A Breakdown of the Series' Timeline

[cjd874]

That said, first season characters are ugly! The AM's didn't have the sophisticated placement of the eyes half the time, Orange Oscar, color aside, was an ugly looking guy, Ernie and Bert didn't look as expressive, and Bullwinkle Big Bird was just awful. Carol was right to change the character.

I agree with you completely. Ernie looked pretty dopey, Bert was too angry-looking, the Anything Muppets weren't really...anything, and you needed sunglasses to look at bright orange Oscar. And don't even get me started on the ragtag, hick-like Big Bird. I wonder if he got involved with certain 1960s countercultural practices before SS?
But what I really think put the ugliness over the top were the monsters. Think about Beautiful Day Monster, the Snerfs, Fuzzyface, and the pre-Cookie Monster, whom I shall now call "Floppyface" whenever referring to the original puppet. Not to mention there was also Scudge, Splurge, and Fred the Dragon! Yikes!
Personally, I don't think the Muppets' look was really polished until around Season 5-6, once Snuffleupagus and the Count became regulars on the Street. Remember how Snuffy first looked? He was even more terrifying than the first Big Bird! The voice didn't help, either...he sounded like a stoned Eeyore. "Heeeeelllllloooooooo, Biiiiiiirrrrrddddd..." Thankfully Jerry kind of changed the voice, and then Marty Robinson took over. I really like Marty's voice better...it's more upbeat and versatile.

On a different topic, was it really Caroll's decision to change the character, or did the writers do it? I know that the premise was a visit to a day-care center or something like that, and Caroll ended up performing the Bird as a six-year old instead of a goofy, dimwitted adult.

 

[D'Snowth]

Thankfully Jerry kind of changed the voice, and then Marty Robinson took over. I really like Marty's voice better...it's more upbeat and versatile.

Don't forget though, Marty's Snuffy, at first, sounded very similar to Jerry's original Snuffy, kind of slow and soft, with a ho-hum tone to his voice. Then again, Marty also did the same with Telly, his Telly started out sounding similar to Brian Meehl's Telly; Marty's is a rare case of how he took on someone else's characters and eventually really made them his own. Like you said, Marty's Snuffy is a lot more upbeat and versatile, and likewise, his Telly is also far more expressive, and has a wider range of emotions that he taps into REALLY well, as opposed to his constant state of pouting about something.

On a different topic, was it really Caroll's decision to change the character, or did the writers do it? I know that the premise was a visit to a day-care center or something like that, and Caroll ended up performing the Bird as a six-year old instead of a goofy, dimwitted adult.

There were a couple of examples of Big Bird in a more childlike situation that made Caroll realize that Big Bird should be a kid instead of a bumpkin, not just him wanting to visit a daycare, but from what I recall, there was a scene where Big Bird was in the hallway of Gordon and Susan's apartment, and was hearing strange noises, scaring him into believing that there were monsters in the hallway... apparently, Caroll tapped into the emotion and feeling of the scene so well that after they finished taping, those in the studio applauded his performance, and it was here that he began to realize that having Big Bird be a kid would work better for the character, especially so kids watching can actually relate to him, and he approached the producers about the idea, and they decided to try it out and see how it would work... which, of course, it did.

 

[Drtooth]

But what I really think put the ugliness over the top were the monsters. Think about Beautiful Day Monster, the Snerfs, Fuzzyface, and the pre-Cookie Monster, whom I shall now call "Floppyface" whenever referring to the original puppet. Not to mention there was also Scudge, Splurge, and Fred the Dragon! Yikes!

Those monsters were recycled from Ed Sullivan and other appearances. Compared to the other Muppets on the show at the time, they were more sophisticated. If you compare that with the monsters we've seen since the late 70's, they were more complex looking, but didn't have that right Sesame Street look. They were very much pre-Muppet Show type characters. Beautiful Day looked right at home with the likes of Sweetums and the Frackles.

 

[cjd874]

Those monsters were recycled from Ed Sullivan and other appearances. Compared to the other Muppets on the show at the time, they were more sophisticated. If you compare that with the monsters we've seen since the late 70's, they were more complex looking, but didn't have that right Sesame Street look. They were very much pre-Muppet Show type characters. Beautiful Day looked right at home with the likes of Sweetums and the Frackles.

