Rumor: Big Bird only in four Season 41 episodes

[zns]

I don't think ANYONE should host. Not Murray, not Big Bird, Not Sherlock Hemlock... sure as shooting not Elmo. I find the whole need for a host and the block format one of the biggest problems. Again, I'd keep Murray's word on the street, number and letter introductions and junk the rest.

Everyone is equal on that show. As Caroll Spinney once said in his book, there is room for everyone on Sesame Street.

 

[Drtooth]

That said, when it comes to merchandise, the three characters I routinely see are Big Bird, Elmo and Cookie. So Big Bird ain't going anywhere.

 

[zns]

That said, when it comes to merchandise, the three characters I routinely see are Big Bird, Elmo and Cookie. So Big Bird ain't going anywhere.

Neither are other characters like Oscar, Bert, Ernie, Grover, Abby, and the Count. They are all just as loved as the other three.

 

[Drtooth]

In fact, a LOT of characters are gaining influence over the last few years. I haven't seen Count VonCount merchandise for years... sure enough, we get several plush and a couple other things as well. Snuffy too.

 

[minor muppetz]

Well, the season is over. Were we proven wrong about the number of new episodes Big Bird appeared in this season?

Slightly off-topic: Considering the shows current budget cuts, it's a wonder Caroll Spinney doesn't perform more non-Big Bird/non-Oscar characters again like he did in the first two seasons and when he performed Bruno.

There was one episode where Elmo, Telly, and Rosita examine different animals to see if everybody takes a bath. Big Bird doesn't appear in that episode, and Oscar only makes a cameo. Meanwhile, there were two or three one-shot characters who all appear seperately. Caroll Spinney should have performed all those characters.

Another episode of note came in season 40, when Elmo and Abby worked The Count's counting booth. A lot of performers had to be in that episode. We had Kevin Clash performing Elmo and Leslie Cararra performing Abby, both of whom were there for the entire episode. Big Bird and Snuffy appeared in a scene or two, and as far as I can remember not in the rest of the episode. Matt Vogel would have been there to perform The Count while Jerry Nelson supplied the voice, but it's clearly Caroll Spinney performing Big Bird. And then there's the scene with several chickens. I don't recall Big Bird being in that scene, so I wonder if Caroll Spinney operated any of those chickens.


Still, I wonder if those residuals for rebroadcasts of episodes and existing sketches pay well enough.

 

[Drtooth]

Unless I miscounted (I swear there was one more) barring any insert footage, there were only about 4 street stories that featured him. However, there were at least 2 or 3 inserts (one was even repeated) as well. Plus, Oscar was there quite a bit.