Frank's charachters. When did they leave the street?

[LincolnHeights]

I would just like to know approximatley what year Frank's characthers Grover, Cookie, and Bert stop appearing in main storylines? I noticed from seeing some Sesame Street Unpaved episodes years ago, and reading some old episode guides at Muppetwiki.com that they had street stories and plots that focused on them. I don't think Jim Henson ever worked on the show full time, and Kermit and Ernie were always seen on the street seldomly. There seemed to be a lot of street stories back then that focused only on Bert. Which is ironic because in the year 2000 Ernie made a return to the street as a Full time charachter (now voiced by Steve Whitmire) and he was seen in a lot of street stories without Bert. After the 2002 Season, Ernie became a seldom seen street charachter again. But him and Bert both returned to the street in the 34th Season for a storyline that focused on Bert's Birthday. Frank's charachters were replaced by Eric Jacobson and David Rudman, and slowly made a comeback and were there again to stay by 2002. I was just wondering if any of you remember when the first Season was that Frank's charachters were no longer seen out on the street. I know for a fact by 1984 they were no longer there. So it had to have been before that. Please let me know, any info would be greatly appreciated on this.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I here it was most likely the mid seventies that they stoped being in the main storie lines. But they were deffently out of them by the eighties.

 

[minor muppetz]

I think that Jim Henson was busier than Frank, Jerry, Richard, and Fran back in the early 1970s. I've read several epsiode pages at Mupept Wiki, and it seems like Jim Henson's characters rarely appeared in the street scenes, with the main exceptions of the season premiers for seasons 1-4 and 6. I have read about an epsidoe where Ernie and Bert decided to stop living together, and I think that episode featured them on the street.

I have read that all the performers except for Caroll Spiney used to only spend one month a year working on the show. Then The Muppet Show came along, and most of the performers were busy in england making the show, but I don't know if their time was more limited or not, but around the late-1970s, Sesame Street started getting more performers, who worked on the street scenes. This was when Brian Meehl, Michael Earl Davis, Martin Robinson, and others started joining. And then, in the early 1980s, there started being a lot more performers on the street. The Muppet Show was no longer on, Richard Hunt spent more time on Sesame Street than Fraggle Rock, and I'm not sure how often Jerry Nelson spent on the set during the Fraggle Rock years. It was in the early 1980s when Jim Henson started having the various performers not work on everything, so that more productions could be made.

The Muppet Show ended in 1981, and Frank Oz started to become a major film director in 1985, and he didn't perform on Fraggle Rock, so that's four years that he could have had more time to work on Sesame Street. I don't know if he still had a limited availability then or not.

 

[LincolnHeights]

Your'e right Minor Muppetz, I did notice a lot of episodes in that guide where Bert was in a storyline without Ernie. Also I didn't see any street plots that were about Kermit. But I do know of a couple of Unpaved episodes where he was seen on the street, so he was probably there once in a great while, for a special appearance. So I take it once the Muppet show took off around 1976, is when Frank began working on SS less. Btw those episode guides at MuppetWiki are becoming amazing! Must be people who have access to the show's archives. So far they have several guides from seasons 1-7. I hope to see more seasons coming up.

 

[muppet maniac]

I wouldn't exactly say that "Frank's characters left the street". Even after The Muppet Show came about, there were still Ernie and Bert skits, as well as Grover, Cookie Monster, etc. Well, sure, they didn't appear "outside" anymore, but this is what you have to keep in mind: Remember in the very first episode of the show, Gordon introduced us to all the characters on the show: Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, Oscar, Anything Muppets, Kermit, etc. And when he did, he was on the main street area, behind a brickwall and inside the apartment. Point is, any sketch that took place "separate from the street proper" as they say---be it skits taking place in a colored background, the brick wall, etc. are ALL part of the street. Well, they all add up to one episode (the cartoons and films were obviously "out of the street"): Ernie and Bert live in the basement of the 123 apartment, which is located on the street. Same with the brickwall.

Also, what Sesame Street normally does (or at least, did frequently) is cut and paste material from older shows and make them look "new" to some believable eyes.

Bottom line: They NEVER left. No siree.

 

[minor muppetz]

It would make sense for Jim Henson to work on the show less during the run of The Muppet Show, but if Frank Oz worked less during that time because of the show, then Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt probably worked less on Sesame Street too. Back then Frank Oz wasn't a director, and didn't have many positions besides performer (though he was a creative consultant on The Muppet Show).

Sometimes street scenes later become inserts, but I often wonder if and how a desicion is made for a street scene to become an insert. Sometimes something that is obviously part of a plot becomes repeated, but I wonder if the editors just look and scenes and see what could be inserted later or not. And I wodner how often a street scene is originally intended to be an insert. It seems like during the early years there was hardly any plot focus, with most street scenes being unconnected to each other. Most of the street scenes from the first episode, with the exception of proper introductory sequences, could have easily been repeated in later episodes.

But there are some street scenes with Ernie and Kermit, which I have a feeling were meant to be repeated. These scenes are two sketches where Kermit draws objects in the arbor area, and Best Friends Blues with Ernie and Snuffy.