Saving Hooper's Store

Enjoy this all-new Sesame Street fan fic.


Chapter 1

One day Big Bird and Cookie Monster were heading to Hooper’s Store.

“I can’t wait until we get there”, said Big Bird, “I sure can’t wait to try the new peanut butter birdseed granola bars.”

“And me can’t wait to try Alan’s new super supreme oversized cookies”, said Cookie Monster, “me hungry just thinking about it.”

“You’re always hungry”, said Big Bird, “whether you’re thinking about it or not.”

“Oh, yeah”, said Cookie Monster.

They got there, and they saw Alan outside, talking to a business man.

“Hey, Alan”, said Big Bird.

“These are two of my other best customers”, said Alan to the man, “This is Big Bird, and that’s Cookie Monster.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to remember which is which”, said the man.

“Well, I’m Big Bird, and this is….”

“I don’t really care”, said the man, “But my name is Doug Shaunnessy. I’m the new owner of this store.”

“New owner???”, said Big Bird and Cookie Monster in shock.

Luis, Maria, Gordon, Susan, Leeya, Bert, and Ernie all came over upon hearing the news.

“But you’ll still serve oatmeal, right?”, said Bert.

“Of course”, said Doug.

“And you’ll still serve cookies?”, asked Cookie Monster.

“And bird seed milkshakes?”, asked Big Bird.

“And banana-royale-tootsie-frutsy ice cream?”, asked Ernie.

“Yes, everything will be the same, except for two things”, said Doug.

“What’s that?”, asked Ernie.

“The name and the price”, said Doug.

“The price?”, said Bert, “there are prices?”

“And the name?”, said a shocked Big Bird.

“But you can’t change the name of Hooper’s Store”, said Gordon.

“It’s kept the name even after three ownership changes”, said Susan.

“I don’t care”, said Doug.

“But you don’t understand…”, said Maria.

“And YOU don’t understand”, interrupted Doug, “I bought the store, fair and square. My store, my decisions!”

“How come you’re selling the store anyway, Alan?”, asked Bert.

“I’m going broke”, said Alan, “I don’t know what I’ve been doing wrong but I’m going broke and had to sell the place.”

Grover showed up.

“Excuse me, Alan, but are you hiring?”, asked Grover.

“Ask the new owner”, said Alan, pointing to Doug.

“I’ll check over things and see if there’s any money in the budget”, said Doug, “By the way, do you have a listing of inventory?”

“I’ll go get it”, said Alan, who went inside the store.

“I want one of the menus, too!”, said Doug.

“You can buy the place”, said Luis, “But you can’t sell the store.”

“Yeah”, said Big Bird, “Do you know how long this place has been called Looper’s Store?”

“Hooper’s! Hooper’s!”, said Gordon.

“You don’t understand what this place being called Hooper’s means to this community…”, said Susan.

“ENOUGH!”, yelled an annoyed Doug, “I wanted to own this place and change it’s name to Shaunnessy’s, but if it means so much for you…”

Alan came out with papers.

“…I’ll let Alan keep the store.”

“Really?”, said Alan.

“IF!’, said Doug, turning his head to Alan,“because I like to give challenges, you can raise the exact amount of money I gave you by a certain time…”

“Well, I can give you back what you gave me”, said Alan, “but I’ve got bills.”

“That money doesn’t count”, said Doug, “But if you can make that amount again, by… Hmm, let’s say Thursday night at 9PM, I’ll let you keep the store and the money I gave you.”

“Oh, wow”, said Alan, “but how are we going to get the money?”

“That’s up to you”, said Doug.

“We’ll have a town meeting”, said Leeya.

“By the way”, said Alan, “Here’s a list of inventory and the current menu.”

Doug looked at the menu.

“Why aren’t there any prices on this menu?”, asked Doug.

“I don’t charge my friends or customers”, said Alan.

“No wonder you’re going broke”, said Doug.

Chapter 2

Sesame Street had a town meeting.

“We’re going to see if we can figure out a way to save Hooper’s Store”, said Big Bird, “Doesn’t that sound exciting, Shivers?”

Shivers the Penguin nodded.

“Fun! Fun!”, said Shivers.

