David and Maria DID get married

[fuzzygobo]

You had to be around in 1976, but in one skit David and Maria did tie the knot. They were demonstrating round things. David was the groom, Maria was the bride, and Bob was the minister. The couple exchanged vows, but when it came time for David to put the ring on Maria's finger, he couldn't find it. He rummages through his pockets and pulls out different round things- a donut, a pizza, a golf ball- but no ring! He keeps searching, and we're left to wonder if he'll ever find it. Cut to cartoon.

We come back, and now the floor is littered with round things, but still no ring! By now David and Bob have white hair and long white beards, Maria's hair is white and her face is all wrinkled (thankfully no beard, though) but David still can't find the godforsaken ring, and Maria is fed up. "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SIXTY-FIVE YEARS AND I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE!!!" (**** hath no fury like an impatient Maria) All seems lost, but David spies the ring on the floor, slips it on her finger, they kiss and then- get this!- they DROP DEAD!!!!!

Bob is left standing there, and then HE keels over too! Fade to black.

This skit was only aired once or twice back in the day, and if you blinked, you missed it. If anybody EVER comes across this (good luck!) you'll have in your possession the Holiest of Sesame Grails.

 

[Drtooth]

If they drop dead at the end of it, it's no wonder this hasn't been seen in years. It was awfully mighty of them to acknowledge Mr. Hooper's death when it happened several years later, BUT to play death off as a joke in a young kid's program... that's something that's a little too harsh for Sesame Street. It's funny, but in an alien to the series concept.

I'm surprised that even made it to air, frankly.

 

[minor muppetz]

If this segment actually exists (and you're not just remembering a dream or something), then I hope it shows up someday. I guess this could be the shows next big holy grail, after a number of holy grails (such as Henson #1, There's a Hole in the Bucket, Telly's debut, and the original People in Your Neighborhood) have shown up in recent years, online or on DVD (or both).

 

[fuzzygobo]

Yes, this segment does exist, and I'll maintain that to my dying day. It may have been one of the few (if only) times a skit was aired, then pulled on the grounds of questionable taste. It might only exist now deep in the bowels of the Sesame archives, gathering dust. If it ever does see the light of day again (and I know that's a big if) I'm sure a bunch of people will be amazed such an artifact ever made it on the air.

It's the same sense of amazement I got back around the same time (1976) and getting to see the Baker #1 clip (just how many times has the number 1 sponsored the show?), and then seeing it posted again several decades later.

We all have our Holy Grails we'd love to be reunited with. And for someone my age, the longer the wait, the more satisfying the reunion. Seeing this one again would make my head spin. Until then, I still got my memory to hang on to.

 

[minor muppetz]

I'm sure there's other clips that were only shown once. I think Oscar's verison of Bein' Green from season 36 was only in one episode, but that can be viewed at sesamestreet.org and is one of the clips that was nominated for the upcoming Best of Sesame Friends DVD (I'm hoping it got enough votes for inclusion). I'm guessing they just didn't ever rebroadcast it, because I can't think of a reason why they would drop the segment (well it seems Miles has been off the show for a few years and he did appear at the beginning of that clip... And of course they don't seem to show many pre-HD clips very often anymore).

I've seen scans of the "first season show content", files from the CTW archives that list pretty much every insert from the first season plus all first season episodes they appeared in, and certain segments have "dump" written by them, which I think means they had to stop airing. I know that the files do have "dump" listed on at least one insert that only aired once, the Anything Muppets performance of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which aired in episode 3. In fact, when it comes to all those segments with "dump" written by them, it seems Sesame Workshop has only made them available to us fans via the episodes they were in. For example, there's a few pages listing Buddy and Jim segments, with "DUMP" written on the pages for all the segments, and outside of episodes on Noggin and iTunes (the first test pilot and This Way to Sesame Street both have Buddy and Jim segments that appeared in Noggin episodes) I don't think any of us fans have any of those.

And of course there's the rare season 7 episode with The Wicked Witch which was only broadcast on one day (some stations aired the show twice a day, so I won't say it only aired once) before being pulled for being too scary. Wouldn't it be ironic if that particular episode had the segment mentioned as this threads topic? Or even if that episode happened to have many "holy grail" (or former holy grail) segments?

I wonder if a DVD set of cast segments would be very marketable. I'm talking about segments with little-to-no involvement from the Muppets, and perhaps an emphasis on segments like the one asked about here, where the humans seem to be playing roles as opposed to their regular characters (or are they playing their characters playing roles?).

