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]