Debuts of muppets

[PiLfan]

I was wondering about the debut circumstances for some of the major SS
characters (both past and present)...for instance, does anyone know the
details of the debut for Prairie Dawn? (e.g., year, episode, what was
the skit?)...

In particular I was wondering about how Telly and Elmo first debuted...i
think Telly was sometime in '78...Elmo sometime in '79 or '80 (long
before he took over the whole program).

I'll start...we all know Bert and Ernie first appeared in episode 1,
1969...and the skit was something about Ernie taking a bath in a tub he
called "Rosie" (got that from here:
http://www.toughpigs.com/anthernie01.htm)

Anyone know of others?...

 

[MrsPepper]

I remember reading somewhere that one of Elmo's first apperances was the episode when the adults could see Snuffy. Though I'm probably really wrong.

 

[PiLfan]

I remember reading somewhere that one of Elmo's first apperances was the episode when the adults could see Snuffy. Though I'm probably really wrong.

Yeah, that was circa 1985...it was one of the first where he was operated by Kevin Clash (who continues to voice the muppet today).

In his earlier days (1979-84), elmo i think was operated by Brian Meuhl and then Richard Hunt for a few years...don't know what his voice (if he had one) sounded like in those days...or if he was even technically called 'elmo'...or just an anything muppet.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here are some of the debuts:

Kermit The Frog-was created in 1955 for Sam And friends. his first appearance on Sesame Street was in the first episode. He apparantly appeared in Susan and Gordons apartment in one scene, and his first sketch was a 2-part skit where he talked about the letter W. i don't know which of those scenes came first in the episode.

Big Bird- He was the first muppet seen on Sesame Street. he started out as a dumb character. He met a little girl named sally in his first scene.

Oscar The Grouch- He uttered the words "get away from my trash can" in the first episode. He was orange untill the secodn season.

Cookie Monster: He made his first appearance in the first episode, when kermit talked about the letter W. Cookie Monster was originally just a random monster used ins cenes that required a monster or monsters. He wasn't named untill the secodn season.

Grover- grover debuted sometime in the first season. I don't know what he did. He was gray green during the first year.

Betty Lou- She made her first appearance sometime in the first season.

Proffessor Hastings- like the last two characters mentioned, he made his first appearance sometime in the first season.

Guy Smiley- He first appeared sometime in the first season, but he was called Sonny Friendly untill the second season. The name Sonny Friendly was later used for another game show host who first appeared sometime in the 1980s.

Little Bird- I think her first appearance was in a skit where she meets Big Bird for the first time, and explains that even though she is little and Big Bird is big, she is still a bird. This skit was shown during the first season.

Fat Blue- He first appeared sometime during the first season, although I don't think he was Grovers customer untill 1971. He was originally performed by Jim Henson. I don't know if he was shared by performers before Jerry Nelson became his regular performer.

Lefty- The salesman first appeared sometime during the first season. In some first season skits, Lefty was performed by Caroll Spinney instead of Frank Oz.

Rosevelt Franklin- He and his mother both debuted sometime during the second season.

Herry Monster- He made his debut in the second season. he originally had a furry blue nose, which eventually changed to a fur-less blue nose, which finally changed to a purple nose. I have read that he was performed by Jim Henson in the Up And Down song (i don't know why).

Herbert Birdsfoot- He first appeared in the second season, and I think he was in the second season premier.

Farley- he first appeared in the second season premier.

More debuts coming shortly!

 

[PiLfan]

thanks minor muppetz....one thing to add about Grover, i remember reading where his first appearance was the first or second episode, and it was the famous 'Near/Far' skit....the skit was redone a few years later with the current (and less disturbing) blue version of the muppet.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here are some more debuts:

Sherlock Hemlock- He first appeared in a skit where he helped Ernie figure out who ate half of his sandwhich, which appeared during the secodn season.

prarie dawn- I believe that she first appeared in the second season.

Harvey Kneeslapper- I believe that he made his debut in the second season.

The Amazing Mumford- he first appeared during the second season.

Simon Soundman- I think he first appeared in the secodn season, and I think his first appearance was in a skit where he came to Ernies apartment to use a telephone.

Mr. Snuffleupagus- He debuted in the third season premier. From 1971-1985, the human adults thought that he was just Big Birds imaginary friend, as they always just barely missed him. For his first year only, Snuffy had bright yellow eyes and no eyebrows.

Rodeo Rosie- She first appeared in the third season debut.

Count Von Count- He first appeared in the fourth season premier, in a sketch where Ernie and Bert build a block pyrimid which he counted the blocks of.

