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closeFriday, Nov. 06, 2009
'Sesame Street’ celebrates 4 decades of fun and learning
Enjoy our letter-perfect tribute to 'Sesame Street’ as it counts up 4 decades of fun and learning.
By ROBERT PHILPOT
dfw.com
The Associated Press Archives
Big Bird (Caroll Spinney) reads to Connor Scott and Tiffany Jiao. The Associated Press Archives
AP
Spinney AP
Sesame Street Live
Sesame Street Live
Sesame Workshop via MCT
Sesame Workshop via MCT
Although Google commemorated it a little early last week by incorporating Big Bird’s legs in its logo, Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street’s debut. The child-friendly, Muppet-loaded education/entertainment series will celebrate with a season premiere that includes a new opening sequence and an appearance by first lady Michelle Obama.
Because the alphabet has been so much a part of the series’ history, it seems only appropriate to honor Sesame Street with an A-to-Z look at it. Although other sources were used, this story probably couldn’t have been compiled without Michael Davis’ Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, published last year by Viking. And many of the songs and sketches mentioned are available on YouTube. What’s below just scratches the surface of what you can find about this show in both places.
Ais for Alistair Cookie, the host of Monsterpiece Theatre, aka Cookie Monster in a smoking jacket. Monsterpiece Theater has presented such classic parodies as Twin Beaks (about a town with a secret: all of its birds have two beaks), and 1 Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the story of the number 1 flying over a cuckoo’s nest — which is interrupted by such stories as the one about the number 4 flying over a pig sty and landing in mud.
Bis for Big Bird, the 8-foot-tall, childlike yellow puppet that Jim Henson created to help give a fantasy element to the show’s street scenes. Played by Carroll Spinney since Big Bird’s inception, the character is meant to show 4-year-olds that it’s OK to make mistakes as long as you dust yourself off and keep going. B is also for Bert, the more serious half of the Bert-and-Ernie friendship pair.
Cis for Cookie Monster, which taught us that C is for cookie, and that’s good enough for us.
Dis for D’Abruzzo, Stephanie. The Sesame Street cast member received a Tony nomination for Avenue Q, an adult spoof of the show, which she was working on simultaneously. In Avenue Q, D’Abruzzo played Kate Monster, a kindergarten teaching assistant with a commitment-phobic boyfriend, as well as another character whose name we’re not sure we can print.
Eis for Elmo, the ticklish Muppet which made his debut in 1985 as a background character. The first puppeteer who tried to give him more personality couldn’t find the right voice for him and left the Muppets shortly after. The second puppeteer to work with Elmo didn’t like him, and threw him at fellow puppeteer Kevin Clash, saying "Have you got a voice for this?" Clash found the falsetto voice — and, eventually, the gentle soul that would connect with young children and more than a few adults. E is also for Ernie, the cheerier half of the Bert-and-Ernie duo.
Fis for Frank Oz, protégé of Muppet master Jim Henson and the voice of Bert, Cookie Monster, Grover and dozens of other Muppets, on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show (where Oz was the voice of Miss Piggy). Oz has also directed several movies and is the voice of Yoda in the Star Wars movies.
Gis for Grover, the hippest, most confident Sesame Street Muppet. According to Street Gang, Grover’s personality developed quickly while Frank Oz was playing with the puppet in a mirror in a rehearsal room, discovering the voice almost immediately. Oz enjoyed playing the extroverted Grover, a release from playing the restrained Bert.
His for Henson, Jim, who was already a longtime puppeteer when he brought his Muppets to the incipient Sesame Street. Henson created Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie and others for the show, helping it establish, in his words, a "delicate balance between fun and learning." H is also for "Hey, Froggy, bay-beee!," Grover’s catchphrase greeting for Kermit.
Iis for I Love Trash, Oscar the Grouch’s waltzlike anthem: "I love trash/anything dirty or dingy or dusty/anything ragged or rotten or rusty/oh, I love trash!"
Jis for Jellyman Kelly, performed by singer James Taylor and tubist Howard Johnson (appropriately enough, both have Js in their names). In the YouTube clip, several preschoolers join Taylor (with gusto) on the chorus of the song about a man who loves jelly on his toast. This has been known to lead to adult sing-alongs at Taylor concerts.
Kis for Kermit the Frog, Jim Henson’s alter ego. Kermit began as early as 1955, but was not yet a fully formed frog. He got his first national exposure on Jack Paar’s Tonight Show in November 1957. Kermit has since become one of the Muppets’ biggest stars, the protagonist of many movies, the singer of the moving It’s Not Easy Being Green and arguably the soul of the Muppets family.
