Little things we've noticed

minor muppetz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
16,072
Reaction score
2,660
Recently I've been listening to "Let's Make a Dream", a song Joe Raposo wrote in 1988 that did not get released to the public until 1992. I'm not sure if it's his last song written (or his last where he recorded vocals), it seems like it is his last posthumously-released song. And yet it is an awesome song to end on.

In fact, you could also say that "Don't Throw That Trash on the Ground" and "I Wonder About the World Above Up There" - Jim Henson's last respective Sesame Street songs as Ernie and Kermit - are great songs for Jim Henson to end his Sesame Street career on as well.
 

LittleJerry92

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
15,707
Reaction score
7,715
I know the “strawberry, my favorite kind!” joke seemed to be a thing with H-J in those season 1 speech balloon skits, but the H one felt pretty forced in there because all it was about was demonstrating “H for hole” and the pie just came out of nowhere. If they did “P for Pie” with it then it would add a little more humor.
 

YellowYahooey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Messages
799
Reaction score
157
I remember seeing the song segment "Ridin' on the Train" on an episode that was on YouTube (one of the episodes in the Season 7 snow saga). The film footage seems familiar. I could have sworn I remember seeing the same film footage in a similarly-themed Canadian song segment, "Going on a Train (Going, Going)", which was aired on Canadian Sesame Street until the changeover to Sesame Park. I do remember catching a glimpse of such Canadian song segment on an episode from 1994 which aired on CBC in the summer of 1995. However, I don't remember the details of the episode, not even the sponsors.

Is it possible that some Canadian song segments and other Canadian segments used film footage from the U.S. and replaced the song produced in the U.S. with a completely different track produced in Canada? If so, then it's possibly a low-cost production of such segment.

I do believe Canadian Sesame Street discontinued airing film segments with Joe Raposo background music by 1981 (I definitely saw some when CBC aired Season 10 episodes) , when the amount of Canadian content was expanded to 30 minutes in total. I believe they also didn't air any episodes which had street scenes where Spanish words were spoken, or referenced U.S. history or culture. Though I did read one time that the U.S. cast had to pronounce the last letter of the alphabet as "zed" for Canadian broadcasts. However, I wonder how the CBC handled episodes with Rosita in street scenes?

I wonder if the changeover to Sesame Park was more a low-budget, primarily Canadian version for the CBC?
 
Last edited:

minor muppetz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
16,072
Reaction score
2,660
I guess with Ernie and Bert Sing-Along, since it was a record first, and we could only hear what was going on, we were supposed to think that the bathroom was small and it was really crowded, which explains why whenever one of the adults actually acknowledges Bert's request for a towel, they say that there's too many people in the way. But I saw images from episode 900 before I heard the album, and when it was done on the show, they had to use a much bigger bathroom set, with plenty of room for the actors and performers, making me wonder how it could be that crowded. And the album was inspired by the stateroom scene from A Night at the Opera, where everyone is crammed into a small room.

With it originating as audio, we were supposed to use our imaginations to know how small or crowded or absurd it was, but as I had already seen photos of what the adaptation was like, I just thought the room was too big and not crowded enough to imagine it being such a small space.
 

minor muppetz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
16,072
Reaction score
2,660
In episode 2042, when Oscar and Grundgetta dress in a Snuffleupagus to fool Gordon, Grundgetta gets on top and does the voice, though I think it would make more sense for Oscar to do the voice.

In the 40th anniversary book, Pam Arciero’s first audition for Sesame Street was to perform Mr. Snuffleupagus.

Do you think this might have been an inside joke?
 

TimzUneeverse

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
175
Reaction score
114
In some episodes that have any of the sorting songs ("OoTT," "ToTT," and "HAST,") the person who plays and/or sings sometimes holds on to the board containing the subjects used for the round (for example, Luis in this particular variant of "HAST" in show 442).

I'm pretty sure Gordon did the same to the game board in show 960 (with his arm extended out), and in show 914.
 
Last edited:

clipjj27

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2003
Messages
99
Reaction score
18
I remember seeing the song segment "Ridin' on the Train" on an episode that was on YouTube (one of the episodes in the Season 7 snow saga). The film footage seems familiar. I could have sworn I remember seeing the same film footage in a similarly-themed Canadian song segment, "Going on a Train (Going, Going)", which was aired on Canadian Sesame Street until the changeover to Sesame Park. I do remember catching a glimpse of such Canadian song segment on an episode from 1994 which aired on CBC in the summer of 1995. However, I don't remember the details of the episode, not even the sponsors.

Is it possible that some Canadian song segments and other Canadian segments used film footage from the U.S. and replaced the song produced in the U.S. with a completely different track produced in Canada? If so, then it's possibly a low-cost production of such segment.

I do believe Canadian Sesame Street discontinued airing film segments with Joe Raposo background music by 1981 (I definitely saw some when CBC aired Season 10 episodes) , when the amount of Canadian content was expanded to 30 minutes in total. I believe they also didn't air any episodes which had street scenes where Spanish words were spoken, or referenced U.S. history or culture. Though I did read one time that the U.S. cast had to pronounce the last letter of the alphabet as "zed" for Canadian broadcasts. However, I wonder how the CBC handled episodes with Rosita in street scenes?

I wonder if the changeover to Sesame Park was more a low-budget, primarily Canadian version for the CBC?
Hi, YellowYahooey:

If you're referring to the segment from Episode 0593 (Season 5) which is on YouTube (and released on HBO Max about a year ago today), then I remember that segment fondly as well! However, as to whether it was 'modified' or 'reworded' into a Candian segment, I'm not sure. I used to watch Sesame Street on CBC as well as a youngster and do remember some of the characteristics you mentioned (like using French, not using Spanish, and referring to the last letter of the alphabet as 'zed'), but as for the specific segment you mentioned, I'm not sure. Then again, if this modification took place around the early 1980's or later, then chances are I would not remember it, since I stopped watching the show regularly around 1981. Sorry I couldn't help you more on this one.
 

LittleJerry92

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
15,707
Reaction score
7,715
To be honest, the ending to the music video of “Your Love” by The Outfield was how I initially remembered the ending to “Wet Paint” before seeing it again on YouTube for the first time in August 2006 in that really lousy camera upload (but it was still a long waited reward to finally get over my fear at that time; it makes me wish I had the Count It Higher VHS if it meant getting more familiar and used to the video):


Basically just orange paint oozing down the lens like that but actually covering up the screen more quickly. To be honest if I didn’t know what year this song came out, I would have guessed this video had some inspiration to it with the effects, but I’m 99% more convinced the music video for “Freeze Frame” by the J. Geils band had big influence on the video (with all the crazy paint splashing at the end eventually covering the lens):

 
Last edited:
Top