1978.

December 3, 2008 8:54 PM

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

posted by Miko (23 comments total)

instant favourite - though I've never actually seen this special. Instead, we had the LP, and we listened to it over and over and over again.
posted by jb at 9:16 PM on December 3, 2008

Kermit singing New York I Love You. Sort of.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:21 PM on December 3, 2008

And lest we forget John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together (FWIW -- my all-time favorite holiday television special and Christmas album).

Some excerpts:

The 12 Days of Christmas.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

Silent Night.

The Peace Of Christmas Day.

Alfie the Christmas Tree.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

posted by ericb at 9:27 PM on December 3, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Sesame Street is cool. Look through this List of celebrity guest stars on Sesame Street and just try to disagree. Johnny Cash, Cheech Marin, Ziggy Marley, Ralph Nader, Richard Pryor, Jon Stewart, The Simpsons, Robin Williams, Patrick Stewart, Larry King, B.B. King, Jesse Jackson, The Dixie Chicks, Ray Charles, Lauren Bacall, Kofi Annan, Batman, and me.

OK, I made up that last one. But all of the rest really were guests. Sesame Street is cool.
posted by twoleftfeet at 9:27 PM on December 3, 2008

This is wonderful, but why did this make me so sad? I mean a real, sigh-heaving, shoulders-drooping sadness. I was smiling but wanted to burst into tears. I'm so confused.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:39 PM on December 3, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Because we know that Big Bird must melt away, but, don't be sad, for he will be back again some day.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:17 PM on December 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Marisa, it's not just you. I'm kinda tearing up and all I got to was Big Bird wobbling over the ice.

Man, childhood is weird.

Miko, you made my night. Even if it is a little teary.
posted by fuzzbean at 10:21 PM on December 3, 2008

Thanks, Miko. Every year something different triggers that seasonal melancholy. I figured after watching the Grinch, Rudolph and Charlie Brown without it hitting me, it was going to pass.

It's the VHS rendition that's really the icing on the cake.

The only cure is caroling. In a Kermit voice.
posted by jabberjaw at 11:05 PM on December 3, 2008

How is it possible that I never heard of this? Granted, I would have just turned 9 when it aired, and that may have been getting a little old for Sesame Street, but it seems odd that I wouldn't have even known about it.
posted by willnot at 12:13 AM on December 4, 2008

Cheech Marin

As Bernie (or Ert)
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:47 AM on December 4, 2008

I love this! It always made me so sad when I was little - Big Bird on the roof in the cold, alone and no one being able to find him. Now it's just sad to see Mr Hooper (Looper) again. This is such a great show, it reminds me of how much goodness Sesame Street brought to my life as a child.

Ever wonder what happened to all the characters? A while back I looked them all up:

Bob

Maria

Gordon

Susan

David

Luis

Linda

I love that so many of them are still on the show.
posted by triggerfinger at 2:51 AM on December 4, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Sesame Street productions around the world.
posted by gman at 4:18 AM on December 4, 2008

Great links, triggerfinger, thanks!

On Luis' it says He "was famous for doing ba-limp." What the hell is that? I tried Googling it but it looks like Wikipedia noise...unless it really means something. Any idea?

This show makes me tear up, too. It was only broadcast a very few times, and each time it was broadcast on Christmas Eve, so it was pretty easy to miss. It's so simple and peaceful, but it is sad, too - parentless Big Bird, confused and easily upset, and the Grouch so bent on ruining his holiday.

Good thing all those others are so sweet.
posted by Miko at 5:39 AM on December 4, 2008

They used to sneak this into Sesame Street's regular time slot a day or two before Christmas with no warning or notice, which made it hard to catch when you wanted to. I love the music in this, especially the opening theme and "True Blue Miracle."

Okay. Are you done tearing up at this cherished memory? Now it's time for the OTHER Sesame Street Christmas special, the one that aired the very same year this one debuted, but aired on CBS instead of PBS, only included some of the cast and one of the Muppet performers, but to make way for a bevy of stars who I don't think ever appeared in connection with the show in any other form: Henry Fonda, Leslie Uggams, Anne Murray... and yes, Michael Jackson.

It's not quite Star Wars Holiday Special bad, but it's close. If you don't care to sit through it, treat yourself to this hilarious review instead.
posted by evilcolonel at 5:58 AM on December 4, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

evilcolonel: I'm laughing out loud at the review, and I've only gotten as far as the hurt kitten.
posted by Miko at 6:01 AM on December 4, 2008

I love how one of the skaters (at 1 minute) was wearing a Bobby Hull Winnipeg Jets sweater. (Especially coming from an Illinois channel.)

That was fun watching this.
posted by philfromhavelock at 6:06 AM on December 4, 2008

Bert and Ernie re-enacting The Gifts Of The Magi still makes me all sniffly.

My favorite Sesame Street story: Emilio Delgado and Sonia Manzano (Luis and Maria) were approached by a woman on the street who told them how wonderful she thought it was that they had fallen in love and gotten married on TV. Manzano told her that they weren't really married, and the woman, taken aback, said "Well. That's okay. As long as you really love each other."
posted by EarBucket at 6:42 AM on December 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

It makes me happy/tear up to see Bob and Linda signing in the episode which makes it more accessible to my daughter, who is fluent in ASL.
posted by plinth at 7:53 AM on December 4, 2008

We had this video; I always get teary when Big Bord is lost, then found. Kep Christmas With You is one of my favorite carols. Nice post, thanks, Miko.
posted by theora55 at 7:53 AM on December 4, 2008

Just last night the official Sesame Street youtube page posted a video of I Hate Christmas from this special. I didn't remember that part (for some reason the Bert/Ernie/Magi storyline sticks in my head the most), but it contains this awesome verse:

Here comes Santa, girls and boys
So who needs that big red noise?
I'll tell him where to put his toys
I hate Christmas
(And if you want the truth, I ain't so crazy about Thanksgiving or Labor Day, either!)

LOL.
posted by lampoil at 9:22 AM on December 4, 2008

And if you want to listen to the original LP again, I have it available here.
posted by stefnet at 12:06 PM on December 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Different, but related:

A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
Part I | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
posted by anastasiav at 10:23 AM on December 5, 2008

Kermit singing New York I Love You. Sort of.

I've seen this linked several places, and I can't stop laughing at the reveal at the end.

(For the unknowledgable: That is James Murphy, the head dude of LCD Soundsystem, and the writer and singer of the song.)
posted by sparkletone at 10:10 PM on December 6, 2008