The "E" skit no Muppet Central fan has ever talked about

[MuppetDude]

Thanks for the official title. Now I can add it to the SSU guide.

 

[DanDanStrawberry]

I remember an "E" skit to the tune of the Manic Street Preachers "She Drives Me Crazy" called E drives me crazy

E Drives Me Crazy
There's No Other Letter
E Drives Me Crazy
And I Cant Help Myself

x

 

[MuppetDude]

Don't forget SS's version, "'C' Drives Me Crazy".

 

[ISNorden]

A beautiful little skit! They don't make 'em like that anymore.

Only the words 'eating', Easter', 'egg', and 'evening' started with the letter 'E"! Everything else just emphasized the long 'e' sound within the words.
So, it was and it wasn't a skit about the letter 'E'.

The earliest episodes showed at least two other cartoon-songs with the key vowel in other parts of a word, not just the beginning:

"The train to Spain was late today: an ape pulled the brakes...And made it get awaaaaay!"

"O-O-O-O-O-O-O-Oooo..

Grow and go
Roll over the road
Where the goat explodes all the Os
And the crow flies low
Past the croaking toad
And the boat floats over the ocean..."

[Thanks to Tiny Dancer for the lyrics to "The O Song", by the way...]

If a different approach helps children learn the way letters and sounds relate to each other, what's wrong with using it? The older vowel cartoons showed the sound being used in the middle of some words because a vowel is more likely to appear in the middle of a word, not at the beginning.

Besides, Sesame Street has treated one other letter differently before: I've watched older clips about words that ended with X instead of the usual "X-ray/xylophone/marks the spot" fare. (The most recent one I remember dates to the mid-90s, when the show still had two letters of the day: A Muppet fox visits the street and challenges Telly to think of three words that end with X. The other two clues are right under his nose, since the animal's playing a sax and wearing a tux...I don't think most kids would be familiar with that last word, though.)

 

[ISNorden]

Don't forget SS's version, "'C' Drives Me Crazy".

I'm positive that the "C Drives Me Crazy" parody appeared on the show, but I've never seen or heard one that used the same tune for the letter E.

"C drives me crazy/like no one around/C drives me crazy/and I can't calm myself down..." Do those lyrics ring a bell?

 

[GonzoLeaper]

"C Drives Me Crazy" was definitely on Sesame Street and the original song "She Drives Me Crazy" is actually by the Fine Young Cannibals.

(Which is why Sesame Street lists their singers of "C Drives Me Crazy" as the Fine Young Camels! )

This is a great song by the way. I've got the single on cassette tape.
Sesame Street's parody is available on the "Cookie Monster's Best Bites" video.