Lis for Lesser, Gerald, a Harvard professor who conducted research on children and television. Lesser influenced the guiding principles of Sesame Street, which had to do with researchers working closely with producers and writers, doing test screenings at day-care centers and evaluating programs after they aired, all of which served to improve the effectiveness of the show’s educational goals.
Mis for Mr. Hooper, the proprietor of a Sesame Street grocery store, one of the older human characters on the show. Played by Will Lee, the curmudgeonly Mr. Hooper was the center (and often the butt of the joke) in many comedy bits. After Lee died in 1982, the show memorialized him with a delicate episode designed to explain death to young children. The episode aired on Thanksgiving 1983.
Nis for Nixon, President Richard, who sent a fan letter to the show in early 1970, lauding the fledgling series as "one of the most promising experiments in the history of the medium."
Ois for Oscar the Grouch, a charter Sesame Street resident. According to Street Gang, Carroll Spinney (who also plays Big Bird) found Oscar’s voice when a gruff cabby asked him, "Where to, Mac?" and then proceeded to complain about the way Mayor John Lindsay was running New York. Oscar was originally supposed to live in a manhole; his trash-can home was actually a compromise that softened the character.
Pis for Prairie Dawn, the patient, pink-faced, blond-haired female Muppet developed by Fran Brill, a Broadway actress who had never done puppetry before joining the Henson organization. Brill’s voice skills gave her an entry into the Muppet family. According to Street Gang, "Prairie was the Muppet most liked by librarians." P is also for parody, which Sesame Street is great at, having riffed on everything from the Beatles’ Let It Be with the great song Letter B to, more recently, Mad Men.
Qis for Avenue Q (yes, we’re cheating a little here), the adult Broadway spoof of Sesame Street that’s also a tribute to it. It features such characters as Christmas Eve, who’s a therapist; the Trekkie Monster; and Gary Coleman, who’s a building superintendent.
Ris for Rubber Duckie, Ernie’s ode to his favorite bathtub toy and one of Sesame Street’s greatest hits. Maybe its greatest hit — it landed in the Billboard Top 20 in 1971. R is also for Rosita, an affectionate Muppet that teaches the occasional Spanish word.
Sis for Spinney, Carroll, the voice of Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and other Muppets. According to Street Gang, Henson discovered Spinney when she made a misfired attempt at an elaborate multimedia presentation at the Puppeteers of America convention. Henson already had Big Bird and Oscar in mind when he recruited Spinney. S is also for Snuffleupagus (first name Aloysius), an enormous Muppet (that takes two puppeteers to operate) known for his shyness.
Tis for Toots Thielemans, a well-known jazz musician who played the harmonica on the Sesame Street theme when he was a session musician. Thielemans has been known to play the song in concert, to the surprise of audiences unaware that that he was the musician on the original recording.
Uis for Uggams, Leslie, the host of A Special Sesame Street Christmas, a 1978 special in which Oscar got all Scrooge-y on the other Sesame Street residents. The special featured an odd mix of older entertainers — Ethel Merman, Henry Fonda, Imogene Coca — and a pre-Off the Wall Michael Jackson.
Vis for Von Count, Count. It’s also for vampire, which is what Count Von Count is. But instead of craving blood, Count Von Count craves counting. Curiously, Count Von Count pronounces his v’s as w’s and wise wersa. Er, vice versa.
Wis for . . . W. It’s one of Bert’s favorite letters, as shown in The National Association of W Lovers, in which Bert pays tribute to W and its sound: "What is the letter we love?/What sound are we extra fond of?/It’s not any trouble, you/know it’s a W/when you hear wuhwuhwuh wuh!"
Xis for xylophone, an instrument not heard on How I Miss My X, in which Patti LaBelle sings a wistful song about her ex — which is the letter X. Spoiler alert: X returns at the end of song, which is on YouTube. LaBelle: "I love your little green nose. I love your little eyes. And I love the way you crisscross."
Yis for Your Smiling Face, which James Taylor turned into Your Grouchy Face for a duet with Oscar. "I’m glad that I’m so lucky," James sings to Oscar, "to make you feel yucky every day." Oscar concludes the duet with "Hey, that was rotten!"
Zis for Zoe, a relatively late (1993) introduction to the Muppets lineup that, unlike other Muppets, was conceived with marketing and product development in mind — and designed to be the breakout female Muppet character that the show had lacked. The writers resented having both concepts shoved down their throats, and Fran Brill says in Street Gang that her first on-camera efforts with Zoe were bad because she hadn’t had time to play around with the puppet.
Sources: "Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street" by Michael Davis; YouTube, "Avenue Q" Web site ( www.avenueq.com), Internet Movie Database, "Sesame Street" Web site ( www.sesamestreet.org)
11 a.m. weekdays
KERA/Channel 13
Robert Philpot, 817-390-7872
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