“As you all know”, said Alan, “I had to sell my store.”

“Why’d you have to sell the store?”, asked Elmo.

“Because I had a money problem”, said Alan.

“Alan had a money problem?”, asked Elmo.

“Remember when your mommy lost her job and we were short on money?”, asked Louie.

“Oh, yes, Elmo remembers, but Alan didn’t lose his job.”

“Just because people have jobs doesn’t mean they’re financially secure”, said Mae.

“We need to figure out a way to save the store”, said Bob.

“Maybe we can have a community sale”, said Chris.

“Yeah”, said Bert, “My paperclips and bottlecaps are real valuable”.

“You would sell your collections for Alan?”, asked Ernie.

“Hmm, well, I don’t really want to…”, said Bert, thinking for a second, “Maybe we can have an oatmeal sale instead.”

“Or a porridge sale!”, said Baby Bear.

“I can sell some of the trash I no longer use”, said Oscar.

“Natasha has some baby clothes she’s outgrowing”, said Humphrey.

“outgrowing outgrowing”, mumbled Natasha,

“And my sister Alice is outgrowing some of her clothes”, said SNuffy.

“Clothes”, laughed Alice.

“Sully and I can sell some of our tools”, said Biff.

Sully started to talk but got interrupted by Biff.

“Then again, we need our tools for work”, interrupted Biff.

Sully nodded in agreement.

Kermit then showed up, in trench coat.

“The city needs faster and cheaper taxi services”, complained Kermit before noticing everybody on the street.

“Oh, hi ho, Kermit the Frog here for Sesame Street News! Today is a very sad day, as Hooper’s Store has been bought by a new owner who intends on changing the name of the store!”

“Heyyyyy froggy baby!!!!”, yelled Grover who then slapped Kermit’s back.

“Actually”, said Alan, “We can save the store if we can raise $9,000 dollars by 9PM on Thursday night.”

“But that’s in four days”, said Kermit.

“I know”, said Alan.

“Four wonderful days! A-ha-ha!”, said The Count.

“Do you have any idea on how to raise that kind of money, Froggy?”, asked Grover.

“Well”, said Kermit, “I was in a similar situation recently. I had to put on a telethon in order to raise ten million dollars….”

“Then it’s settled!”, said Telly, “we’ll have a telethon!”

“If you raised ten million dollars by hosting a telethon…”, said Biff.

Kermit tried to interject, “We didn’t exactly make….”

“…And we only need 9,000, which is less, it’ll be a piece of cake!”

“Cookie cake?”, asked Cookie Monster.

“Well, what are we waiting for?”, asked Bert.

“Let’s get a telethon going!”, said Ernie.

“But it’s not that easy”, said Alan, “we need to get a television station to air it.”

“Well, then let’s go!”, said Chris.

“Off to the station!”, said Herry.

Everybody headed for a TV station.

Soon, many characters were in the office of a local TV station.

“We know it’s a long shot”, said Alan, “But we need to host a telethon.”

“We need $9,000 dollars by 9PM on Thursday night”, said Chris.

“It’s for a good cause”, said Big Bird.

Everyone murmured in agreement.

“Well, let me look at the schedule”, said the network executive, “Well, you are in luck. We’ve got an empty hour-long time slot at 8PM on Thursday night. I thought we were better planners.”

“Well, are you going to let us have the telethon?”, asked Ernie.

PLEASE???”, said everybody.

The network executive looked at everybody as they gave wishful looks.

“Sure”, said the executive.

Everybody cheered.

“If…”

“Another if?”, said Cookie Monster.

“That’s two, two ‘if’s’!”, said The Count.

“But you weren’t there for the first one”, said Leeya.

“If you can get a celebrity host”, said the executive, “No host, no telethon. I’ll rerun two episodes of Barney and Friends if I have to, and I hate that show.”

“Well, we’ll see what we can do”, said Alan, “Come on, everybody, let’s find a celebrity!”

Writers Note: From this point on, this fan fic will have similarities to the second half of 2011's "The Muppets", many deliberate.

Chapter 3

Everybody was looking for a celebrity host.

