It’s more reputable than any of their media outlets, so why not?

CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who stops by Sesame Street Oct. 16 for a “newscast” with grouchy anchors Walter Cranky and Dan Rather-Not, says he owes a huge debt of gratitude to the program for helping him learn to read when he was a child.

“I have a mild form of dyslexia, and I had a reading problem. So for me, Sesame Street was vital,” says Cooper, 40. “Beyond what I learned in terms of ABC’s and counting, the sense of how one deals with other people is something that I got early on from Sesame Street.”

Producer Carol-Lynn Parente says many celebrities — often those who have children — become interested in appearing on the program. “We get tons of requests, so we’re usually booked up long before the season starts. People have a fun time.”

Rather-Not…check facts.