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I thought I'd start a thread about the Countesses, female counterpartes to The Count.
Most of them look very similar, being female versions of The Count, even having curly blonde hair (surely there could be other hair colors).
I didn't know there were multiple Countesses until Sesame Street Unpaved, where they were referred to as The Count's two girlfriends. of course, we recently learned that Countess Dahling von Dahling is actually The Count's 5th cousin. And after thinking about it today, I feel it makes more sense for a Countess to be a relative than a romantic partner for The Count (what if The Count found a girlfriend who didn't like counting as much? Or if he found one who was equally obsessed with the alphabet?).
I had seen Countess Dahling von Dahling in books, and I think I saw her on the show when I was young, but hadn't known her name (not even the Countess part). In Sesame Street Unpaved, there's not even a picture of Countess von Backwards (there's a picture of The Count with a Countess in the book, couldn't really tell if she looked enough like von Dahling or not, and now I don't think it's either). For awhile, I wondered if Countess von Backwards was a character who belonged in the "whatever happened to...?" section (most of the characters in the "more Muppets" section before the "whatever happened to..." did still show up, at least in old inserts, during the 29th season, but it did include a few who hadn't been on the show in years, like Bruno and Little Bird), but now it seems like we've got access to more Countess von Backwards appearances than Countess von Dahling appearances. Are there any known appearances by von Dahling that came after Brian Meehl left? A few years back I was surprised to see places (I think Muppet Wiki was one of them) that listed von Backwards as debuting in 1997 (especially since it seems like Camille Kamporis left around that time).
I also somehow felt that von Backwards seemed more like the kind of character that would be dropped early, one that's too one-note/gimmicky to last, but it seems like Dahling von Dahling is a bit more limited, due to the fact that her counting was always accompanied by rain, which could only go away when she counted backwards (surely if she didn't count backwards it would eventually stop like in real life, right?). The Count's thunder and lightening and von Backwards' wolf howls aren't as lasting. And it must have been annoying for the writers to have to keep writing in rain and counting backwards.
It seems like there was another countess in the early 1990s, one with a hair style similar to von Dahling, but more like von Backwards' hair color, as well as a dress shirt instead of a red one. This one appeared in such segments as "Twenty Something" and the video "Rock & Roll", and had a bit more in common with von Backwards, being performed by Camille Kampouris and producing a wolf howl. When I first saw the Rock & Roll video I wondered which one it was, feeling it should have been von Dahling despite the wolf howl, and at the time I wasn't as good at identifying whether a voice was provided by Fran Brill or Camille Kampouris (or another female performer).
Interesting how in print, Countess Dahling von Dahling is always referred to by that full name, but in her two season 12 appearances we've seen, she shortens it to Countess von Dahling. I don't think it's a mistake (she's referred to by her full name in a season 12 press release, as well as Unpaved). At least she wasn't just called The Countess in those appearances.
Most of them look very similar, being female versions of The Count, even having curly blonde hair (surely there could be other hair colors).
I didn't know there were multiple Countesses until Sesame Street Unpaved, where they were referred to as The Count's two girlfriends. of course, we recently learned that Countess Dahling von Dahling is actually The Count's 5th cousin. And after thinking about it today, I feel it makes more sense for a Countess to be a relative than a romantic partner for The Count (what if The Count found a girlfriend who didn't like counting as much? Or if he found one who was equally obsessed with the alphabet?).
I had seen Countess Dahling von Dahling in books, and I think I saw her on the show when I was young, but hadn't known her name (not even the Countess part). In Sesame Street Unpaved, there's not even a picture of Countess von Backwards (there's a picture of The Count with a Countess in the book, couldn't really tell if she looked enough like von Dahling or not, and now I don't think it's either). For awhile, I wondered if Countess von Backwards was a character who belonged in the "whatever happened to...?" section (most of the characters in the "more Muppets" section before the "whatever happened to..." did still show up, at least in old inserts, during the 29th season, but it did include a few who hadn't been on the show in years, like Bruno and Little Bird), but now it seems like we've got access to more Countess von Backwards appearances than Countess von Dahling appearances. Are there any known appearances by von Dahling that came after Brian Meehl left? A few years back I was surprised to see places (I think Muppet Wiki was one of them) that listed von Backwards as debuting in 1997 (especially since it seems like Camille Kamporis left around that time).
I also somehow felt that von Backwards seemed more like the kind of character that would be dropped early, one that's too one-note/gimmicky to last, but it seems like Dahling von Dahling is a bit more limited, due to the fact that her counting was always accompanied by rain, which could only go away when she counted backwards (surely if she didn't count backwards it would eventually stop like in real life, right?). The Count's thunder and lightening and von Backwards' wolf howls aren't as lasting. And it must have been annoying for the writers to have to keep writing in rain and counting backwards.
It seems like there was another countess in the early 1990s, one with a hair style similar to von Dahling, but more like von Backwards' hair color, as well as a dress shirt instead of a red one. This one appeared in such segments as "Twenty Something" and the video "Rock & Roll", and had a bit more in common with von Backwards, being performed by Camille Kampouris and producing a wolf howl. When I first saw the Rock & Roll video I wondered which one it was, feeling it should have been von Dahling despite the wolf howl, and at the time I wasn't as good at identifying whether a voice was provided by Fran Brill or Camille Kampouris (or another female performer).
Interesting how in print, Countess Dahling von Dahling is always referred to by that full name, but in her two season 12 appearances we've seen, she shortens it to Countess von Dahling. I don't think it's a mistake (she's referred to by her full name in a season 12 press release, as well as Unpaved). At least she wasn't just called The Countess in those appearances.