Yeah, I suppose so. Ed Sullivan's show was geared toward young adult/mature audiences, if I'm not mistaken. The grown-ups would have reacted better to creatures like BDM and Fred the Dragon than a four-year old would have.
Just think for a moment: if Jim reused more Sullivan characters on Sesame Street, how would that have turned out? Would that three-headed rock star monster have tested well with young viewers? (Probably not...)
And in terms of being precursors to the Muppet Show Frackles, I think that they may have also been distant relatives of the SNL Gorch characters. If you look closely, Fred the Dragon has similar eyes to Ploobis and Wisss.

 

[minor muppetz]

Another thing not mentioned in this thread is the fact that during the 1970s, it was common for the human cast to do voices, most notably in the Roosevelt Franklin segments, but also in many early Anything Muppet numbers. I wonder what it would have been like if the human cast provided as many Muppet voices (and I mean regular characters) as the Muppet performers.

And on a similar note, in the early years, especially the first five seasons, it was common for performers to do multiple voices in the same sketches. Not just instances where a character would leave so their performer could bring in another character, or when a performer would perform two characters at once (as in one character on each hand), but instances where pre-recording was required. And this was more common in segments that only had recurring characters than for interactions between regular characters.

 

[D'Snowth]

And on a similar note, in the early years, especially the first five seasons, it was common for performers to do multiple voices in the same sketches. Not just instances where a character would leave so their performer could bring in another character, or when a performer would perform two characters at once (as in one character on each hand), but instances where pre-recording was required. And this was more common in segments that only had recurring characters than for interactions between regular characters.

That's true, I think I even did a thread about that sometime back.

Two examples that come to my mind are Herry's Alphabet Secret, and The King's Problem. In the former, Jerry Nelson voices both Herry and Pamela, Frank Oz voices both Grover and Rosemary, and Jim Henson voices Fenwick, while in the latter, Jim voices the King and his lackey, Frank voices the Biggest Person in the Kingdom and the Smallest Person in the Kingdom, and Jerry voices both the Fastest Person in the Kingdom and the Smartest Person in the Kingdom.

 

[minor muppetz]

That's true, I think I even did a thread about that sometime back.

Two examples that come to my mind are Herry's Alphabet Secret, and The King's Problem. In the former, Jerry Nelson voices both Herry and Pamela, Frank Oz voices both Grover and Rosemary, and Jim Henson voices Fenwick, while in the latter, Jim voices the King and his lackey, Frank voices the Biggest Person in the Kingdom and the Smallest Person in the Kingdom, and Jerry voices both the Fastest Person in the Kingdom and the Smartest Person in the Kingdom.

And yet even in the early years it wasn't often they had multiple major characters interacting. Maybe they already realized by then that the performance was as important as the voice, and didn't want other performers performing their characters wrong.

In fact, it seems like in the first ten years it was very rare for Big Bird and Oscar to appear together, and then since the 1980s or 1990s it has become a little common for the two to interact.

 

[minor muppetz]

Another thing about the timeline is that from the 1980s until the very late 1990s, it was rare for Jim or Frank's characters to appear in street scenes, the usual exception being in a movie, special, or book. I noticed this even as a kid (one who not only didn't know they were puppets, but who didn't know they were performed by people who had become very busy with other projects by then). Of course most of Jim's characters except for Ernie and to a lesser extent Kermit seem like the kind who might be out-of-place in street scenes most of the time (can you imagine Bad Bart or Sinister Sam coming to the street for some reason?). I was amazed to see Ernie, Bert, and Cookie Monster at Luis and Maria's wedding (even though they didn't talk) as well as when I saw the Best Friends Blues clip.

And then they started coming back to street scenes at the end of the 1990s, especially season 30. Actually that year while it was fairly common to see Ernie, Bert, Cookie, and Grover on the street, most of them were usually in non-speaking cameos. But then the next season it was common to see Ernie in street scenes again, and then the next Frank's characters were starting to appear on the street frequently, due to the substitute performers.

I first remember hearing about Frank's characters having alternate performers in season 32 (though David Rudman and Eric Jacobson sometimes say that they just consider it filling in for him, I think I've performed them long enough and frequently enough to be considered their main performers now, especially since Frank hasn't performed Cookie or Bert in at least five years), but Muppet Wiki says that Eric started performing them in 1997. Muppet Wiki doesn't cite a source for that, so I don't know where 1997 comes from. Maybe they were just preparing to take over then, maybe Frank dubbed their voices a few times when they performed, maybe they were just performing them in non-speaking background appearances. I'd like to see an interview with Eric Jacobson where he clears up when he started performing them (he doesn't get interviewed much).

