Grover and Mr. Johnson

[D'Snowth]

You know, you really have to admire Grover in these situations, no matter what, he never seems fazed by the fact that Mr. Johnson doesn't want any thing to do with him, even when he repeatedly tells Grover, to his face, "Oh no, not YOU again!" For Johnson's sake, it's a pity that Grover never picks up on the hint, though at the same time, you can't help but feel sorry for BOTH of them: all Grover wants to do is help, because that's how he is, he just loves helping people, but too bad for Johnson, Grover's help always goes awry, and once again, we see just what a chew toy Johnson really is.

At the same time, one has to wonder, when was he ever refered to as "Mr. Johnson", on screen? Just about the only names I've ever heard him refered to as are "Sir" (obviously), and "Mr. Blue" (by Big Bird in "A Celebration of Me, Grover").

 

[Hubert]

Mr. Johnson was named in a sketch where Grover had a message reciting business. Grover gave him a bunch of messages for different people, all of which weren't for him, and at the end, Grover mentioned a message for a "Mr. Johnson," which turned out to be the correct one.

 

[Oscarfan]

That's where his name's from.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Once when Grover was an elevator operator (that job had it's ups and downs) he was Mr. Jenkins. Or a reasonable facsimile.

 

[minor muppetz]

It seems like after the singing telegrams sketch Sesame Workshop didn't make Mr. Johnson his official name until after Muppet Wiki started. He'd often be listed in credits or official reference materials as either "customer" or "Fat Blue" (which is what his Anything Muppet pattern is called, adding confusion), while occasionally giving him different on-screen names like Mr. Smith in The Sesame Street Dictionary (though I think those were made before the sketch where he's called Mr. Johnson), Mr. Blue in A Celebration of Me, Grover (and the credits call him "Fat Blue Customer"), and he was called Fred in one sketch (who's to say he can't be named Fred Johnson?).

Outside of the singing telegram sketch, I think the first time he was called Mr. Johnson was in his interview in the Old School Volume 2 booklet (which I find a bit ironic considering the back of the packaging referred to "Fat Blue" among the characters from that era... The average consumer might have wondered who "Fat Blue" is), and since then Sesame Workshop has officially been using the Mr. Johnson name (though I think Sesame Workshop also continues to call him Fat Blue on occasion), though the name isn't used on-screen.

 

[JLG]

Given how the dynamic between Grover and Mr. Johnson completely turned inside out from the way it originally started, in a playful way I kind of look at it like this: To a certain extent, Grover was "playing dumb" all these years to get back at Johnson for being such an impossible customer at first. He's probably sincere in his politeness most of the time, but he takes the opportunity when he sees it to give his customer a harder time of it than necessary.
I'm not the first person this has occurred to----I'm pretty sure someone else on these boards suggested that idea once, but I can't remember who or when it was.

 

[cjd874]

Given how the dynamic between Grover and Mr. Johnson completely turned inside out from the way it originally started, in a playful way I kind of look at it like this: To a certain extent, Grover was "playing dumb" all these years to get back at Johnson for being such an impossible customer at first. He's probably sincere in his politeness most of the time, but he takes the opportunity when he sees it to give his customer a harder time of it than necessary.
I'm not the first person this has occurred to----I'm pretty sure someone else on these boards suggested that idea once, but I can't remember who or when it was.

The first Grover/Johnson sketch I ever saw was the one where Grover is the Singing and Dancing Waiter who keeps dropping Johnson's food every time he does his routine. It seems like in the early days, Johnson always did things that upset Grover (indecisiveness, being picky, etc.). While it may seem like Johnson was trolling Grover for maybe five years, I don't see why Grover would be trolling Johnson back for the next thirty-five years every time he saw him. And Grover would never intentionally give a person a hard time. Deep down, he really wants to help, but he just isn't really all that bright. Like if Grover really wanted to help Johnson, he could have set down the plate of food before the Singing and Dancing routine. But Grover, despite his heart of gold, just isn't competent enough, in my opinion.