Great post! (Roscoe Orman is only one of at least 3 Gordons, btw.)
Also, I always find it weird watching these really old TV shows over the Internet. Who then could have predicted that in the future people would watch them while sitting in front of a flickering screen at home? posted by DU at 6:45 PM on March 29, 2009
Maria's real name isn't Maria, but (at least for a while) her on-screen daughter Gabriella was played by her real life daughter Gabriella. posted by DU at 6:47 PM on March 29, 2009
MetaFilter: The most powerful exploding device known to man.
I absolutely love the Muppets. My kids are going to watch every single episode of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and that's that. posted by Mikey-San at 6:53 PM on March 29, 2009 [1 favorite]
True story: Bob sang 'the dishwasher is a person in your neighborhood' to me when I first started working at 14... and yes, I was a dishwasher. posted by Nanukthedog at 7:12 PM on March 29, 2009 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I used to hang out on the street. You come back and see everything's changed. But it's still the same in a lot of ways. Elmo is bigger than Grover. Wow. But, I saw this a bit ago, always puts a smile on my face, so the street is still in good hands. posted by Smedleyman at 7:16 PM on March 29, 2009
Stay tuned for the second half of that Christmas sketch. It's weird and a little bit dirty. posted by empath at 7:19 PM on March 29, 2009
Tranny Kermit's upskirt is pretty disconcerting, yes. posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:26 PM on March 29, 2009
When you said that Will Lee played Pac-Man in a commercial, I pictured him in yellow make-up, running around chasing ghosts and eating giant dots. I was very disappointed at the real thing. posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:28 PM on March 29, 2009
Bonus Gordon: Unknown Actor (from a test episode that only aired in Philadelphia) (Bob McGrath sings theme song instead of kids) posted by evilcolonel at 8:07 PM on March 29, 2009 [2 favorites]
This is one of the finest shows ever put on television. I could watch with my son and get almost as much out of it as he did. Some of the videos like the visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Japan, and China, and then the 25th Anniversary video were amazingly good. The recent political correctness though kind of ruins that and dumbs down the whole thing. Cookie Monster is not supposed to crave veggies, I am sorry. posted by caddis at 8:32 PM on March 29, 2009
Bob McGrath singing Japanese is the best thing ever. posted by cazoo at 8:35 PM on March 29, 2009
I grew up with this show. I still remember many of the things I learned from it. Here's to 40, and another 40. May Sesame Street outlast Meet the Press (61 years), and the Tonight Show (54). May there be a Sesame Street on the colonies of Mars, and beyond.
Because we are all the people in your neighborhood. posted by strixus at 9:02 PM on March 29, 2009 [1 favorite]
Hell, I even remember the good old days when Big Bird was the only one who ever see Snuffy and everyone else thought it was a symptom of some undiagnosed mental infirmity.
I remember before they started to add characters like ~Elmo~ to make up for flagging plot-lines in the show.
I remember when Mr. Hooper died, and everyone was very genuinely sad (including myself).
I grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, where Bob has lived (and still lives) most of his life during his Sesame Street career. You have to understand that I cannot actually use his last name. At all. No one in our town can. He rides on the July 4th float and people just scream "BOB!" at him. Basically, he's magical. He was at a store once and suddenly discovered something tugging at his pants leg. He looked down at it was a four-year-old child. And she looked up at him, and whispered "Boooobbbbbbbb."
My sister used to work at the health food store on the main street and one day I came by and she had this weird look on her face, and when I asked her what was up she just whispered to me, much like a small child would tell their parents that they see a deer outside in the yard and do not want to scare it away but at the same time would very much like to go up to it and ride it, "It's. Booooooooobbbbbbb. Bob's heeeeeerrrrreeee." Not a memory from childhood. This was a recent occurrence. We were both post-college.
And I looked at her and said "Booooooooobbbbbb." posted by XQUZYPHYR at 9:12 PM on March 29, 2009 [16 favorites]
Carroll Spinney is now 76. How much longer can he perform for them?
And what would Sesame Street be without Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch? They found a replacement for Henson to do Kermit, but I don't see how anyone else can do Big Bird or Oscar. posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:28 PM on March 29, 2009
A guy named Matt Vogel has been backing up Carroll Spinney as Big Bird in some segments for several years. Some of these new people are pretty good -- I have a hard time detecting Eric Jacobson when he performs Frank Oz's characters.
For the record, few of the Muppet characters are being done by their original performers at this point. Jerry Nelson still does the Count but has retired from performing his Muppet Show characters. Frank Oz has been trying to distance himself professionally from the Muppets but will still occasionally perform one of his characters. He won't be photographed together with them, though, or perform voices on request.
Of course, Jim Henson and Richard Hunt have been deceased for many years. Steve Whitmire inherited Henson's characters, but at least one other person has done some Ernie bits.
Fran Brill remains on the show as Zoe, as well as her longtime character Prairie Dawn. And of course, Kevin Clash is still the one and only Elmo. posted by evilcolonel at 10:11 PM on March 29, 2009 [3 favorites]
MetaFilter: The most powerful exploding device known to man.
It is over. The "Optimal Metafilter Tagline" problem has been solved, by someone calling himself "Mikey-San."
Frank Oz distancing himself from the Muppets? How horrible. Why would anyone do that? Muppets are love, baby. Any employer who'd hold the Muppets against him is not a person worth working for. posted by JHarris at 1:20 AM on March 30, 2009
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:35 PM on March 29, 2009