The Muppets

Big Bird is an 8'2"-tall yellow canary who lives in a large nest on an abandoned lot which is located behind 123 Sesame Street's garbage heap. Big Bird is often visited by his friend Aloysius Snuffleupagus, who is a very large, brown wooly elephant-like creature and is known more popularly by his nickname "Snuffy". Various other snuffleupaguses have appeared on the show from time to time, most notably Snuffy's little sister Alice and his unnamed mother. Initially, Snuffy was figured as a figment of Big Bird's imagination, other Sesame Street characters never seeing him. In the mid-1980s, however, Snuffy was revealed to be "real" and incorporated into the regular cast of the show.

Oscar the Grouch, who loves trash, lives with his pet worm Slimey and his pet elephant Fluffy in a garbage can in the heap. Bert and Ernie, two of the most-recognized Muppets, are friends who room together in the basement apartment of 123 Sesame Street, and regularly engage in comic routines which showcase their odd-couple personalities. Ernie's flowerbox was once a hotspot for Twiddlebugs, a colorful family of insects.

The Bear family, which resembles the bears of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, resides in Sesame Street. This Jewish family, headed by Papa Bear and Mama Bear, welcomed their second child Curly Bear, and Baby Bear became a good friend of the monsters Telly and Zoe, Mexico-born Rosita, and the furry, red preschooler Elmo. Elmo has his own segment near the end of each episode, in which viewers explore topics in Elmo's World, an imaginary version of his house. New to Sesame Street is Abby Cadabby, a fairy-in-training who attends Storybook Community School with Baby Bear.

Grover's regular segment, Global Grover, follows the self-described "cute, furry monster" around the world as he explores local cultures and traditions. Cookie Monster fights with his conscience daily during Letter of the Day, as he tries to control his urges to eat the letters, shown as icing on cookies. Prairie Dawn often attempts to help Cookie Monster refrain from eating the letters, but never succeeds and always leaves frazzled. Count von Count has fewer problems during the Number of the Day segment, where he indulges in counting until the mystery number is revealed by his pipe organ.

Humphrey and Ingrid are a married couple who have a baby named Natasha, and they are the proprietors of the hotel known as The Furry Arms, which is located near the Sesame Street Subway station. The hotel's bellhop, Benny Rabbit, tends to be easily irritated, but begrudgingly helps out.

Kermit the Frog hosted the segment Sesame Street News Flash. In other segments, Kermit would play straight man to the wacky antics of other Muppets. The Two-Headed Monster sounded out words coming together, and the Yip-Yip aliens discovered telephones and typewriters. For two seasons, Googel, Narf, Mel and Phoebe hung out in the Monster's Clubhouse.

Incidental characters include television personality Guy Smiley, construction workers Sully and Biff, the large Herry Monster (who does not know his own strength), and The Big Bad Wolf, who is not a terror to the Street. Forgetful Jones, a cowboy with a short-term memory disorder, rode his trusty Buster the Horse with his girlfriend Clementine, and Rodeo Rosie was an early cowgirl.