Favorite moments from any season

[cjd874]

Since Sesame Street is approaching its 50th season, I wanted to ask the MC community: what are your favorite/most memorable moments from any particular season? Please list your favorite songs, sketches, films, and cartoons, not just "important" moments like Maria & Luis's wedding, or Snuffy's reveal. (Thanks to the "Sesame Street: 50 in 50" reviews on Tough Pigs for inspiration!) I'll start with these:

• Season 7: The entire New Mexico trip, because it showed the cast in the real world for the first time, paving the way for trips to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Montana. Big Bird and Oscar got into some shenanigans, Gordon milked a cow, and viewers learned about Indian culture from Buffy Saint-Marie. ***I will also give honorable mentions to the songs "Frazzle" and "Fur," both of which debuted in 1975.
  
• Season 13: Ernie goes "HERE FISHY-FISHY-FISHY" to catch fish, while Bert gapes in disbelief. It's just a hilarious bit, and Jim and Frank do an incredible job here.
  
• Season 15: "I'll Miss You, Mr. Hooper," because it's the most powerful thing ever shown on Sesame Street. This will never not make me emotional.
  
• Season 19: Cookie Monster raps about "Healthy Food." Basically one of the greatest things Cookie Monster's ever done. He wears a Run-DMC outfit, sings with some Muppet foods, and throws string beans in the air. I mean, come on!
  
• Season 35: The Dr. Feel Show. A pretty good spoof, with an appearance by Bob! Everything's better when you get Bob involved.

There's definitely more that I'm forgetting, so let me know what has stuck with you from the past 50 years!

 

[LittleJerry92]

Pretty much everything previously listed and i’ll give some of my own:

Pretty much everything from seasons 16-18 with MTV music video-styled songs (the How Now songs, NTV, New Way to Walk, ZZ Blues, etc).

Season 31: The Little Jerry comeback as a trio but at least had one of the two underrated Monotones (Chrissy and Richard) with a merged name so as to avoid confusion instead of putting in just a generic, nameless Monotone (assuming the blue guy in season 19/20 wasn’t referred to by name).

And to throw in a similar deal: Big Jeffy and Little Chrissy performing songs together in seasons 21-23

Season 3: We got the start of Sesame Street News as a pilot (Sesame Street sports) that would become Sesame Street News one season later.

Season 4: Richard Hunt came about on the show, and we started seeing more of his puppetry and voices.

 

[cjd874]

Pretty much everything previously listed and i’ll give some of my own:

Pretty much everything from seasons 16-18 with MTV music video-styled songs (the How Now songs, NTV, New Way to Walk, ZZ Blues, etc).

Season 31: The Little Jerry comeback as a trio but at least had one of the two underrated Monotones (Chrissy and Richard) with a merged name so as to avoid confusion instead of putting in just a generic, nameless Monotone (assuming the blue guy in season 19/20 wasn’t referred to by name).

And to throw in a similar deal: Big Jeffy and Little Chrissy performing songs together in seasons 21-23

All great moments! ZZ Blues is a fantastic spoof, and Jerry's vocals are outstanding as usual. I do prefer ZZ Blues over the How Now segments and NTV, but to each his own. I also remember seeing the Little Jerry comeback when it first aired on TV. I went, "Hey, it's Little Jerry...and the guys who did Telephone Rock!" (I knew that song from the SS Rock-and-Roll video with Jackman Wolf.)

 

[minor muppetz]

I'll try a season-by-season listing, trying to limit it to five or less a season:

• Season 1 - Henson #9, Jazz #8, Ernie and Bert: Cake, Kermit's W Lecture, Before and After.
• Season 2 - Prairie Dawn invites monsters, Grover counts three blocks, Mad, Rubber Duckie, Number Three Ball Film.
• Season 3 - Kermit and Bob: Frogs, C is for Cookie, The Alligator King, Mad Painter #3, Harvey Kneeslapper B bit.
• Season 4 - Kermit News: Rupunzel, Bert's bust, Herry and John-John count, The Song of the Count.
• Season 5 - Fat Cat, Jazz Alphabet, Super Grover: Telephone, Nasty Dan.
• Season 6 - What's the Name of That Song?, Grover serves a burger, Telephone Rock, Typewriter series.
• Season 7 - Kermit and the earmuff salesman, Surprise.
• Season 8 - What Is It?, Pinball Number Count series (all were produced in season 7, all premiered in season 8), A Song from Kermit.
• Season 9 - Sing After Me, Fireworks Alphabet, Gordon rides his bike, The Ten Commandments of Health, Monsterpiece Theater: Upstairs, Downstairs.
• Season 10 - Letter Y box of crayons, Disco Toothbrush, How to Get to Yellowstone Park.
• Season 11 - Disco Frog, My Pollywog Ways, weather around the world, Born to Add.
• Season 12 - The Leslie Mostly Show: The Count (don't really know if its first appearance in season 12 is the first appearance of the segment or if it debuted earlier), Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco, Pearl White Teeth, Mystery Guest, Frog to Forg (apparently the title of the segment where Kermit picks up a personalized t-shirt).
• Season 13 - Rainy Day Song, Fuzzy and Blue, Bert and Ernie in Egypt, Biff and Sully get angry (which I'm not sure whether it's a one-time street scene or an insert, I think it did debut this season at the very least), Forgetful Jones sings "What's the Name of That Song?".
• Season 14 - We Coulda, That Grouchy Face.
• Season 15 - ABCs of the Swamp, Trash Outta Heaven (not sure whether this is an insert or a one-time street scene), Monsterpiece Theater: Chariots of Fur (don't really know if this debuted this season or earlier).
• Season 16 - Imagine That!
• Season 17 - Kermit and Elmo show happy and sad, Miami Mice: Kermit.
• Season 18 - Do De Rubber Duck, Kermit's Mystery Box, Ookyook Song (which could be from a different season).
• Season 19 - Mom and Me (which could be from a different season).
• Season 20 - The Word is No!, Monsterpiece Theater: Taming of the Shoe, Monsterpiece Theater: Guys and Dolls, Caveperson Days: Inventing the window, Mysterious Theater: The Case of the Missing Cat.
• Season 21 - I Wonder About the World Above Up There, Air, Monster in the Mirror, Best Friend Blues.
• Season 22 - Stick Out Your Hand and Say Hello, Monsterpiece Theater: Twin Beaks, Lambaba.
• Season 23 - Grover's taxi stand.
• Season 24 - Grover and a new waiter, Simon Soundman meets Old MacDonald, Jim Carrey expresses feelings with his feet.
• Season 25 - Ernie catches all the fish, Take a number, sir! (Grover the baker).
• Season 26 - My Name is Zoe, Little Miss Count-Along, Felines.
• Season 27 - can't really think of any favorites at the moment.
• Season 28 - can't really think of any favorites at the moment.
• Season 29 - Things That I Remember.
• Season 30 - Furry Happy Monsters
• Season 31 - Grover and Elmo: Telegram Trainee
• Season 32 - Ev'rybody Be Yo'Self
• Season 33 - The Spanish Word of the Day: Si and No, The Letter of the Day: C.
• Season 34 - can't really think of any at the moment.
• Season 35 - Don't Know Y.
• Season 36 - A Cookie is a Sometimes Food, Sleep!.
• Season 37 - can't really think of any at the moment.
• Season 38 - Because We're Friends, Meal or No Meal.
• Season 39 - 1234.
• Season 40 - Mad Men, D-dance, Super K Cereal.
• Season 41 - What I Am.
• Season 42 - Spider-Monster: The Musical.
• Season 43 - Birdwalk Empire, Upside-Downton Abbey,I Am Special, By Five.
• Season 44 - Cookie's Crumby Pictures: Star S'mores.
• Seasons 45-49 - can't really think of any favorites from those seasons at the moment.

I'll have to look through the guides for some of those seasons where I am unsure of what favorite moments I have (I don't think I've really seen anything from this season and haven't seen much of the last season or two).

And once I find firsts for all Teeny Little Superguy segments I might have to revise this list. I know a press release for season 15 said the character debuted that season (so far there's only one segment confirmed as being from the season), though Old School Volume 3 lists one as from season 14 (which could be a mistake or maybe the press release made a mistake - or maybe the segments just began regular production then and that's what it meant), and I currently don't know how many seasons premiered segments with the character.

 

[cjd874]

A few other classic moments that I forgot:

• Season 3: Perhaps the greatest Ernie & Bert bit of all time: counting fire engines and balloons at night! ***Honorable mention: "Take a Breath."
  
• Season 4: Guy Smiley hosts "Beat the Time" with Cookie Monster. ***Honorable mention: three witches use their spells to make chicken soup. I think this was one of Richard Hunt's first performances on SS, and boy does he really sell it here.
  
• Season 6: Prairie Dawn's face pageant. Herry Monster and Grover steal the show...and the boys' ineptitude when they can't properly assemble the face parts really puts this over the top.
  
• Season 12: Othmar the Grouch meets Oscar and takes him into outer space.
  
• Season 16: Kermit uses an X-ray to show what's inside Herry's body. Herry (seeing his muscles): "Boy, look at that definition!" LOLOL
  
• Season 20: "Get Along" by Kermit and the Anything Muppets. A great musical showcase for the Muppet performers.
  
• Season 30: Patti LaBelle sings the Gospel Alphabet. From Patti's awesome vocals to the Muppets' inspired dancing...it's all here.