“I, cute, adorable Grover, am working at a restaurant where celebrities eat at all the time. I am bound to find a celebrity. Oh, there is Miley Cyrus!”

Grover ran up to Miley’s table.

“Excuse me, Miley, but would you be willing to….”

Grover accidently spilled his tray of food on Miley’s lap.


“Ahh!”, screamed Miley.

“Should I take that as a no?”

Murray was out on a busy city street, and found Mark Samburg.

“Hey, you’re a celebrity!”, said Murray.

“I know”, said Mark.

“Would you like to host our telethon this Thursday?”

“I’m sorry”, said Mark, “But I’m already hosting the ‘Save Cheers’ telethon.”

Bert and Ernie were at a pigeon park.

“Why did we come here, Bert?”, asked Ernie.

“Well, there’s bound to be celebrities here”, said Bert, “what celebrity can resist a pigeon park?”

“I don’t know”, said Ernie, “But I’m sure many…”

“Hey! Look over there!”, said Bert, running up to a pigeon, “weren’t you in The Producers?”

Back at the restaurant, Grover was at Michael Jordan’s table.

“Excuse me, Michael, but I was wondering…”

“Hey, Grover!”, said another waiter, “This is MY table! Don’ talk to MY customers!”

“Oh, sorry”, said Grover, leaving.

“So, Mr. Jordan”, said the waiter, “Would you like to host the Save Basketball Telethon?”

Big Bird found Tina Fey at a bus stop.

“Hey, Tina”, said Big Bird, “How would you like to host a telethon this Thursday night at 8?”

“I’d love to”, said Tina, “But I have to go out of town.”

Back at the restaurant…

“Well there’s another great celebrity customer”, said Grover, going to the table but then seeing that it’s Alice Cooper, Grover walks away, “Uh, on the other hand…..”

Elmo encountered Katy Perry.

“Hey, Miss Katy Perry”, said Elmo, “Would you like to be in a telethon to save Hooper’s Store from losing it’s name?”

“I’d love to, Elmo”, said Katy, “But I don’t think the TV people will let me be on any programs with you.”

Soon, everyone was on the street, unhappy because they couldn’t get a celebrity host.

“That’s 1,708 celebrities who said no to hosting the telethon”, said The Count.

“They had more important things to do”, said Telly, “like babysitting.”

“Well, we only have three hours before 8PM”, said Alan, turning to Doug, “Looks like you’ll get to keep the store after all.”

“Yes”, said Doug, “but why do you all insist on keeping it called Hooper’s?”

“Well…”, said Bob.

Kermit then showed up.

“So, any luck on keeping the store?”, said Kermit.

“No, Kermit, no such luck”, said Chris.

“Hey, you’re Kermit the Frog!”, said Doug, “I watch you on the news all the time. May I have your autograph?”

“Uh, sure”, said Kermit, getting out a pen and a glossy photo.

“We got a network interested in a telethon”, said Big Bird, “But only if we could get a celebrity host.”

“And we couldn’t get any celebrities interested”, said Prairie Dawn.

“Well, why didn’t you ask me?”, asked Kermit.

“You?”, said Big Bird.

“Yes, I’m a celebrity”.

“He’s got a point”, said Doug.

“I’ll host the telethon”, said Kermit.

“Well, then we’ve got our show!”, said Gina.

“Let’s go to the station!”, said Herry.

They all started to leave.

Grover came running.

“Hey, I found us a celebrity host!”, said Grover.

“So did we”, said Telly, “Kermit’s hosting!”

“Oh”, said Grover, walking back to the celebrity he had found, Neil Patrick Harris, “Sorry, Neil. Maybe next time.”

“Man, I never get to host these Muppet telethons!”

Hey, your right, minor muppetz, this plot is similar to The Muppets (2011). I'm glad Kermit is the reporter. Wow! Brings back great memories to come see the old gang for visits. More please!

Chapter 4

It was almost time for the telethon to begin.

“Okay, everybody get ready”, said Prairie Dawn in the control room.

“Being the stage manager sure is fun!”, said Murray.

“Yes, but being the director is more fun”, said Prairie.

Ernie and Bert were setting up the cameras.

“It sure is exciting getting to be the camera man”, said Ernie.

