Little things we've noticed

minor muppetz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
16,072
Reaction score
2,660
Are those street shots sometimes cut from episodes? I saw on Scott's wiki page "to do list" a long time ago he noted scripts being inconsistent with the run time on "Imagination", I'm guessing various episodes shortened the segment a bit and the scripts reflected that (with the longest noted run time being its first airing, at over five minutes, I guess that might have reflected the original edit, though the Imagination page says the full original version was over 10 minutes long).
 

LittleJerry92

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
15,707
Reaction score
7,715
I mean I think it all just comes down to timing of segments. There’s no doubt I’m sure some 70s shows probably shortened the intro or ending.
 

minor muppetz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
16,072
Reaction score
2,660
I was surprised when I learned that the episode scripts usually transcribe Muppet inserts in their first appearances. I figured those would be their own separate scripts and they would just be listed in all scripts (including their first). Then I thought they wrote them as separate scripts which then get copied onto full episode script pages when they debut (and maybe that is the case). But then I thought of another possibility.

Maybe the person writing the episode script was writing their own Muppet/cast inserts, putting those new ones in the scripts for the episodes they are writing. I know that many of the 1970s scripts don't credit a writer, so it can be hard to know who wrote all the scripted material (and for old episodes where the street scenes don't really have a running plot, how do we know if the same writer wrote them all or if multiple writers did?).

Then again, I know that Jerry Juhl wrote Muppet inserts in the first six years, I have a feeling he did not write street scenes. Maybe those were copied into episode scripts, or maybe he wrote them as their own scripts and they were just listed in their first appearances (as I have heard that sometimes, the first appearance of a Muppet/cast/celebrity bit in a script is just listed by title). In the case of segments that get held over a year or more, do the scripts include full scripted dialogue and actions, or are those just listed by title, time, reference number, and so on?
 

minor muppetz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
16,072
Reaction score
2,660
The latter.
I guess that's helpful for segments that only aired when the scripts noted first appearance episode numbers as opposed to season.

I recall when the wiki first got info on Leslie Mostly's interview with Kermit, that had a detailed description (and I don't think any of us had video footage, though a foreign dub was found online not too long after). I guess that means at least one Leslie Mostly segment was taped during production of season 12 (and that would be at least one segment Jim Henson was involved in during production of season 12).
 

Oscarfan

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
7,528
Reaction score
3,961
Oh, no, sorry, it's not always the case; in that season 11/12/13 era, they fully transcribe most of the Muppet material being shown for the first time.

I get the sense that Jim & Co knew they had TMS, GMC, and Dark Crystal all on the horizon at the same time and just taped a bunch of material around seasons 10/11, which the producers could then add to an episode at their leisure.
 

YellowYahooey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Messages
799
Reaction score
157
I viewed "Wanda the Witch" fairly recently, and I heard the narrator say "On Wednesday, in the middle of Winter..." At the same time, the screen zooms in on a November calendar. November is not part of the winter, if I remember correctly.

Incisdentally, the November calendar is the same one from 1969 - which was when Sesame Street debuted. However, it appeared that the camera was zooming in on November 5 on the calendar, unless I missed something.
 

D'Snowth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2003
Messages
38,849
Reaction score
12,814
I can't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but one thing I've noticed is during the 90s, the tire swing in the Arbor seemed to gradually disappear to the point that it was almost completely non-existent in the 2000s, except for some rare and random occasions here and there.
 

LittleJerry92

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
15,707
Reaction score
7,715
Not gonna lie, that long blast-off send note on this cartoon used to give me goosebumps as a kid:

 
Top