Forty years ago today, Sesame Street premiered, combining a pre-school curriculum with muppets and the short-form comedy format made popular by Rowan & Martin's Laugh In. To make the program more appealing to adults, Sesame Street used celebrity guest stars from the very beginning. James Earl Jones was "the first celebrity to appear on Sesame Street," and he taught the alphabet. Carol Burnett even appeared briefly in the first episode.
Over the years, more than 440 celebrity guests have visited Sesame Street, and that guest list is quite impressive -- four First Ladies (Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama), movie stars, Emmy winners, musicians, star athletes and more. These guests were selected because they had wide appeal while also being good role models for children.
Even though the guest list reads like a book of model citizens, there are a few celebrities who appeared on Sesame Street and then later exhibited headline-grabbing bad behavior. Keeping with that theme, TV Tango presents the top 10 celebrity guests who appeared on Sesame Street but who probably won't be asked to make another appearance.
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Marv Albert
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
- February 22, 1993: Gordon is stranded with Oscar. Marv finds them by chance, offers them a ride home and recaps the basketball game they just missed.
Why Won't He Be Asked Back?
- February 12, 1997: Marv has a kinky sexual encounter with a female friend, and in May 1997 he is arrested and charged with felony forcible sodomy and misdemeanor assault.
- September 26, 1997: He pleads guilty to assault and battery charges.
Brought To You By The Letter: S, for Sex-Crazed Sportscaster
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Alec Baldwin
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
Why Won't He Be Asked Back?
- April 11, 2007: Alec calls his 11-year-old daughter and leaves her a crazed voicemail message that includes the line: "You are a rude, thoughtless little pig. You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being." (Listen to the audio clip at YouTube.)
Brought To You By The Letter: P, for Piss Poor Parenting
* Even though this episode aired after his phone message and subsequent apology, his segment was taped well before the incident.
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Chris Brown
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
Why Won't He Be Asked Back?
- February 8, 2009: Arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, Rihanna. He later pleads guilty to felony assault.
Brought To You By The Letter: H, for Heinous Hip-Hop Hood-Rat
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Nick & Aaron Carter
What Did They Do On Sesame Street?
Why Won't They Be Asked Back?
- March 5, 2005: Nick is charged with driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit.
- February 21, 2008: Aaron is arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession during a routine traffic stop.
Brought To You By The Letter: D, for Dysfunctional Driving Dudes
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Mel Gibson
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
- November 23, 1992: Mel appears on "The Wide Wide World of the World" with Telly as host. (Watch this video on YouTube.)
- March 17, 1993: As Hamlet on "Monsterpiece Theater," Mel just repeats "words, words, words" as Elmo looks at "pictures, pictures, pictures." (Watch this video on YouTube.)
Why Won't He Be Asked Back?
- July 28, 2006: Mel is arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and then launches into a hate-filled, vulgar, racist tirade of swear words, swear words, swear words. His rant includes lines like: "(profanity redacted) Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
Brought To You By The Letter: A, for Anti-Semitic Aussie Alcoholic
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Pee Wee Herman (a.k.a. Paul Reubens)
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
- November 16, 1987: He performs the Pee Wee alphabet in a segment that was taped on the set of Pee Wee's Playhouse but played on multiple episodes of Sesame Street. (Watch this video on YouTube.)
Why Won't He Be Asked Back?
- July 26, 1991: Arrested for indecent exposure at an adult movie theater. Pleaded 'no contest' to charges and paid a $75 fine.
- November 16, 2001: His stash of erotica was found by police when they raided his house. On November 15, 2002 he was charged with a misdemeanor of possessing materials depicting children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual conduct. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing obscene material.
Brought To You By The Letter: E, for Exposed Entertainer
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Billy Joel
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
Why Won't He Be Asked Back?
- June 12, 2002: Joel crashes his car near his home in East Hampton.
- June 14, 2002: Only a few days after the crash, Joel enters alcohol rehab at Connecticut's Silver Hill Hospital.
- January 25, 2003: Joel crashes his car again. This time into a tree, causing ex-wife Christie Brinkley to express "concern about their daughter riding in the car with him."
- April 25, 2004: Joel crashes his car a third time. This time INTO someone's house.
- March 2005: Joel enters alcohol rehab again.
Brought To You By The Letter: C, for Chart-Topping Car-Crashing Composer
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Wynonna Judd
What Did She Do On Sesame Street?
- 1997: Wynonna sang "Somebody to Like You" -- a new version of her song, "Somebody to Love You."
Why Won't She Be Asked Back?
- November 13, 2003: She is arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
- March 22, 2007: Her husband is arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated sexual battery on a child under the age of 13.
- September 29, 2009: Her home-schooled children's teaching assistant is arrested on child pornography charges.
Brought To You By The Letter: V, for Vexed Vocal Virtuoso
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Paula Poundstone
What Did She Do On Sesame Street?
- 1992: Helping animals at the pound.
Why Won't She Be Asked Back?
- June 6, 2001: She allegedly drives while under the influence with children in the car. On June 21, 2001, she is arrested and charged with multiple counts of lewd conduct upon a child and child endangerment. Prosecutors drop the three charges of lewd conduct, and Poundstone pleads guilty to felony child endangerment and misdemeanor inflicting injury on a child.
Brought To You By The Letter: J, for Juiced Jokester
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Isiah Thomas
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
- November 12, 1991: He teaches Elmo to dribble a basketball.
Why Won't He Be Asked Back?
- January 24, 2006: A lawsuit is filed in which Anucha Browne Sanders alleges that Isiah Thomas "made unwanted sexual advances toward her and refused to stop." On October 2, 2007 a court determines Isiah had sexually harassed Browne Sanders but does not have to pay for punitive damages; instead, Madison Square Garden is ordered to pay $11.6 million to Browne Sanders.
- October 24, 2008: Isiah accidentally overdoses on sleeping pills and then, in a news conference, he tries to say that the paramedics were at his house for his 17-year-old daughter and not for him.
Brought To You By The Letter: B, for Baller Behaving Badly
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*****Besides the fact that he's not alive anymore, here's one more person who definitely wouldn't have been a guest celeb a second time.
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Michael Jackson
What Did He Do On Sesame Street?
- December 8, 1978: In this Christmas special, Michael walks while reading a book, "Everything You Wanted to Know About Ghosts But Were Afraid to Ask," when he passes by Oscar's trash can. Oscar tries to barter for the book, but Michael gives it him gratis. (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Why Wouldn't He Be Asked Back If He Was Still Alive?
- November 18, 2002: Staying on the fourth-floor of a hotel in Berlin, Michael puts a towel over the head of Prince Michael II and dangles him over the edge of the balcony.
- February 6, 2003: The special with Martin Bashir airs on ABC, and Michael utters the phrase, "I have slept in a bed with many children." Formal charges are filed against Michael in December 2003, and in April 2004 a grand jury indicts him on charges of "molesting the boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive in 2003." In June 2005 a jury acquits Michael of all charges.
Brought To You By The Letter: M, for Messed-Up Music Moonwalker
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