Mr. Humphries is never elaborated upon. Though Mr. Humphries exhibits many of the behaviors typical of a gay stereotype, his true sexual orientation is never explicitly confirmed in the series. The reticence was a necessity given prevailing attitudes at the time the series was produced: after the first five episodes of "Are You Being Served?", a senior BBC executive ordered David Croft to "Get rid of the poof" from the show – Croft declined, saying: "If the poof goes, I go." Many jokes throw Mr Humphries into heterosexual clinches. At one point he is asked to fill in for Mrs. Slocombe at
Mr. Noodle they can do what he can't". According to "Sesame Street" researcher Lewis Bernstein, the characters, whom he called "bungling", gave young viewers "the opportunity to figure it out" before the adults did. Mr. Noodle Mr. Noodle and his siblings—Mr. Noodle's brother Mister Noodle, Ms Noodle, and Miss Noodle—are characters who appear in the "Elmo's World" segments during the educational children's television program "Sesame Street". Mr. Noodle was played by Broadway actor Bill Irwin, who had previously worked with Arlene Sherman, executive producer of "Sesame Street" and co-creator of "Elmo's World", in short films for the program. When Irwin became unavailable,