Film and animation series: individual classics

[minor muppetz]

I think it's a safe bet that the six most-remembered recurring non-Muppet segments on Sesame Street are Jim Hemnson's baker films, Jazz Numbers, Mad Painter, Typewriter, Pinball Number Count, and Teeny Little Superguy. Fans remember these and see them as classics, but do any of you think of any individual segments in these series as classics on their own?

My thoughts:

Baker Films
In a way, I sort of think of #1 as a classic, but only because of it's rarity. It wasn't in many episodes, and apparantly nobody has a copy, aside from the people at Sesame Workshop, and maybe The Jim Henson Legacy. #3 seems like a classic as well, in part because of Jim Henson's cameo, which is probably why it often gets included in documentaries (such as Great Performances: The World of Jim Henson and A&E Biography Close-Up: Sesame Street). #9 is a bit of a classic because Rowlf makes a cameo, and apparantly it was the most-shown baker film of the 1980s. I also feel that #10 is classic, as it was included in a Sneak Peek Previews segment, in the Sesame Street Unpaved book, and was included in The Street We Live On.

Jazz Numbers
Part of me feels like #8 is one of the best-remembered ones, but mainly because it often led to a classic Ernie and Bert segment, which begins with them watching the beginning of it. I don't know if that's enough to make it a classic (I also don't know whetehr that Ernie and Bert sketch was ever shown on it's own; the beginning could easily be cut). I also feel that #2 is classic, because of it's frequent exposure in the Old School sets, but by that logic Henson #2 should also be considered classic.

The Mad Painter
For some reason, I feel like #3 and #8 are both the best-known in the series.

Pinball Number Count
I feel like #12 is the most classic, in part because it's been released on DVD a few times (and is nominated for the upcoming 40th anniversary set). Also, all of the segments teach to count up to 12, with no stopping in counting when the caertoons are about lower numbers.

And I don't really know which individual Typewriter and Teeny Little Superguy segments would be among the best-known classics.

 

[mikebennidict]

s far as I can remember most if not all were shown as much as the others though I myself would agree that anything reguarding 1 certainly wasn't shown much.

I certainly never saw it.

 

[mr3urious]

Don't forget about the bellhop sketches! Also, the number rap segments, despite being more recent, should count, too.

 

[PinballStewie]

If there were any Bellhop skits that counted as "individual classics", well...probably the ones about 2, 8, and 10 partly because I remember them the best and partly because these were the trippiest of the Bellhop segments. He gets badly injured in all three of these segments. In # 2, the kids kick him in the shins, in # 8, he zooms down 8 flights of stairs, only to be maimed by the steamer trunks he carried shortly afterward, and in # 10 the terriers attempt to choke him (he even makes a "gack" type sound as they do so).

All the other ones he just messes up something. In # 12, he scares his guests by yelling "WAKE UP!" really loudly into the phone, in # 14 he doesn't realize that the old man can carry the bags himself, in # 16 he's too late for his guest's arrival, in # 18 he's too late to give Mr. Flapdoodle a telephone message, and in # 20, possibly the one that features him at his most absent-minded, he forgets what he was supposed to get 20 of.

This is why the Bellhop segments have become faves of mine as an adult. They're either darker or more comedic (depending on the segment) in comparison to a lot of the other number/letter segment series' of the '80s. One of the only other "dark" SS segments of the '80s where it was part of a letter or number series was one where it was a Gordon VO and the letter F was on fire. It scared me as a kid, and I find it dark to this day because of the dramatic, pulsating minor-key music and the fact that the letter burns to ashes and then flares up the screen afterward. However, today, unlike when I was a kid, I REVEL in the darker side of Sesame Street. It's like I have this twisted side to me that seems to like seeing things that would typically freak out a little kid watching the show.

On a more relevant note (sorry I went off on a tangent there), the rap music number segments seemed to show # 6 and # 7 a lot from when I remember watching it, so I'd count those as "individual classics".

 

[Drtooth]

Jazz Numbers
Part of me feels like #8 is one of the best-remembered ones, but mainly because it often led to a classic Ernie and Bert segment, which begins with them watching the beginning of it. I don't know if that's enough to make it a classic (I also don't know whetehr that Ernie and Bert sketch was ever shown on it's own; the beginning could easily be cut). I also feel that #2 is classic, because of it's frequent exposure in the Old School sets, but by that logic Henson #2 should also be considered classic.

But we mustn't forget that the old school sets used the first episodes from each season, which was always sponsored by the number 2 for some reason. I can't remember which ones they showed the most frequent since I had been watching. I wanna say I've seen 4, 6, and 8 the most times.

 

[mr3urious]

I also forgot about Owe Gustafson's "Swedish Number Series".

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7CFFA87E605011E8&search_query=Swedish+Number+Series