Sesame Street Episode 847 with Margaret Hamilton

[datman24]

Well, news of the leak made its way to Fallon, despite not even mentioning the actual episode in question.

 

[minor muppetz]

But at this point, with the fact that the episode was taken advantage of twice with leaks in 2019 and 2022 just for the sake of gaining popularity, I‘d say any chances of that one getting official releases have now been flushed down the toilet.

Was it really leaked in 2019? I know a few clips were screened publicly and somebody recorded the footage with a camera and put it online, but from what I heard, it was not even all of the street scenes.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Any portion that was presented during that show ended up leaking on the internet afterwards via people recording with their cell phones when told not to.

 

[gravy]

I am thinking that the people who complained was just one or two angry mothers who complained about the scene's content (in which the witch's meanness and disrespect towards David could badly influence children. But then again the letter by one angry mother stated that her child was quite scared (supposedly at the witch's behavior, and/or maybe the Scanimate outline effects) and was so scared she may never have wanted to watch Sesame Street again. The Workshop responded, and banned the episode from being reran during the summer months. I wouldn't be shocked if the ban also applies to HBO Max too.

There had to be at least over 50 complaints in letters when I visited the CTW archives at UMD.

 

[datman24]

There had to be at least over 50 complaints in letters when I visited the CTW archives at UMD.

Did you take photos of all those letters?

 

[SesameMike]

When David, Maria, and the kids exit the store to escape the interior precipitation, note that there are 4 comic books posted in the door's window. On the top row, starting from the right, the comics are:

• Archie 248 (the "flagship" title for Archie Comics Publications)
• Sad Sack 247 (by Harvey Comics)

Both comics have the same issue date -- November 1975, putting them in the right timeframe for the show's production. More coincidental is the issue numbers being different by exactly 1.

I cannot seem to identify the two lower comic books posted.

Why are the comics posted there? I think that earlier on, Mr. Hooper's store was positioned as an old-school "candy store" type of place (Bob identified it as such in that quiet early-morning episode) with a soda fountain, and of course comic books advertised on the door. But as the series went on, the place appeared, IMHO, to become more of a "general store", since the characters tended to purchase whatever they needed there.

 

[gravy]

Did you take photos of all those letters?

They're all linked in this thread.

 

[YellowYahooey]

I do know there was an episode during the Season 7 snow saga that had a copy of Richie Rich Millions #74 on display in the door or window of Hooper's Store. I did verify the issue on the Grand Comics Database a while ago.

Maybe one of the other two issues in #847 was a Richie Rich comic, perhaps?

 

[YellowYahooey]

I saw the end of the first scene of #847 (just after David says the witch will not get her broom back until she shows some respect and dignity) just now, and I can confirm that I did see several comic books (maybe five) displayed in the door of Hooper's Store, and one of the issues on the lower row is Richie Rich Millions #74. I believe it was in the same position as in one of the Season 7 snow saga episodes, so chances are it was displayed for that entire season.

Also, release dates for Archie comics are usually two months prior to the issue's cover date, and Harvey Comics release dates were usually three months prior to the issue's cover date. Did the CTW receive copies of such comics before they got released commercially, or did CTW actually back then, so they could easily afford it more than, say, copies of non-comic publications such as Time and Newsweek magazines.

Which reminds me, has there ever been any copies of non-comic magazines on display at Hooper's Store at any time in the series?

 

[Blue Frackle]

Okay, so……. In spite of the fact that I’m not happy with the fact that this episode was leaked on the internet all for the sake of chasing clout, especially knowing very well where it came from….. I did give the episode a fair watch because I have been very curious to see it.

I can't say I agree with the clout-chasing thing given this was an anonymous reddit upload.

I must have overlooked it in the guides, but I had not realized that David was only refusing to give the broom back until she gave him some respect. All this time, I thought he was just afraid of what she would do with the broom (and he does seem that way when she finally gets it back), I thought him making her, in her old lady form, say "please" was more to see if that was actually her (thinking she would not say the word).

Yeah, it ends up being a sort of weird plot-hole that he could've prevented the whole episode by just giving the broom back.

I did download that rare and banned gem just now. I did skim through the episode, and it seemed as if the witch was being aggressive towards David and even decided to electrocute David (hence the white Scanimate effects and the accompanying electricity-crackling sound effects). No child in any era should be exposed to such aggression on a show that's designed to be educational for preschoolers. I seem to be unoffended by such scenes, but that's because I am a mature adult (have been for some time now).

I'm really glad the Count didn't use such effects on Grover in the counting hot dogs sketch.

Yep, her aggressiveness immediately stuck out to me and I was like "yeah, I get this".

I can’t remember if I have brought this up before, but there must not have been any problems when they tested the episode to the kids.

The memorandum regarding the tests is somewhere in this thread and yeah, it didn't really scare them much then. Things like "kids who watched in color were fascinated by her green face", but the reason for them not being scared they suspected was cause they were surrounded by a bunch of adults.

Some of the stuff is legendary: one of the kids was convinced the witch was Bob, another though Big Bird would bite her, and one said she was gonna turn David into a little man lol.

Well, news of the leak made its way to Fallon, despite not even mentioning the actual episode in question.

Well that ended up being totally pointless...