Muppet names

[Hays]

Has anybody noticed that Sesame Street tends to give muppets names that have almost dropped off the map because they're so old-fashioned? I mean - think about it; it certainly can't be coincidence:

Grover - Grover Cleveland
Elmo - St. Elmo's Fire
Ernie - Ernie Ashworth (yes, these were most probably for the characters in It's A Wonderful Life, but still...)
Bert - Bert Williams
Telly - Telly Savalas
Kermit - Kermit Love


Anybody else got some?

 

[ssetta]

Actually, as it says in the Unpaved book, Kermit the Frog was not named after Kermit Love, it's just a coincidence. Jim Henson named his puppet Kermit before he even knew Kermit Love, or anyone he worked with! Kermit got his name when Henson was in 8th grade.

 

[Hays]

Right - not meaning that the muppets are named after these people, just that they are real names that are out of vogue!

I can't imagine that Grover and Telly are named directly after a former president and a film star!

 

[ssetta]

Telly actually got his name because when he first appeared in 1979, he was known as the "Television Monster", and "Telly" is short for television. I was told he had 2 antennas that stood up from his eyes, and his eyes used to whirl around when he watched television. The idea was that he was the monster who was obsessed with watching television. He was only on from 1979-80, and was discontinued because he would be a bad influence, so they turned him into the worry-face that he is today.

 

[Erine81981]

Do you have any pics of him or has he ever been on any unpaved Sesame Street?

 

[ssetta]

He was never shown on Unpaved. But the first episode that the Telly he was replaced with was. It was actually on the episode that aired last week. He was with some violinist, and he played his tuba while the man played his violin.

 

[Hays]

I believe that was Joshua Redman on the violin.