Jazzy Spies #1 and Baker #1 ... do they exist?

[minor muppetz]

If you are saying that you need evidence, you can check Muppet Wiki. Many epsiode pages for early episodes were taken from files at the CTW Archives which are stored at the University of Maryland (they can also be viewed by visitors, so if you live near the university, you can check them out). The page for the Number Song Series (which is how the baker films are being listed as at Muppet Wiki) cites episode 86 as the first appearance of the skit, with the archives being a source.

 

[squirrelboy]

Squirrelboy here,

minor muppetz, thank you - maybe I did "jump the gun" so to speak, I just didn't know if anyone cared about those sketches anymore. But you inspired me, thanks.

It seems to me that you are quite a part of that site minor muppetz, it may not have any video based clips, but I am feeling better allready. To put it truthfully, I grew up in mid '76, and I was always one of those curious types, and well - I took quite a liking to the baker sketches because of that, but when the "1" one never came on, I got really concerned. And back then, there was no such thing as the internet (at least not in my family there wasn't). That's why I feel the way I do.

squirrelboy

 

[ISNorden]

I saw the Baker #1 sketch exactly once in my lifetime, appropriately enough. I wondered why they'd showed the "1" clip by mistake, though, when the number of the day turned out to be 2! Before the Internet went civilian, I had only a fuzzy memory of the things it counted (just "one bellybutton" and "one cow"). Thank goodness for the Net in general, and for fansites like Muppet Central in particular; it's great being able to refresh each other's memories so easily.

 

[minor muppetz]

It seems like a lot of fans recall only seeing the one sketch once. Ihave seen some posts that state that the one segment was usually in episodes sponsored by two, but I don't think they had to be. For example, episode 131 was only sponsored by two, but it also featured sketches involving the numbers 10 and 20 (J was also the only letter that sponsored that episode, yet there were skits about the letters N, U, and Q, and J hardly had any more prominence than the other letters).

 

[ISNorden]

It seems like a lot of fans recall only seeing the one sketch once. Ihave seen some posts that state that the one segment was usually in episodes sponsored by two, but I don't think they had to be. For example, episode 131 was only sponsored by two, but it also featured sketches involving the numbers 10 and 20 (J was also the only letter that sponsored that episode, yet there were skits about the letters N, U, and Q, and J hardly had any more prominence than the other letters).

*nods* I probably wasn't the only kid confused by non-sponsor sketches turning up in the oldest episodes; it sounds as if the editor must've had the Season 1 format in mind when he worked on #131. I can see how a sketch about counting to 10 could've been confusing too, since the oldest episodes treated 10 as both a possible sponsor and a "high count" number.

After 20 was introduced, the editors didn't treat it as an isolated number at first; it was just the end of the "high count", until the sponsor range increased again (0-21) in the 1980s. I doubt that too many kids would've thought that the show counting to 20 was strange back then--or that those sketches conflicted with the sponsor numbers, any more than the whole-alphabet clips conflicted with sponsor letters.

 

[squirrelboy]

squirrelboy here,

Back in the early 80's, counting was more fun, much easier to do, because certain sketches went slow enough to be followed one number at a time. The baker sketches especially - they labeled everything they counted with numbers, so it was easier to follow, I liked that kind of pattern.

However, when the "pinball sketch" came out, I wasn't exactly sure how that was teaching anyone to count, it looked more like a game than something to count along with. Maybe i'm wrong - but it sure looked that way to me.

By the way, I do have a question to ask, who was responsible for the patterns they used around the numbers in the baker sketches? Was that Henson's idea? I wish they made more sketches just like that.

And I also had one other thought, was there something other than bells that was counted in the "Baker 10 sketch"? The reason for asking is because I didn't notice a see-through "10" appear after they counted the bells.

Sorry for all these questions, I just have a lot on my mind - that's all.

squirrelboy

 

[ISNorden]

squirrelboy here,

Back in the early 80's, counting was more fun, much easier to do, because certain sketches went slow enough to be followed one number at a time. The baker sketches especially - they labeled everything they counted with numbers, so it was easier to follow, I liked that kind of pattern.

However, when the "pinball sketch" came out, I wasn't exactly sure how that was teaching anyone to count, it looked more like a game than something to count along with. Maybe I'm wrong - but it sure looked that way to me.

I agree with both points: the Baker sketches work so well because they show real people counting real things, and use written numerals to make the lesson clearer. Whoever thought of that format knew how preschoolers learn; it's a shame that the endings bothered parents so badly!

The Pinball sketches (even though they begin and end with a count to 12) seem more like "name/shape recognition" lessons; when a number 3 appears, it's there to teach "this is what a three looks like", not "three is this many". The game-like bits in between are there just to keep kids' attention.

By the way, I do have a question to ask, who was responsible for the patterns they used around the numbers in the baker sketches? Was that Henson's idea? I wish they made more sketches just like that.

Henson did all the animation in those sketches; I'd recognize his numbers from the other counting clips he drew ("Eleven Cheer" and "1-2-3-4-5!" come to mind). So the patterns around them are his, too...

And I also had one other thought, was there something other than bells that was counted in the "Baker 10 sketch"? The reason for asking is because I didn't notice a see-through "10" appear after they counted the bells.

Sorry for all these questions, I just have a lot on my mind - that's all.

squirrelboy

The original version of Baker #10 had a boy counting "ten little Indians" (wooden cutouts of movie-style Indians, part of a foosball-like game). The Indians were replaced with bells a year or two later. I've got the clip to prove it, if only I could get quicker help removing that Noggin logo...

 

[minor muppetz]

And I also had one other thought, was there something other than bells that was counted in the "Baker 10 sketch"? The reason for asking is because I didn't notice a see-through "10" appear after they counted the bells.

Originally, the sketch had ten indians, but eventually it was replaced with ten bells. I don't know what year it was, but it must have been early on. I don't think the picture quality for ten bells looks very different from the rest of the sketch.

Some other epsiodes that had sketches for numbers that weren't sponsors include episode 8, which was sponsored by 4 and 5 but also had a 10 sketch (shown twice in the same episode), episode 276, which had a 20 sketch, and episode 406, which had a 6 sketch. One episode on the Old School set has a 20 cartoon (where a peacock counts 20 feathers), but I forget which episode it was.

 

[squirrelboy]

squirrelboy here,

Thank you so much for your input, I appreacite that a lot.

It would be nice if the original "Baker #10 sketch and the Baker #1 sketch" could be on youtube - that way, it's a gift from the ages.

Even I have to admit, after seeing that baker fall down those same stairs so many times - I could understand why Sesame Street did what they did, canned it. But they could have fixed it so you can count the food products in his hands, and not finish the segment. From what it looks like - he looks more like he intenionally trips and tumbles down those stairs.

And it's amazing to think after seeing the 2 - 10 sketches, how his clothes always look so bright and white at first, then a digusting mess at the end. Cracks me up every time.

Thanks Again,
squirrelboy

 

[minor muppetz]

It would be nice if the original "Baker #10 sketch and the Baker #1 sketch" could be on youtube - that way, it's a gift from the ages.

I think that Noggin showed the original version of "Ten Song (Song of Ten)". Quite a few people here have tapped every Sesame Street Unpaved episode shown on Noggin (and some have copies tapped off Noggin thanks to trades). So I think that having the original version of the 10 segment is more likely to be shown on You Tube than the 1 segment (I wonder if anybody has ever recorded that segment). Of course, that's assuming that somebody recorded it in a broadcast where the Noggin logo wasn't shown (if all copies tapped from Noggin have the Noggin logo, then Viacom will most likely have them taken down).