Sesame Street Robinson's television breakthrough came in 1969 when he joined the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) to assist in the development of a new children's program for National Educational Television titled Sesame Street. His initial role was to produce and oversee filmed segments focusing on the diversity of different characters on the show. Robinson was eventually chosen to play the fictional character of Gordon in the series, after the performance of the character in test episodes by another actor, Garrett Saunders, did not work out as the producers had hoped. Gordon was the first character with spoken lines on the show, as a result of difficulty in finding someone to fill the figure. This was against Robinson's original intentions upon joining the show, as he preferred a behind-the-scenes role, and was initially reluctant to take the part. Dolores Robinson commented on his backseat role on the set: "He was by nature shy, and he knew that they were having a difficult time casting Gordon. And the people overseeing the taping up in the booth, peering at the monitors, kept saying, 'Matt knows what to do. He should be Gordon.'” Robinson remained with Sesame Street until 1972. In total four actors have played Gordon. In addition to Robinson, Roscoe Orman, Garrett Saunders, and Hal Miller have filled the role. Each actor's tenure is not exactly clear with some sources citing Roscoe Orman beginning in 1974 and others in 1973. Later, when Gordon and Susan needed a surname, Robinson's was used in tribute. Robinson wrote one of the first Sesame Street-themed storybooks in 1972, titled Gordon of Sesame Street's Storybook. It was composed of four of his originally written children stories, "No More Milk", "Fisher-Man", "Fire-Man," and "A Lot of Hot Water". The cover has a Gordon Robinson caricature reading to different children. Roosevelt Franklin While with CTW, Robinson also played the voice of a reddish-magenta puppet named Roosevelt Franklin. Robinson worked closely with Jim Henson to accurately design the character, the first black-influenced Muppet. Other minority-based Muppets created by Henson and Robinson were Baby Ray Francis, Mobley Mose and a Latino Muppet, A.B. Cito. Roosevelt Franklin promoted ideals such as family, pride, respect, and geography while also showing a passion for rhyming and blues music. By both creating the character and performing Franklin's voice for three seasons, Robinson helped his puppet become one of the show's main characters. In addition, Franklin