Episode 1966

[ErnieBertGonzo]

(My first post in quite a while; I only have access to the Internet every other week and when I do, I've been doing other stuff in lieu of stopping by the old forum. But... enough about me...)

Anybody know anything of this episode? It was the only season premiere not included in Unpaved.

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_1966

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

Well, now that Muppet Wiki has now at long last updated this page, I must say that I'm rather surprised that this is the episode that Gordon, Linda, and Maria decide to believe Big Bird that Snuffy is real. I would have expected it to happen at least a few episodes before Episode 2096. But, it's quite interesting to see that the adults wouldn't see him for another 129 episodes (the rest of Season 16)! Considering that this was the only season premiere not to be included in Unpaved, I sure do hope that Sesame Workshop lets this out of the vault someday, whether it's the full episode or just the street scenes.

 

[minor muppetz]

It is great to finally know what that season premier is about.

I wonder if those three all actually believe Big Bird in that episode, or if it's all in different episodes of the season. I could see that quote referring to the season more than the episode, and I feel it would make more sense for three of them to begin believing Big Bird in different episodes as opposed to just one (while the other adults don't believe Big Bird over time).

It seems like Maria had already believed Snuffy was real in season 15. In episode 1899 she's willing to see if Snuffy's behind Big Bird's doors before Olivia tells her she doesn't have time (and yet I wonder why Maria had to go to the start of the marathon Gordon was running in), and later, she acknowledges Big Bird might be right when he points out that Snuffy's just never around when they are and then she's willing to wait with Big Bird for Snuffy to finish the race, until Olivia quickly convinces her that she'll have a long wait (though she said she'd wait some other time.... She didn't even wait for just a little bit before leaving?). And then in another season 15 episode, when Snuffy is sick, she actually makes a get-well-soon card, explaining to Bob that if he is real he'll appreciate it, and if he isn't it was still fun to make.

It's widely sourced that the reason the adults finally saw Snuffy was because the producers were worried that kids would be afraid to tell adults important things because the adults didn't believe Big Bird. I would have assumed they'd have the adults see Snuffy as soon as possible, but then they had some of the adults see Snuffy a whole year earlier. So I wonder if that decision came before season 16 or 17... Could they have decided that the adults needed to believe Big Bird first before seeing that he's real (perhaps to show kids that you don't need to see something to believe it)? Or could it have been a coincidence that they decided to have a few adults believe Big Bird when shortly after they heard about child abuse reports and decided to just let all the adults see Big Bird?

Are there any known season 16 episodes where Maria, Gordon, or Linda acknowledge that they believe in Snuffleupagus?

 

[minor muppetz]

For awhile, I had wondered if episode 1966 was an episode with a recycled street story. I would be surprised if they did reuse an existing street story for a season premier. And of course we now know that it isn't a reused episode. That would be a good reason for Noggin to not air it, if it had the same street scenes as another episode Noggin had aired... But then again, the street scenes from episode 3136 were repeated into another episode and both of those aired on Noggin.

Another thing that I've wondered: Could this episode possibly have too many inserts that appear in other episodes that aired on Noggin? I don't know if that would have mattered when it comes to deciding what episodes to not include, and off-hand I don't know what episode that aired on Noggin has the biggest number of segments that appear in other episodes on Noggin (might be a good research challenge).

But until we are able to see the episode or find an official sketch rundown we can only speculate.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah. I was wondering about that for the longest time. I know Gordon was still pretty skeptical in the marathon episode. Hopefully we'll see this one soon.

 

[OscarandTelly]

There's now a full guide for this episode on muppet wiki. I wonder if someone out there actually has it. I'd love to see the full episode on YouTube. One can only hope.

 

[LittleJerry92]

In fairness, still no images, but at least we know what was in the episode and the descriptions of the scenes.

We might never see the full episode, but you never know...

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

Lately on the Wiki, there have been guides made for various classic episodes (including 1966) that have a note: This episode guide has been compiled from materials provided by a trusted source. I can't help but wonder if it's the same source who got access to all those master tapes a few years ago. If yes, I wonder if they got access to the actual episode footage, and if we'll eventually get to see it. Maybe we will, and maybe we won't...

 

[LittleJerry92]

I doubt it. If anything, if it was the same source, we'd probably have the images to the scenes.

Whatever the case, I'm just glad to get more guides.

 

[minor muppetz]

I am so glad to see a rundown of the episode.

I was surprised by how soon the adults believe Big Bird. I was expecting it to happen in the second to last street scene. Though now I realize that it doesn't start that soon - they begin to believe Big Bird in the third street scene. In hindsight, I kinda feel it'd have been better for each adult who believes Big Bird to start in a different scene - like, Maria could believe Big Bird first, then in a scene or two Gordon could, then in the next scene Linda could.

I really want to see that scene where they do believe. Hearing about the sun rising and Olivia saying it's the dawn of a new day sounds like a really epic scene (and a metaphor for the fact that some adults believe him now - and the one saying the line is one who still doesn't). I imagine drum beats being heard as it happens.

For an episode about Snuffy, it seems like he only appears in one scene. And funny how in an episode where they start to believe, Snuffy says he doesn't believe that they will ever believe.

I wondered if maybe Noggin didn't air it because there were too many segments that aired in other episodes on the channel, and I don't know whether that would be criteria for choosing/excluding episodes. Looking at this guide, it seems like most of the segments are in other guides (don't know off-hand whether all the pictured segments were in other episodes on Noggin). There doesn't seem to be any really sought-after clips, nothing too rare (well, maybe the segments that don't have pictures in the guide, not sure if they're not in any guides or if nobody on the wiki could determine what the segments are yet). I did notice that it has a lot of segments that appear in the three Old School volumes. Of course, I don't recall knowing about that segment pictured where Telly pretends to be animals, that actually looks interesting. And it is fitting that this episode has the segment where Ernie and Bert go to Egypt.