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First Guest?

This page previously mentioend that James Earl Jones was the first celebrity guest to appear on the show. I can't remember if I put that piece of info there or not, but I took it out, because, after looking at the page for Episode 0001, Carol Burnett was actually the first guest star. The book Sesame Street Unpaved incorrectly mentioned (twice, I might add) that James Earl Jones was the first celebrity to appear on the show. Now, if anybody knows whether James Earl Jones was the first celebrity booked for an appearance, or if he was the first to appear in a taped insert but his insert wasn't the first celebrity segment to be broadcast, or if he appeared in one of the test pilots, then a note could be added to the article. --Minor muppetz 14:55, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm going to change this. Although he was the first celebrity to be involved in filming segments for the show, the DVD release establishes clearly that Carol Burnett was the first to actually appear on screen. 68.145.238.33 05:26, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

First, the text is accurate, according to the notes on the DVD set. He was in the pilot episodes. Secondly, while we appreciate your interest, this is your final notice. Please register a username (it doesn't have to be your real name) according to Muppet Wiki user name policy. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 05:27, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

But the pilot episodes were never broadcast, so therefore the general public saw Carol Burnett first. 23skidoo 14:11, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I agree that that should be noted in the text, but the Old School: Volume 1 DVDs state that Jones was the first celebrity guest, so that's Sesame Workshop's official stance. -- Peter (talk) 16:27, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Right, I'd noted that. Frankly, I think the Burnett sentence is just messy, and obvious from checking Episode 0001. Clarifying that the test pilot was unaired makes sense, but on the page about Jones, I think it seems a bit much. Can we either remove the Burnett passage, and let the evidence stand for itself, or if it's insisteded upon, at the very least make it a note? (My preference is the former). Plus, the importance of Jones as "first guest" in this instance has less to do with which mainstream audiences say first, but which test audiences saw first, and thus was used by the academic advisors and producers as a specific model. Gerald Lesser and other writers discuss it as setting a standard for a particular pedagogical approach, and one incorporated in countless celebrity alphabet/counting inserts to follow, as discussed in the "James Earl Jones Effect" section; Lesser discusses a variation of the technique using Pat Paulsen, it's evident in the Bill Cosby twins segment, or Dan Blocker pausing to ask his horse before saying the number 20. (I should expand on that section, in fact). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 16:48, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

A Walking Tour of Sesame Street with James Earl Jones

Real, or nonsense created by a Muppet Central poster? The was a series with a similar name that launched in 1998, but I find it odd. -- Zanimum 19:57, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Go to YouTube and search "Sesame Street James Earl Jones" and you'll find it posted in 3 parts. --MuppetVJ 20:42, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Very cool. Thanks. -- Zanimum 17:49, 24 July 2006 (UTC)