 

[mr3urious]

I guess this could be the shows next big holy grail, after a number of holy grails (such as Henson #1, There's a Hole in the Bucket, Telly's debut, and the original People in Your Neighborhood) have shown up in recent years, online or on DVD (or both).

Don't forget the identity of the real first Gordon!

 

[fuzzygobo]

I'm sure there's other clips that were only shown once. I think Oscar's verison of Bein' Green from season 36 was only in one episode, but that can be viewed at sesamestreet.org and is one of the clips that was nominated for the upcoming Best of Sesame Friends DVD (I'm hoping it got enough votes for inclusion). I'm guessing they just didn't ever rebroadcast it, because I can't think of a reason why they would drop the segment (well it seems Miles has been off the show for a few years and he did appear at the beginning of that clip... And of course they don't seem to show many pre-HD clips very often anymore).

I've seen scans of the "first season show content", files from the CTW archives that list pretty much every insert from the first season plus all first season episodes they appeared in, and certain segments have "dump" written by them, which I think means they had to stop airing. I know that the files do have "dump" listed on at least one insert that only aired once, the Anything Muppets performance of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which aired in episode 3. In fact, when it comes to all those segments with "dump" written by them, it seems Sesame Workshop has only made them available to us fans via the episodes they were in. For example, there's a few pages listing Buddy and Jim segments, with "DUMP" written on the pages for all the segments, and outside of episodes on Noggin and iTunes (the first test pilot and This Way to Sesame Street both have Buddy and Jim segments that appeared in Noggin episodes) I don't think any of us fans have any of those.

And of course there's the rare season 7 episode with The Wicked Witch which was only broadcast on one day (some stations aired the show twice a day, so I won't say it only aired once) before being pulled for being too scary. Wouldn't it be ironic if that particular episode had the segment mentioned as this threads topic? Or even if that episode happened to have many "holy grail" (or former holy grail) segments?

I wonder if a DVD set of cast segments would be very marketable. I'm talking about segments with little-to-no involvement from the Muppets, and perhaps an emphasis on segments like the one asked about here, where the humans seem to be playing roles as opposed to their regular characters (or are they playing their characters playing roles?).

I think one package that could be marketable would be Season 1 songs performed by the Muppets. Octopus's Garden, Good Morning Starshine, Yellow Submarine (in English) and Windy (in German) have all showed up on youtube. But it would be a treat to see Lucy in the Sky and- speaking of holy grails- their version of Blood Sweat & Tears' "Spinning Wheel".
Again, here's another one that has been entombed for 40 years. Here, a few hippie Muppets (fronted by Little Jerry, but voiced by Jim) pound this one out, while on the screen behind them there is a light show with a spinning wheel. It's the closest the Muppets ever got to the Fillmore East.

If they could ever overcome all the legal/copyright/royalty hassles to release something like this, imagine what a slice of history we'd have!

 

[Jyllian]

yup I remember this skit..it was so morbid!! my brother remembers it too!! so we searched for it and found this..if anyone has seen it online pleeeeazze also send me an e mail I want to see it.. jyllian@Hotmail.com

 

[cjd874]

I'm reading the Jim Henson biography by Brian Jay Jones, and there's some info about how some of the SS skits would fall apart during rehearsal due to the performers' antics. Someone would then ask Jon Stone, "And what are we teaching?" Stone would reply gleefully, "Who cares?"

This skit seems like the perfect example: creating some extremely wacky scenario with a twist (or even shock) ending, but having it justified by some educational concept. But it's all enjoyable, nonetheless. When it comes to these kinds of skits, I also think of the Sesame News Flashes and the Guy Smiley game shows.

 

[SesameMike]

No doubt about it -- this was a real sequence. I've posted about it myself on other boards.

A couple of other details: when I saw this, there were actually 3 segments. The first and last were as described, but the middle sequence was short, and only had David taking one round item out of his jacket. I think it was a 45-rpm vinyl record.

Also, there was background organ music playing throughout, along with the traditional Wedding March at the very beginning. But when they returned for the final segment, the organ was clearly out-of-tune by then! Hmmm, can the notes of a pipe organ become off-key over time, the way, say, the strings on a piano can?

I remember Maria's rage as "I've been standing here for sixty-five years and you still can't find the right ring. I'm. Leaving. You!!"

I read somewhere that there was another multi-part sequence where the characters aged ridiculously between segments. I think it was Maria and Gordon, where one of them had a vendor's pushcart; one of them wanted water, and got it, but not before littering the landscape with myriads of other items, due to some lack of communication.