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

[The Count]

El Cid is the nickname of the literary character Ruy Díaz, also known as El Cid Campeador, which is the big-name medieval knight story people like me have to read in their high school Spanish Literature classes.

As for Telly's impersonation identity... *Handface. Then again, at least I can count that as a self-reference in days of future past.
Did someone say "count"?

BTW: This episode continued the Muppets long-running bad airplane flight experiences. First it's Kermit and the entire gang getting shoved out of the plane's cargo hold over the pond in London and the big finale from TGMC. Then Michael "Wocka-Wocka" and the Saint Louis Cardinals' plane en route to Boston for the 2013 World Series Game 6 gets delayed all day to the point they lost last night. And now, even has to spend extra time in Chicago because he can't get a connecting flight back to the street, or he just spent too much time counting the other missed flights and ensueing announcements.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I got my old cable back, so I'm able to watch SS in widescreen again! Anyway, the street story was fantastic! All the lines about the Count making people happy and being a loved figure was great. I'm assuming the Count's dialogue was taken from an existing sketch. I'm sure Jerry couldn't record this ahead of time because, they wrote it after he passed, right? Also, Prairie Dawn said her first line since 2008! The WOTD bit was good. It showed that Ryan can be funny as Elmo. "Elmo didn't know Cookie Monster had a big vocabulary." The new Murray tune-in was cool. I like how Murray looked as an apple. The new CPP was very funny! My favorite part was the Own My Own parody. The Homeland parody was very funny. Was Kevin the black lamb? Anyway, this was the perfect way to pay tribute to Jerry!

 

[Oscarfan]

An okay tribute, but could have used some classic segments...

I think you had a misconception as to what kind of tribute this was.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Well, that was a very good tribute to Jerry. That final message, man, gets you way more than a kid's show should. Tough Pigs' analysis says it all for me.

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.

After reading these posts I get it now. I was hoping that the Count would show up to accept his award and was a bit disappointed that he didn't until after the people who were presenting the award left. I guess I didn't realize that was the message they were trying to send. But now I understand that was part of the tribute to his performers absence.

I liked that characters like Bert, Ernie, Bob, etc. have made it to the ceremony even if they didn't have any lines. That would have been a good place to use Jerry's other characters though: Ex: Mumford, Mr. Johnson,

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.

Wait? That was Jerry? I was expecting Matt, but he did sound different than in his appearance on "Katie." Was his dialogue pre-recorded too? Did he know that he was going to die? Now I'm really curious here.

 

[Drtooth]

I think you had a misconception as to what kind of tribute this was.

Actually, I kinda wish they'd put some segment with one of Jerry's characters in it, old or new (most likely new)... but then again, we got new segments instead of a bunch of reruns, so I can't complain.

I liked that characters like Bert, Ernie, Bob, etc. have made it to the ceremony even if they didn't have any lines. That would have been a good place to use Jerry's other characters though: Ex: Mumford, Mr. Johnson,

The more I think about it (and let's not forget that they had one of Jerry's characters in as much as they had the Twoheaded Monster), it seems like they had a number of puppeteers available that day, but only enough for the main cast (minus Big Bird). And quite honestly, I actually like that he's surrounded by familiar faces better than just putting a bunch of his classic characters in the background. it gave a more community feel, and that's the message they were trying to make.

 

[The Count]

FYI: Yes, that was Jerry voicing and yes, it was pre-recorded... I have no idea if Jerry knew he was going to die at the time of the recording. But rully, it doesn't detract from the awesomeness of the tribute, especially imagining descending on the wings of all the bats winging their way from the Windy City.

 

[mbmfrog]

I will not lie, I find this a perfect tribute towards Jerry's legacy on the show and in a way for the cast and crew to honor and say good bye to the man that taught the world how to count.

 

[Drtooth]

FYI: Yes, that was Jerry voicing and yes, it was pre-recorded... I have no idea if Jerry knew he was going to die at the time of the recording. But rully, it doesn't detract from the awesomeness of the tribute, especially imagining descending on the wings of all the bats winging their way from the Windy City.

I wonder if this was a recording of another sketch that was repurposed into The Count's dialogue. It really seems like it could have been.

 

[FrackleFan2012]

That episode was really beautiful. I loved the Gladys the Cow impression made by Alan and the "I Am Spartacus" parody.

 

[RealBrettHansen]

It was an amazing tribute. I've only seen the video of the combined street scenes, but did anybody see it on TV when it aired? Did they show old Jerry Nelson Muppet skits? Herry Monster? Sherlock Hemlock?