Billy Barkhurst

[antsamthompson9]

Hasn't it been confirmed that Steve is officially retired from SST?

He said it himself at the Vulture Festival: "By the way, I don't work on Sesame Street anymore. It's a long story."

 

[D'Snowth]

Yeah, because Ernie had become his only SST character, and with the Classic Muppets doing so much more these days to keep him busy, it wasn't really practical for him to travel all the way to New York for just one character.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I've always wondered why Steve always played such few characters on SST, he played a bunch of characters on Elmo in Grouchland and he played Dr.Feel in season 35/36, but I can't really think of a time where he played any other AM or one-off character during his time on the show, even before he started to perform on the show less often.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I've always wondered why Steve always played such few characters on SST, he played a bunch of characters on Elmo in Grouchland and he played Dr.Feel in season 35/36, but I can't really think of a time where he played any other AM or one-off character during his time on the show, even before he started to perform on the show less often.

He was an AM farmer and doctor in Sesame Street Goes to the Doctor and was the King of Reading and Writing in Talk, Read, Write.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, back in the day, Jim wanted to keep certain performers exclusive to certain ends of the Muppet spectrum, allowing himself, Frank, Jerry, and Richard to be free to perform in whatever came about - Steve and Dave were among those Jim wanted to keep exclusive to the Classic Muppets, which is why they rarely performed on SST to begin with (I think the only times Dave performed on SST are Elephant Elevator Operator and Tiny the Giant Chicken). Really, the main reason Steve got to work on SST was because he took over Kermit, and by proxy, Ernie, since Jim's passing.

 

[Mo Frackle]

(I think the only times Dave performed on SST are Elephant Elevator Operator and Tiny the Giant Chicken).

Dave did a handful of non-recurring characters for Season 24.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Dave did a handful of non-recurring characters for Season 24.

Yep, Dave Goelz and Louise Gold became main performers in season 24, probably due to the deaths of Richard Hunt and Jim Henson.

 

[MuppetSpot]

Yep, Dave Goelz and Louise Gould became main performers in season 24, probably due to the deaths of Richard Hunt and Jim Henson.

Well with Louise Gold performed on SST after season 24 unlike Dave, she was performing for while until maybe the mid-nineties is when she stop performing on SST.

 

[Oscarfan]

Yeah, because Ernie had become his only SST character, and with the Classic Muppets doing so much more these days to keep him busy, it wasn't really practical for him to travel all the way to New York for just one character.

I'm surprised I haven't made this argument yet in this thread. But, if you look at a lot of what Steve's done in the past few years on SS, almost none of it has actually been shown on the show. A couple of street stories and a song and that's it. All the rest of the stuff he's filmed has been shown around the world, but barely in America. That's the problem I see with Steve; why bother bringing him in if you're not going to use his voice, and if you are, why aren't you?

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I'm surprised I haven't made this argument yet in this thread. But, if you look at a lot of what Steve's done in the past few years on SS, almost none of it has actually been shown on the show. A couple of street stories and a song and that's it. All the rest of the stuff he's filmed has been shown around the world, but barely in America. That's the problem I see with Steve; why bother bringing him in if you're not going to use his voice, and if you are, why aren't you?

Yeah, I never understood why that was. The only Ernie and Bert sketch we've gotten since season 36 was in season 43 when Ernie plays with Bert's bottle cap box. There's still over a dozen sketches that have yet to be seen in the US. It would've been nice if they had aired the remainder of those sketches in season 44 and 45 when the show started doing more classic style Muppet sketches again like the new ones with Guy Smiley and the "Which monster is the tallest?"one with Grover. But now, it seems there's almost no chance of seeing them unless SST uploads them all on YT or on their website.