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Telly in At Your Library

minor muppetz

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I recently found a used copy of Big Bird's Story Time (I've had trouble finding a copy of the DVD). Anyway, after buying it and watching it, I started wodnering if Brian Meuhl performed Telly in At Your Library. I know that when Martin Robinson started out as Telly he imitated Telly's original voice for a few years. But Telly's voice does sound a bit different to me. I know what Brian Meuhl's Tely voice sounded like, but I hadn't heard his Telly sing before. And this video was made in 1987, and I've read that sketches where Brian Meuhl performed Telly were still shown then.

In this sketch, Martin Robinson performed Sullivan, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't performing Telly. The two appeared at seperate times for most of the song. At the end, there is a wide shot of the cast, excluding Oscar. It sort of looks like Telly and Gilbert were being performed by the same performer, but I'm not sure. Of course, if an extra performer was needed, Caroll Spinney could have performed one of them, since Oscar wasn't in shot.

Brian Meuhl was credited as a performer. I doubt that he would have returned to perform on Sesame Street so soon after leaving the show to perform in new direct-to-video material. I would be surprised if he performed in Imagine That, since Kevin Clash performed the king in that song and became a Muppet performer after Meuhl had left (though Clash's autobiography mentions that he occassionally lent a hand before officially becomming a performer, and we know that he performed Buster before he was a Mupet performer). And I think all of the Sesame Street News segments were from before Meuhl joined the cast, though I don't know exactly when he became a performer. But it looks like three of the newsflash segment sincluded only have three performers (Henson, Oz, and Nelson). The Humpty Dumpty segment had several characters and performers, but the earleist known appearance of that sketch was in a season six episode, probably before hew as a Muppet performer (unless Meuhl, like Clash, had some opportunities to perform on Sesame Street before officially being hired as a Muppet performer). We all know that the Rupunzel sketch was from season four, and the three little pigs sketch was from before the Humpty Dumpty sketch, since Kermti wore his brown reporters hat in the Three Little Pigs sketch, and his grey hat in the Humpty Dumpty and Magic Mirror sketches.

If At Your Library had appearances by Gina or Uncle Wally, then we would probably know for sure that Martin Robinson performed Telly there.
 

Crazy31088

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I've wondered about the season that segment was from, myself. It's my guess that it was taped 1983-84, judging from the looks of the cast, but I'm really not sure. Some kind soul out there once told me that, but I can't remember who and therefore I can't accurately cite it or even judge how accurate it might be.

Please keep us updated if you find anything out!
 
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