According to Kevin Clash, it was by default that he wound up as the voice of Elmo on 'Sesame Street.' But it was his performance that turned the character into an icon, though most people are still surprised when they see him and discover what he does.

On 'The Daily Show' (Weeknights, 11PM ET on Comedy Central), he shared a fun story about being asked by a flight attendant to speak to the children over the microphone on an airplane as it was landing. The best bit was that when he was finished, he said he saw people peeking into the aisles to see who it was. When he came through, they shook their heads in disbelief.

The upcoming 'Sesame Street' special 'Growing Hope Against Hunger' is introducing a new Muppet character to talk about the growing national child poverty rate. Her name is Lily, and she dropped by 'Early' (weekdays, 9AM ET on CBS) to talk about the issue.

"One of the most important things for me was not feeling like I was alone," Lily said. "The more I got involved with my community, the more I felt like I was helping other families." In the episode, Lily and Elmo will volunteer at a food pantry. "A lot of the time people don't talk about it, but once you do, you realize you just feel better, and people can find comfort in each other."

'Growing Hope Against Hunger' airs Sun., Oct. 9 at 7PM ET on PBS.

'Sesame Street' has become known for its pop culture parodies and this season they're taking on one of TV's biggest show's: 'Glee.'

In 'G,' muppets depict our favorite 'Glee' kids with shockingly accurate caricatures. To prepare for the G-gionals, the G club, who only sing songs about the letter "G" and its two different sounds the letter makes.

There's romance, rivalry and even a muppet Sue Sylvester as the G Club performs a spoof of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'.' It's better than most of 'Glee' Season 2!

Check out the video below! Plus, 'Sesame Street' takes on 'The Deadliest Catch' and Justin Bieber!

A gaggle of A-List celebrities -- including Mila Kunis, Sofia Vergara and Joel McHale -- won't have to ask "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?" any longer: They're slated to appear in Season 42.

Along with the big name guests, 'Sesame Street' will spoof 'Glee,' 'Deadliest Catch' and the Broadway musical 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.'

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will also guest star. The new season kicks off on Mon., Sept. 26 on PBS.

After the jump, check out a full list of scheduled guest stars.

Critics tend to rave about dramas like 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Game of Thrones,' 'The Good Wife,' 'Mad Men' and 'Justified,' so it was no surprise to learn that all those awards picked up multiple nominations from the Television Critics Association, which announced its TCA Awards nominees Monday.

The Television Critics Association is an organization of more than 200 television critics and journalists, and this year, the group made some pretty unimpeachable choices.

On the comedy side, 'Parks and Recreation,' 'Louie,' 'Modern Family' and 'Community' picked up multiple nominations.

Things took a turn for the silly on 'Top Chef All Stars' (Wed., 10PM ET on Bravo) when several of the 'Sesame Street' monsters stopped by to judge a cookie competition. Of course, that meant Cookie Monster would be there, and he was joined by both Elmo and Telly.

Telly seemed to take the competition pretty seriously, while Elmo used the opportunity to crack jokes. When one of the contestants mentioned using thyme in her recipe, Elmo asked, "How much time?"

"45 minutes," Cookie Monster replied seriously.

Even though multiple cable networks have passed on airing the controversial 'Kennedys' miniseries, it could still come to a TV screen near you.

According to Deadline, producers are in talks to sign a syndication deal with Tribune Broadcasting. After Showtime, DirecTV and Starz all passed on the eight-part series, which was canceled by the History Channel after concerns over historical accuracy, several basic cable networks reportedly showed interest in airing the film as well. However, Deadline reports that the producers would rather sell 'The Kennedys' to syndication.

In other TV news ...

• Jimmy Fallon is writing a book. The talk show host will turn his weekly bit about writing thank-you notes into two different books called, well, 'Thank You Notes.' The first will be released on May 23, the second in spring of 2012. [Variety]

• Marcos Siega, the man who helmed the first episode of The CW's 'The Vampire Diaries,' will be in charge of another sure-to-be-hit series. Siega has been tapped to direct the pilot of the new 'Charlie's Angels' reboot, which stars Minka Kelly, Rachael Taylor and Annie Ilonzeh. [Entertainment Weekly]

• When you see that 'Grease' is on cable, do you immediately stop channel surfing so you can sing along to your favorite faux-'50s musical? Then have we got the cable event for you: Oxygen will air a 'Grease' sing-along on Feb. 4 at 9:30PM ET to kick off a 12-hour 'Glee' marathon. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Take note of the new pilot AMC just picked up, 'Hell on Wheels,' because it's probably going to be the highly respected new period drama you'll be talking about this time next year.

The show follows a former Confederate soldier (Anson Mount, pictured) as he heads out West, searching for vengeance while helping to build the First Transcontinental Railroad, Deadline reports. Rapper Common also stars as a freed slave.

This is the sixth out of six AMC pilots to get a full season order. Its 10 episodes will air sometime in 2011.

In other TV news ...

