Where are all these classic Sesame Street episodes coming from?

[minor muppetz]

Now the wiki has pictures for episode 1505. One thing that's interesting is that it's a season 12 episode to include the original Rubber Duckie. I know the original would later be in a season 16 episode, but it's still amazing to hear about that one airing post-season 1.

Looking at a previous edit, before all the scenes were given wiki images I see that it previously listed the season two version. For a while I had wondered if they did anything to differentiate the various versions of Ernie singing the song (like maybe "Ernie sings Rubber Duckie #2"), I'm guessing the script either didn't (though I would have expected it to list a different run time and episode number - though if the scripts list the original episode number for the season 2 version I'll actually not be that surprised), or it's a case where they changed it from script to broadcast and the original remained in the "final aired version" of the script (which I've seen in the Sandbox page on script inconsistencies has happened with some episodes).

For a while there had been some discussion about the segment Starship Surprise, which was confirmed to be in that same episode in the program guide but not in the script, and the script inconsistencies sandbox page does list a few examples of segments not being listed. But now that a video copy has surfaced for wiki research, we can definitely say that that rare one definitely isn't in that episode.

 

[YellowYahooey]

This one is neat! James Earl Jones appears as a movie star in this episode:

Episode 1148

The script named the movie star "Michael Medford" before casting James Earl Jones who had studied drama with Mr. Hooper actor Will Lee.

muppet.fandom.com

It is also one of the earliest episodes to feature "Disco D", which I had initially thought debuted on the Season 10 premiere.

That's what happens when I took a long break from watching the Canadian broadcasts in the late 1970s, then got back into it late in 1979, and the Canadian broadcasts didn't complete the last cycle before launching the Season 10 episodes in February 1980. Sounds like they were pretty close to the end of the cycle of Season 9 Canadian broadcasts by the time CBC launched the Season 10 episodes.

I find also that "Sesame Street Canada" (later known as "Canadian Sesame Street") had aired mostly U.S. produced segments, and replaced some segments with Canadian-produced segments, whether in English or French. I remember an early Season 11 Canadian broadcast (one with the sponsors J, K and 12) had the Sesame Street News Flash segment with Little Bo Peep replaced by a Canadian film segment about sheep.

Also, I discovered in late 1982, Episode 1449 had a Canadian-produced animated segment about the letter D which illustrates D words, and had the uppercase and lowercase D flipping out towards the end, looking like Impact font, and with a 3D effect (the segment was never farmed to the U.S. version, for some reason) - that animated segment replaced the Muppet segment "D Duah Duah" possibly because Bushman Bill used a Spanish term ("numero uno") while introducing the song, and Spanish segments were irrelevant to Canada at the time. That letter D segment was supposedly by the similar animator that did the F for fire, farmer, etc. (the segment with a flaming letter F which I saw on Muppet Wiki a while back).

It is believed that the three Crayon letter animation segments for the letters D, V and Z were produced in Canada, and did get farmed to the U.S. version, with its first U.S. appearance on Episode 1715, the Season 13 finale.

Other Canadian-produced segments that were farmed to the U.S. version include the song "The City", and I could tell it was Canadian produced as the Canadian National logo is shown in a transit depot; and the segment where a blind boy narrates his day, showcasing his ability to add with an abacus, read braille, and play with his friends, I do know that was Canadian-produced because the math textbook used was titled "Math Is" and had the logo for Canada's awareness of the metric system which was quite prevalent in the late 70s/early 80s. When I was in junior high, my math class relied on "Math Is" as their official textbook.

 

[scarecroe]

Here's one I really enjoyed. It's the second of at least three visits we know of where Mr. Hooper's brother came to visit:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1156896222290042880

 

[hooperfan]

Here's one I really enjoyed. It's the second of at least three visits we know of where Mr. Hooper's brother came to visit:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1156896222290042880

So envious at the Hooper footage you get to see

 

[scarecroe]

So envious at the Hooper footage you get to see

Did you see the one with his dad?

Episode 1418

muppet.fandom.com

 

[LittleJerry92]

Here’s hoping we can see some street scenes in the future!

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Did you see the one with his dad?

Episode 1418

muppet.fandom.com

Hooper had a brother?!
Man, that's what I love about these old episodes, the human characters were fleshed out human beings with lives. I miss that.
The problem is especially evident with Alan. He's been on the show for 20 years and doesn't even have a last name. I'm pretty sure his family wasn't even mentioned in passing until season 48.

 

[scarecroe]

To be fair, Mr. Hooper's first name wasn't revealed until eight years into the show. At least, we're pretty sure it wasn't mentioned before then, but there are still a lot of episodes waiting to be guided.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

Hooper had a brother?!
Man, that's what I love about these old episodes, the human characters were fleshed out human beings with lives. I miss that.

On that note, one time I was at an antique mall, and one of the vendors had a big collection of vintage SS memorabilia for sale. Among them were several of the Little People figures from Fischer-Price. He pointed out the "Mrs. Hooper" figure out to me, which I was incredibly surprised about and asked out loud if Mr. Hooper was actually married on the show, and the vendor replied something like "it's possible, I'm not sure." (and bear in mind, he was an older gentleman). So, yeah it makes me wonder if he was for sure married on the show and if his wife was ever seen.

there are still a lot of episodes waiting to be guided.

As usual, I can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeves!

 

[Cookie3001]

so @Blue Frackle going back to our conversation on insert muppets appearing on the street, I completely forgot that Ernie had very many street appearances during season 31 in 2000.

Also Cookie Monster makes several appearances throughout this episode...