Sketches and Songs on Sesame Street videos

[GonzoLeaper]

Well, this could be a long undertaking, but I thought it'd be cool to have a list of all the sketches and songs that show up on the various Sesame Street home videos that have been released through the years.

I'll start off with Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game (since I just recently watched this).
It's a 1991 video release and features the songs: (in this order)
"I Love My Elbows" (Kermit and AMs)

"One Fine Face" (Ernie and Elmo- intro cut)

"Get Along" (Kermit, TwiddleBugs!!!, Yip Yip Aliens!!! and AM '50s Greasers- one looks like the blond-headed member of the Alphabeats!)

"Elmo's Song" (Elmo (obviously ), Big Bird and Snuffy (Elmo's intro cut))

"Alligator King" (great cartoon about the number 7)

"Eight Balls of Fur" (Chris (minus the Alphabeats) and eight balls of fur, to the tune of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" (more or less))

"My Best Friend" (Big Bird and Snuffy, Uncle Wally and May(?), and Gordon and Susan)

"I Love Trash" (Oscar the Grouch- awesomely cool because it's the original version as far as I can tell- Oscar is still green, but the fur is slightly different looking from his modern look- he looks about the same as he did in the original "C is for Cookie" song)

"The Lambaba!" (The Count, Mary and her little lamb, Bo Peep and a ram, 40 lambies, 1 duck, 1 cow, 1 dog and 1 chicken! )

That's all the songs on here, but don't forget the actual storyline of the video, which has some really cool moments too. Elmo is the host of a game show and his two contestants are Mary and her little lamb and good old Fat Blue! (or Mr. Fred Johnson) When Elmo introduces the contestants, he introduces Mary and her lamb, but then he says of Fat Blue, "Elmo not know who this guy is." (Turns out Fat Blue thought he was a bus stop to go to Cincinnatti to visit his mom!)
Elmo is supposed to be asking questions to the contestants, and them show them a music video as a clue, and if they know the answer they have to jump on a trampoline and run up and hit a bell and then shout out the answer. Elmo winds up answering before any of them, and the director reprimands him 2 times, before finally making Fat Blue the host (and he dons Elmo's gold "host" jacket) and then Elmo becomes a contestant. Eventually, on the next question, Fat Blue gets into the act and answers the question he was asking! Then the director takes over as host and Mary and the lamb jump on the trampoline to answer but don't ever come down until after the next song. Since Fat Blue is still standing there muttering about his bus to Cincinnatti and Mary and the lamb are still freefalling, Elmo gets someone from the audience to come up on stage- Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street! And then after the song, Mary and the lamb finally fall back down and answer the last question. Oscar gives the right answer for the current question and his prize is to get out of there! Then we have the last grand prize question and after the song, the lamb gets the right answer and his prize is to sing the song again and then we hear it playing through the closing credits.
And after a few credits have been shown, we suddenly jump back to see Fat Blue still waiting on his bus and Elmo trying to encourage him to sing along when all of a sudden his bus comes through and of course, who should be driving it but Grover? And of course, Fat Blue freaks out when Grover informs him that he's driving the bus to Cincinnatti and then asks him if he knows how to get to Cincinnatti! Fat Blue faints and Grover joins the rest of the gang singing the Lambaba!

Definitely a great video to get for the incredible songs on there as well as the linking storyline. Grover's surprise appearance at the end makes it all the sweeter too! And there's not 1, but 2 great Kermit the Frog songs on there, one with appearances from the TwiddleBugs and the Yip Yip aliens!!! And the original version of "I Love Trash"! So I definitely recommend this video.

Well, I'll try to post some more reviews when I get a chance. If anyone else wants to cover some of the other videos, feel free to go ahead and post!

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is what songs appear on Rock & Roll and Count it Higher.

