Little things we've noticed

[MWoO]

Second, it seems like Sesame Street has been encouraging kids to call adults by their first names for nearly 50 years. None of the child-aged characters (Big Bird, Elmo, Grover, Zoe), or any of the actual child actors, have called Bob "Mr. Johnson" or Maria "Mrs. Rodriguez." Obviously, Gabi and Miles address their parents as mom and dad, but Miles never called Maria and Luis "Mrs. Rodriguez" (same for Gabi towards Susan and Gordon). Heck, I don't think they ever had any scenes together.

I think this was to keep kids from being confused. The adult characters called each other by first name, so all of the characters did. But if you look at Mr. Hooper, everyone called him Mr. Hooper.

 

[hooperfan]

I think this was to keep kids from being confused. The adult characters called each other by first name, so all of the characters did. But if you look at Mr. Hooper, everyone called him Mr. Hooper.

I think that was out of respect for his character, since he was the elderly proprietor of the candy store

 

[D'Snowth]

I think that's it, it's a subtle way of teaching kids respect for their elders. In the beginning, characters like Gordon, Susan, Bob, and especially Maria and David were a lot younger (and they were also progressive characters) and were regarded more like everyday friends for the kids - both on the street, and watching at home - so it probably wasn't much of a thought process to have these characters refered to by their first names.

Mr. Hooper, on the other hand, was a respected elder in the community. Similarly, Mr. Handford was also a respected elder - a retired fireman who had bought Hooper's Store because he was tired of being retired and wanted something to do. They were treated almost more like parental figures, as opposed to their younger predesessor, Alan, who, like the aforementioned other humans, was seen more like a friend to the neighborhood kids rather than a parental figure.

But again, the thing to remember too is that SS was a progressive, and somewhat subversive show, even from the beginning . . . some adults with that mindset actually prefer that children refer to them by their first names instead of Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so, despite it traditionally being the proper thing for children to do. It's sort of similar to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, how Scout refers to her own father by his first name, because she believed that children and adults should treat each other as equals.

 

[minor muppetz]

As a kid, I didn't really take in much about calling adults by their first name. Maybe it changed by the 1980s or 1990s. Aside from teachers and bosses (and by the time I started having jobs, all my bosses had us call them by first name), I didn't really call (or know to call) adults by Mr. or Mrs. and then their last name. I called my friends parents by their first names (though I kinda feel like some of them I never referred to by name at all).

I used to think that when somebody was called Mr. or Mrs. that the name that followed was their last name. I remember asking my fourth grade teacher what her last name was, and was surprised to learn that the name we called her was her last name. I was also surprised when the Dinosaurs toys came out, so often BP Richfield was referred to as Mr. Richfield, so I was surprised to see him listed on the packaging as BP Richfield.

Of course on Sesame Street, characters are sometimes called Mr. but still called by their first name. In the episode where they celebrate Biff's birthday, Elmo calls him Mr. Biff. I want to say there are more examples like this but can't think of any off-hand.

And while he's a child, Snuffy is often called Mr. Snuffleupagus as often as he is called Snuffy, whether by Big Bird or another child character, or by the adults. Even though his first name is Aloyisious (though it seems he wasn't given a first name until much later). Even though they are best friends, Big Bird usually calls him either Mr. Snuffleupagus or Snuffy (well, Snuffy often refers to him as Bird instead of Big Bird, though he usually doesn't include a mister with that).

In terms of elder characters being called mister, I've noticed there's Mr. Macintosh (though it seems he's sometimes called Mr. Mac), but then there's also Willy, who everyone calls by his first name. Uncle Wally is also called by his first name by everybody, but everyone also includes the "Uncle" part in his name (not just Bob).

 

[LittleJerry92]

One thing I found amusing in the Pino vs Grover skit is how they accidentally keep bumping into the plant.

 

[minor muppetz]

I first heard about there being two Countesses in the book Sesame Street Unpaved. I think I was more vaguely aware of The Count having a girlfriend, didn't know there were two (and in the years since Unpaved, I learned there were more Countesses over the years). I didn't like that the book only pictured von Dahling, there was another image of The Count and a Countess and I couldn't really tell if that was the same one pictured on the von Dahling section. I get why they must look like a female version of The Count, but do so many Countesses have to be blonde?