“But what I really want to do is dust the cameras”, said Bert.

The telethon operators were getting to their desks. In the back row were Susan, Biff, Grover, and Gina. In the middle row were Leeya, Two-Headed Monster, and Chris. And in the front row were Professor Hastings, Forgetful Jones, Aristotle, and a Honker.

“Alright everybody, stand by”, said Murray.

“Cue the countdown”, said Prairie Dawn.

Countess von Backwards counted down, “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…:

“And ACTION!”, said Prairie.

“Hi ho, Kermit the Frog here, and welcome to the Save Hooper’s Store telethon! We have an hour to raise $,9,000 to save Hooper’s Store. And here’s the former owner, Alan, to talk more about it!”

“Thanks, Kermit”, said Alan, “I’m Alan. I’ve owned Hooper’s Store for the past 14 years…”

“Past 14 years?”, said Big Bird, “But I’m only 6. How’s that possible?”

“Maybe humans age faster than birds, Bird”, said Snuffy.

“So to sum it all up, I’m not worried about finding employment elsewhere, but to the Sesame Street community, Hooper’s should always remain Hooper’s”, said Alan.

“Well spoken, Alan”, said Kermit, “And now let’s have some musical entertainment. Here’s Little Jerry and the Monotones!”

Little Jerry and the Monotones came on-stage and sang a medley of their songs, including Four, Telephone Rock, With Every Beat of My Heart, Mad, Sad, and Proud.

Grover answered the phone.

“Hello there, this is the Sesame Street Telethon. This is Grover speaking!”

Mr. Johnson had made the call.

“The SAME Grover who works as a waiter at Charlie’s? And drives a taxi? And starred in Spider-Monster: The Musical???”, said a shocked Mr. Johnson.

“The same one and only”, said Grover, “I am also Super-Grover and Super-Grover 2.0, but please do not tell anybody that.”

“Well, let’s make this simple”, said Mr. Johnson, “I would like to pledge $30 dollars.”

“Okay, sir, we will take your $30”.

Grover turned to the board, “we have made 30 dollars!”

“Huh”, said a puzzled Mr. Johnson, “That was the fastest service I’ve ever gotten from him. I hope the world’s not coming to an end.”

OH MY GOSH! Minor muppetz, that part with Grover's conversation on the phone to Mr. Johnson was hilarious. LOL! More plz! BTW: I really grew up with SS, seriously!

The next few chapters will be the telethon... With many old school characters involved.

Chapter 5

“And now it’s time for some skating from Big Bird and the Bird-kateers!”, said Kermit.

Big Bird roller-skated on-stage with the Bird-kateers.

“Not bad, Bird-kateers, not bad at all”, said Big Bird.

“I’m still trying to get my pigeons to learn that”, said Bert, observing from behind the camera.

“I can do that while squeaking my Rubber Duckie”, said Ernie.

“Hey, that’s my grandson!”, said Granny Bird, “maybe I should call and pledge some money.”

Professor Hastings was sleeping by his phone when it rang and woke him up.

“Thank you for calling the Sesame Street Save Hooper’s Store Telethon”, said Professor Hastings, “Hooper’s Store must save its name. If we don’t raise enough money by 9PM, Hooper’s will have it’s name changed to……” Hastings fell back asleep.

Big Bird and the Bird-kateers stopped skating.

“Well done, Bird-kateers!”, said Big Bird.

They went backstage.

“Nice job, Bird!”, said Snuffy.

Susan was on the phone.

“Thanks for your donation, Miss Finch”, said Susan.

“Wasn’t that great?”, asked Kermit, “And now…”

“That was yucky!”, yelled Oscar from backstage.

Bruno came on-stage with roller-skates on, carrying Oscar’s trash can.

“If the Bird-kateers can skate on this telethon, so can my Grouch-kateers!”, said Oscar, “Come on, kids!”

The Grouch-kateers came on-stage, roller-skating with Bruno.

“I wish I remembered to bring my skates”, said Telly. I also wish I remembered to bring my Grocuh-kateers uniform.”

“You’re a member of the Grouch-kateers??”, questioned Baby Bear.

