Malicious destruction of property

[SesameMike]

While these skits didn't exactly scare me, as discussed in another thread, I always felt a bit perturbed at sketches that featured wanton destruction of property, especially when it was to the dismay of the owner. It seems like there was a lot of that in the early days. Some examples:

-- Cookie Monster trying to cajole a pillow from Ernie. As Ernie is going off to bed (alone), CM quietly appears and rings a small dinner bell. Ernie is jarred awake and tries to find the source of the bell, while CM tries to lay down on the "soft fluffy pillow". First he thinks it's a fire engine (he'd still be hearing it), then the telephone (Bert, who was not in this sketch, would have answered it), then the doorbell. No one was at the door, and this was when Ernie confronted CM. When CM groveled for the pillow, Ernie agreed to share it. That's when CM smugly tore the pillow in half (sharing it, right?), sending feathers hither and thither. Somehow, that skit really bothered me.

-- A number of skits where CM destroyed and/or consumed Ernie's ukelele.

-- When Grover "helps" Ernie count his balloons by popping each one as he counts it, save for the last one which floats away. Granted, Grover's "cute little" personality was not developed yet, heck, he was probably not even named yet (did Ernie address him as "Hey you!"?), and was as malevolent as any monster was expected to be. Popping the balloons was uncharacteristic of Grover as we know.

-- In the Fix-it Shop, a song by Herry Monster titled "I just can't help it". Throughout the song he destroyed several items in the shop. He ripped the cover off a desk telephone (you saw all the copper wires and switches inside). When he reached a sustained high note a la "is it live or Memorex", several TV picture tubes in the shop blew, with clouds of pink (yes, pink) smoke. He even caused some bricks in the wall to fall on the floor.

-- A cartoon in which a husband lies in a hammock while his wife is hysterical about a mouse in the house. The husband tries some natural means to rid the place of rodents.
First he gets a cat to scare off the mouse, "but he also ripped all the curtains and swallowed this goldfish"
Then he gets a dog to chase the cat away, "but he also broke all the dishes and ate the sofa all"
Then he gets an elephant to chase the dog away; wife is even more scared.
Finally he gets a mouse to scare the elephant; the pachyderm eliminates about one-third of the house's wall structure on the way out.
Now they were back to square one with a mouse in (what's left of) the house. "Maybe next time I'll try a mousetrap."

There was at least one implied destruction scene I can laugh at, though. Susan walks by Oscar's can, where he is playing some classical music. (Non-exact script)

SUSAN: Wow Oscar, that's beautiful music.
OSCAR: You wanna hear some really beautiful music?
S: Sure!
O: (disappears into can, with lid still open. Susan looks in as we hear sound effects inside can. Oscar turns off classical music) Now, I'm taking the record off the record player. Now I'm putting the record in the rack, with the rest of my records. Now I'm putting the records at the bottom of the stairs.
S: Why are you doing that?
O: Just wait and see. Now, I got my bowling ball here, and I'm climbing to top of the stairs. Then I let go...
S: OH NO, Oscar....
O: and drop the bowling ball on to the records (loud and lengthy crashing, shattering sound.) Now that my friend, is "beautiful music".

Another "funny" act of destruction. Big Bird borrowed a bathroom scale from David and Luis, with instructions to "bring it back in one piece". His intention was to weigh Mr. Snuffleuppagus, which he did. When BB returned it, the dial was stuck at 180 lbs., because that's what the reading was when Snuffy flattened it. An enraged David yelled "YOU MUST HAVE PUT A TRUCK ON THAT THING THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A SNUFFLEUPPAGUS".

 

[MuppetDude]

-- When Grover "helps" Ernie count his balloons by popping each one as he counts it, save for the last one which floats away. Granted, Grover's "cute little" personality was not developed yet, heck, he was probably not even named yet (did Ernie address him as "Hey you!"?), and was as malevolent as any monster was expected to be. Popping the balloons was uncharacteristic of Grover as we know.

He's identified as Grover in this skit. (Episode #198)

 

[LabyrinthFan]

Mike, I'm amazed by your detailed accounts of so many classic Sesame sketches. I always look forward to your posts.

I've always been a little bit unsettled/ fascinated/ excited by the "wanton destruction of property," as you so succinctly described it, on Sesame Street. Several instances that stick with me to this day include:

- Herry and Cookie arguing over who gets to keep a bicycle they've found. Kermit comes along and advocates sharing. Herry and Cookie agree to "split" it, and do just that - tearing the toy to pieces and devouring it in an instant.

- "Newsflash" featuring Hickory Dickory Dock, when the horse goes, er, through the clock. The pandemonium at the end of that sketch always made my heart race, what with the clock gonging, the duck quacking, and the horse naying. Possibly the most violent Sesame sketch ev... no, wait...

