The Original Telly

[maniacal muppet]

Ok, so I just read this on Muppet Wiki...

Telly was initially conceived as a monster obsessed with watching television; his name is short for Television Monster. In his early appearances on Sesame Street, Telly had antennae coming out of the top of his head, and his eyes would whirl around when he watched TV. This one-note personality, along with the antennae and whirligig eyes, was soon dropped, and Telly became the worrying, easily frustrated character he remains today.

As for Telly, being one of my favorite Muppets , I am really interested to see some pics of this. If anyone can find some or can direct me to 'em, please do!

Thanks everyone!

~~MM

 

[minor muppetz]

It seems to me that pictures and images are hard to come by. Hopefuly Old School Volume 3 will include something with theoriginal Telly.

 

[ploobis]

Ok, so I just read this on Muppet Wiki...



As for Telly, being one of my favorite Muppets , I am really interested to see some pics of this. If anyone can find some or can direct me to 'em, please do!

Thanks everyone!

~~MM

I'd love to see what Telly originally looked like too!

 

[ISNorden]

As the song says, "count me in"! The original Telly is a bit of TV history that I missed, just as some younger fans never saw Oscar in any color but green; that description made me curious. I can understand why an educational show wouldn't want to cast a couch-potato character in a positive light, although most of the Muppets on Sesame Street have obsessions that are either odd (Bert's pigeons/paper clips) or downright dangerous for toddlers to imitate too closely (Oscar's trash, Cookie Monster's namesake food). Turning Telly into a chronic worrier made sense, in a way: some young children are naturally scared of everything they do going wrong, so it must have helped them to see another nervous character getting along despite his fears.

 

[ploobis]

As the song says, "count me in"! The original Telly is a bit of TV history that I missed, just as some younger fans never saw Oscar in any color but green; that description made me curious. I can understand why an educational show wouldn't want to cast a couch-potato character in a positive light, although most of the Muppets on Sesame Street have obsessions that are either odd (Bert's pigeons/paper clips) or downright dangerous for toddlers to imitate too closely (Oscar's trash, Cookie Monster's namesake food). Turning Telly into a chronic worrier made sense, in a way: some young children are naturally scared of everything they do going wrong, so it must have helped them to see another nervous character getting along despite his fears.

I've always noticed ever since the 1998 season Telly hasn't been as worried as he use to be in the 80's and early 90's. I like the way Telly is when he hangs out with his good pal Baby Bear.

 

[maniacal muppet]

I like the way Telly is when he hangs out with his good pal Baby Bear.

Ha, Telly and Baby Bear My Mom's two favorites

But anyhow, now that it's been brought up, I also hope that we can see Telly in this form in the next Old School set.

 

[mikebennidict]

I'm not sure if I recall him as 1 being obsessed with watching TV then again I may.

I vividly remember a later 70's episode where Maria and David were in Hooper's store and this monster who had to have been telly rushes in to get or ask for something and quickly runs out and later here he is watching TV.

Can't seem to remember much else about it.

 

[BEAR]

I've always noticed ever since the 1998 season Telly hasn't been as worried as he use to be in the 80's and early 90's. I like the way Telly is when he hangs out with his good pal Baby Bear.

Yeah, he became not so depressed-like, but he still is easily frustrated at times. He is just a more energetic character.

P.S. There should be a Telly smiley.

 

[NantoSeiken]

I remember watching Telly Monster's first appearance in a street scene. One or two of the human characters (possibly Maria?) came across him watching a television set, and he was unable to turn away from it to fully interact with them, offering the explanation "I'm GLUED". I don't remember him having antennae on his head, but I do remember the very final shot of the scene, where the camera zoomed in on a closeup of his face, and his eyes had been replaced with rotating spirals. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time and found this hilarious, but I wouldn't be surprised if it scared the shinola out of younger kids.

Unfortunately the Old School box sets only include the season premieres, and this definitely wasn't in one of them. Here's hoping that this scene gets included in the Season 11 Classic Cuts section of Old School Volume 3, it would be great to see it again after all these years.

 

[ploobis]

Ha, Telly and Baby Bear My Mom's two favorites

But anyhow, now that it's been brought up, I also hope that we can see Telly in this form in the next Old School set.

I hope so too! I would also love to see Elmo with his original voice (before Kevin Clash) from the "Me Claudius" sketch!