Hehe. Oh, I know, I wasn't pointing the finger at you, Doc.Let the record state that I was actually singling out politics on this one.
On that note, I really enjoyed that episode. It was very funny and of course, Oscar is a great character to feature.I have a feeling someone at Sesame Workshop was trying to nip that rumor in the bud when Oscar starred in the "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" episode. By showing Oscar still living in a trash can and keeping his dirty, smelly preferences, the writers may have been saying: "OK, rumor-mongers, do we need to show you a picture?"
The thing is, the Veggie Monster rumors were unfounded, yet were hinted at so strongly that it got blown out of proportion. The proof came from the reports of the "Cookie is a Sometimes Food" (which I appreciate more and more, actually), where as the proof of this is that SS was going to focus on the environment. And oddly enough, I have yet to see one episode about recycling or even mentioning an anti-pollution message, something they've been doing all along (Humming an unrecognizable segment of Willy Wimple doesn't count). It seems that the season, if anything, focused on nature, not conservation. And while I would love to go onto the sheer idiocy of not making the world a pigsty being a partisan thing (again, no matter what side you're on, do you WANT to wade knee deep in Doritos bags? I have some HORROR stories, Man!), whining that Oscar's living in a recycle bin is crazy. You have to wash recycling. That means no icky gooey slop stuck to plastic bottles and cups mushing all over the place. I doubt a Grouch would like to live in such... cleanliness!To bring this back on topic: The recycling-bin rumor sounds even less credible than the other rumors I've heard about Sesame Street Muppets. It might have started when someone heard about the environmental theme this season, and expected the lessons to be as heavy-handed as the health lessons were 3-4 seasons ago. Some local joker in the media probably said "What'll those people do next, move Oscar the Grouch into a recycling bin?" ... and the audience overreacted, just as they did when the Veggie Monster rumors began.
What? Bahahaha! That's ridiculous. Don't wanna know how that happened... >_>Besides, that's nowhere near as bizzare as what Sonia Manzano once said in a TV Guide interview about Oscar being dubbed "the only Muppet character to have seen Maria naked".