that Gordon and Susan should have a child on the show. It was decided that the on-screen couple would adopt, instead of Susan being pregnant, and that new-born Miles Orman take the role. At age seven, Miles Orman quit the series, and was replaced by child actor Imani Patterson.

Before the series of episodes where Miles is adopted, Gordon and Susan lacked last names. "Robinson", named after original Gordon actor Matt Robinson, was shown as Miles' last name on his adoption certificate. Alternatively, Orman has suggested that the name was revealed in a different storyline aired in 1991, involving Gordon teaching in the classroom. Writers felt that the students couldn't address their teacher as "Gordon", so Orman suggested "Mr. Robinson".

Similarly, Mr. Hooper's first name was only revealed on his GED, Bob Johnson's last name went unrevealed for years, and Gina Jefferson's last name first appeared on the door of her new veterinary practice, in 2002.

Trash Gordon

Roscoe Orman has garnered more screen time since season 35, playing Trash Gordon at the end of each episode. Based on Flash Gordon, Trash is an intergalactic traveller, who encounters odd creatures on each planet he visits. Trash Gordon escapes peril in each chapter, thanks to his quick thinking; when a living pile of rotten bananas confronts Trash, it is soon chased away by an "Intergalactical Monkey" he happened to have with him.\

Chapters

Note that the chapters feature random numbers, and progress out of order.

• Chapter 2 (Episode 4120): On the planet Fairytale, Trash contacts Little Bo Beep by interstellar cell phone to bring her sheep home.
• Chapter 2 (Episode 4125): Surrounded by Space Bunnies, Trash throws a head of cabbage, thereby dispersing the crowd.
• Chapter 241 (Episode 4112): On the Planet Pots and Pans, Trash bangs the biggest pot tops together, persuading the Pots and Pansians to stop doing the same.
• Chapter 241 (Episode 4129): On the Planet of the Stinky Sock, Trash copes with its lone resident by taking off his own sock, forming a pair.
• Chapter 269 (Episode 4061): Trash is on the Planet of Rotten Bananas, where he saves himself by taking out an Intergalactic Space Monkey (either Joey or Davey Monkey), which makes the "bananas split".
• Chapter 453 (Episode 4109): On the Planet Spaghetti, Trash fends off a meatball with a sneeze.
• Chapter 453 (Episode 4122): Trash is heroically tired on Planet Vacation, and relaxes on a lawn chair.
• Chapter 453 (Episode 4133): On the Crummy Planet of the Cakes, Trash blows out a birthday cake's candle.
• Chapter 538 (Episode 4124): Trash is trapped on the planet Booboo, and bandages the Booboobians' booboos.
• Chapter 538 (Episode 4126): On the Planet Spaghetti, Trash distracts a pasta dish with a pair of meatballs.
• Chapter 538 (Episode 4134): The Planet Conga Line. Trash ends the Conga Line by changing the radio station.
• Chapter 648 (Episode 4111): On the Planet of the Giant Ringing Telephone, Trash answers the phone.
• Chapter 648 (Episode 4123): Same plot as Chapter 538, but different segment with Oscar and Slimey.
• Chapter 692 (Episode 4072): The Planet Dirty Laundry: The smelly dirty laundry runs away when confronted with Flash's box of laundry detergent
• Chapter 692 (Episode 4110): On the Planet Double-Trouble, Flash Gordon comes face to face with his double.
• Chapter 692 (Episode 4127): On the Planet Spaghetti, Trash fends off a meatball with a sneeze.
• Chapter 692 (Episode 4128): Trash is heroically tired on Planet Vacation, and relaxes on a lawn chair.
• Chapter 698 (Episode 4087): Same plot as Chapter 269, but different segment with Oscar and Slimey.
• Chapter 842 (Episode 4121): On the Planet of the Shoes, Trash plays music to get a pair of wingtips to dance away.

Recent appearances

Looking back on his role, over the last 33 years, Orman commented "If I could boast of no other major career accomplishment, having played a central role as I have in the development and continuation of this landmark series would alone have made my life sufficiently meaningful. The historical significance of Sesame Street and its surprising longevity have made my association with the show, in many regards, my life's crowning achievement." However, Orman doesn't credit Sesame Street as having defined himself personally and his overall career; The Free Southern Theater of New Orleans and The New Lafayette Theatre of Harlem collectively take that honor.

By 2002, Imani Patterson left his role as Miles, and was replaced by actor Olamide Faison. As a recording artist of the mildly successful hip-hop group Imajin, Faison could be used more frequently as a singer on the series. Plot lines like season 36 episode 4089 focused on Miles singing numerous 1960s-style parody songs for American Fruitstand.

In episode 4112 (2006), Miles graduated high school alongside Gabi, despite the fact that the characters' respective births on the show occurred four years apart. A flashback in this episode also revealed that Miles was shy on his first day of kindergarten.