“Well, Oscar was my best friend before I met you”, said Telly.

“I’m shocked!”, said Baby Bear.

The skating soon ended.

“Uh, thank you for your skating”, said Kermit, “And now I’d like to introduce…”

Kermit’s introduction was interrupted by a big crashing sound from backstage.

“Heh heh heh”, said Oscar, “Good job, Bruno!”

In the control room…

“Okay, cue Monsterpiece Theater!”, said Prairie.

The (third) “Monsterpiece Theater” opening began and then Alistair Cookie made his introduction.

“Good evening. Me Alistair Cookie, welcoming you to Monsterpiece Theater. Tonight is big western tale, ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’.”

In a western setting, Herry Monster appeared, dressed as a cowboy.

“I am good”, said Herry, as he went to a newspaper stand, run by Herbert Birdsfoot.

“I’ll buy a paper for $3.oo”, said Herry, handing Herbert the money and taking the paper, “Thanks.”

Bad Bart appeared.

“I’m bad!”, said Bad Bart with an angry growl. He walked up to the newspaper stand and punched the stand.

“My newspaper stand!”, said a concerned Herbert.

Bad Bart walked away, laughing.

Then Grundgetta appeared, dressed as a cowgirl.

“I am ugly”, said Grundgetta, as she looked in a mirror, “And proud of it!”

Back to the Monsterpiece Theater setting…

“Well, that was pretty play. Anyway, me thank you for watching Monsterpiece Theater. This Alistair Cookie signing off!”

Forgetful Jones’ phone rang.

“Oh, it’s ringing!”, said an excited Forgetful, “But I forget what to do!”

“Pick up the phone”, said Gina.

“Oh”, said Forgetful, who picked up Aristotle’s phone.

“Hello? Hello?”

“Pick up your phone!”, said Leeya.

“Which one is that?”, said Forgetful, “I forget!”

The Forgetful Jones bit when he doesn't know ho to pick up the phone. Reminds of the sketch with Kermit & Forgetful when SS was classic. Nice! More please!

Chapter 6

“And now I’d like to introduce The Amazing Mumford!”

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen”, said Mumford, “Kermit!”

“Yes, Mumford?”, said Kermit.

“I’ll need you to volunteer for my act”, said Mumford.

“I hope I don’t regret this later”, said Kermit.

“For my magic act, I will make a frog float”, said Mumford.

“Oh, and so you’ll make me float off the ground?”, said Kermit.

“Of course”, said Mumford.

Mumford waved his wand, “A la peanut butter sandwiches!”

A puff of smoke appeared, but instead of floating, Kermit turned into a green ice cream float, with Kermit’s eyes and a mouth included.

“Very funny”, said a not-so-amused Kermit, “can you turn me back?”

“We’ll see”, said Mumford, “A la peanut butter sandwiches!”

But then Kermit, still an ice cream float, floated into the air.

“Well, I told you I could make you float”, said Mumford, “and now to bring you down, a la peanut butter sandwiches!”

A puff of smoke came and Kermit turned back into his usual self – and then fell onto the ground.

“Sorry”, said Mumford.

“I think I’ll need to take a break”, said Kermit, “Will somebody take over hosting duties for a little bit?”

“I’ll host, Kermit”, said Big Bird, “And now, I am pleased to introduce…. Uh, who am I introducing?”

“You’re introducing us construction workers”, said Biff, “Cue the music!”

Biff began singing “We Built This City on Rock and Roll” while Sully and other construction workers built a cardboard city in the background. Biff then took a bow as he got applause and then accidently walked into the set, knocking it all over and breaking it apart.

“I thought I told you to be careful, Sully!”, scolded Biff.

Sully opened his mouth, but then decided not to say anything and just walked away.

Backstage…

“So what’s next, Murray?”, asked Big Bird.

“Name That Sound with Guy Smiley”, said Murray.

Big Bird entered the stage.

“And now, it’s time for Name That Sound, and here’s the host, Guy Smiley!”

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”, said Guy Smiley, “Welcome to Name That Sound! And here is today’s contestant, Simon Soundman!”

Simon Soundman came on-stage.

“Thank you, thank you”, said Simon.

