Favorite celebrity appearances on "Sesame Street"...

[manoftheSTREET]

"Sesame Street" has always featured celebrities of all stripes helping the Street crew educate kids with a mix of lessons, humor and pop-culture references. What are some of your favorite celebrity appearances?

Mine include:

-Snuffy's first appearance to the humans, covered in part by Phil Donahue.

-Any appearance by Robin Williams or Mel Gibson

-Telly and Big Bird doing a "Wayne's World" parody and dealing with an annoying messenger played by none other than Wayne himself, Mike Myers.

-Cookie Monster and Annette Bening

-Oscar The Grouch and Jodie Foster talking about what's its like to like somebody.

-Robert DeNiro demonstrating Method Acting to Elmo.

-Ben Stiller dressed as a giant hunk of cheese performing "People In Your Neighborhood"

-Marisa Tomei reading a story to the monkey Muppets Davey and Joey (named after their Muppeteers). Brilliant "My Cousin Vinny" reference in this sketch...

-Jim Carrey demonstrating "Happy Feet and Sad Feet" (It would've been Steve Martin, but he wasn't able to make it to Kaufman Astoria for filming)

-Bill Cosby and many "Cosby Show" cast members throughout the run.

-Zoe talking about fears with James Gandolfini.

Anybody have any personal faves?

Sincerely,

John "manoftheSTREET" Kilduff

 

[FellowWLover]

You know, it was never my favorite, but that scene with DeNiro and Elmo made a solid impression on my three-year-old daughter. She actually brought it up one time when we were talking about cabbage (we might have been at the grocery store, but something tells me that we were somewhere else more obscure). She said, "Remember that man acted a cabbage? Hahaha!"

And speaking of her recollections of actors on SS, one time I was getting frustrated with her over something (I think she was fooling around instead of brushing her teeth as she was supposed to), and I made a little "arrgh" sound. She laughed and asked if I was getting frustrated. The fact that she used that word took me by surprise. I said something like, "Yeah, how did you know?" And she laughed and shook her head and said, "Just like that man with Grover." (I think it was Grover.) Have you seen when Ray Ramono (sp?) demonstrates frustrated on SS? It is a hoot!

 

[manoftheSTREET]

Aaah, yes, Romano did a good appearance on the show. I thought he and Grover has some brilliant interplay.

Also, I never saw the segment but I'm wondering:

She's always been one of my favorite actresses, and I missed out on her "Street" appearance.

When Kathleen Turner appeared on "Sesame Street", what did her segment entail? Which Muppets did she act with, what did she do, and were there any offhand references to her movies?

If anyone has any info, it would be much appreciated.

Kathleen Turner is one of my favorite actresses. Ever since I heard her in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" when I was 6 years old, I've been a fan of her work.

Sincerely,

John "manoftheSTREET" Kilduff

 

[Splurge]

James Galdofini was on the show? Oh, that's rich.

So many celebrities to choose from. I've always been a fan of anything Bill Cosby did on the show. I loved when he would appear beside himself, through the magic of split-screen, to count or say the alphabet. Also when he improvised with the kids while trying to count his three, er, four friends.

 

[Traveling Matt]

Hmmm....

I do like the Robin Williams one.

Haven't seen Ray Romano yet, but if he was with Grover, I would have dropped anything to see 'em together!

- Billy

 

[gymkatarules]

I always liked the really old Bill Cosby thing where he talks about a basketball being round and bouncing. Then he pulls out a square and lets it drop to the ground, then says: "Bad basketball, a square." Priceless.

That and a young James Earl Jones saying the alphabet. Incredible. Honestly. Emmy-worthy.

-Chris

 

[ssetta]

I like any of those parodies done by musical artists. Such as:

"Whenever I See Your Grouchy Face" / James Taylor
"Don't Take Your 1's To Town" / Johnny Cash
"Two Princes (Co-Operation)" / Spin Doctors
"Furry, Happy Monsters" / R.E.M.
"Pride" / Goo Goo Dolls
"No Letter Is Better Than The Letter 'B'" / Dixie Chicks

I've noticed that nowadays, when they do rock parodies, they actually use real celebrities. Because in the early 80's, when they did a lot of those, they used muppets. Such as:

"Born To Add" / Bruce Stringbean and the S Street Band
"Letter B" / The Beetles
"(I Can't Get No) Co-Operation" / Mick Swagger and the Cobble Stones

Oh, and also, there was this appearance by 3 Cosby members, where they notice Telly and Keesha looking sad, and want to go see what it is. One of them admits that some people don't want to be bothered, like when she lost her purple Prince on it. The other 2 members don't agree that's important enough to get sad about. Not making a football team is. And then, both of them object to that. The other member says that when her friend moved away, that was the saddest. Then, they all argue over about what makes them sad, and then they get angry with each other. Does anyone remember their names?

 

[Gonzo]

The two appearances by c-3PO and R2-D2. My worlds collided, and my brain hasn't been the same since.

Quinnnnnnn

 

[suggsy]

I always remembered Richard Pryor having conversations with himself with no background. I always accepted him as a legend of comedy after that.

Slightly off topic John Cleese on the Muppet show is a television gem.

 

[Splurge]

I wonder at what point the celebrity guests and the Muppets did bits together. Looking at the older episodes, it seems that each started out doing their own separate thing.