Rock & Roll

release year: 1990

plot: a D.J., Jackman Wolf, hosts a rock and roll request show. He gets a request from Gina for Little Jerry and The Monotones, who are supposed to perform a song live from the phone, but they can't get through to the station, and sing to the operator, who has a police officer arrest them. Since Jackman Wolf can't get ahold of them, he asks for Gina to request her second favorite group, which is Chrissy and The Alphabeats, but she can't decide on whether she wants tp hear You're Alive or Rock 'N Roll Reader, so Jackman Wolf plays both songs. Bert calls and requests It's Hip To Be a Square (and wants it dedicated to his paperclip collection). The Count and one of the countesses (i don't know which one it is) can't agree on whether to request a song abou the number nien or forty (the count wants nine, countess wants 40, then they change their minds because the other one wants the other song) so they get to hear songs for both numbers. Finally, as the show ends, the police take Little jerry and The Monotones (still in the phone booth and singign) to the studio, and they sing throughout the credits.

songs:
Monster In The Mirror (with grover, non-celebrity version)
Telephone Rock (with Little jerry and The Monotones, introduction cut, Little jerrys acknowledgement of being carried by the police cut, only song not to feature song title and singer names on-screen)
You're Alive (with Chrissy and The Alphabeats)
Rock 'N Roll Reader (with Chrissy and The Alphabeats, opening scene cut)
It's Hip To Be a square (with the four sides)
Count Up To Nine (with the count and his royal transylvanians)
Forty Blocks From My Home (with Farley, but a different farely from the green boy, although this one is also performed by Jerry Nelson, features a cameo by Kermit and The Count)
(I Can't Get No) Co-Operation (with the Cobble Stones)
Hand Talk (with the kids)
The Word Is No (with Gina and Maria)

Nitpicks:
*When Bert makes his request, Ernie is seen with him, but he obviously doesn't talk. Either this was made after Jim Henson died, or Jim Henson wasn't available for taping. Either way, Ernies appearance is unneccessary.
*Variosu Sesame Street videos can be seen in the background (among them Count It Higher, Sing Yourself Silly, and I want To Go Home)

Count It Higher: Great Music Videos from Sesame Street

release year: 1988

plot: The Count hosts The Counts Countdown Show, on SMV (Sesame Music Videos). He has a top 7 countdown, with a bonus music video (Honk Around The Clock). The show also features celebrity promos, featuring Big Bird (who wants some Rock and Roll) and Oscar (who requests a moldy oldie). Finally, the Count introduces the number one song, which is always number one because that is his favorite song.

Songs:
The ten commandments of health (with Dr. Thad and the medications)
Do Op Hop (with Kermit)
Z Z Blues (with Over The Top)
Honk Around The Clock (with The Honkers)
Letter B (with The Beetles)
Wet Paint (with How Now Brown Cow and The Moo Wave)
Do De Rubber Duck (with Ernie and friends)
Count It Higher (with Chris and the Alphabeats)

nitpicks:
*on the back of the packaging of the Sony Wonder release, Letter B is listed as Letter B Song, and although the packaging refers to the song as Do Op Hop, in the music video credit that appears on-screen, it is written as Do Wop Hop.

 

[minor muppetz]

Learning About Letters & Numbers

Here are the contents and plots of Learning About letters and Learning About Numbers, both released on video in 1986 and on DVD in 2004.

Learning About Numbers

plot: Big Bird and Snuffy are at Big Birds home, announcing that today is Alphabet Day on Sesame street. Big Bird explaisn that everybody will be looking for words that begin with each letter of the alphabet, and after they are done, Luis will read them a story. At first Snuffy doesn't remember the order of the alphabet, but after hearing the song, he remembers and leaves to find something that begins with the letter A. Telly then calls Big Bird out to the street to start Alphabet Day. They identify an apple (for A), a box of balloons (for B), and a Cow (for C). More letters are identified throughout the program. For the letter I, Oscar identifies irvine, who has an ice cream cone, which Luis thinks is icky. A letter U talks about himself. Buster reluctantly dresses up as a zebra for the letter Z. Agter that, Luis reads a story, The king Banishes The letter P, to Big Bird, telly, Buster, and a little boy. The, Big Bird comes back home to fidn Snuffy, who has found an apple and is ready for the next letter. Snuffy is sad because alphabet day is over and he missed out on everything, so Big Bird asks everybody to do the whole thing all over again. At first, Telly is worried about doing it again, but then decides that he is happy to be doing it all again. Big bird announces the shows sponsors (all 26 letters of the alphabet).