But back then, I figured Countess von Dahling was used more often than Countess von Backwards, mainly because von Backwards seems more gimmick-y. It wasn't until those season 12 episodes leaked and I learned about von Dahling's introduction (which reveals the book was wrong about her being one of The Count's girlfriends since she's his fifth cousin) and realized I barely knew of any of her appearances all these years.

And then recently, after seeing some wiki discussions about the Countesses, I learned that only two scripts refer to a countess as Countess von Backwards, then they just use "The Countess" for all Countesses after. Fans had thought she was the one to appear in "I Could Have Counted All Night", I figured it was due to her being referred to by name (even though I couldn't remember hearing it there) but I guess her name was incorrectly tagged there. It's been determined that the Countess who appears in the video Rock & Roll! is von Backwards since her laugh is accompanied by a wolf howl there.

But it is interesting that both characters were acknowledged at all like this in Sesame Street Unpaved. For years the fans have had limited info on them, and the book provided the majority of information we had. Of course I'm not sure what all archive info the author looked at, the performers and others involved could have been the ones to bring them up as well. But here we're dealing with one Countess who seems to have primarily existed only in season 12 (I checked some "what links here" and didn't see it list any episodes from season 13, the first season the wiki has full rundowns for) and another who may have only appeared in two episodes total, both from the same season. Maybe they should have been in the "whatever happened to..." section (shortly after getting the book I wondered if that was the case with one of them which would explain two girlfriends - one just stopped appearing so they could easily give The Count a new girlfriend without having to do a break-up episode or worry about fans wondering), the characters section did include a few other characters (Bruno, Little Bird) who I was sure were no longer on the show whom I wondered why they were listed before the "whatever happened to..." pages.

 

[D'Snowth]

I know one possible working title for the show was 123 AVENUE B, but that was rejected that it made the show seem too New York-centric, and wouldn't relate to the masses across the country believing Sesame Street could very well be a street in their own neighborhood . . . but honestly, they really engaged in quite a bit of New York-centric dialogue and references for decades that wouldn't necessarily click with kids or maybe even some adults who don't live in the area and/or aren't familiar with it. For example, I know there's at least two occasions where a character makes a remark about "Flying over Kennedy." As a kid, I didn't get they were talking about the JFK airport in Queens.

 

[cjd874]

I know one possible working title for the show was 123 AVENUE B, but that was rejected that it made the show seem too New York-centric, and wouldn't relate to the masses across the country believing Sesame Street could very well be a street in their own neighborhood . . . but honestly, they really engaged in quite a bit of New York-centric dialogue and references for decades that wouldn't necessarily click with kids or maybe even some adults who don't live in the area and/or aren't familiar with it. For example, I know there's at least two occasions where a character makes a remark about "Flying over Kennedy." As a kid, I didn't get they were talking about the JFK airport in Queens.

Not to mention the times when characters mentioned taking a bus or the subway uptown or downtown...what about the viewers that lived in rural areas with little to no mass transportation? Looking at the Season 10 outlines on Muppet Wiki that have surfaced lately, there are many inserts that take place in Central Park, Chinatown, City Island, and other parts of NYC that not all viewers might have known or related to.

 

[Oscarfan]

I know one possible working title for the show was 123 AVENUE B, but that was rejected that it made the show seem too New York-centric, and wouldn't relate to the masses across the country believing Sesame Street could very well be a street in their own neighborhood . . . but honestly, they really engaged in quite a bit of New York-centric dialogue and references for decades that wouldn't necessarily click with kids or maybe even some adults who don't live in the area and/or aren't familiar with it. For example, I know there's at least two occasions where a character makes a remark about "Flying over Kennedy." As a kid, I didn't get they were talking about the JFK airport in Queens.

I mean, there was time from when the show was created to it being an established thing that they were allowed to rethink some of those choices.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm guessing this photo was taken when they were taping Big Bird's Birthday, because that looks like the stand-in prop sign that Cookie tries to eat after he had devoured the lamppost.