Little things we've noticed

[minor muppetz]

A few weeks ago, somebody uploaded episode 2042 (and it was taken down within a day or two). And there are some things I noticed.

gordon planned to meet Snuffy, but it seems like he set himself up to miss him as usual. With more characters believing in Snuffy, it seems like it should have been easier to get them to meet, and yet he still fails.

He sets up everything he will need so he’ll stay put and be sure not to miss Snuffy when he comes by. Of course it is never brought up how he could go to the bathroom - and he stays there until night, having packed plenty to eat and drink, and doesn’t seem to have to go after he’s through for the day.

That season, Maria and Linda also believed in Snuffy. They should have arranged to all be there and meet Snuffy, maybe in shifts so if one has to leave, the others can stay and see him (unless the point was more for Gordon to meet Snuffy, not just see him).

But in regards to setting himself up to miss, he’s sitting and facing the opposite direction of where Snuffy comes in from both times he shows up. That might not be such a big deal.

And when Oscar and Grundgetta dress up in a Snuffleupagus costume, Gordon is wearing headphones and reading a newspaper, looking downward from them. There have been times when Snuffy could not get Mr. Hooper’s attention because he was listening to headphones (and reading the newspaper). Maybe Gordon had his music quieter in case it drowned out Snuffy taking, or maybe it was his old age that made Mr, Hooper unable to hear Snuffy when he was wearing headphones.

Of course when Grundgetta as Snuffy does start talking and gets Gordon’s attention, he does hear her and looks up. But it would have been funny if they struggled to get his attention, even with being loud.

And when Gordon’s mom calls and he hesitates to go in and call, Oscar sees Snuffy at that moment and yells that he’s real. Gordon is by the window and hears somebody yelling and decides to go in, rather than look out the window in the spot where he expected Snuffy. He doesn’t seem to know that it was Oscar. Maybe he should have checked to make sure nobody was in danger.

Though in regards to Gordon facing the opposite of where Snuffy entered (but he did not know where he would come from), when he shows up, Oscar is looking in the opposite direction at first but Snuffy let’s put an “oh dear” and Oscar turns and looks at him. I wonder if his “oh dear” came from Gordon not being there or from Oscar saying that he won’t believe in him.

And he thinks Oscar is Gordon and not a grouch due to how helpful he is. Even if he does not believe he’s a grouch, he should have at least believed he was not Gordon when he said so (he could have been somebody else playing a joke). In fact, they seemed a little inconsistent with what Snuffy knew about Big Bird’s friends (I’ve considered adding this as “depending on the writer” at TV Tropes), in the seventh season premier Snuffy counts everybody who misses him but also says all their names (including Gordon), and in the season 8 premier he sees the adults together and when telling Big Bird, he says all their names. I think there’s also an episode where he thinks Maria is imaginary.

One final thing: season 16 is when Gordon, Maria, and Linda all started to believe in Snuffy, but I wonder if they were planning this during season 15. There are a few times that season when Maria seems to believe in him or at least isn’t as annoyed when Big Bird talks about him, but I feel like season 15 has quite a few times when other characters do see Snuffy only to become convinced they were imagining (or it being someone who it wouldn’t be such a big deal on if they saw him, like Barkley).

 

[TimzUneeverse]

I saw that all of the master tape slates for older Sesame episodes were taken down by Scott. What a bummer.

 

[hooperfan]

I saw that all of the master tape slates for older Sesame episodes were taken down by Scott. What a bummer.

How can we possibly go on without the tape slates??

 

[Oscarfan]

And nothing of value was lost.

 

[LittleJerry92]

 

[LittleJerry92]

Honestly I really appreciate how two season 17 episodes (2129 and 2130) have 80s music video-styled segments aired next to each other (NTV and Wet Paint respectively). At that, its first appearance of the newly-added monochrome edits on the cut scenes and Uncle Wally acting as an introduction instead of the SMV intro (seen in its next airing in 2199).

 

[minor muppetz]

If they wanted to bring back Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats, I think Noel MacNeil should perform the lavender member. His voice sounds similar to many of his other characters. Maybe also if they wanted to bring back Big Jeffie, I'm not entirely sure (I think his voice is a little deeper than that Alphabeats voice).

Recently I watched Little Jerry and the Monotones' 2000 appearance, not one that I watch often, and it seems like the fans don't know who voiced Big Jeffie and Ritchie in that. The voices sound familiar but I can't place where I have heard their voices. Last I checked, Muppet Wiki did not note who performed them in that appearance.

Regardless of whether Rockin' Richard and Chrissy's names were meant to be canon, the writers sure did like using Richard and Chrissy as names for members of the group. Aside from Four providing those as names for the group, the season 19 appearance has a member named Ritchie, which is short for Richard (and Richard Hunt did perform him there), and Little Chrissy (of Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats) has sometimes been used or referenced as a member of the Monotones. And then that final appearance has a lavender member named Ritchie, again short for Richard (and it had been used as a member before). Even if they were so named because Richard Hunt and Christopher Cerf were voicing these characters, that last Ritchie was used long after we had lost Hunt (and the first time I saw that clip, I thought they said his name was Chrissy.... it seems unclear if it's supposed to be a new member or the same classic lavender member with a new hairstyle). There's also a part in Proud where they mention the names of people who did things to make them proud, I think there's a point where they mention a Jerry who isn't supposed to be Little Jerry.

While I am glad Little Jerry and the Monotones were brought back for one appearance in 2000, I have started wondering if it would have been better if it was Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats instead. It could have finally given names to the members. Was Christopher Cerf still involved with the show by then (I used to thing he was gone from the show after season 25, then learned he continued writing on the show longer than that)? I guess they could have chosen Little Jerry over Little Chrissy since Jerry Nelson was actively on the show.

While I practically always thought I heard Richard Hunt singing in Count It Higher (and I used to think the lavender member was regularly Hunt, in part because the voice was a little like some of his characters, but also because he was later replaced with Big Jeffie, and I assumed they were trying to be consistent with those characters performers). But I was listening recently, and maybe it's just me but I don't quite hear a Hunt-enough voice (well, I think I hear the high-pitched Richard Hunt in the chorus at times). There is a point (where they count "seven") it actually sounds like a high-pitched Dave Goelz to me, but he wouldn't have been on Sesame Street (and this was quite close to his joining the Muppets). I've seen on the Muppet Wiki page for the song that Christopher Cerf actually starts voicing them in the chorus later in the song (why start then?). But do we know who voiced them because we've seen a source or do we just know it's them by our own ears?

 

[LittleJerry92]

The Alphabeats in Count It Higher are Moss as the Green member, Hunt (and later Cerf when he says “five” and “eight” in the final two countdowns) as the lavender member and Jerry as the Pink member. It’s been easier to catch Moss’ voice with more clips that show his voice outside of singing bass (and there’s also an interview of him speaking somewhere archived on here). Also, I don’t think those two members would have been given names at all if Chrissy had performed in that episode.

 

[LittleJerry92]

And yet in their final appearance before they started reducing the group to just three members, they had five members.

To be fair, they needed an extra member to do the coughing.

On that note, I noticed the puppet design for the purple member also happened to be Lefty the baseball player in the Bus Stop sign song.

 

[minor muppetz]

To be fair, they needed an extra member to do the coughing.

I was watching that one a few nights ago, and noticed that the pumpkin member doesn't get any vocals (while a non-member also sings with them).