Sam The Robot- he also appeared in the fourth season premier episode.

Biff and Sully- They first appeared sometime during the fifth season.

Chris and the Alphabeats- they first appeared in the fifth season, and theor first song was Count It Higher.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here comes some more debuts:

Two-Headed Monster- they first appeared during the tenth season.

Bruno- he first appeared soemtime during the tenth season.

Barkley- I think he first appeared in the tenth season, and he was originally called Woof-Woof.

deena and pearl- they only appeared during the eleventh season, and I beleive that they were principle characters.

Telly Monster- he first appeared in the eleventh season. In his first appearance, he came to Hoopers Store, asked for a long extention cord, and was obsessed with watching television. He had spiral eyes. His obsession with television ended a year later, and his eyes were changed. He first developed his worrywart personality during a series of episodes where the fix-it shop was remodled.

Elmo- He first appeared in the eleventh season. His first sketch was in Me Lost me Cookie At The Disco. Some people say that his first speaking appearance was in the song "We're All Monsters". According to caroll Spinney, he actually debuted in either season 2 or 3, was called Baby Monster, and was performed by Caroll Spinney, but the Baby Monster character didn't last long and was put in storage for a long time, untill somebody got an idea for a character called Elmo, and they chose to just use an existing puppet. As Elmo, he was originally performed by Brian Meehle (according to Spinney, he spoke really fast and repeated words a lot). In 1984 he was performed by Richard Hunt, who didn't like performing the character. kevin Clash then took over. While some sources say that kevin Clash first performed Elmo in 1984, I think it was really in 1985, and some peopel say that Kevin Clash first performed Elmo in the episode where everybody saw Mr. Snuffleupagus for the first time.

 

[minor muppetz]

Heres some more debuts:

Forgetful Jones, Clementine, and Buster- I think they all first appeared in 1982 (I could be wrong), and Forgetful Jones was originally performed by Michael Earl Davis (Richard Hunt took over) while Clementine was originally performed by Brian Meehle.

Grungetta- I think she first appeared in 1980 or 1981, and according to the internet movie database, she was originally performed by Brian Meehle.

Aristotle- This blind monster only appeared for one season, from 1982-1983.

J.P. and Tito- the Miami Mice first appeared in 1986.

Leo Monster- I think he first appeared in 1987, and was only on the show for one year.

Ruby Monster- I think she first appeared in 1988.

Benny Rabbit- I think he first appeared in 1990. His first appearance was in an episode (or is it a sketch?) where a grouch magician pulled Benny out of his hat. he made a few more appearances over the next few years before he became a bellhop at the furry arms hotel in 1993.

Baby Bear and Goldilocks- they first appeared in an episode from 1991 where baby Bear came to Sesame Street to hide from Goldilocks, who was driving him crazy, only for Goldilocks to be hanging around Sesame Street, popping up everywhere Baby Bear went (she came to Hoopers store when Baby Bear came to get some lunch, and she was in oscars trash can in one scene). I think they were meant to only appear once, but they soon became regular characters.

Rosita- She first appeared in 1991.

Roxy Marie- She first appeared in either 1992 or 1993.

Zoe- She first appeared in the 25th season.

Kingston Livingston III- he first appeared in the 25th season.

Humphrey and Ingrid first appeared in the 25th season, although the puppet used for Ingrid had been used for other characters as far back as 1981.

Frazzle- I forgot to mention earlier that he first appeared in the beat The Time skit with Cookie Monster, which I think was first shown in 1971.

Sherry netherland- She first appeared in 1993.

Mel, Google, Narf, and Phoebe- The monster clubhouse monsters first appeared in 2001.

 

[PiLfan]

wow, minor muppetz...thanks for that great info on some of those characters...especially telly and elmo. where'd you get your info?...i vaguely remember when Telly first showed up, as i was still watching SS back then, but don't remember his TV obsession at all (or the spiral eyes...creepy! i'd love to see a photo of that!) i always kind of remember him being his worried self.

i had no idea about the elmo muppet originally being used as 'baby monster', or his near decade-long return to storage and then years of use as a background AM for random scenes and videos like Cookie's disco song...humble beginnings indeed for the eventual conqueror of the one-time diverse and unpredictable program.

 

[PiLfan]

i vaguely remember when Telly first showed up, as i was still watching SS back then, but don't remember his TV obsession at all (or the spiral eyes...creepy! i'd love to see a photo of that!).

come to think of it, it just hit me now where Telly's name apparently comes from (TV = Telly)...i always wondered why he was called that...LOL,