- There was a mid-90's sketch that was so out of step with the rest of that era's Sesame, I can only think of it as a tribute to those crazy early days of the show. Old MacDonald is looking for one of his "wee beasties" in a china shop at the mall when he comes across Simon Soundman (who proclaims himself a big fan). Simon recreates animal calls in the hopes of attracting McDonald's lost pet, inappropriately causing an elephant to race through the boutique with maximum destruction. Actually, I think the most disturbing part of this one was the irresponsible way the Soundman ducked out of the store when he realized what was about to happen... or that a few of the sheep didn't reappear after the elephant's rampage. Poor sheep!

 

[SesameMike]

Thanks for your nice message, Astro. The reason I remember so many of these sketches is because I watched the show quite religiously between 1970 and 1977. Most episodes I actually caught twice on the day they aired, since most PBS stations in the areas where I lived had a morning show (usually 10:00) and a 4:00 show. And for a time, the weekend mornings recapped a weeks worth of episodes. And then there was catching those episodes yet again when it went into reruns for that season.

The last episode I watched, as part of my regular routine at least, was the one where the Count celebrated "National Counting Day". The Count was counting everything imaginable, such as the number of hairs on Maria's head (9000-something) and the number of nails in Mr. Hooper's store (4000-something).

It's good to have a message board where I can do a "memory dump" on these shows.

 

[Dantecat]

What Year Was That Episode Of The Count Celebrates National Counting Day?

 

[MuppetDude]

It's good to have a message board where I can do a "memory dump" on these shows.

We're glad to have you here.

P.S.: Keep dumpin'.

 

[SesameMike]

I'm sure that the "National Counting Day" episode was in 1977. But I cannot say for certain if it was the 1976 or 77 season. For what it's worth, Roscoe Orman was already Gordon.

They did a "One of these things" game in which 3 jars of beans were different from one larger jar of beans. I think the larger jar also had white beans, vs. red kidney beans in the smaller jars. So there were two differences to describe. But the Count chimed in with "But wait, you forgot, it's National Counting Day. The large jar is different because it has 1,159 beans, and the small jars each have only 726." (I don't remember the exact numbers, but you get the idea.) The adults were starting to get a bit frustrated with all this counting. At the end of the day, the Count was hosting a party (with a cake, I think) next to Hooper's store . The Count then announced "and tomorrow is, 'National Numbers Day', ha ha ha". The adults sighed as in "here we go again". "And the day after that is, 'National Arithmetic(?)'.... as the closing music began.

 

[Ziffel]

-- When Grover "helps" Ernie count his balloons by popping each one as he counts it, save for the last one which floats away. Granted, Grover's "cute little" personality was not developed yet, heck, he was probably not even named yet (did Ernie address him as "Hey you!"?), and was as malevolent as any monster was expected to be. Popping the balloons was uncharacteristic of Grover as we know.

I took this skit to be an example of Grover being well meaning but naive and not too bright. Kind of like the skit with him and Kermit where he is freezing out in the wintry snow and comes to Kermit's house. He asks Kermit how he can get warm. Kermit keeps telling Grover to come inside the house but Grover is completely clueless and continually tries exercises on Kermit's front stoop. Eventually Grover stumbles in to the house and discovers how nice and toasty warm it is. But he accidentally locks Kermit outside. He goes to a living room chair and takes a nap, while Kermit taps on the icy window outside shouting in vain for Grover to let him back in. Interestingly, what Grover did to Ernie in the balloon skit is sort of like what Ernie did to Bert in a lot of skits (like being clueless to the fact that Bert is the one in the neighborhood who is feeling sick, and dumping Bert's cookies on the ground so he can use the box to collect any jellybeans that might happen to fall from the sky). Oh and how about the hilarious one where Ernie frets, "I lost my air!"
(that the salesman sold him from the bottle).

Thanks for your nice message, Astro. The reason I remember so many of these sketches is because I watched the show quite religiously between 1970 and 1977. Most episodes I actually caught twice on the day they aired, since most PBS stations in the areas where I lived had a morning show (usually 10:00) and a 4:00 show. And for a time, the weekend mornings recapped a weeks worth of episodes. And then there was catching those episodes yet again when it went into reruns for that season.

That sounds just like my SS childhood story! I watched SS heavily from those same years and sometimes several times a day like you did. (Also watched "The Flintstones" reruns several times a day every day in the early 70's. Used to drive the babysitter nuts when she had to always watch SS and The Flintstones when she was over!). And were you in Maryland back then? Maryland was where my SS days were! (10 miles from D.C. - Go 'Skins! Billy Kilmer! Sonny Jurgensen! ) In '76 moved to New York, then later to Pennsylvania.