Characters You'd Like to See Return to the Street

[BEAR]

Here's some trivia for you about lil' Prairie. Fran Brill came up with the name Prairie Dawn after she went through a stack of 8x10 photo in her agent's office. She came across an actress named "Prairie Dorn", and thought it was one of the goofiest names she ever heard, so they named the little muppet girl Prairie Dawn, because they didn't want to use "Dorn", and poke fun at this actress. According to Fran, Jim and Frank's goal was to play off of her prissiness, and to make her go as ballistic as possible.

Yes, I recall reading this. I think that she fits the whole prissy brainy 7 year old persona quite well.

 

[Censored]

Here are the muppets I'd like to see return (BTW, this list is compiled of who I'd like to see return, not necessarily who would be most likely to do so)


Professor Hastings (They never gave him a chance)

Roosevelt Franklin (He wasn't a stereotype. He was a good role model in and out of his classroom)

Roosevelt Franklin's mother (As they search for more female characters to represent the show, they should look back to those they let slip through their fingers).

Herbert Birdsfoot (He was funny)

Little Bird (Whatever happened to this character anyway?)

SAM the Robot (He was a fun character)

Lefty the Salesman (People miss the point about this character. The moral was that Ernie almost always outsmarted the crook)

Sherlock Hemlock (Is he really completely gone?)

Harvey Kneeslapper (If his voice was the problem, modify it)

Farley (Give him more lines and a bigger part)

Betty Lou (Prarie Dawn, why not Betty Lou?)

Beautiful Day Monster (His character could be developed)

Anything Muppets (I'd love to see more muppets with blank faces that human created right before our eyes).

Later

 

[Censored]

it's not because of the voice. There was a thread about lefty the salesman in which Secret Squirrell where he/ she said that lefty stopped appearing because the shows producers didn't think it would be good for a childrens educational show to have a suspicious-looking stranger. Secret Squirrell also said that Eric Jacopson could probably do leftys voice, but Lefty will most likely stay retired. I think bruno has a better chance of being rebuilt than lefty does of returning.

It's funny because the original Lefty skits were based on old comedy routines where one person successfully conned another. Yet, since this was a children's show, they decided to turn it around and have the con man get the worst of it by having an innocent victim turn the tables.

And that's all Lefty was ever supposed to be, the stereotypical shady salesman in urban areas who carried things in his trench coat to sell. He was never supposed to be a predator or a drug dealer; that was all imagined later on.

I also wonder about the name "Lefty". The only times I really remember this character being called "Lefty was in the skits where he met his boss for instructions. In all of his typical skits, his name was never mentioned and books only referred to him as "The salesman". Interesting.

 

[BEAR]

It's funny because the original Lefty skits were based on old comedy routines where one person successfully conned another. Yet, since this was a children's show, they decided to turn it around and have the con man get the worst of it by having an innocent victim turn the tables.

And that's all Lefty was ever supposed to be, the stereotypical shady salesman in urban areas who carried things in his trench coat to sell. He was never supposed to be a predator or a drug dealer; that was all imagined later on.

I also wonder about the name "Lefty". The only times I really remember this character being called "Lefty was in the skits where he met his boss for instructions. In all of his typical skits, his name was never mentioned and books only referred to him as "The salesman". Interesting.

Yeah, i never really thought that way about Lefty being portrayed as a drug dealer or a bad guy at all. I thought he was a cool character, and funny too.

 

[BEAR]

Here are the muppets I'd like to see return (BTW, this list is compiled of who I'd like to see return, not necessarily who would be most likely to do so)


Professor Hastings (They never gave him a chance)

Harvey Kneeslapper (If his voice was the problem, modify it)

It wasn't only Harvey's laugh that hurt Frank Oz's voice. He was also thought to be a one-joke character and I guess it got old.

Professor Hastings was pretty boring. I mean, I listened to some recordings of songs with him, like the U song, and I almost fall asleep before he does.

However, I agree about Herbert Birdsfoot. I would like to see him back because I don't really remember much of him except for recordings of songs i have heard. I don't feel i ever really knew him. Someone once asked about who could take Kermit's place as Grover's victim. Why not Herbie?

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Well, we still see some 'anything Muppets' pop up every now and then, but I agree with a few on the list. If the problem with Harvey Kneeslapper was his voice it could be modified. After all, the majority of Frank's characters are performed by Eric now anyway. Also, they could surely bring Roosevelt back. Roscoe Orman could perform the voice. He never seemed much like a negative stereotype to me, but then again I've basically only seen him in books. Yet, I do remember 'Figure it Out.'

 

[minor muppetz]

The only time she appeared in TSWLO was during the closing flashback sequence, where they played a clip of her, Mary Monster, and Queen Latifah doing that "Letter O Rap".

the only Sesame Street muppets who appeared in clips but not in new footage of the special are Kermit, Fat Blue, Forgetful Jones, prarie Dawn, Merry Monster, and Lulu, so it's not really that much. There wasn't any Sam The Robot, Guy Smiley, Rosevelt Franklin, or others.

 

[BEAR]

the only Sesame Street muppets who appeared in clips but not in new footage of the special are Kermit, Fat Blue, Forgetful Jones, prarie Dawn, Merry Monster, and Lulu, so it's not really that much. There wasn't any Sam The Robot, Guy Smiley, Rosevelt Franklin, or others.

Yes, but Prairie is a much more important character than any of those (Kermit excepted).

 

[Ziffel]

Professor Hastings was pretty boring. I mean, I listened to some recordings of songs with him, like the U song, and I almost fall asleep before he does.

Pretty hilarious line, Bear!

Farley (Give him more lines and a bigger part)

I always liked both Farley and Professor Hastings and thought it was neat when they'd be on. Part of it is probably because of their limited use (the ol' absence makes the heart grow fonder principle). But Jerry Nelson's voice for Farley and his likable naiveness were also appealing.

I also wonder about the name "Lefty". The only times I really remember this character being called "Lefty was in the skits where he met his boss for instructions. In all of his typical skits, his name was never mentioned and books only referred to him as "The salesman". Interesting.

Yes, as a child in the 70's I always heard him referenced as just "The Salesman". I had some Sesame Street finger puppets in the early 70's and one was of him (I also had Bert, Ernie, Grover, Oscar, Sherlock Hemlock, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird) and he was called The Salesman. But since he was called Lefty in those other skits with his boss, I'm okay with the conglomerated "Lefty the Salesman".
The Salesman would definitely be one muppet character I'd like to see back on SS. I love how Frank Oz did his voice and I love the look of his character. And the opening sounds (dun dun...DUN DUN DUN DUN dun.. dun.. dun) of the skits with Ernie, his sneaking up on Ernie and scaring him, Ernie's scream, and the hilarious dialogue that ensued just made these wonderful skits. It's really funny how he not only tried to sell Ernie worthless items, but also NON-items! (like an invisible ice cream cone and air from a bottle). I mean, at least on "Let's Make a Deal" even if you got a zonk it was SOMETHING (like a goat or a broken couch) and not just empty space behind the curtain!

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Also, they should bring back some of Richard's characters with new performers like they did with Gladys. I think even Don Music could come back if they could find another way for him to express his frusteration rather than banging his head on the piano.