Shape segments

[mikebennidict]

There was 1 street skit from the 70swhere Luis was trying to fix a bike for a kid named Robert and Herry was with him and came up with this idea of putting on wheels that looked like Squares and Triangles Luis said something like Robert won't be able to ride his bike with such shaped wheels they must be round.

 

[superboober]

And I can recall the segments where the shapes (colored blue) fade in in space, offscreen voices say, "Quick, count the sides," and the sides are slowly counted in in red segements. Once the shape is outlined and identified, first the outline, then the shape itself spin away in blurs.

 

[superboober]

And I can recall the segments where the shapes (colored blue) fade in in space, offscreen voices say, "Quick, count the sides," and the sides are slowly counted in in red segements. Once the shape is outlined and identified, first the outline, then the shape itself spin away in blurs.

 

[SesameMike]

Bob and the circle salesman

Who remembers an old sketch with the Shape Salesman from Saskatchewan?

In a plain behind-the-wall segment, an Anything Muppet was a representative from a shape company who tried to sell Bob a circle. (Note that this was NOT Lefty the Salesman; this guy was a lot more boisterous and outgoing.) However, Bob made it clear from the beginning that he wasn't interested in any circles. Nonetheless, this persistent circle salesman kept showing different sample models to Bob, each in different sizes and with differing patterns. One was a compact circle that you can "carry... in pocket or purse". Still, Bob kept on refusing to purchase.

Then the salesman dug deeper into his stock. He pulled out a "4-sided circle". Now not only was Bob fighting off a high-pressure sale, he had to explain that he had a square, not a circle! The salesman didn't wanna hear it; he was a "Circle Salesman" and knows his circles. So then he brought out a "3-sided circle" which he actually gave to Bob free of charge. Bob was yelling "Mr <whats-his-name>, this is not a circle!" while waving the shape as the salesman walked away. Alone, Bob quietly and frustratingly said something like "This guy doesn't know the difference between a circle..., a square..., and a triangle."

 

[mikebennidict]

Must have been too long ago for me but it certainly sounded funny.

 

[Chris Von Count]

Another shape segment that happened was a cartoon when a circle was rolling down the road and hit a trench thus turning it into a square. Then as the square "rolled" along. a bird grabed the top side of the square turning it into a triangle. As the triangle was on it's way, it hit an apple tree causing apples to hit the tip of the triangle making more corners which turned it into a rectangle. As the rectangle moved along it approached a pig who took a bite out it, turning it into a trapezoid. When the trapezoid moved along it landed in the middle of a geyser pit and a rock hit the longer side changing it into a pentagon. With some help from a spray of water from the geyser it was on it's way only to have an arrow hit it changing it into a hexagon. As the haxagon moved on it's merry way it approached a spider who used his 8 legs, changing it into an octagon. When the spider sees this he turns the octagon into his new spiderweb. Without question the look on the spider really freaked me out.

Yeah I remember that cartoon

 

[superboober]

Although they didn't always show it in its entirety; I remember a few instances where they cut to another clip as the pig approached the rectangle.

 

[ISNorden]

That spider segment must have been the only one to teach (not just mention) any shape beyond the "basic four": other shape lessons on the show have covered only circles, rectangles, triangles or squares. (I bet there are a lot of kids who'd never heard of other shapes until third or fourth grade!)

 

[SesameMike]

Here's an old and fairly obscure shape segment.

Some kids were doing the voice over as an unseen-kid's hand was placing (magnetic?) shapes down on a plain background. First the kid put some triangles down vertically as the kids went "triangle... triangle..." with each one. Then he put two squares below it; the final figure assumed the shape of an evergreen tree, as the kids went "square... square..TREE."
One kid adds: "Pine tree"
Another kid adds: "Christmas tree"

The camera panned to the sides for some other shape modeling, but I can't seem to recall those.

 

[ISNorden]

I remember some other pictures the children made with those shapes:

a boat (presumably a steamboat, since one child said "Toot toot!")
a house
a four-petaled flower (which someone described as a "pretty beauty flower")