Best Waiter Grover sketch?

[Twisted Tails]

I'm surprised nobody listed the "Fresh Air Cafe" and "Tomato Surprise" sketches. All the other ones are of course gold, but these deserve an honorable mention as well, in my opinion...

Is dis what ya ordered? I'm not joking, okay?

 

[mupcollector1]

This video should show his invention of a slider and an 8-pound or more of a burger.

That much have been the first one with Grover and Mr. Johnson. It's funny how that early Grover looks similar to the current Grover today, very shaggy.
I love the cartoony slapstick gags that happen from time to time like the giant Hamburger. I always wonder how the props are made, they look quite life like. I think I've seen clips of this but never the full thing. It's truly a classic

 

[minor muppetz]

That's my favorite. Wasn't it originally made for the "Put Down The Duckie" prime time special before it made in regular Sesame Street episodes? I think the gutiar player's name was Manono or something like that. He was performed by Marty Robinson.

According to Old School Volume 3 it debuted in season 14, while "Sesame Street, Special" (which was later retitled "Put Down the Duckie") was first broadcast in 1988. And I used to think that the guitar player was performed by Richard Hunt (I've known better for many years, though).

That much have been the first one with Grover and Mr. Johnson.

According to the book Sesame Street Unpaved, the alphabet soup segment is the first waiter Grover segment. The earliest known appearance of that sketch is season 3, while Hulu (which is often right with seasons but has been provably wrong on occasion) says that the hamburger one debuted in season 6.

 

[mupcollector1]

According to Old School Volume 3 it debuted in season 14, while "Sesame Street, Special" (which was later retitled "Put Down the Duckie") was first broadcast in 1988. And I used to think that the guitar player was performed by Richard Hunt (I've known better for many years, though).

I got to still get the Old School Volume 3 DVD. I have one and two. Plus I still need to get the final season Fraggle Rock DVD set too. Speaking of Richard Hunt and Marty Robinson, did you read about them in Street Gang on how Richard didn't really like new puppeteers but later had respect for Marty when he seen his version of "Little Shop of Horrors"? A very interesting read.

According to the book Sesame Street Unpaved, the alphabet soup segment is the first waiter Grover segment. The earliest known appearance of that sketch is season 3, while Hulu (which is often right with seasons but has been provably wrong on occasion) says that the hamburger one debuted in season 6.

That one sounds very familiar and I don't think I've seen it since I was a kid. I don't remember if I seen it on television or one of the old VHS releases from the 1980s. I'm going to check out that clip again. It's been years since I've seen it.

 

[minor muppetz]

Speaking of Richard Hunt and Marty Robinson, did you read about them in Street Gang on how Richard didn't really like new puppeteers but later had respect for Marty when he seen his version of "Little Shop of Horrors"? A very interesting read.

Yes and I was surprised to see that (along with certain other things about Richard's behavior), considering what I've heard about him on The MuppetCast and elsewhere (including the same book). I keep reading that he was generous to other performers (such as asking off on David Rudman's first day just so Rudman wouldn't have to do a right-hand), and then saw that he would snap at performers who complained about only doing right hands.

Of course it's also odd Richard said he did right hands for 8 years, when he did do voices early on (he did voices in The Great Santa Claus Switch, and was one of the main performers in 1974's The Muppets' Valentine Show). He could have been exaggerating, or Robinson could have been misremembering (as he wasn't there when Richard Hunt was just a background performer).

There's been a number of Martin Robinson voices that I initially assumed were Richard Hunt's, it's a wonder Marty didn't take over any of Richard's characters (well, besides Old MacDonald). I remember long ago, before I knew the name Martin Robinson and before I knew which Sesame Street characters Richard performed, I assumed that Richard performed Mr. Snuffleupagus (and I later learn he did, but never the voice, just the back half and eventually the front half while lip-synching to Jerry Nelson's vocals).

That one sounds very familiar and I don't think I've seen it since I was a kid. I don't remember if I seen it on television or one of the old VHS releases from the 1980s. I'm going to check out that clip again. It's been years since I've seen it.