Susan's appearances are few and far between since season 29 (1997-1998), although she still is a billed regular cast member. A great deal of this is due to the reduced number of episodes produced, just 65 compared to the original slates of 130, and the overall shrinkage of screen time for human actors on the series. When they were introduced, Maria and Gina were both teens, now both are adults, and can take on a motherly role to the Muppets that was one of Susan's roles.

Loretta Long and Bob McGrath are the only two remaining non-puppeteer actors on Sesame Street since its first episode, as Gordon has switched actors, and Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) died. While neither actor has appeared in a significant number of episodes in recent seasons, the longevity of their roles are with few precedents. (Of the Muppets from the first episode—Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog, Cookie Monster, and Bert and Ernie—all except Kermit are still major characters on the show, but only Oscar is still regularly portrayed by the same puppeteer (Caroll Spinney). Spinney has largely handed off Big Bird to Matt Vogel; Jim Henson (Kermit, Ernie) has passed away, with Steve Whitmire playing Ernie (Kermit no longer appears); and Frank Oz, busy as a director, now only puppets Cookie Monster and Bert a couple of times each season (David Rudman and Eric Jacobson, respectively, have largely taken over).)

Relatives

Kevin Clash as Miles on episode 2313.

Susan's parents' first appearance on the series.

Writers introduced the character of Olivia, played by actress Alaina Reed, in 1976 to show a relationship between adult siblings. Olivia was a photographer and last appeared on the show in 1988, although the television special The Street We Live On included archive footage of her. Reed has appeared in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions, and toured nightclubs as of 1998.

In episode 4061 (season 35), Carl Gordon played Mr. Robinson, Gordon's father.

Kevin Clash played a grown-up version of Miles in episode 2313; Clash is a Muppeteer who portrays Elmo on the show. In this episode, Miles has a son.

Susan's parents were seen in episode 2125 (season 17), in which they visited Gordon and Susan after they adopted Miles. They revisited the Street in episode 2226 (season 18), Gordon and Susan threw a party to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Miles' adoption, in which the event was reenacted with Big Bird as Gordon, Snuffy as Susan, and Elmo as the adoption agent. Susan's father is Lee (played by Bill Cobbs), and her mother is Dorothy (Frances Foster).

Off the Street

Gordon, Susan, and Mr. Hooper were all turned into Little People toy figures in 1975, nearly the only toys ever created of the human characters of Sesame Street; a Mr. Noodle doll was created in the early 2000s. Gordon and Susan, as well as other humans on the series have been included in various books, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s.

During the early years, Susan often sang "One of These Things". She also headlined her own album, Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street, and had minor roles in both Sesame Street movies.

Robinson and Long appeared in the original Sesame Street Live touring production, while Orman and Long make occasional appearances in and out of character. In the summer of 2005, Orman appeared as Gordon with Kevin Clash puppeteering Elmo at series sponsor Beaches Family Resorts in Jamaica.

Long speaks on various topics, including "Children's Education and the Dynamics of Television on the Education of Young Children", "Cultural Diversity: The Sesame Street Method", "Happy Birthday Sesame Street: A Twenty-Five-Year Retrospective", "Mother the First Teacher and Home the First School", "Sesame Street: The Second Generation", "Sesame Street: A Space-Age Approach to Education for Space-Aged Children", "Susan of Sesame Street Sing-Along", "The ABC's of African-American History", and "Why Didn't Someone Tell Me? A Talk About Teaching in the Inner City".

In his memoirs, Orman recalls a meet-and-greet in the mid-1980s, after performing for an audience of 500 in a Topeka, Kansas college auditorium. One little girl, who Orman estimates was aged seven or eight, approached him for a hug, a regular occurrence. He noticed her hug, wrapping around his neck, was "unusually ardent, [with an] almost desperate quality of… embrace". Orman later discovered that he was the first adult male she had been willing to approach, after being sexually abused by a family member, "some time ago".

Long has taught classes at Roan University, including "The Sesame Street Approach to Elementary Education".

The original Gordon, Matt Robinson, died 5 August 2002. As many fans didn't know there were "Gordons" before Roscoe Orman, and they didn't know Orman's name, rumor spread that it was Orman who died. Hal Miller's post-Sesame career included three movie appearances, and one production credit; only one of the roles were named. Miles Orman now plays basketball for the Marist College Red Foxes.

Miscellaneous

Since Sesame Street Magazine published calendars in every issue, character birthdays were established. Gordon's birthday is February 24, Susan's is is May 4, and Miles' is December 4.

See also

• Gordon: Matt Robinson, Hal Miller, Roscoe Orman
• Susan: Loretta Long
• Miles: Miles Orman, Imani Patterson, Olamide Faison, Kevin Clash
• Alaina Reed, Carl Gordon, Bill Cobbs, Frances Foster