Segments included:
The Alphabet Song (with Leena Horne and the anything muppets)
C Is For Cookie (with Cookie Monster and the monsters)
Frances Fairy talks about the letter F (animated skit)
G-Gorillia (animated skit)
Harry The Horse (animated skit)
La La La (with Ernie and Bert)
Letters in the Street (filmed segment, believed to be from the first season since a license plate has a 1970 expiration date sticker)
Kermit draws the letter M on-screen with his finger (with cameo by grover)
MMMonster meal (with Cookie Monster and Herry Monster)
O-orange (animated skit)
The R Wizard (animated skit)
The Villian in the patiman hat (animated skit)
madrigal alphabet (animated skit)
the king banishes the letter P (with the anything muppets)

Nitpicks:
*this video was made in 1986, one year after Mr. Snuffleupagus was first seen by the human cast. However, in this video Snuffy is only seen with Big Bird, although nobody says anything about him being imaginary at the end, so either this was made a year earlier and the ending might have been refilmed, or even after Snuffy was seen as real, it was still common for people to not see him. or maybe there was no real reason for him to not be seen.
* The letter M is the only letter represented in two different skits. If only one was shown, then maybe there could have been another skit for another letter. Also, it's odd that the story about the letter P wasn't sshown untill the end, when it could have been shown earlier (to represent the letter P).

Learning About Numbers:

plot: Big Bird is the host of Big Birds Number Show, and the count is the announcer. Big Bird says that it was so cold, he had to wear his mittens... but realizes that he only has one mitten. He then interviews Chip and Dip, who show a clip from a movie they directed with two of their friends (the Two Dolls In a House song). He then reads some fan mail, and gets a request to show a roller coaster and some chickens. A honker alerts that The Count went home (and in the middle of the show, no less!). Since The Count is supposed to count to 20 later on the show, Big Bird calls him, and learns that he had a job as an elevador operador. Big Bird convicnes the count to quit his job because the elevador only goes up to ten, and the count can count to 20 on the show. The Count soon comes over and counts honks. The show is brought to you by the numbers 1-20.

segments included:
Grover and John John count one penny (the beginning, with grover telling John John that he loves him, is cut, making the whole skit about the number one).
1-20 cartoon with a 20-armed arab (animated skit)
Two-Toucan Two-Steps (fiddle player cartoon)
Two Dolls in a Doll House (filmed segment)
ball on toy roller coaster (film segment, I think this was directed by Frank Oz)
1-2-3 chickens (animated song)
I Just Adore Four (with Big Bird)
Four Lions At My Door (fiddle player cartoon)
The Count hires Ernie to be his operator
The Count gets a job as an elevador operator (with Kermit as his customer)
Six Soccer Socks (animated song)
The Count counts flowers and sneezes
The King of 8 (stop motion animated song by Jim Henson)
Martian beauty (animated song)
Grover and John John count backwards from 10
The Count counts honks

nitpicks:
*most Sesame Street videos produced between 1986 and 1988 had their titles written on a black background, but in this videos title sequence, it is on a night sky background with stars.
*when The Count counts the guest stars, there are clips of Ernie and Grover that are not on this video. The grover clip is from Over, Under, Around, and Through, which is on the Play-Along Games And Songs video from 1986. I don't know what the Ernie clip is from, but I think it might be from the skit where Ernie doens't think he is special, which was included on the I'm Glad I'm Me video, the only Sesame Street video from 1986 that I haven't seen. I could be wrong.
*although this video teahces how to count up to 20, there are no skits for the numbers 11-19. Skits with these numbers could have probably been shown if there weren't any repeats of certain numbers in skits.

 

[minor muppetz]

Play-Along Games And Songs

Here is a listing of what is on Play-Along Games And Songs.

video release: 1986.

DVD release: 2005.

plot: Big Bird is in his nest area, wondering where Forgetful Jones is even though he is right next to Big Bird, playing cards with Elmo. Big Bird tells Forgetful Jones that they are going to play some games, but Forgetful Jones says that he doesn't play games (despite the fact that he is playing cards at the moment), because he is called No Games Jones, but Elmo reminds him that he does like games, and that his name is Forgetful Jones. Big Bird gets some kids to his nest, and he explaisn that after the games are over, Forgetful Jones will play a game that requires Forgetful Jones to remember as much as possible. Elmo helps Forgetful with the games. The first game takes place in Big Birds nest area, where an animated penguin stomps it's feet, and Big Bird points to people who have to make a beat in the same pattern as the penguin. The next two games take place in the arbor area. Big Bird has a game where I think everybody has to do something that rhymes with a certainw ord (It's been awhile since I last watched this, so I can't remember for sure). After that, they play a game where Big Bird draws shapes in thin air, and everybody has to guess what the shape is. After this, they are back at Big Birds nest area, where Big Bird asks Forgetful Jones various questions about the games that were played. Elmo offers to help, but Forgetful Jones turns down his help, and subsequently answers every question incorrectly. Forgetful Jones thinks that he won because he forgot everything, but Big Bird tells him that he was supposed to remember everything.

