Sesame Street Season 45 Episode 4525 - Grover Does It All

[minor muppetz]

But I notice Frank has been phasing out of SS over the years since most recently the characters he voiced were one-shot characters and then over the last few seasons Frank was absent altogether.

And there's also the fact that this is the first season where Frank is no longer credited (though I assume they still show some segments that Frank performed in). By the way, is Jerry still credited on the show (Jim and Richard both continued to be credited for a long time after they died, and they still aired material with them for years after they stopped being credited)?

In recent years, when Frank performed Grover, I often didn't realize it until it was pointed out online. When we first saw "I Am Special", many of us (including myself) were wondering if that was Frank or Eric. Character voices do change a little over time, even when they have the same voice, and it's been a long time since Frank last performed Bert, so it might sound a little different if he was the character again (he did a similar voice in Birdwalk Empire, making it the closest to doing Bert's voice in years).

And of course last I checked this segment isn't online anywhere (a surprise for modern segments) so we can't easily rewatch and relisten unless we have a copy of the episode.

 

[Oscarfan]

In recent years, when Frank performed Grover, I often didn't realize it until it was pointed out online. When we first saw "I Am Special", many of us (including myself) were wondering if that was Frank or Eric. Character voices do change a little over time, even when they have the same voice, and it's been a long time since Frank last performed Bert, so it might sound a little different if he was the character again (he did a similar voice in Birdwalk Empire, making it the closest to doing Bert's voice in years).

And of course last I checked this segment isn't online anywhere (a surprise for modern segments) so we can't easily rewatch and relisten unless we have a copy of the episode.

Both of those bits can easily be found on their YT channel.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

And there's also the fact that this is the first season where Frank is no longer credited (though I assume they still show some segments that Frank performed in). By the way, is Jerry still credited on the show (Jim and Richard both continued to be credited for a long time after they died, and they still aired material with them for years after they stopped being credited)?

In recent years, when Frank performed Grover, I often didn't realize it until it was pointed out online. When we first saw "I Am Special", many of us (including myself) were wondering if that was Frank or Eric. Character voices do change a little over time, even when they have the same voice, and it's been a long time since Frank last performed Bert, so it might sound a little different if he was the character again (he did a similar voice in Birdwalk Empire, making it the closest to doing Bert's voice in years).

And of course last I checked this segment isn't online anywhere (a surprise for modern segments) so we can't easily rewatch and relisten unless we have a copy of the episode.

Yeah. I know what you mean. I notice that someone had commented that they thought Eric did Grover in the coffee sketch when in reality it was Frank.

And there's also the fact that this is the first season where Frank is no longer credited (though I assume they still show some segments that Frank performed in). By the way, is Jerry still credited on the show (Jim and Richard both continued to be credited for a long time after they died, and they still aired material with them for years after they stopped being credited)?

Well, things are different now than they were back then. I have noticed quite a few puppeteer have been removed from the credits. Kevin is one of them, yet we still hear his Elmo in ETM. Steve has been removed from the credits as well and we still don't know yet if he'll return as Ernie or if Billy performing him is just a temporary thing. I don't know. Just some thoughts I've had.

 

[minor muppetz]

Yeah. I know what you mean. I notice that someone had commented that they thought Eric did Grover in the coffee sketch when in reality it was Frank.

Really? This is the first I've heard that it was Eric who performed Grover there. I thought it was confirmed that Frank performed in that sketch, or maybe I'm just confused due to the fact that Frank performed a few sketches that season and that Frank usually performed Grover in sketches with Mr. Johnson.

Of course, there's a number of sketches where Frank performed Bert in the 2000s where I thought it was Eric. Segments like "Sleep" (though in that case it could be that I mistakenly thought Frank was done with Muppets altogether, since Eric and David were doing such great jobs with his characters that I figured they didn't feel a need to schedule Frank, in addition to the fact that Frank didn't perform in either of the 35th anniversary specials or A Celebration of Me, Grover!, things that I assumed he would have performed in). But then I saw a Muppet Wiki article on post-1997 performances by Frank and saw some Bert sketches listed where I thought Eric was the performer.

When it comes to the fact that Bert and Guy Smiley had rarely been seen together in the same scene, let alone rarely interacted, there are a lot of characters Guy Smiley either hadn't interacted with or had only interacted with once. Of all the recurring characters, Cookie Monster and Prairie Dawn have appeared on the highest number of Guy Smiley game shows (and there's a few additional non-game show sketches with Cookie and Guy). In addition to that, Grover, Oscar, and Elmo have all been contestants on only two Guy Smiley game shows each, with other recurring characters only appearing in one game show per character (I'm not counting non-game show pairings, though very few of Guy's major non-game show sketches featured other major characters). There are a lot of non-Jim Henson/non-Frank Oz characters who, as far as I know, never had any major interaction with Guy Smiley, including The Amazing Mumford, Biff and Sully,Harvey Kneeslapper, Placido Flamingo, Hoots the Owl, Little Jerry, Simon Soundman, and Grundgetta.

 

[antsamthompson9]

If Frank played Bert in Estimation Vacation, it would be on this page by now. http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Return_performances_by_Frank_Oz_on_Sesame_Street

 

[Oscarfan]

Yes, the Wiki is gospel.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Really? This is the first I've heard that it was Eric who performed Grover there. I thought it was confirmed that Frank performed in that sketch, or maybe I'm just confused due to the fact that Frank performed a few sketches that season and that Frank usually performed Grover in sketches with Mr. Johnson.

Well, this was a You Tube comment, so it may not have been from an MC member, so maybe the poster didn't know as much about this as we do.

 

[minor muppetz]

Well I've found Estimation Vacation on YouTube. Watching it, I'm convinced that it was Eric performing/voicing Bert.

Though I don't know the reason why Frank is no longer credited. Maybe it's because he didn't perform this season (though he was credited in seasons 41 and 44 but wasn't credited in those). Or if he has performed this season, maybe it's because he only performs once a year, though he had typically only performed once a season for the past several years and did get credited. Though I don't know what constitutes being credited or not (aside from the fact that it seems the credits are always the same for every episode of the season). Jim Henson was credited as a Muppet performer in the first season and then was uncredited (unless you count the Muppet performers credit as "Jim Henson's Muppets" as a credit for Jim) until around season 18, and Fran Brill was credited her first season then went uncredited until around the early 1990s.

Well, this was a You Tube comment, so it may not have been from an MC member, so maybe the poster didn't know as much about this as we do.

Do you mean the YouTube comment was that Eric or Frank performed Grover there?

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Well I've found Estimation Vacation on YouTube. Watching it, I'm convinced that it was Eric performing/voicing Bert.

Though I don't know the reason why Frank is no longer credited. Maybe it's because he didn't perform this season (though he was credited in seasons 41 and 44 but wasn't credited in those). Or if he has performed this season, maybe it's because he only performs once a year, though he had typically only performed once a season for the past several years and did get credited. Though I don't know what constitutes being credited or not (aside from the fact that it seems the credits are always the same for every episode of the season). Jim Henson was credited as a Muppet performer in the first season and then was uncredited (unless you count the Muppet performers credit as "Jim Henson's Muppets" as a credit for Jim) until around season 18, and Fran Brill was credited her first season then went uncredited until around the early 1990s.




Do you mean the YouTube comment was that Eric or Frank performed Grover there?

The poster said that he or she thought it was Eric who performed Grover in the coffee sketch while in reality it was Frank.