“Are you ready to play Name That Sound?”, said Guy.

“Yes, I am”, said Simon.

“Okay, let’s see if you can guess what makes this sound”, said Guy.

The sound of an explosion was heard.

“Oh, that’s easy”, said Simon, “That’s an (cue explosion sound effect)”.

“Yes, that’s the sound”, said Guy, “But what makes it?”

“I told you!”, said Simon, “An (cue explosion sound again).”

“Thank you for calling the telethon”, said Gina.

“I am Sonny Friendly”, said Sonny, “and I was about to pledge $40.00, but now that I see Guy Smiley is on the show and I’m not, I think I’ll lower my donation to $20”.

Ernie was now on-stage in a bathtub, singing Rubber Duckie.

After the song ended, the Honker honked his nose.

“We got many calls from Duckie-lovers?”, said Ernie.

The Honker honked some more.

“That’s great!”

A Dinger went up to the Honker and started dinging, then Honker honked to Ernie.

“Maybe next time we’ll do The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jambouree”, said Ernie.

The curtains lowered and Big Bird came on the stage.

“And now, here’s a little song sung by my little friend, Little Bird.”

Little Bird sang “One Small Voice”, accompanied by Don Music on piano and Hoots on saxophone. Placedo Flamingo soon joined Little Bird, as did the monsters from Monster Clubhouse.

Backstage…

“I hate sappy numbers like that!”, said Oscar.

Bruno sniffed.

“Oh, no, don’t you go crying over the sappy song, Bruno!”

“But it’s alright to cry!”, said Little Jerry, who walked on-stage, joined by The Monotones, for a performance of “It’s Alright to Cry”.

Kermit came back on-stage.

“Well, I’m back”, said Kermit, “Hey, Count, how much money have we made?”

“We’ve made $8,000 wonderful dollars!”

“Well, what about that?”, said Kermit, “We’ve only got $1,000 more to go!”

“Hey, Kermit!”, said Dr. Nobel Price, running on stage, “I have to show a brand-new invention! One that can save Hooper’s Store!”

“Really?”, said Kermit.

“I have my invention under this cloth in my hand! I call it The Financial Saver, and it saves things from financial troubles!”

“Well, let’s see it!”, said Kermit.

Dr. Price took off the cloth, and not-so-surprisingly, it was a dollar bill.

“Ta-da!”

Kermit scrunched his face.

“You’re impressed, right?”, said Dr. Price.

“Uh, like your other inventions, this one has already been invented”, said Kermit.

“It has?”, asked Dr. Price.

“Yes, it’s a dollar!”, said Kermit, “People use dollars to buy things and pay for things.”

Kermit turned to the camera.

“Do you have a dollar out there? Will you show the good doctor your dollar?”

“Well, look at that”, said Dr. Price, “they all have one of my Financial Savers!”

“They all have a dollar!”,said Kermit.

“Well, I can use this to save the store”, said Dr. Price.

“Uh, first of all, only one dollar can’t save Hooper’s Store, and second of all, that is not real official money.”

“It’s not?”, said Dr. Nobel Price.

“I’ll explain”, said Professor Hastings, “Money must become official from the government before it can be used for purchases and buying things and so many other……”

As usual, Hastings started to fall asleep.

“Uh, will somebody wake up Professor Hastings and get him off the stage?”, asked Kermit.

Sully came on-stage drilling out-of-controll.

“Will you shut off the drill?”, yelled an annoyed Kermit.

“Yeah”, said Simon Soundman, “It’s too noisy! Turn off that (cue more drill sounds).”

“QUIET DOWN!”, yelled Kermit.

The Two-Headed Monster started arguing with itself over which phone to pick up.

Soon the stage was peaceful.

“With all that stress, there’s only one song to sing…”

“Oh, no”, said Oscar, “He’s going to sing it…”

Kermit sang Bein’ Green.

The audience cheered.

“That was great, Kermit”, said Prairie.

Chapter 7

Kermit introduced the next act…

“And now I’d like to intro…”

Harvey Kneeslapper interrupted.

“Hey, would you like some P soup?”

“Uh, of course”, said Kermit.

Harvey handed Kermit a bowl of soup, and the dropped a letter P in there.

