a-la peanut butter sandwich!

I have a difficult time picturing the Amazing Mumford being content with his life.  He clearly craved the entertainment spotlight, but wasn't exactly Guy Smiley.  Did he have a day job?  His own apartment?  Grover should have been his roommate.

Click to view... Amazing Mumford does not have much time.

There is a person in every home, school, or workplace that is always running up to harass someone out of boredom.  Sesame Street had Grover.  When it wasn't "Hey Froggy baby!" it was Super Grover literally crashing out of the sky in an attempt to mediate a household argument.  Did he ever get involved with Ernie and Bert when they were fighting in the middle of the night?

He also apparently liked to interfere with the business of magicians, I guess when it was his day off from the restaurant.

Click to view... Rabbit out of a hat.

Was Grover ever USEFUL?

"Hey Count, let me help you count."

"Hey Forgetful Jones, I'll help you try to remember where you left your horse."

"Luis, do you need help fixing that typewriter?  It's been in your window forever."


What was Amazing Mumford's deal?  His tricks seemed to kind-of work, but isn't magic really just illusion?  Were his magic powers ACTUAL?  I sure hope not.  The thought of that is kind of scary.  Imagine if he was having a bad day and decided to walk around the Street making trouble for everybody.  Oscar is suddenly sealed in his can and can't get out.  Big Bird's nest is on fire, except not really.  It just looks like it is, and everyone is momentarily terrified for no good reason.  Susan is fooled by a joke pregnancy test.

Click to view: Long and short.

Favorite songs

All fans of the Street have their favorite characters, moments, and especially SONGS.  Most Sesame Street songs are composed by the resident songwriting guild.

But then there are these other songs that everybody loves, and no one is quite sure where they came from.  Ladybug Picnic, for example.

Click to view... Everybody's favorite.

That's a really good song, and nobody really ever got any credit for it.  Doesn't anybody else WORRY about these things?
 

Well, besides you, Bert.

 

Here's another good one.  Kind of gross, though.

Click to view... B is for Bubble.

I remember that there were Sesame Street music albums with Cookie Monster singing disco music and Oscar the Grouch singing about loving trash.  Is it possible to obtain recordings of the legitimately good SONGS, though?

Some really stellar ones:

Click to view... Two Little Dolls.

Click to view... We All Sing the Same Song

Click to view... It's a Rainy Day

No wonder Don Music was under so much pressure.  His songs were bad.

Sorry Don, but it's true.


Click to view... a much better song.

Why IS Big Bird so big?

He doesn't fit anywhere, besides in his super-huge nest.  How did he build that thing?  There's very few trees on the Street, and he also doesn't fly.

Big Bird has the mind of a child, but the body of an 8-foot-tall humanoid vaguely resembling a bird.  He also does not have a name.  Not a proper one, at least.  He just gets called what he is, kind of like Cookie Monster, whereas puppets like Oscar and Grover get NAME-type names.  Kermit is an animal too, but he gets to be "Kermit THE Frog."  What's the difference?  The human characters should have quibbled over what to name Big Bird, like happened with Barkley/Woof Woof.

"Name him BIRDEY!"

"NO!  Name him Walkie the Bird."

At least part of the time, Big Bird must have been like "The dog gets TWO names and I don't even get ONE?  Maybe I'll go talk to Oscar, he's always naming people."


Big Bird was friends with people and puppets of all sizes, but his BEST friend was Mr. Snuffleupagus, who was also enormously huge.  Not only did Mr. Snuffleupagus get to have a NAME, but also the distinction of being called "Mr."  So evidently he is a fellow of some dignified importance, although doesn't he still live with his mommy?  At any rate, the original versions of both of them were fairly nightmarish.

Big Bird has a nice home for himself but doesn't seem to need too many furnishings.  Just his nest and a bunch of cool-looking barrels.  Does he play with them?  Throw them around like animals in the zoo?  Probably not.  Big Bird never gets violent.  and good thing!  Imagine if Oscar picked on him one too many times.  Big Bird could probably really ring his neck, if he could catch him.  Oscar was quick about ducking down into his can, and no way was Big Bird following him.  Again, he'd never fit.

Click to view... cheap.

Terrible Telly and his Monstrous Worrying

Most Sesame fans know Telly.  He is the puppet that worries all the time.  Kind of a late-comer to the Street, he arrived after many of the other monsters.  Originally, he was intended to be a monster that was obsessed with watching television (that's why he's named that!)

Click to view... Viewing.

Once he had seen enough bothersome TV for anyone's lifetime, he apparently made the decision to pull the plug and roam around Sesame Street bothering people in his own way.  He quickly solidified himself as the Street's most annoying resident, and is still a top contender for that ranking to this day.  (an obviously worse puppet eventually came along, but since we are not at all fond of that guy, we won't talk about him here.)

What is Telly's problem?  Why can't he relax?  I know he watched a LOT of TV, presumably even before he moved onto the Street.  Did he witness a whole bunch of disturbing war footage or something?  Did the Watergate scandal grievously upset him?


Here is a list of things that I bet he has actively worried about:

"Does Oscar hate me?"

"Are Bob and Linda ever gonna get married?"

"Has Cookie Monster put on an unhealthy amount of weight?"

"What if Hooper's Store goes out of business?"

"Does the Count care at ALL about the alphabet?"

"What if a Twiddlebug gets stepped on?"

"What if Super Grover ever crash-lands in the wrong place?"

"Where does Big Bird go to the bathroom?"

"Does Poco Loco bite?"

"Who takes care of that Farley kid after school?"

"What if the Two-Headed Monster REALLY has a domestic?"

"Herbert Birdsfoot sure doesn't leave the house much."

"How come Maria always excuses herself immediately after eating?"

"I overhear Ernie and Bert having fights ALL THE TIME.  Is something actually wrong?"

"Why isn't Roosevelt Franklin on the show anymore?"

"Is Sherlock Hemlock keeping an eye on ME?"

Click to view... Bert likes television TOO.