Put Down the Duckie celebrities

[minor muppetz]

I was thinking about soemthing regarding Put Down the Duckie the other day. Some of the celebrities only appear once, and some appear multiple times. Does anybody ever wonder how it was decided which ones would only appear once, and which would appear more times?

Ladsmith Black Mambazo only appear once, but their appearance is the longest of the celebrity appearances. It seems like some celebrities appear a few times early on, and are not seen again, and other celebrities appear later, and make a few appearances.

I also noticed that Jane Curtain appears, but doens't sing. I wodner why it was decided for her to not sing. The only other celebrity in the song to not sing was that trumpet player, but that's more reasonable, as he was playing the trumpet. Jane Curtain did sing a verse during the end credits of Sesame Street, Special, and that sequence seemed to include alternate verses (in additon to verses sung by celebrities who made new appearances in the special).

It's odd that soem celebrities, such as Madeline Kahn and Joe Williams, only apear once, and very briefly.

 

[superboober]

It is rather surprising John Candy gets only the opening line of the montage given that he was at his zenith at the time. Perhaps he personally asked for only a brief bit so as not to upstage others (which would be consistant with his later choice to turn down a stake in the profits for Home Alone in favor of his cameo there).

 

[wwfpooh]

And incidentally, Paul Ruebens (as Pee-Wee Herman) made a few scenes in the montage, despite the future that would lie ahead.

 

[minor muppetz]

And incidentally, Paul Ruebens (as Pee-Wee Herman) made a few scenes in the montage, despite the future that would lie ahead.

Yeah, but considering how popular he was at the time, I'm surprised that he only appeared twice in the song, and didn't even appear in the closing credits for the Sesame Street Special.

 

[minor muppetz]

It is rather surprising John Candy gets only the opening line of the montage given that he was at his zenith at the time. Perhaps he personally asked for only a brief bit so as not to upstage others (which would be consistant with his later choice to turn down a stake in the profits for Home Alone in favor of his cameo there).

Actually, I believe that John Candy made three appearances there.

 

[wwfpooh]

Yeah, but considering how popular he was at the time, I'm surprised that he only appeared twice in the song, and didn't even appear in the closing credits for the Sesame Street Special.

Well, it was at the height of his popularity that Ruebens was caught with his pants down, so to speak...

 

[superboober]

Actually, I believe that John Candy made three appearances there.

Oh I see what you mean, that each cut to him during the verse would count as an appearance. Interesting, though, they couldn't get Eugene Levy to join him as Stan Shmenge; perhaps his schedule wasn't compatable with taping.

 

[minor muppetz]

Put Down the Duckie hasn't been seen on Sesame Street in years. I wonder if the celebrities are keeping it from being shown. They might make it dated, but then again, quite a few of the celebrities seem to still be popular or semi-popular (Paul Simon, Danny DeVito, maybe even John Candy, even though he's dead). If they are the reason why this isn't shown anymore, then I wonder if Sesame Workshop would at least show the non-celebrity version in a new episode. 1980s Ernie segments are still shown in new episodes. I wonder when the original version was last shown.

The first time I remember seeing the celebrity version was in the Sesame Street Special, and I don't ever remember seeing the non-celebrity version after that. I don't know if the celebrity version actually did debut before that special or after (though there are other specials and direct-to-video productions that were the first to feature segments that would be repeated on the show). The 25th anniversary video featured a clip from the non-celebrity version, and I don't think the clip was just edited to remove the celebrities (as the clip shown had a special transition to the start of the sequence that showed other alternatives to Ernie holding his duckie, like putting it out the door, and the celebrity version has that sequence immediately following a celebrity shot).

If this segment gets included in Old School Volume 4, I wonder if it will be the celebrity version or the original version. The celebrity version has been released on video twice, so there probably wouldn't be a problem with getting permission from the celebrities.

 

[minor muppetz]

Oh I see what you mean, that each cut to him during the verse would count as an appearance. Interesting, though, they couldn't get Eugene Levy to join him as Stan Shmenge; perhaps his schedule wasn't compatable with taping.

I could be wrong, but I thought that Andrea Martin appeared in one cut before John Candy's third apearance in the song.

 

[CensoredAlso]

The Put Down the Duckie sketch was supposed to be a montage of the various celebrities they'd taped. Whoever edited the sketch had to decide what he/she felt were the best celeb moments for each line, that's all.

They may not be showing it anymore because some of the celebs are dated. Of course, I'm generally against that way of thinking.