That sketch is in Old School Volume 1 which you said you have (it's in episode 276).

 

[mupcollector1]

Yes and I was surprised to see that (along with certain other things about Richard's behavior), considering what I've heard about him on The MuppetCast and elsewhere (including the same book). I keep reading that he was generous to other performers (such as asking off on David Rudman's first day just so Rudman wouldn't have to do a right-hand), and then saw that he would snap at performers who complained about only doing right hands. Of course it's also odd Richard said he did right hands for 8 years, when he did do voices early on (he did voices in The Great Santa Claus Switch, and was one of the main performers in 1974's The Muppets' Valentine Show). He could have been exaggerating, or Robinson could have been misremembering (as he wasn't there when Richard Hunt was just a background performer). There's been a number of Martin Robinson voices that I initially assumed were Richard Hunt's, it's a wonder Marty didn't take over any of Richard's characters (well, besides Old MacDonald). I remember long ago, before I knew the name Martin Robinson and before I knew which Sesame Street characters Richard performed, I assumed that Richard performed Mr. Snuffleupagus (and I later learn he did, but never the voice, just the back half and eventually the front half while lip-synching to Jerry Nelson's vocals). That sketch is in Old School Volume 1 which you said you have (it's in episode 276).

I figured that Richard was a very out spoken person which is just probably part of his personality. Yeah I was quite surprised from some of the stuff I've read, I still need to finish the book. I have the happen of jumping to chapter to chapter if I'm looking for something specific. I remember reading how he seen Jim on the set and said "Well well well, if it isn't the billionaire." (it was a little more obscene then that from what I remember) Speaking of Richard, I've always admired his Brooklyn voices. I remember hearing about Richard performing Snuffy mainly because he was getting too heavy for Jerry so in some episodes they would make excuses for Big Bird to say like "Snuffy's sick or Snuffy's visiting is mom", something like that.
I got to check out episode 276. I'm watching the Alphabet Soup one online now. I remember how the early Grover had a more deeper voice. A lot of the early ones always had him slapping someone in the back. "HEY ERNIE BABY or HEY FROGGY BABY" *smack*. Though the sketch is very different from what it would later evolve into. In this case, Grover is the one who's annoyed by Mr. Johnson. "Charlie, I got a weirdo." It seems like most of it is quite ad-libbed. But wasn't that how a lot of the original Muppet sketches went, that performers would had lines and just go with the plot and point of the sketch and remember the more important lines. I remember hearing something about how the Ernie and Bert sketches had regular ad-libs somewhere.

 

[dinoboy]

a few of my favorites were when Mr. Johnson had a big appetite, but Grover gave him burgers from the smallest, to the biggest, and finally he got this giant sized burger. Then in one episode Grover an another monster waiter wanted to impress Mr. Johnson. So even though they just guessed on what he wanted, they ended up bringing him everything on the menu in fast and pixilation motion. But one of my favorites is when the restaurant had desk bells on each table. So customers rang the bell to get faster service, and Mr. Johnston go soo frustrated with the bell business that he rang the bell 4 times to call the manager, who was a large orange monster, who ate the deskbell and asked "Now what wrong with bell?"

 

[Twisted Tails]

a few of my favorites were when Mr. Johnson had a big appetite, but Grover gave him burgers from the smallest, to the biggest, and finally he got this giant sized burger. Then in one episode Grover an another monster waiter wanted to impress Mr. Johnson. So even though they just guessed on what he wanted, they ended up bringing him everything on the menu in fast and pixilation motion. But one of my favorites is when the restaurant had desk bells on each table. So customers rang the bell to get faster service, and Mr. Johnston go soo frustrated with the bell business that he rang the bell 4 times to call the manager, who was a large orange monster, who ate the deskbell and asked "Now what wrong with bell?"

One memorable sketch coming right about now, sir.

BTW, why is this sketch your favorite?

 

[dinoboy]

because I love bells, and coincidently there's an episode of Elmo's world that's all about bells, but they never aired it much though.

 

[gravy]

The Hamburger one, because my mother showed it to me when I was little and I liked it a lot.