Any idea when Prairie Dawn became a major character?

[Drtooth]

I was thinking about this, too. I thought Prairie Dawn was made as a Sesame Street beanbag toy in 1998, but then I looked at the Muppet Wiki page for Sesame Street Beans, and there was no Prairie Dawn

Another case of Betty Lou favoritism. The funny thing is that Betty Lou was always a character, but mostly a background person... She never really had anything (Prairie had her plays), and she just didn't have a memorable personality. Whereas Prairie was the oh so pretentious little kid... almost a younger version of Sam the Eagle in her low tolerance for anything "silly." I always wonder why, merchandise speaking, Betty was always favored over Prairie, when Prairie was a more substantially used character.

 

[minor muppetz]

I wonder if Prairie Dawn was named before The Muppet Music Album. It would be kind of funny if for that album, the name was needed for the contestant in What's My Letter? and then when it was made into a video sketch that puppet was used, due to a similar voice, and the name stuck (then again, Betty Lou didn't continue being called Lucy Jones, then name given to her in Pick Your Pet).

For the longest time when I got that album (well, the rerelease titled Sing the Alphabet) I thought it was strange that the little girls performed by Fran Brill in The Question Song and Just Because were different from Prairie Dawn. And those two girls seemed to have Prairie's current personality. Compare Prairie's personality in early appearances like What's My Letter? and then later appearances like The Triangle Game or the Letter of the Day sketches and there's a noticable difference.

Another big difference between Prairie and Betty is the fact that Prairie Dawn pretty much alwasy had the same performer, though it sounds like Jerry Nelson performed her in the handclapping sketch from episode 536, while until the 1990s Betty Lou was performed by whoever was available.

 

[Drtooth]

I wonder if Prairie Dawn was named before The Muppet Music Album. It would be kind of funny if for that album, the name was needed for the contestant in What's My Letter? and then when it was made into a video sketch that puppet was used, due to a similar voice, and the name stuck (then again, Betty Lou didn't continue being called Lucy Jones, then name given to her in Pick Your Pet).

Well, Fran DID come up with the idea after seeing an actress whos name really was Prairie... so, my feeling is that if the character appeared before that album appearance, Fran could have easily suggested that name for her. Or at least called the character "Prairie" with out actually officially naming her. You know like, hand me the "Prairie Dawn" puppet.

 

[Muppet Frog]

Here are some reasons why I think Prairie is a major character. She was one of the first characters on one of the first years. Prairie appeared often on the Letter of the Day skits. She was one of the hosts for PWMS. She appeared in the background on the Macy's Parade. She appeared in some cast photos and two of Fran's main characters.

 

[LamangoNumber2]

See, the true story is, Prarie and Betty= Same person, as both are the result of genetic engeneering!

In reality, Prarie was always Fran's main until Zoey came along

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

For the longest time when I got that album (well, the rerelease titled Sing the Alphabet) I thought it was strange that the little girls performed by Fran Brill in The Question Song and Just Because were different from Prairie Dawn. And those two girls seemed to have Prairie's current personality. Compare Prairie's personality in early appearances like What's My Letter? and then later appearances like The Triangle Game or the Letter of the Day sketches and there's a noticable difference.

Yeah. I remember hearing 'The Question Song' and 'Just Because' on a cassette tape and I always thought the girl was Prairie, but I guess those were made early on before Prairie's current personality was established.