• Bill Pullman has joined Starz's 'Torchwood' as a series regular. Season 4 of the show will feature the actor as a convicted murderer who just barely escapes life in prison due to a technicality. [Deadline]

• A Fox rep confirmed to Time's TV critic that the final episodes of 'Running Wilde' will air this month. "Word from Fox: Final #RunningWilde eps WILL air this month: 12/19, 12/26 and 12/28," James Poniewozick tweeted. [Twitter]

• 'Sesame Street' is heading back to China. A shorter, Shanghai-centric version of the series will be broadcast in Mandarin to Shanghai TV sets starting Dec. 22. General Electric sponsored the show's broadcast from 1998-2001. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Well, she got into trouble with some Muppets. Now, let's see if Katy Perry can get in trouble with some Simpsons. A few months back, the pop singer was famously cut from an installment of 'Sesame Street,' after her low-cut outfit offended some parents and was deemed too "cleavage-y."

But Katy landed on her feet, and is back on the new Christmas-themed episode of 'The Simpsons' (Sun., 8PM ET on Fox). And she's wearing a form-fitting red dress that shows off about the same amount of décolletage. Lucky, this is prime-time on Fox, not the middle of the afternoon on PBS, so she shouldn't get banned this time around.

Using the power of the Internet worked for fans of Betty White when they wanted her to host 'Saturday Night Live.' Can the same work for Cookie Monster?

'Sesame Street' posted an 'SNL' audition reel for the gluttonous Muppet on their YouTube account. We're not sure if the children's show is serious about this viral campaign for Cookie Monster, which includes a Facebook page. But if they are successful, one of their most iconic characters would perform with the same people who railed against 'Sesame Street' for the Katy Perry debacle.

Chances are it's just a stunt. The producers probably want to seem hip again.

November 18, 1985 was a day that changed children's television. It was on this day that Elmo, the furry red monster of 'Sesame Street,' came into his own, thanks to puppeteer Kevin Clash.

An extra for years, voiced on occasion by folks like Carol Spinney (Big Bird) and Richard Hunt (Scooter from 'The Muppet Show'), Clash turned the very minor character into a 3 1/2-year-old mainstay that, depending on your feelings, transformed 'Sesame Street' in a good or bad way.

Since his introduction to 'Sesame Street,' Elmo has become the face of the four-decade old series, appearing on talk shows, primetime series, his own movie ('Elmo in Grouchland') and on the toy shelves as Tickle Me Elmo. He even has his own 15-minute show-within-a-show on 'Sesame Street' titled 'Elmo's World.'

How to dress up like Katy Perry from 'Sesame Street' for Halloween

The Costume: Katy Perry from her 'Hot N Cold' duet with Elmo. This turned out to be the most controversial 'Sesame Street' moment in recent memory -- making for a perfect sexy/ topical costume.

What You'll Need: Find a lime green dress that shows off your cleavage. It's difficult to find Perry's exact outfit, but plenty of similar ones appear when you Google search "spaghetti straps lime green dress."

The important thing is your cleavage be apparent. We're hate sounding like perverts, yet her low-cut dress is the whole reason parents became upset. Few people will remember the exact dress, but they will remember the cleavage.

'Sesame Street' has been on a spoofing roll, first with that 'True Mud' video and now a parody of the Old Spice guy commercials.

Old Spice Guy Isaiah Mustafa became a viral marketing sensation thanks to hilarious ads featuring him on a horse, balancing on a log in a lake and asking, "So ladies, should your man smell like an Old Spice man?"

In 'Sesame Street's' spoof, Grover sports a towel and declares that "anything is possible when you smell like a monster." And instead of the whole "I'm on a horse" bit, well, he does his own Grover-y version.

Can you spell "bad decision," kids? It seems like PBS has a little trouble with it. Due to the network's overreaction about complaints over Katy Perry's outfit on 'Sesame Street,' the show has become a prime target for blogs, Twitter users and late-night television. 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' joined 'Saturday Night Live' by mocking 'Sesame Street' with a 'Jersey Shore' spoof.

Jimmy's staff put together a commercial for the mock PBS show 'Sesame Shore,' starring the cast of 'Jersey Shore,' some confused children and a pickle puppet. Snooki, Pauly D, Vinny, J-Woww, Ronnie and Sammi all appear, but The Situation is too busy practicing his foxtrot on 'Dancing With The Stars' to show up in person.

Click forward to watch for yourself.

'Sesame Street' has a 'True Blood' spoof called in its upcoming new season, which premieres Sept. 27. Yep, 'True Blood' -- the nakedest, bloodiest show on TV.

The 'True Mud' parody will air on the season 41 premiere of the children's show on Sept. 27.

Has anyone notice 'Sesame Street' seems to be aiming a little older when it comes to material? This week the show spawned controversy by posting a duet between Katy Perry and Elmo online. Parents complained about her cleavage and 'Sesame Street' ended up cutting short the singer's play date with the muppet.