Questions about SST Credits

[Vic Romano]

I DVR'ed a bunch of episodes to get a chance to catch up on the Street as I haven't watched an episode in a long while, but anyway:

The "Grouch News Network" episode featured "Rubber Ducky". Now I'm near positive this was older footage of Jim singing. However, Jim's name appeared nowhere in the performer's credits (nor anywhere else in the credits to my surprise). Another episode possibly had another older clip that I thought may have been Richard. Once again though, his name did not appear in the credits either.

Frank's name appears in every episode's credits as do all human actors even if they're not in the episode. Understanding Frank's appearances are also limited, I was wondering first and foremost, does Sesame Street's regular show credits exclude departed performers even if they appear in that particular episode?

Or has Steve and other Muppeteers just perfected the character's performance that I can no longer tell the difference? Do they not use any older footage ever anymore?

EDIT: Okay, I just watched episode 4159 and they played the classic Bert & Ernie "That's What Friends Are For" sketch and it was definitely Jim and Frank. Once again, Jim's name appeared nowhere in the credits (neither did Jon Stone's even though he would have most likely directed it). Joe Raposo however, is still listed under the composer's credits along with current composers (in other words, not listed as only having written the SS theme).

On a slightly similar note, Carrol's name appears with the human performers "as Big Brd and Oscar The Grouch" instead of listed with the Muppet performers. Any insight on any of this would be very appreciated.

 

[CensoredAlso]

It's probably their normal policy now not to include the names. And it would take a lot of effort to include every single time they happened to appear in an episode, which probably isn't everyday (though it ought to be, heh).

 

[Vic Romano]

Granted, it would be very difficult to include everyone's name that ever worked on the show, but I would think Jim at least be mentioned somewhere in the credits, right?

 

[CensoredAlso]

Granted, it would be very difficult to include everyone's name that ever worked on the show, but I would think Jim at least be mentioned somewhere in the credits, right?

Yeah I agree, you would think so, those puppets (which were the main reason the show was a success at all in the first place) didn't create themselves!

 

[Oscarfan]

On a slightly similar note, Carrol's name appears with the human performers "as Big Brd and Oscar The Grouch" instead of listed with the Muppet performers. Any insight on any of this would be very appreciated.

Most likely because back then, Big Bird and Oscar were basically the only Muppets in the street scenes, so they were basically part of the street cast.

And BTW, Jim hasn't been in the credits since 2001.

 

[CensoredAlso]

On a slightly similar note, Carrol's name appears with the human performers "as Big Brd and Oscar The Grouch" instead of listed with the Muppet performers. Any insight on any of this would be very appreciated.

I think either because Big Bird was supposed to be a "featured" role, or because Carrol wasn't technically part of the group (he said Jim always tried to get to be a full time Muppeteer but he wasn't interested).

 

[mikebennidict]

Most likely because back then, Big Bird and Oscar were basically the only Muppets in the street scenes, so they were basically part of the street cast.

And BTW, Jim hasn't been in the credits since 2001.

There were street scenes with the other muppets but not as much as with BB and Oscar.

 

[Drtooth]

It's probably their normal policy now not to include the names. And it would take a lot of effort to include every single time they happened to appear in an episode, which probably isn't everyday (though it ought to be, heh).

Firstly, I thought the credits still said "Jim Henson's Muppets." Maybe I wasn't paying attention to recent episodes, but I at least remember it saying that last year.

Seems they're just listing current performers and writers (I swear I remember seeing a credit saying "Special songs by Joe Raposo" (since they still use lots of his songs, either in old clips or newer reamkes).

But then again, they never EVER listed all the various animators (or contributing artists/directors/writers/etc) that did work on SS, even in the old days. That would have been something they'd have to do on an episodic basis, and it would be too time consuming.

 

[Vic Romano]

I believe there were episode specific credits for the special guests (Mike Rowe was listed I think), but that's it.

When I say Jim Henson's name appears nowhere in the credits, I mean nowhere in the credits. I knew that "Jim Henson's Muppets" has been removed from merchandise in particular for some time now. And once again, I understand that to list everyone on the show would take too much time to list, but I mean, we're talking about the creator of the Muppets here, as Heralde mentioned, the reason for the show's success!

Another point of confusion for me: the credits do mention that the Muppets are property of the Muppets LLC Holding Company. I thought as of 2005, Sesame Workshop held that license?

 

[somethingofafan]

Another point of confusion for me: the credits do mention that the Muppets are property of the Muppets LLC Holding Company. I thought as of 2005, Sesame Workshop held that license?

I think that credit is referring to the word "Muppet"; the characters are, as you mentioned, Sesame's.