Did Oscar ever cross the line?

[Censored]

Everyone knows that underneath all of his grouchiness, Oscar has a heart of gold, but did you ever think there was a time when he took his grouchiness too far? One time I think he went too far was when Miles was first adopted and he slammed the door to make him cry and laughed about it. That seemed to be crossing the line a bit from grouchiness to wickedness. JMO

Any other times?

 

[ssetta]

Don't forget the episode from Season 18 that was on Unpaved where he has this barbecue that smells awful, and the adults tell him that he's gone too far, and they hurt his feelings, and he moves away from Sesame Street. But then he gets upset, and everyone gets upset, so he moves back.

 

[Don_Music_2004]

I think he crossed the line on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. He was very mean to Big Bird.

 

[LittleChrissy]

There was also the birth of Gabi ep, where Oscar refused to tell the men what he had heard on the phone, because that would be helping them. The men walk away saying "He's such a GROUCH!"

 

[muppet maniac]

Basically, Oscar (and that of his species, according to one Muppet designer when being asked to describe them), is made up of not just grumpiness, but also fun. These words best describe him: grumpy, hilarity, cheeky, messy, naughty, sarcasm, silliness...add up alll these and that's what you get. But yeah, overall, there's goodness.

Which is what you have to understand when you're writing for him. You'd have to think backwards---like Opposite Day.

You know, being miserable from being happy, which drives one miserable, then happy; liking to be left alone, but only to realize that if left alone, then he'd have no one to be grouchy with, Something that'd be yucky would be "good", etc.

And, the Muppets on the street were "kids", and the humans (adults) would be there to teach them, help them with certain things in life, and most of all, be the butt for all their little shenanigans.

There were times that the Muppets drove each other insane, there were times that they'd hurt another's feelings, make mistakes, etc. But hey, they'd always manage to work out in the end.

I think he crossed the line on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. He was very mean to Big Bird.

Okay, I thought I'd admit this to everyone---you may not agree, but I think it's best that I share it: the real reason, why Sesame Street went downhill was...that special. I'm serious. You know, SS was like this show filled with all that "warm, nurturing comedy" and that of which makes it almost like a Laugh-In type of show. But after that happened, it didn't feel like it anymore. At least, just not as much. Plus, it kinda broke the "thinking backwards" rule.

Just thought I'd say that.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

<<I think he crossed the line on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. He was very mean to Big Bird.>>

I'm still thinking about that one. I mean BB did go on and on to him about his excitement about Santa coming down the chimney. It might have been his mistake to talk like that to a a grouch. You can't really expect Oscar to say 'Hooray! I love Santa!' or anything like that. I mean, he did go out and look for BB later on, but mainly because Maria gave him a guilt trip. Makes me wonder if he would have done that on his own. There were times when Oscar did show concern for his friends. After all, he went with the gang to look for Big Bird in "Follow that Bird" even though Bob told him he didn't have to go. True, he said that he just liked a wild goose chase, but in reality it seemed like he cared for Big Bird and just didn't want to admit it. Then as people mentioned here before, there was that ep where he looked for Telly at the park because he was worried about him. I'd really like to see that episode.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Big Bird is niave like that. Yeah, the show ue to be a little more "off beat" ten it is now porbably.

 

[LincolnHeights]

Duing a first Season episode, Oscar was baking a cake because it was his friend's birthday. He showed Susan a Card he had made for his friend and it said something like Roses are Red Viloets are Blue, Garbage is Brown, and we all HATE you

I was very surprized they even used the word hate on Sesame Street. But oh well that was in 1970, and Oscar was still orange.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Actually, I've always seen the Christmas special as warm and nurturing. I don't see that on the show anymore now, at least not with any depth. That's the difference.

There needed to be some kind of conflict in the Christmas show. And to me Oscar needs an edge occasionally. It can't just be, oh he's not really bad, it's just that "bad is good to him."

Things definitely changed on SS like later in the '80s, but they don't bother me so much because it's nothing compared to the '90s up to the present.

It's like not enjoying a certain decade's music. You start to appreciate it when you see what comes after it. Putting things into perspective and all.

 

[Soul H]

Ah, yes. To Herbie the Grouch:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Have a horrible birthday
We all hate you

then there was the other idea:

Roses are red
And don't you forget
You're the rottenest person
That I ever met.

Classic.

Duing a first Season episode, Oscar was baking a cake because it was his friend's birthday. He showed Susan a Card he had made for his friend and it said something like Roses are Red Viloets are Blue, Garbage is Brown, and we all HATE you

I was very surprized they even used the word hate on Sesame Street. But oh well that was in 1970, and Oscar was still orange.