segments included:
clips from a cartoon where a penguin stomps on the ground, making some beats.
Herry and a boy play a game where the boy wears a blindfold and has to guess what Herry Monster gives him.
Beat The Time: Cookie Monster.
I Heard The Dog bark (with Gordon, Susan, Bob, Uncle wally, and the kids)
one of these things (with Cookie Monster, possibly from either the first or second season, in which the viewer has to guess which plate of cookies is different)
Lefty sells Ernie a picture of four elephants (with a cameo by Bert).
animated skit with shapes grouped into patterns.
Over, Under, Around, and Through.

nitpicks:
*the first and last game are played at big birds nest area, and the other games are played at the arbor area, but there doesn't seem to be any reason for this (the whole video could have taken place at the arbor area, or they could have all been at Big Birds nest area).

 

[minor muppetz]

Monster Hits

Here are the details of Monster Hits.

release year: 1990

plot: Herry Monster is the host of the Fuzzy Awards, an award show featuring the best monsetr songs. Elmo is supposed to hold an envelope with the winning song inside, but he wants to see who the winner is, even though he is not supposed to know untill after the songs are played. Herry eventually gets Elmo to agree to not open the envelope. Herry eventually presents a lifetime achievment award to his mommy. after all the songs are played, Cookie Monster comes on-stage to announce the winner, but he eats the envelope instead. Elmo puts a flashlight to Cookies mouth, and announces that the winner is Cookie Monster for C Is For Cookie.

segments included:
Fur (with The Aristocrats)
Two Heads Are better Than One (with Herry Monster and the Two-headed Monster, who is listed as The Singing Heads)
Frazzle (with Frazzle and friends)
Herrys Family Song (with Herry Monster and his family)
Fuzzy and Blue and Orange (with Grover, Herry, Cookie, and Frazzle)
Comb Your Face (with Furline Huskie, who is usually listed as "a monster" on most albums featuring this song)
What Do I Do When I'm Alone? (with Grover)
Healthy Food (wiht Cookie Monster and the singing vegetables, who are listed as The Fly Girls)
We're all Monsters (with the Furtons, which includes Elmo, who was originally performed by Brian Meehle in this song but Kevin Clash dubbed over his lines)
C Is For Cookie (with Cookie Monster and the monsters)

nitpicks:
*Herrys Mother is performed by David Rudman when she recieves her award, even though Pam Arciero performed her in Herrys Family Song.
*C Is For Cookie ends up beign the winnign song even though it isn't featured untill after it is announced as the winner.
*On the original video box, the text referred to the award show as "The Furry Monster Awards", even though in the program itself it is called The Fuzzy Awards.
*Telly Monster does not appear at all in this video.
*This was the first Sesame Street video to include Elmo on the cover.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is information about The Best of Ernie and Bert.

release year: 1988

plot: Big Bird helps Gina babysit Ernies niece, Ernestine. Gina says that every time that she babysits Ernestine, she brings Ernestines favorite book. It's a photo album full of pictures of Ernie and Bert. each picture leads to an ernie and bert skit. While looking through the photo album, Big Bird tells Gina that he babysat for a relative once. Gina is shocked to learn that Big Bird sat on the baby untill he explained that it was just inside an egg and hadn't hatched yet. Big Bird and Ernestine eventually fall asleep, but Gina continues to look through the book. Big Bird points out a picture of Ernie and Bert at a meeting of The national Association of W Lovers, and as Ernestine speaks in baby talk, Big Bird explaisn what people do at those meetings. Gina thinks Big Bird can understand baby talk, but Big Bird is pretending that Ernestine is asking the kinds of questions that he would ask if he was a baby. Ernestine eventually throws a fit. Big Bird and Gina can't figure out what is wrong, but Gina soon realizes that they aren't looking through the photo album.

