1-2-3-4-5..6-7-8-9-10..11-12!

[tutter_fan]

me? Marry a number pinball segment? HA HA HA HA HA HA!

You're joking right?

 

[minor muppetz]

me? Marry a number pinball segment? HA HA HA HA HA HA!

You're joking right?

Yes.. Err, maybe... uh, I guess... Oh, what the heck, yes I am joking.

 

[minor muppetz]

Maybe non-sponsor letters and numbers should get an "Also mentioned:" entry if an episode shows clips specifically about them. "Specifically about" means a clip designed to teach only one letter or number (so reciting the alphabet/counting to 20 don't justify an "also mentioned" for the whole list).

I never thought of skits where characters just count to 20 (or 10, or 40) to be the number equivelent of reciting thw alphabet. Of course people don't recite the alphabet and stop at any certain letters (it would have been cool if Sesame Street had a recurring letter series with an opening where kids say the alphabet and stop at the featured letter, though Wanda the Witch begins with every letter up to W being shown).

There have been a number of recurring number skits that are basically the same except that they end when the skits get to certain numbers. One example is the animated series of sketches that has numbers that somehow resmeble animals. I think some episode pages at Muppet Wiki refer to them as "number creatures", but I don't know the official title (for reference, the 20 segment was included in The Great Numbers Game). For something like this, where the numbers are beign counted, I doubt that there would be any segments for one, two, or three... But I wonder what the lowest numbers are to have segments in these series.

 

[ISNorden]

I never thought of skits where characters just count to 20 (or 10, or 40) to be the number equivalent of reciting the alphabet.

Although whole numbers don't have a definite "end point" the way an alphabet does, counting up to some arbitrary high number from memory is similar in some respects: trying to remember a whole list in order, matching names to conventional symbols. Sesame Street still keeps a gap between "sponsor numbers" and "the highest number we can expect preschoolers to count", with those highest-number sketches always teaching the whole list: 17 becomes just another step towards 20 (or 40, or 100).

Of course people don't recite the alphabet and stop at any certain letters (it would have been cool if Sesame Street had a recurring letter series with an opening where kids say the alphabet and stop at the featured letter, though Wanda the Witch begins with every letter up to W being shown).

People might recite letters that way if they're looking something up in a directory or dictionary, but that's the only real-life situation where I could imagine such behavior. As for Sesame Street, I can recall three other classic clips that included characters stopping the alphabet at the sponsor letter:

1. "The letter I looks like a bone": the boy in that cartoon stops the alphabet song at "I", although that might not count because the dog interrupts him.
2. The "'J' Friends" song: one of the singers begins by reciting letters up to I, then asking everyone else what comes next.
3. The "'K' Cheerleaders" clip: all of the cheerleaders recite the alphabet up to K, then cheer for their favorite.

There have been a number of recurring number skits that are basically the same except that they end when the skits get to certain numbers. One example is the animated series of sketches that has numbers that somehow resemble animals. I think some episode pages at Muppet Wiki refer to them as "number creatures", but I don't know the official title (for reference, the 20 segment was included in The Great Numbers Game). For something like this, where the numbers are being counted, I doubt that there would be any segments for one, two, or three... But I wonder what the lowest numbers are to have segments in these series.

I've seen Number Creatures segments as low as 11; that also applies to other sketches (Rubber Stamp, Carnival Masks, even the Count's "Number of the Day" song) that may end up at 20. Basically, for any sponsor less than 11, those sketches would never appear.

 

[tutter_fan]

Yes.. Err, maybe... uh, I guess... Oh, what the heck, yes I am joking.

ok! I knew you were kidding, and BTW, how could I marry a number pinball count, anyway? lol

 

[ssetta]

I've seen Number Creatures segments as low as 11; that also applies to other sketches (Rubber Stamp, Carnival Masks, even the Count's "Number of the Day" song) that may end up at 20. Basically, for any sponsor less than 11, those sketches would never appear.

There actually WAS a Rubberstamps segment that went to 9, and another one that went to 10.

 

[ISNorden]

There actually WAS a Rubberstamps segment that went to 9, and another one that went to 10.

A few of my friends on YouTube confirmed that they've seen Rubber Stamp clips less than 11, and one said he was disappointed whenever the series stopped before 8. Still, the lower limit can't be too far under 8; I'm guessing 4, judging by the background music.

 

[ssetta]

The only Rubberstamps segments they did were: 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 20.

 

[ISNorden]

The only Rubberstamps segments they did were: 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 20.

OK; it's good to have some confirmation from the inside!

 

[ssetta]

They didn't really do a lot of #1 sketches in the '70s and '80s. I don't think they had too many episodes sponsored by the number 1 until about 1988 or so. I think they figured that kids didn't really need to learn about the number 1, and it was so simple, it didn't really need to be taught.