“P soup!”, said Harvey, who then laughed uncontrollably as Kermit scrunched his face.

“Hey, Kermit!”, whispered Bert from behind the camera, “I’ve got an act!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing camera work?”, asked Kermit.

“Ernie got to do an act”, said Bert.

“Alright”, said Kermit, “here’s Bert!”

Bert then came on-stage, pushing a cart full of pigeons.

“And now, the wonders of the world: My pigeons!”

Kermit scrunched his face, “A pigeon act?”

“Yeah, exciting, huh?”, asked Bert.

“Yeah…”, said Kermit, with a hint of sarcasm.

“Watch my pigeons as they walk around their cage!”, said Bert.

“I can’t believe he’s doing this”, said Susan.

“Hey, the phone’s stopped ringing”, said Biff.

Backstage…

“Maybe Rocko can do an act”, said Zoe.

“Rocko can’t do an act, Zoe”, said Elmo, “Rocko is just a rock!”

“Well, maybe Rocko can pledge some money”, said Zoe.

Elmo gave an annoyed sigh.

Bert pushed his cart backstage.

“They liked me! They really liked me!”, said Bert, “They liked me so much they respectfully didn’t make any noise to interrupt my act!”

Dexter came by, juggling some balls.

“Hey, is there room for a juggling act?”, asked Dexter.

“I don’t think so”, said Herry.

“Oh, well”, said Dexter, “I’ll just juggle backstage.”

“And now here’s Maria, Luis, and Rosita with Tu Me Gustas!”, said Kermit, “YAAAAAYYYYY!”

The three sang the song.

“Well, we’ve only got a few minutes left”, said Kermit, “How much more money do we need?”

“Just one! One more wonderful dollar!”, said The Count.

“Hear that? All you’ve got to do is donate one more dollar! Only one dollar can save the store now!”

“I thought you said that one dollar couldn’t save it”, said Dr. Nobel Price.

“Uh, anybody got anything else to entertain the good folks at home?”, said Kermit.

“Well, I can say some words about Cooper’s Store”, said Big Bird.

“Hooper! Hooper’s Store!”, said Kermit.

“Well, it was first owned by my friend Mr. Loo- Err, Hooper. He was such a nice man.”

“We all loved him”, said Maria.

“He was a great friend”, said Gordon.

“One time”, said Ernie, “Bert and I gave our favorite things to Mr. Hooper in exchange for Christmas presents to each other, but then on Christmas Eve, Mr. Hooper stopped by and gave us our things back.”

“That’s right”, said Bert.

“When Mr. Hooper died”, said Big Bird, “it was one of the saddest things that ever happened. After he died, David got the store, and then David sold the store to Mr. Handford, who later sold the store to Alan.”

“And even after all these people took over ownership of the store”, said Bob, “they all kept the original title, Hooper’s.”

Backstage, Oscar started to get all teary-eyed. The same applied to those in the control room and those taking calls.

“Well, that…”, said Kermit, at a loss of words, “that was a beautiful story.”

A loud buzzer went off.

“Well, have we reached our goal?”, asked Kermit.

“No”, said The Count, “we’re one penny short!”

“A penny short???”, said Bert in disbelief.

“Well, thank you for watching”, said Kermit, “we unfortunately didn’t make it.”

(Gasps!) Oh no! They didn't reach the goal? Oh please minor muppetz! More story before I....I.... (cries)! Poor SS and I can't believe this! They didn't make it? You can't let Doug win! This was like close to the end of The Muppets (2011).

Chapter 8

Everybody was in the lobby.

“I can’t believe we were off by a penny!”, said Big Bird.

“I can’t believe it either”, said Snuffy.

“We were so close”, moaned Hoots.

They were about to go out the door, but then Alan turned around, addressing the whole crowd of characters.

“Look, we may have lost Hooper’s Store”, said Alan, “Actually, it’ll still be a store, but while Mr. Hooper must have been a great guy, what’s important is not a name. We tried, we failed, but we worked together, and when I’ve got a great bunch of friends, isn’t that all that really matters?”

“I feel like I’ve made this speech before”, said Kermit.

