The angst of Don Music

Don Music is known for being Sesame Street's resident music composer.  He is also known for banging his head on the keyboard.

Mr. Music had to go away for awhile to resolve his self-abuse issues.  Children were apparently imitating him at home with injurious results.  I haven't watched Sesame Street in a long time, but as far as I know he successfully rehabilitated himself and was eventually welcomed back.

The routine is usually the same.  Kermit the Frog (in full journalism mode) will show up to intrude upon Don Music during the creative process.  Mr. Music is clearly struggling to finish his piece.  Kermit then begins suggesting any words that rhyme, even if they completely do not fit the context.  The whole piece winds up getting re-written, and they both seem happy with it.

Click to view... "THERE'S your PROBLEM."

Don Music is then delusional enough to believe that he has composed something "great," whereas Kermit never seemed to care in the first place.  Song lyrics are not good just because they RHYME.  Try telling that to a frog, though.

Most music composers know how to play more than one instrument.  While I only ever remember seeing Don Music play the piano, I assume that he knew how to play other things as well.  Did his writer's block result in the same escalated level of frustration when he was trying to play the clarinet?  Imagine him breaking one over his knee.  I'm sure plenty of guitars got smashed.  He should have just played the drums whenever he felt angry.  Drums are MEANT to be hit.  a composer can really vent.

Don Music's most usual confidant was his "friend" Bill, who appears to actually just be a bust of William Shakespeare.

So evidently he DID have a passion for the English language and its inventive usage.  What would Shakespeare himself think of Don and Kermit's co-creations?  I guess it's good that Bill had no other choice than to keep his mouth shut.


Click to view... "Why would anybody call anything macaroni except macaroni?"

Mr. Snuffleupagus proves to exist

He WAS real AFTER all.

Big Bird and Snuffy seemed to have a very natural friendship.  I wonder if it was, at least in part, based on physical size.  Most people on the Street were much smaller than them.  There were only a couple of exceptions.  Bruno was pretty big.  They should have invited him to hang out in the nest area with them.

The main thing with Mr. Snuffleupagus was that for years, Big Bird could not convince anybody that he actually existed.  Then finally the cruel mind torture was put to an end, and Snuffy was introduced to the rest of the Sesame Street cast.  Thank goodness their first exposure to him was the modern Snuffy.  The original was fairly horrific-looking.

Click to view... Rafael is skeptical.

It was a happy conclusion for all involved.  But it got me thinking, what about those that WEREN'T involved?  Did anybody else on the Street have some kind of incredible claim or story that they found impossible to ever prove?

What if Sherlock Hemlock uncovered the clues leading to a potential conviction in a decades-old murder case?

What if the Count said that he actually managed to count to "infinity" once, but there were no witnesses?

What if Linda claimed that she somehow once HEARD something?

Click to view... Bert's body is found.

Roosevelt Franklin

One of the most prominent characters featured in the early years of the Street was the resident smart guy, Roosevelt Franklin.

Roosevelt was not your typical know-it-all.  He had a massive ego (he named the school after himself!) but was still very well-liked.  Roosevelt's favorite thing was to take front stage in the classroom while the teacher was absent and start teaching the class on his own.

Click to view... Smart Tina not so smart.

Where WAS the real teacher?  He or she was never seen.  Hiding in the teacher's lounge with Mr. Snuffleupagus, perhaps.


It all worked out because as much as Roosevelt liked teaching, the other kids in the class were just as eager to learn.

No one is sure what happened to Roosevelt and the rest of the gang in the long run, as the classroom skits were eventually phased out.  Hopefully they all lived up to their academic potential and grew up to become doctors.  Imagine Hardhead Henry Harris as a pediatrician.

When not in school, Roosevelt Franklin spent most of his time going over "lessons" with his mother.  She seemed to find him quite exasperating, but he never really did anything wrong.  He sure was animated, though.  Like too much sugar or something.

Click to view... Roosevelt Franklin KNOWS his alphabet.

All of these characters were clearly intended to be African-American.  Except they are puppets, and the Sesame puppets do not really belong to any "race."  They can be any of the colors of the rainbow.  Bert is yellow, but he is not Asian.  Suzette from Roosevelt's classroom is the same color as Kermit the Frog.  Which is a good example, actually.  Kermit is a frog, but "frog" is not a race.  Grover has blue fur, but is he supposed to be "white?"  It's impossible to say.

So there was obvious confusion in regards to Roosevelt and his friends.  If they were supposed to be "black" puppets, what exactly made them so?  Language?  Behavior?  No explanation was ever provided, and the characters were eventually eliminated.  I don't see why they couldn't have just been integrated with the rest of the puppets.  What difference would it make?  Puppets should be allowed to speak and behave however they want.  They don't have ethnic backgrounds.  They only have gender.

Click to view... Baaad news.

Sesame Street in the Old West

Sesame Street was very urban, children playing games on crowded city streets.  Far away, however, there apparently was some sort of alternate Sesame universe that existed in the "Old West."

The Old West was featured prominently within Sesame programming.  The atmosphere was gruff and fear was rampant.   None of the law-abiding puppets wanted to cross paths with Bad Bart, Mean Manny, or especially Sinister Sam.

Click to view... Y?

I don't think anybody wanted to cross paths with Forgetful Jones either, but it was for different reasons.

a lot of people, and puppets, tend to be "forgetful."  But Forgetful Jones seemed to be downright brain-damaged.  What COULD he remember?  Birthdays?  What about CHRISTMAS?  and who cleaned up after Buster the Horse?  How many times could Clementine possibly listen to "I FORGOT!"

Sesame Street stressed the importance of diversity.  Everyone was granted equal respect, regardless of race, religion, or gender.  As long as you lived ON Sesame Street itself, that is.  Otherwise all bets were off.  Cowboys and other "Westerners" were targeted at will.

Click to view... "they really weren't very smart."

They were almost never portrayed as intelligent.  They had poor memorization skills and demonstrated little backbone.

They could not catch the Great Cookie Thief.

Click to view... "Hi pardner."