Maria *inside* Oscar's trash can?

[Motown Mike]

Wasn't there an episode (in the '70s) where somebody--Maria, I believe--had to go inside Oscar's trash can for some reason or another? You see her climb in, then hear a series of sound effects while Oscar describes her progress to the viewers (and of course, Oscar's can--like Snoopy's doghouse--was made out to be far roomier and more elaborate than it looked from the outside)...eventually she climbs back out, looking like something the cat dragged in.

Anyone else remember what I'm talking about, and were there any other episodes where one of the human characters went in Oscar's can?

 

[Beauregard]

Wasn't there an episode (in the '70s) where somebody--Maria, I believe--had to go inside Oscar's trash can for some reason or another? You see her climb in, then hear a series of sound effects while Oscar describes her progress to the viewers (and of course, Oscar's can--like Snoopy's doghouse--was made out to be far roomier and more elaborate than it looked from the outside)...eventually she climbs back out, looking like something the cat dragged in.

Anyone else remember what I'm talking about, and were there any other episodes where one of the human characters went in Oscar's can?

My sisiter (older than I) seems to remember this episode, but people assure me that no one had been in Oscar's trash can before Elmo in Groiuch Land

 

[sesameguy]

Hi- You're not imagining things- Maria did indeed go inside Oscar's trash can at least twice!

The first time was definitely in the "old days", I would estimate pre-1981. The scenes inside the can were completely dark, and you could only see the whites of Oscar and Maria's eyes (Maria's eyes were not her real eyes, but a "puppet-like" version of two human eyes). It was similar to the old "Ernie and Bert blow a fuse" skit where all you could see was the whites of their eyes. When Maria finally climbed out of the can, her clothes were completely filthy, and she did her best to hide from everyone on the street as she made her way back to the Fix-it-shop.

The second time was years later, probably early 1990s. Maria climbs into Oscar's can to look for a missing baby Natasha. This time they don't show the inside of the can at all, just the outside. But we hear the sound effects as Maria trips into the swimming pool, etc. Again, when Maria comes out, her clothes are filthy.

Actually, others have gone inside Oscar's can before. Remember the "Ask Oscar" skit with Linda playing Oscar? And there was one episode that ended with each of the cast members climbing into Oscar's can, one after the other. Again, no shots of inside the can. Just everybody climbing in before the end credits.

 

[Beauregard]

Wow! I thought that no one had been in it before...

...wait. Maybe I was wrong, it's just that no one has Seen inside it. Yes, that's what it is.

Also, is it a true remeberence that I have that three Grouches once visited Sesame Street?

 

[Teankun]

I remember Maria going into his trash can.

My brother likend Oscar's can to the TARDIS on "Doctor Who"

 

[Beauregard]

So, did three grouches once visit SS?

 

[SesameMike]

A cup of sugar

I remember the episode in which Maria went into Oscar's can. This is not exact, and I'm not completely sure which was for sugar and which for flour.

Maria went up to Oscar's can and asked to borrow a cup of sugar. Oscar replied that if she wanted it she'd have to come in and get it herself. So she did, and that's where we saw the eyes against the darkness stuff. At one point, Maria fell into Oscar's pool (which Oscar had told us about a few times before. I think he said "Wanna see my swimming pool?" to a visiting grouch that was parked in an adjacent trash can.)

<SPLASH!>
OSCAR: "That's my swimming pool!"
MARIA: "It's sooo COLD!!!"
OSCAR: "Yeah, I keep ice cubes in there..."

Finally they reached the kitchen, where Oscar instructed Maria where to find the sugar.

As the dirty and messy Maria was about to exit the can Luis walked by, apparently reading a Hispanic recipe.

LUIS: "(something in Spanish, then) One cup of flour. Hey Oscar, you wouldn't mind lending me a cup of flour, would ya?"
MARIA: (still shoulder-high in the can) "Don't do it, Luis."
OSCAR: "What do you mean? I can get you that right now." (Disappears into can, and quicly emerges with a cup of flour for Luis)

Needless to say, Maria was a tad P.O.'d at Oscar that she had to delve into the mucky can while Luis got his in a snap.

Maria's entry into the can is corroborated by Wikipedia. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_the_Grouch

I also saw the sketch where Bob went into Oscar's can. My memory of is is a little fainter, since it was about a season earlier then Maria's foray (and I only saw it once). Basically, Bob was walking by the can whistling happily, and Oscar angrily emerged from his can to chew him out for making such a racket. When Bob calmly rebuked Oscar for getting all bent out of shape for mere whistling, Oscar responded with something like "you should see what I have to live with before you pass judgment..." (sounds remarkably similar to the excuse often given for listening to music with violent lyrics and other lifestyle choices) Bob decided to play along and visit the interior of the trash can.

There was another sketch I saw where there wasn't an adult inside the can, but they clearly illustrated the immense interior therein. One day, Oscar announced that he was going to move, and called upon the adults to assist him. We then saw 3 or 4 adults struggling to pull a full-sized hat rack out of the can (Did we see this in Mary Poppins?). The show then broke for a film or two. When they returned to the street scene, the sidewalk was suddenly littered with several pieces of dusty, dingy furniture, all full-size, that were taken out of Oscar's can. At that point, Oscar confesses that he fooled them; he wasn't really moving, he just wanted to re-arrange the furniture in his can. Not taking kindly to being lied to, the adults all promptly dispersed. Oscar said to Slimey "We're going to have a hard time putting all this furniture back.

 

[SesameMike]

Metal trash cans

All this talk about Oscar's humble abode got me thinking: do you even see galvanized metal trash cans anymore?

Think about it. Most individual trash cans used by private residences these days are made of plastic or rubber and have tight-fitting lids. Most are round, but some have a rounded-square shape. Commercial buildings use dumpsters. And more and more communities use those "wheelie" bins, with a separate rectangular container for recyclables.

Somehow, Oscar popping out of a Rubbermaid trash can would not have the same effect.

 

[Dantecat]

SesameMike,Does Maria get dirty? If so,how dirty was she and what year was it? Huh

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I remember quite a few eps where people went into Oscar's can. I remember Oscar had a friend named Bernie who was in there for some reason or other. There was also a lady friend of Elmo's who was playing hide-and-seek with him and she hid in the can. For some reason Oscar wasn't present there. And of course there was also a recent episode where Miles' band played in Oscar's can.