Lack of charachters in the early 1980's

[SwedishChefCook]

Did any of you notice that during the early 80's The only street charachters they had were Big Bird Oscar and Telly? Since Jim and Frank's charachters had left the main storylines sometime in the late 1970's when Jim and Frank became too busy, and Snuffy was there but at that time the only one he interacted with was Big Bird. So the only 3 charachters who interacted with the humans were Big Bird Oscar and Telly. I'm glad that during the mid 80's they added more charachters like Hoots, Natasha, Snuffy became real, Placido Flamingo, Sonny Friendly. Then in the late 80's there was Ruby, Meryhl Sheep, Preston Rabbit. And in the early 90's many more were added. I think at one point the writers realized they had more human charachters than muppets. I'm glad they added more street muppets to the show. And now on the current SS, Jim and Frank's charachters are back, with new performers.

 

[minor muppetz]

I have read a post here from Michael Earl Davis, who performed during the late-1970s/ early 1980s, where he said that at one point he, Brian Meuhl, and Caroll Spinney were the only performers who were on the show full-time, while the other main performers were performing on The Muppet Show (I guess Fran Brill must have been busy doing something else). It's a bit ironic, as both Michael Earl Davis and Brian Meuhl didn't perform on the show for very long, yet they performed characters who continue to be very popular, and these two performers rarely get acknowledged in official Sesame Street books and other informative material.

I have also read that during the early years, even before The Muppet Show, the main performers (besides Caroll Spinney) would normally only perform their material one month a year. Looking at the pages at Muppet Wiki, it seems like Jim Henson performed in the street scenes in the first few season premier episodes, but the other performers performed on the street more often (it's possible that Jim Henson performed in more street scenes that weren't shown on Noggin, but I don't know for sure). Even Frank Oz performed in a lot of early street scenes.

 

[SwedishChefCook]

Jim Henson performed in the first 4 Season Premires plus the 6th Season Premire. I believe in the 70's Frank Oz worked on the street more than Jim Henson. So Bert was in street scenes, while Ernie wasn't. Kind of ironic because in the late 90's and early 2000's it was the other way around, having a lot of Ernie storylines without Bert.

 

[BEAR]

Jim Henson performed in the first 4 Season Premires plus the 6th Season Premire. I believe in the 70's Frank Oz worked on the street more than Jim Henson. So Bert was in street scenes, while Ernie wasn't. Kind of ironic because in the late 90's and early 2000's it was the other way around, having a lot of Ernie storylines without Bert.

I wonder if that has anything to do with why Bert was on the street singing with Herry in the original "What's the Name of that Song?" instead of Ernie being there with him.

 

[muppet maniac]

Jim Henson performed in the first 4 Season Premires plus the 6th Season Premire. I believe in the 70's Frank Oz worked on the street more than Jim Henson. So Bert was in street scenes, while Ernie wasn't. Kind of ironic because in the late 90's and early 2000's it was the other way around, having a lot of Ernie storylines without Bert.

Ah, but during those years they were still making Ernie/Bert skits. Plus, remember that they both live in the basement of the apartment, which is part of the street. Remember when Gordon and the Anything Muppets sang "Consider Yourself" in the very first episode of Sesame Street? Since Gordon is a street regular, it's pretty obvious that the brickwall in that scene must be located on the street somewhere, even if it was just an "insert".

So logically, there really was no "lack of characters on the street" as stated. Even though Jim and Frank were busy w/ other things during the late 70s-80s, and could only perform their characters in "inserts" each year, those characters are still part of the show as some of the inserts(like the brickwall as stated earlier), take place in different parts of the street.

BTW, I think that the reason why only Bert was there without Ernie when they sang "What's the Name of That Song?" with Herry, Oscar, The Count, Gordon, Susan, and so on was just a coincidence. Not EVERY character shows up in every sketch. Like in Monty Python's Flying Circus, the combinations would be like this: Gilliam, Palin, Jones, Chapman, plus some extra cast members; Cleese, Idle, Chapman, Jones, and Palin; and so on.

 

[SwedishChefCook]

Yeah, and I also JUST stated that Ernie was in the 6th Season Premire, and the episode that you mentioned Bear was in the 6th Season Premire. Ernie was in a street scene in that episode, standing next to Oscar's can with Oscar, Herry and Bert. Oscar was teaching them how to act like a grouch.

 

[minor muppetz]

It seems a bit ironic that Bert would often appear on the street without Ernie during the early years, as there aren't really too many sketches with just Bert but there are a lot of sketches with just Ernie.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah, and I also JUST stated that Ernie was in the 6th Season Premire, and the episode that you mentioned Bear was in the 6th Season Premire. Ernie was in a street scene in that episode, standing next to Oscar's can with Oscar, Herry and Bert. Oscar was teaching them how to act like a grouch.

I'd really like to see that one. I did read about it on Muppet Wiki, but they didn't say too much about it other than it was to explain "some," "none," and "all." That would be a good one for 'You Tube.'

 

[minor muppetz]

Now that I think of it, Jim Henson did perform ins treet plots for more than just season premiers. I've read that Henson performed Oscar in a few season one episodes. Oscar was usually in the street plots, so Henson must have performed him there. Caroll Spinney was sick at the time, so if Henson performed Oscar, I don't think it would have been for just some inserts. The tapping dates could have just been moved.

 

[Marky]

early 80's - that's around the time when I stopped watching it. Guess it's my age (born in '73).