I've read that Eric Jacobson performed Grover in the Ding-a-Long episode from season 30. I remember seeing that one and don't remember Grover getting any lines of his own, but others on Muppet Wiki say that he did (well, it's their video copies against my memory). In fact Cookie Monster did talk in some street scenes in the season 30 episode where Big Bird gets C is for Cookie stuck in his head. I wonder if Frank performed him there or if somebody else did.

 

[D'Snowth]

I recall the Ding-a-long episode, and yes, I do recall Grover speaking in that episode, and remember how odd/different his voice sounded. It was just one line, however, when everybody was throwing out suggestions for a song to play for the ding-a-long.

 

[minor muppetz]

Although I already did a detailed breakdown of the timeline, I'm going to redo it, more like a list and with things I didn't think to say at first.

The Gold: 1969-1984
Part 1: 1969-1970

• There's less characters. Less humans, less recurring Muppets, and less performers.
• Most weeks are sponsored by the same letters and numbers all week.
• In addition to many original songs, it is common for cover versions of pop music to be included as well.
• Many segments have some sort of connection to either the previous or next scene.
• Many of the Muppets look a bit cruder and different compared to later (though I do like the first season look of many of the Muppets).
• Gordon sort of serves as host.*
• It's common for human cast members to provide voices of Muppets, most notably in the Roosevelt Franklin segments.*
• It's common for performers to do multiple voices in the same segments, even if there are no recurring characters.*
• The show includes human comedy duos.*

*=indicates that this went on into part 2 and maybe 3.
Part 2: 1970-1974

• Jerry Nelson, Fran Brill, and Richard Hunt join the show, and as a result more Muppets are added, including The Count, Herry Monster, and Mr. Snuffleupagus.
• More humans are added as well, most notably Luis, Maria, and David.
• The number sponsors goes from up to 10 to up to 12, and the counting lessons go up from 10 to 20 (though 20 was taught a few times in the first season).

Part 3: 1974-1979

• Linda becomes a more prominent cast member and Olivia joins the show.
• Richard Hunt becomes a much more prominent performer.
• By the end of this time period, many of the main performers spend more time on The Muppet Show, and the need for new performers arises. Michael Earl and Brian Meehl both join in 1979.

Part 4: 1979-1984

• More performers join the show and we get a lot more characters.
• The street scenes start to have more of a connecting plot.
• The number sponsors no longer sponsor in order from 2-12.
• Mr. Hooper dies at the end of this period.

The Silver: 1984-1993

• The show starts to have a lot more on-screen changes beyond character introductions, including Maria and Luis' relationship and marriage, Susan and Gordon adopting a kid, and Mr. Snuffleupagus being known as "real" to the adults.
• Notable humans who join the show include Gina, Uncle Wally, and Mr. Handford.
• Kevin Clash joins the show full-time and takes over as Elmo, who now becomes a main character.
• In about the middle of all this, Joe Raposo, Jim Henson, Northern Calloway, and Richard Hunt all die, and the show starts to get a little different.

The Bronze: 1993-1998

• The show expands around the corner, and we meet such new characters as Ruthie and Celina.
• Zoe is introduced, and Rosita, Baby Bear, and Benny all become more prominent.
• Steve Whitmire finally performs on the show, taking over as Ernie.

The Copper: 1998-2001

• Around the Corner is dropped.
• The last 15 minutes are now devoted to Elmo's World.
• Elmo becomes the star of Sesame Street (with Big Bird becoming #2).
• Alan joins the cast.
• Ernie starts to become a major character in street scenes.
• Big Bird and Frank Oz's characters start to have alternate performers.
• The show starts having short bumpers introducing the next segments. Such bumpers include scenes with Ernie and Rubber Duckie, Zoe and her Zoemobile, Suzie Kabloozy and her cat Feff, and Big Bird and Snuffy on a vaudeville stage.

What Comes After Copper Part 1: 2002-2007

• The shows format is changed to a predictable format, putting the street story into one long uninterrupted segment and including various segments shown in every episode or every other episode, some longer than others.
• Each part of the street slowly changes, until it no longer has the gritty look of the old set.
• With the show having segments that have to be in every episode (and some being long), classic clips aren't shown as often.
• Abby Cadabby is introduced.

What Comes After Copper Part 2: 2008-2013

• The show switches to HD.
• Although full-frame segments are still shown, clips from before 1990 are no longer shown.
• Murray starts to host the show.
• In 2012, Elmo's World is finally dropped and replaced with Elmo the Musical.