ChildrensTelevisionWorkshop

There are few signs in this crazy business that you have become an indelible and beloved member of the pop culture lexicon than getting a cameo appearance on an episode of Sesame Street. Case in point: Gallagher, O.J. Simpson and Kanye West have yet to appear on an episode of Sesame Street.

Well, would you want West teaching your kids the difference between "near" and "far," things that are yellow and why George Bush hates black people?

Some upcoming episodes of the long running PBS kids' show will include appearances by Christina Applegate on Jan. 25, Hugh Jackman on Jan. 27, Debi Mazar and Sarah Jessica Parker on Feb. 16 and Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria-Parker on Feb. 18.

Since 2001, there has not been a video game based on the characters in Sesame Street. This is about to change as the Children's Television Workshop has licensed Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to create games based on the franchise.

This is how my sick mind works. I'm envisioning "Call of Duty: Sesame Street" in which our beloved muppet characters have been stricken with a zombie plague and must be destroyed by a military platoon. The Count, being already undead, remains unaffected.

Another celebrity death has hit the world of the small screen.

Actress Alaina Reed Hall, probably best remembered for playing Rose on the sitcom 227 and Olivia on Sesame Street from the late 70s to the late 80s, passed away last week after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 63

Of course, her career stretches far beyond those two shows with parts on just about every major show in the last few decades including Friends, ER and Ally McBeal, but she was always Olivia to me. She was on the show and even the big screen spinoff Follow That Bird during my formative years, so her sweet and endearing demeanor performance as Olivia pretty much stuck her with the role.

I'm sure if I met her in person, I would accidentally call her Olivia at least four times and something tells me she would not have minded a bit.

There are a few definitive signs that you have become an icon in television news: getting a blog dedicated solely to your ties, winning an "Auto-Tune the News" award, and bringing the world the hilarious tale of an exploding whale.

Last week, Fox News' "No Spin" pundit Bill O'Reilly was cemented into fame when Sesame Street unveiled their "Spill O'Reilly," the newest talking head on the "Grouch News Network" that includes such greats as Walter Cranky, Dan Rather-not and Sally Messy Yuckayel.

This got me thinking...

The Internet's never ending "series of tubes" were circulating rumors that I thought had already been addressed years ago by TV Squad, The View and even the monster's own mouth.

Rumors started circulating earlier this morning that Sesame Street's Cookie Monster would drop the "Cookie" on his business card and replace it with "Veggie." It became the top Google search this morning and fueled rumors that the character would make the official change on the show's 40th Anniversary on Nov. 10th.

A show rep said Cookie Monster will remain as such, even if he considers cookies a "sometimes food." That's good ol' Cookie Monster, teaching kids the value of nutrition while sacrificing the value of good grammar.