Favorite Sleep Sketches

[GonzoLeaper]

Hey BEAR, I'm pretty sure I've heard that song you were talking about. I don't have the tape, but I can tell you where you can hear the song anyway. Go to this awesome web site http://www.xsao.net/Kids/Sesame_Street/
and you can listen to 4 whole Sesame Street albums online!!! Check out the track listing on the Sesame Street Best album and the last track on Disc 2 is "Big Bird's Lullaby", which does contain the actual song as well as a bit of dialogue between Little Bird and Big Bird at the start of it!!! (That was so cool hearing Little Bird talk again. Haven't seen him in forever!)
(where's that Big Bird smiley?)

 

[Ziffel]

How about this one where a kid is voice-over narrating a film of his own life. He says "I like to <do such-and-such>. And I also like to sleep." That last phrase, which was also the end of the clip, had the kid sitting in bed and reaching over to turn out the light. The room went dark with the screen. I think that soft background music played in this one.

I remember seeing that one several times in the early to mid 70's. I remember that last line, "I also like to sleep." The preceding line was something like, "I like to read. And eat." And it was some nice soft background music at the close. I rather enjoyed all of the music throughout. Other memories I have of this segment were him in school and the bell rings and then all the students get up and leave. I think it's after school is out when he goes outside to play
teatherball or something similar. And then it starts to get near dusk and he goes home to dinner where his mother or some other relative was cooking a nice one in the kitchen. I'm not sure if this segment was the one where at the beginning the kid says, "Today is Monday." What was neat about that was I remember that every time this segment would show it was indeed Monday, indicating that the SS crew deliberately tried to not replay it on a show that would air on another day. But I can't say for sure that it never aired on another day. There was also an Ernie and Bert skit (Ernie talking about what they should do tomorrow) where Bert says it's Wednesday. Not sure how consistently they replayed that one on Wednesdays, though.
I would probably have to go with the "Everybody Sleeps" film and song as my favorite sleep sketch. And the Ernie and Bert bedroom skits (Although they would probably be more accurately classified as "LACK of sleep sketches"! By the way, I thought that was a clever idea SS had in a skit I tuned into one time in the 1990's, I think. When Ernie was keeping Bert awake once again and Bert grabs his pillow and blanket and leaves. Ernie says, "I guess Bert's going to sleep in the kitchen again." ).
Oh and one more "By the way". Remember that one with Bert in the living room chair sleeping and Ernie then got on the chair next to him to join him in a nap. Ernie snores extremely loudly and wakes Bert up. Bert's "Huh? Ernie?" wakes Ernie up and Ernie then chastises Bert for waking him up. In this one we got to see Bert's eyelashes closed. (The camera put a closeup on Ernie when he got in the chair and snored so that they could then replace the eyelash Bert with a Bert with eyes open). I would estimate this one to have debuted in about 1976.

 

[Fuzzy and Blue]

I'm not sure that this counts as a sketch, but I can't help laughing at the part during the "Bedtime Stories and Songs" video (which is probably out of print now) where Telly is sleeping over Big Bird's nest and he keeps naming all the stuffed animals he can't sleep without. I never fell for that as a child, but after watching the video about a month or two ago after more than a decade, it's amazing how things I never found funny when I was little are funny now

~Dana~

 

[MrsPepper]

On one of my old audio tapes, there's a song, I believe it's called "The Count's lullaby" with, naturally, the count singing a lullaby. The words are something along the lines of "Go to sleep, my little goblin..." and he mentions Count-like things like black cats. It is excellent, I grin every time I hear it.

Another one is an upbeat number of Bert about how he wants to take a nap. I think it's just called "Naptime". Then Ernie comes along and asks him if he wants to play ball outside with him. They sing their respective songs at the same time and they overlap, and it's very cool. Then Ernie is all, Well I'll see you later Bert! And Bert says, Goodnight!

 

[fuzzygobo]

Everybody sleeps

Whether it qualifies or not, I loved the "Everybody Sleeps" song. Joe Raposo is/was/always will be awesome.
The song has been remade sometime in the last decade or so, but the original footage with the man nodding off while reading in the chair, and ending up on the floor (could've been me in my college days! ) survives intact today at the Museum of Broadcasting in NYC. And besides Joe singing, that's him in the last scene sleeping on the platform at the train station as the train goes screaming past him. Very neat

 

[mikebennidict]

while i'm sure the train going by was unplanned, it just seems strange that it was shown and not cut out.

 

[sesamefan83]

I think they made Big Bird fallin asleep a running joke on the show. There have been sketches where he fell asleep in the most random places. I remember ones where, I don't remember why, but he fell asleep on the steps of Sesame Street several times and even standing up on the sidewalk! Also one time, I was listening to a tape of Sesame Street car sing alongs and he fell asleep during one song! Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he also fall asleep when he was on Hollywood Squares? Does anyone remember any of this and/or have clips of them? I just remember cracking up thinking it was hilarious every time that happened.

 

[Muppet Frog]

I would say my favorite sleep sketch on Sesame Street would be the skit where Zoe listens to a lullaby piece and she takes a nap because she felt tired while she listened to it.

 

[mr3urious]

"I Think That It Is Wonderful" is another great nighttime song, which teaches kids the five senses and to not take them for granted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WhTsuMVJac

 

[Colbynfriends]

I liked the one with Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster when they sang "Take a rest" i don't know if this counts, but they DID end up falling alseep.