What sketches scared you as a kid?

[Baby Rowlf]

I remember the anti-pollution skits! But they never scared me..they made me cry!

 

[Baby Rowlf]

I think the scariest Sesame Street skit I've ever seen is this one where the Count is counting bones, and this skeleton that's hanging near him starts laughing. That TERRIFIED me!!!

 

[Drtooth]

You mean "bones, bones, bones inside of you?" Any time a kid realizes that that's what is under their skin, it's freaky...for me at any rate!

 

[erracht]

This is a good topic - I had my fill of scary
Sesame Street scenes (watched it regularly from
about 3 to about 7. I'm closing in on 23 now.)
The pollution cartoons were not really scary,
just sad, and the ones where Kermit gets teeth
were also not really scary, but ugly rather (in
one, Grover makes him wear dentures to
demonstrate oral hygiene - aah, scary! Reminds
me of my gingivitis! - in the other, Grover gives
him dentures so he can sell him a toothbrush
or something (that was a series where Grover
gave Kermit prosthetics and stuff to sell him
things he didn't need, like fake ears, hilarious,
shades - a Groucho nose, and once a "nose warmer"
which he just shoved over his head.) I remember
the bald man getting the number painted on his
head now that you remind me. But I don't think
that scared me.

Strange that someone mentioned the circles
forming a hexagon. I remember something like
this well - I was 4 or 5 - and this pointless
animation comes on. I found it weird and I
think I may have dreamed about it.

With regard to the statues/sarcophaguses
looking like Ernie and Bert, yes, that was
freaky! They were in a pyramid when I saw
them. Also, do you remember when Prince
Charming told Rapunzel to let down her hair
and the muppet dropped its wig - leaving a
bald Rapunzel stuck in the tower?

The list of freaky stuff could go on. I
didn't like those cartoons where that girl
shrinks and becomes some sort of strong-
voiced superhero, I think she was called
Mona Thumb. Then there was this shark singing
about teeth or something and that muppet
looked intimidating to me (now if I saw a
shark I'd find it cool, as long as it was
not going toward me lol.)

Now there's this cartoon I remember that was
real spooky to me. This boy is lost and he
passes all kinds of weird places. Then he
comes to this wacky looking guy. He's dressed
like a scarecrow, has a big fat jaw, big
shades, and is playing with a yo-yo. To
help the boy find his way back, the guy turns
into a strange house, a clock (etc?) that
the boy passed, all the while with a wierd
face. That was freaky. How did they get the
idea to draw someone like that? Another time,
however, the wierd guy was back if I recall
well in a less scary guise - as a storyteller
(and I liked a good story, so maybe because
of that I wasn't unnerved by his presence???)
and told about a worm that went over, around
and thru an apple on an apple tree. That was
cute actually.

Another "psychedelic" cartoon that spooked
me was when that little girl was looking for
her cat and all around her are cats, one
with flowers for eyes, another on a truck...
wasn't pleasant. Really I wonder what was
the point of some of the animations and
skits, as if they were either fulfilments
of wacky fantasies, or there to kill time.

 

[Blind Pew]

Originally posted by erracht
Then there was this shark singing
about teeth or something and that muppet
looked intimidating to me (now if I saw a
shark I'd find it cool, as long as it was
not going toward me lol.)

I liked this shark. I believe he was singing about his "Pearly Whites". That's one I wouldn't mind seeing again but the bald Rapunzel.... that was CREEPISH.

 

[Blind Pew]

Originally posted by Baby Rowlf
I think the scariest Sesame Street skit I've ever seen is this one where the Count is counting bones, and this skeleton that's hanging near him starts laughing. That TERRIFIED me!!!

Originally posted by Baby Rowlf

I agree with you there! Hey, is that a picture of Nick Rhodes?

Love,

Simon Le Bon. (just kidding)

 

[Ryan]

Here's a few sketches that scared the bejezzus out of me as toddler:

TMS:
"Hugga Wugga": I think maybe it was Frank's voice in the number, or possibly the music. This was probably the scariest for me. Now, it's one of my favorite numbers!

"I'm So Happy"- the UK sketch where two old dead guys sing in a dreadfully wonderful song of "joy".

"Glowworm"- Probably one of the best Muppet sketches where Kermit (and Lenny Lizard on TMS) would eat worms he confronts. After three, he mistakes a Big V's nose for a worm, and mibbles it. Kermit is then eaten alive by him!

"I've Got You Under My Skin"- The one where Behemoth eats poor Shakey Sanchezz while singing the Frank Sinatra classic.

SS:
I was terrifiyed of the KTF sketch featuring Humpty Dumpty. Probably the freakiest looking Muppet ever!
Well, nothing else really. I think the only things that scared me where Muppets with scary voices and ANYTHING with large teeth.

 

[Baby Rowlf]

Originally posted by Blind Pew

I agree with you there! Hey, is that a picture of Nick Rhodes?

Love,

Simon Le Bon. (just kidding)

Yup! that's the little 80s fluff himself! Cute, huh?

 

[ssetta]

About how old was the skit with the elephant counting to 20? I never saw it until season 28. When I saw it in season 28, I think there was music, and I think the elephant's voice was actually Maria. I'm wondering if that was the original, because they sweetened a lot of those animations during that time. So, was that the original?

 

[Niall]

What about these two?

I can't believe I'm the first person to bring up these two skits, which IMO were two of the most upsetting that I ever saw on SS as a kid:

The first skit I'm refering to is Herry Monster signing a song entitled "I
Can't Help It" (An unreliable source told me it dates from 1975) in Luis's Fix-It shop with Luis and another male cast member I can't remember also in the store. Here's a few lines:

"I know I'm loud and I sound
like a crowd or maybe two.
What can I do?
I can't help it!
I'm feeling glum, cause I'm dumb and I'm clumsy
through and through.
What can I do? I can't help it"

(You can actually
hear an audio sample of this at Barnes&Noble.com if you search for
"Monster Melodies")

Anyway as Herry is singing the song, he walks around the store accidentally breaking and damaging things. The damage he does escalates as the song progresses and the song ends with the two men scrambling for cover as the entire inside of the store seems to come crashing down around them.

The second one that upset me the most I think dates from about 1978. (At least that's when I would have seen it, anyway) Correct me if I'm mistaken:

This skit features Kermit the Frog, a character I
believe went by the name of "Simon The Sound-man" (you know the one who could open his mouth and produce a sound effect?)and some third
muppet I can't remember. (anyone know?) Kermit is dressed up in that,hat, trenchcoat and microphone outfit that he wore in those "Newsflash" segments and they're all doing a mock weather forecast and
a bunch of crazy things start to happen, (fog starts filling up in the studio at one point) but all I can remember is that near the end of
the skit, it suddenly went dark, and there was a torrential thunderstormit INSIDE the studio and some one shouted "It's raining cats and dogs!" and then a bunch of stuffed cats and dogs start falling out of the ceiling, complete with growling, barking and hissing sound effects and Kermit and the other muppets crying out in
pain, suggesting that they were being attacked by these "cats and dogs" as they fell down on them.

I mean, what WERE the writers thinking and how did these skits (not "sketch", btw. A sketch is a rough drawing) ever get the green light anyway?