segments included:

Ernie and Bert at the movies: lady with a tall hat

Ernie and Bert go camping

Ernies doctor comes over

I Don't Want To Live On The Moon

Ernie and Bert go to egypt

The National Association of W Lovers

Bert teaches Berniece how to play checkers

That's What Friends Are For

Nitpicks:
*Ernie and Bert do not appear in the linking footage. The video producers could have probably found time for Jim Henson and Frank Oz to perform Ernie and Bert (perhaps during the taping of an Ernie and Bert sketch for the season). After all, Jim Henson performed Kermit at the end of Big Birds Storytime and Frank Oz would perform in many videos made in 1990.
*this seems like it was a rush job to get an all Ernie and Bert tape released. Besides the fact that Ernie and Bert don't appear in the linking footage, many of the skits on here seem more like B-list segments. Of course, before 1990 segments were not repeated on other videos. This was mad ein 1988 and at the time most of their A-list material had already been released on video (Rubber Duckie and Doin' The Pigeon were on Sing Along, Dance Myself To Sleep was on bedtime Stories and Songs, The rhyming Game was on Gtting Ready To Read, etc.). However, there are some A-list segments that still haven't been released on video and could have probably been included. Segments like One And One make Two, The Banana Sketch, and the skit where Ernie replaced berts cowboy hat with a pot.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Thanks so much for all the reviews, Minor Muppetz! I'll try to keep adding some myself as I have the time.
It's helpful to know what all is on each video, so people can know which ones to look for to get a certain sketch or song. And that way, you can tell which video has the most songs and sketches you like and you can pick out the ones you want to buy most.

 

[minor muppetz]

Dance Along

Here is what's on Dance Along.

year of release: 1990.

plot: Gina, Mike, Big Bird, and the kids participate in a dance show called The Sesame Street Dance Along, where they show various dance moves and take requests for certain dances. The Count arrives and talks about a dance that he does on Bat Day ("That's the day I go to the baseball game and get a free bat"). This dance is The Batty Bat. Oscar has a request: Stop Dancing! Unfortunately, Gina has a dance called Stop Dancing, which disapoints Oscar. Eventually, everybody does the "Any way you feel like dance", where the music changes and everybody dances however they feel like dancing. The Birdland Jump is the closing number, and that is intercut with a skit and linking footage, running through the ending credits.

segments included:
A New Way To Walk (with The Oinker Sisters, Old mcDonalds introduction cut, interrcut with footage of the cast dancing along)

A Very Simple Dance (with Mike and the kids)

The Batty Bat (with The Count and the bats, interrcut with shots of the cast dancing along, I think The Counts opening line is cut as well)

Stop! Dance! (film segment where people say when to stop and when to dance, this is the dance that Gina refers to as "stop dancing")

The Birdcall Boogie (with Hoots The Owl)

ABC Disco (with Grover)

Doin' The Pigeon (with Bert)

The Birdland Jump (with Joe Williams at Birdland, intercut with shots of the cast dancging, only the first verse of the segment is seen, after he shouts "one more time!", we just see the cast dancing while we hear him singing, and th credits roll at this point)

nitpicks:
*It would have been great if these segments could have been shown uncut, instead of having scene sreplaced with shots of the cast dancing.
*It also would have been nice if Bruno had brought Oscar to the studio.
*it's too bad this video didn't have any songs with Ernie or Kermit. Ernie has done a few dance songs, like Dance Myself To Sleep and Do De Rubber Duck, while Kermit has sung Disco Frog and Do Op Hop.

 

[minor muppetz]

The Alphabet Song (with Leena Horne and the anything muppets)
C Is For Cookie (with Cookie Monster and the monsters)
Frances Fairy talks about the letter F (animated skit)
G-Gorillia (animated skit)
Harry The Horse (animated skit)
La La La (with Ernie and Bert)
Letters in the Street (filmed segment, believed to be from the first season since a license plate has a 1970 expiration date sticker)
Kermit draws the letter M on-screen with his finger (with cameo by grover)
MMMonster meal (with Cookie Monster and Herry Monster)
O-orange (animated skit)
The R Wizard (animated skit)
The Villian in the patiman hat (animated skit)
madrigal alphabet (animated skit)
the king banishes the letter P (with the anything muppets)

There was a skit that I forgot to mention that's in Learnign About letters. It is about the letter K, i think it could be called K-Key. It's a cartoon where a man says, "k-Key", then we see a man using a key to open the entire front of a house (not just the door) and theres a woman in a bathtub who shouts, "Close the door, leonard!"

