HBO's acquisition of the iconic children's series Sesame Street was supposed to be its salvation in an era where commercial forces and a different way of making children's television threatened one of television's surviving classics.
But now nebulous forces are swirling around the iconic street - where the air, goes the theme song, is sweet - with the revelation that three of the street's best loved humans, Bob, Gordon and Luis, have been cut.
Bob McGrath, Emilio Delgado and Roscoe Orman may not be household names, but ask anyone of a certain vintage if they know who Sesame Street's Bob, Gordon and Luis are and you will be answered with a twinkle of childhood recognition.
For the past 46 years, Sesame Street has been a mainstay of the US public network PBS. It is most famous for being the series which launched the Muppets, including Kermit the Frog, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird.
Last year the rights to new episodes were acquired by the premium cable channel HBO; in Australia the series airs on the ABC.
McGrath confirmed the three actors had been cut from the series during an appearance at a US fan convention. The news was repeated on a Muppet-focused podcast, The Muppetcast.
"The show has gone under a major turnaround, going from an hour to a half hour," McGrath said.
"HBO has gotten involved also and they let all of the original cast members go, with the exception of Alan Muraoka and Chris Knowings."
The official announcement of the departure was made on Twitter, the production company insisting that the three remained a "beloved part of of the Sesame family" and would continue to make public appearances.The cast was constantly evolving and it retained sole creative control, not HBO.
Regarding our beloved cast members: pic.twitter.com/NzZ3HAuIc6— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) July 28, 2016
McGrath, who is 84, noted that Muraoka and Knowings are the two youngest members of the show's cast. Actress Loretta Young, who plays Gordon's wife Susan, also kept her job in the overhaul.
McGrath was a founding member of the show's cast, having appeared on the series since its first episodes in 1969.
Delgado was cast as handyman Luis in 1971; Luis's on-screen wife, Maria, played by Sonya Manzano, was written out of Sesame Street last year. Orman was cast as schoolteacher Gordon in 1974.
The cuts come as the series undergoes a revamp for both its new US broadcaster and what is seen as a new generation of children with different needs.
Some aspects of the series are unchanged: Count von Count still counts, and Cookie Monster still eats cookies, albeit in less volume. And with better table manners.
But elsewhere the changes are noticeable. Oscar the Grouch, for example, will no longer live in a regular dustbin but periodically be seen in a recycling bin.
HBO has not commented on the sacking of the show's three veteran cast members. But the show's producer Carol-Lynne Parente recently said the show had to evolve to meet the changing audience.
"It's a very competitive marketplace and it really is the kids now who are making the decisions," she said.
"Sesame Street is the most-tested show in the history of television. We're trying to diagnose what makes these kids tick."
