Should Harvey Kneeslapper come back?

[Xerus]

I remember there was a practical joking muppet on SS named Harvey Kneeslapper performed by Frank Oz. Harvey was always playing pranks on people, mostly Fat Blue, and was laughing really loud. But those loud laughs were hard on Frank's voice, so the muppet was no longer used.

If Frank is now retired from muppeteering, do you think they should get Eric Jacobson or someone else to revive Harvey?

 

[Pug Lover]

Apparently there was another reason Harvey Kneeslapper no longer exists.His practical joking nature wasn't a good message for children.The kind of behavior they didn't want to encourage preschool tv viewers.

 

[Don_Music_2004]

Apparently there was another reason Harvey Kneeslapper no longer exists.His practical joking nature wasn't a good message for children.The kind of behavior they didn't want to encourage preschool tv viewers.

OMG! Are you serious. Gee Bee was right about the SS writers being too picky. So Harvey was a practical Joker, do they not want kids to have a sense of Humor??? Also they did use Harvey in old inserts until 2001, so he couldn't have been that bad if they used him that late.

 

[Splurge]

Apparently there was another reason Harvey Kneeslapper no longer exists.His practical joking nature wasn't a good message for children.The kind of behavior they didn't want to encourage preschool tv viewers.

Hmmm.... that's the first time I heard about that one regarding Harvey Kneeslapper. There were two reasons given in the Unpaved book: "Performed by Frank Oz, the character was chucked because he was a one-note joker, and because his constant laughing was too hard on Frank's voice."

By "one-note joker", I'm guessing that the writers felt they came to a limit of how much they wanted to do with him, comically speaking.

Out of interest, where did you get the info that he no longer exists due to not sending a good message to kids? Apart from the Unpaved book, I'd be amazed to learn anyone write about this obscure character, much less know his name.

 

[Censored]

Apparently there was another reason Harvey Kneeslapper no longer exists.His practical joking nature wasn't a good message for children.The kind of behavior they didn't want to encourage preschool tv viewers.

Where did you hear that? If that was their reasoning, they'd have to get rid of skits about Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster and Prarie Dawn, Grover and Fat Blue, the list goes on and on. I know things are messed up at Sesame Workshop, but I would hope it's not THAT messed up. According to the book "Sesame Street Unpaved", aside from the strain on Frank Oz's voice, Harvey was abandoned because he was a "one-note joker", meaning that his character would get tiresome, not that it would be a bad influence. Of course, for that matter, how do they explain the popularity of "one-noters" like Cookie Monster and The Count?

 

[Censored]

It should also be noted that there were several Harvey Kneeslapper skits in which his practical jokes backfired. Harvey was actually in a street scene with Molly The Mail Lady. He put confetti in her mail hat, but Molly (innocently) put that hat on Harvey's head. An angry Harvey goes away, looking for a vacuum cleaner.

 

[Xerus]

I always thought it was funny how Harvey had this running gag of slamming letter and number stickers on people's shirts. And how some of his jokes sometimes backfires.

I'm just imagining him back on the Street playing pranks on people like Big Bird, Snuffy, and probably some of the real-live adults on there too. And maybe he can even prank Oscar too, giving the grouch a taste of his own medicine.

 

[Don_Music_2004]

I always thought it was funny how Harvey had this running gag of slamming letter and number stickers on people's shirts. And how some of his jokes sometimes backfires.

I'm just imagining him back on the Street playing pranks on people like Big Bird, Snuffy, and probably some of the real-live adults on there too. And maybe he can even prank Oscar too, giving the grouch a taste of his own medicine.

You wanna know something, this may sound strange, but that's one of the things I wish I could see, that wasn't shown too much on Noggin. Characthers like Harvery Kneeslapper, Herbert Birdsfoot and Farley interacting with the street characters and humans.