Also, The King Banishes The Letter P is obviously edited. It intercuts between shots of Luis reading the story and the segment. Luis reading it is obviously made for this video, while the segment is obviously from the 1970s. I don't know who originally narrarated it (maybe it was a celebrity, maybe it was a human who was no longer on the show, like mr. Hooper, or maybe it was a human who was still on the show but no longer looked the way they did when the sketchw as filmed, or maybe it was only cut so that Luis could read the story).

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is a little info on A Celebration of Me, Grover!

release date: 2004.

plot: Grover is honored with a frequent flyer award at the Flyers Club Roost for his work as Super Grover. Big Bird is the host of the ceremony, and the event starts with the cast singing the Grover Work Song, which focusses on Grovers various jobs. Fat Blue is at the ceremony and is surprised to see Grover as the waiter at his own ceremony ("I have to make a living", says Grover). Big Bird likes Grover because he can fly, and says that he can fly over, under, around, and through things. Elmo sends a singing telegram for Grover, a poem by Dorthy, and Elmo recalls the time that Grover taught him to send singing telegrams. Bert and Ernie like grover because he is friendly. Bert says that when he first met Grover, Grover said "How do you do?", instead of just hello, which Ernie thinks is boring but is one of berts favorite words, and they discuss their favorite words. Big Bird wonders if oscar has anything nice to say about grover, and he has something "nice" to say about Super Grover: His flying is terrible, but Oscar likes how he lands. Cookie Monster likes Grover because he is not only a furry blue monster, but also because of his acting, and Roger Ebert gives one thumb up and one big thumb up for Grovers performance in The King And I. meanwhile, Grover has to leave the ceremony, get in a telephone booth, and become Super Grover and fly into the ceremony. Big Bird comments on Zoe's dress, which is for ballet dancing, and she starts dancing for a bit untill Big Bird reminds her that she is supposed to be saying something nice about grover. Zoe likes Grover because he is a good dancer. meanwhile, Grover impatiently waits for an elephant to stop using the phone booth. The elephant ends his call when he learns that a real life superhero needs to use the phone booth, but gets stuck in the phone booth. Grover helps him out, but then Grover gets stuck on the elephant. Back at the Roost, three kids say that they like Grover because he likes hugs. Fta Blue agrees to say something nice about Grover, but he has trouble thinking about something nice to say. Grover finally makes it to the roost, crash landing on Fat Blue, and gets his award. Everybody sings Proud of Me (although I guess this version should be called Proud of You).

Segments included (not counting clip montages):

Over, Under, Around, and Through

Telegram Trainee (with Elmo and Fat Blue)

How Do You Do? (with Leena Horne)

Monsterpiece Theatre: The King and I (with Allistar Cookies opening and closing comments edited )

ABC Disco (with the opening scene cut)

Grover The Wig salesman (with Fat Blue)

nitpicks:
*Big Bird refers to Fat Blue as Mr. Blue, even though he has once been called Mr. Johnson. Even though he is given a name, the credits still list him as Fat Blue Customer.
*Zoe's introduction should have been cut short, and Roger Eberts cameo was unneccessary.
*Oddly enough, but complete Fat Blue segments in this video take place at his home. There are no full Grover The waiter segments included.
*If Sesame Workshop was able to get permission to use clips of Kermit The Frog, then they should have included a full Kermit and Grover skit (instead of just two very short clips shown during the Grover Work Song).
*This video does not incldue what I consider to be Grovers trademark song, Monster In The Mirror.
*it's odd that this DVD doens't have any bonus Grover segments, but Happy healthy Monsters does have bonus segments.
*among the guests in the audience at the ceremony include fred The Wonder Horse, Grovers Mom, Mel, and The Amazing Mumford. It would have been nice if prarie dawn, Herry Monster, and Herbert Birdsfoot were at the ceremony.