TV Alert: "Count Tribute" Sesame Street episode in honor of Jerry Nelson airs October 31, 2013

dwayne1115

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2003
Messages
7,998
Reaction score
3,317
wow! after reading the Toughpigs article, I had to wipe a tear from my eye. Watching the street scene and then reading that really put everything together for me.
 

The Count

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 12, 2002
Messages
31,234
Reaction score
2,919
Things that made me laugh included El Mo von Count. Yep, Fractured Logic 101 at work. The entire cast basically doing an "I Am Spartacus" bit to try and convince the judges to give :batty: the Noble Prize. The fact that they called it that, plus Alan's mention of Gladys the Cow as his impersonations, made me think they meant it as a reference to fellow SST Muppet Dr. Nobel Price.

It was appropriately fitting they aired this episode on Halloween Day. Thank you Jerry and everybody else involved in creating this tribute.
 

Cookie Chris

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
78
Reaction score
85
Who was doing Elmo in this? It sounded distinctly like Kevin, but this would have been after he resigned. But maybe I'm completely wrong. :stick_out_tongue:
I'm pretty sure Kevin Clash pre-recorded the voice before he resigned since the episode was taped on December 14, 2012 according to Matt Vogel's Tweet, but Ryan Dillion (or another performer) lip-synched to the recording.

Even though I saw the episode on sesamestreet.org on Friday, I love the street story. It also helps that Jerry's likeness was on the Nobel Prize logo. And the fact that Jerry actually did the voice before he died made it that more better of a tribute. I was expecting Matt Vogel would do the voice since I wasn't sure how much material Jerry recorded before he died. Finally, I wished Ernie and Bert who were background characters had a speaking line or two. Oh well...

Anyway, rest in peace, Jerry Nelson! :batty:
 

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
Lemme say this. As someone who just cannot get through the Jim Henson tribute past the Marching Accountant Society bit, I get pretty emotional during these things and hope that there's a lot more yukks than tearful moments. This episode was absolutely wacky and funny, and I had a ball with Alan, Telly, and Elmo failing to impersonate Count. Even lampshade hanging Elmo's verbal tick that render's him completely unable to say "I am" instead of his own name.

Then Telly gave the line about how The Count made millions of people happy and I freaking lost it. The elegance and subtlety of just giving that huge manner of reflection into just one powerful line... rest assured, there's NO doubt that this was a tribute. The Nobel Prize looking like Jerry (I think, I need to look at it again), the "I am Spartacus" bit they did at the end... those were nice touches. But that one line managed to be incredibly powerful. I dunno, maybe it's because it almost exactly echo's Kermit's lines from The Muppet Movie. That was just a deeply moving thing to say without breaking the fourth wall too hard.
 

The Count

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 12, 2002
Messages
31,234
Reaction score
2,919
You know, I wonder how many kiddies out there got Maria's "El Cid" Spanish nickname reference/joke.

Also, the moment at the end where everybody was dressed as :batty: reminds me of this photo that was at Muppet Wiki, dunno what article it's attached to, from a 2012 Christmas party that had several of the main SST Muppets dressed as The Count. It's a photo that warms my little black heart. :smile:
 

BobThePizzaBoy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
1,688
Reaction score
476
Also, the moment at the end where everybody was dressed as :batty: reminds me of this photo that was at Muppet Wiki, dunno what article it's attached to, from a 2012 Christmas party that had several of the main SST Muppets dressed as The Count. It's a photo that warms my little black heart. :smile:
Said Christmas party was about a few days after they shot this. Such a perfect tribute to Jerry either way. :batty:
 

Oscarfan

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
7,604
Reaction score
3,949
Some random things I loved:
  • Gladys the Cow's name-drop
  • "The winning whistler waits for us in Wichita!"
  • The fact that the second greatest counter in the world is a Chinese calculator
 

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
You know, I wonder how many kiddies out there got Maria's "El Cid" Spanish nickname reference/joke.

I Barely get it. I barely understand that it's the reference The Tick villain"El Seed" is making.

Hey, Ed... just wondering if you thought the fact that they referenced Telly's impersonation of the Count as "Ed Count" was a weird co-incidence.
 
Top