“I’m sure I can get a new job somewhere”, said Alan.

“If you want, you can help us at the Fix-It Shop”, said Luis.

“And we can always use more help at the Laundromat”, said Leeya.

“And I’m sure I’ll still be working at Hooper’s, even if it’s no longer called Hooper’s”, said Chris.

“It’s great to have such great friends who are willing to work together to help me out”, said Alan, “And hey, I’m only a penny short. I’ll have plenty of money for awhile.”

“That’s right”, said The Count, “you made 8 thousand 9 hundred and 99 dollars and 99 wonderful cents!”

“Yip yip yip yip”, said the Martians.

“That’s a lot of (cue cash register sound)”, said Simon Soundman.

“Well, I’ve got to go congratulate Doug at the store”, said Alan.

Alan walked out the door, and then the others followed him, slowly.

As they were walking…

“Hey, look what I found on the ground!”, said The Count, “One wonderful penny!”

“It’s too late”, said Gina.

“Take me home, Bruno”, said Oscar, “I can’t be seen crying.”

Oscar then put the lid over his trash can.

Alan then came to Hooper’s, and encountered Doug Shaunessy.

“Hey, that was a great telethon”, said Doug, “and that speech your friend made, I can’t remember if it was Big Bird or Cookie Monster, it was the most beautiful speech I ever heard.”

“Well, I’m glad you liked it”, said Alan.

“I didn’t realize that Hooper’s was named after an actual person”, said Doug, “I thought they all wanted to keep the title because it was some kind of local name brand. But I get it now. He meant so much to everyone.”

“Well, I never actually met him”, said Alan.

“That speech got to me so much, I wanted to pledge that last penny, but you ran out of time before I could reach the phone”, said Doug.

The others showed up behind Alan.

“Since you all seemed to miss Mr. Hooper so much, I’ll tell you what: Hooper’s Store will keep its name!”

“Really?”, said Big Bird.

“Really”, said Doug.

Everybody cheered.

“Now, a deal’s a deal”, said Doug, “so I’m keeping ownership, but I’ll let you work for me.”

“Sounds good to me!”, said Alan.

Abby Cadabby then showed up.

“Well, I’m back from my vacation”, said Abby, “Did I miss anything?”

“Well, Doug here owns Hooper’s Store now”, said Alan.

“Well, pleased to meet you”, said Abby.

“I didn’t notice you were gone, Abby”, said Zoe.

“I think I know what’ll happen next…”, said Biff.

“I saw the greatest magic show ever!”, said Abby, “this magician waved his wand…”

Abby started waving her wand as she was talking about the trick.

“…And he said, ‘publima ex machine, static pro status quo!’”

Extending her wand in the direction of Doug’s face, it suddenly zapped Doug.

“Oops”, said Abby.

“You know, I don’t want to own this place anymore”, said Doug, “Alan, I give you your store back.”

Everybody cheered.

“Well, thank you”, said Alan.

“You’re gonna have to teach me that trick, Abby”, said Mumford.

Abby did a confused take to the camera.

“All the money I gave you combined with all the money you made on the telethon should ensure that you can continue running Hooper’s Store the way you always did”, said Doug, “at least for five more years.”

“Hey, everybody”, said Alan, “let’s celebrate! Meals are on the house!”

Everybody cheered.

“As usual”, said Doug, rolling his eyes, “Besides, I also bought a struggling business around the corner. I don’t think I could possibly find the time to run both places at once.”

He then walked away.

“Hey, let’s all sing!”, said Big Bird.

Music started playing…

“Everything’s great”, sung Big Bird.

“Everything’s grand”, sung Ernie.

“We’ve got the whole wide world at the palm of our hands!”, sung Bert.

“Everything is perfect”, sung Grover.

“It’s falling into place”, sung Prairie.

“I can’t seem to wipe this FROWN off my face!”, sung Oscar.

“Life’s a happy song”, sung Elmo, Zoe, Abby, Rosita, Telly, Murray, and Ovejita.

“When there’s someone by your side”, sung Biff, Sully, Stella, Roxy Marie, Kingston Livingston III, and Sherlock Hemlock.

“To sing along”, sung Grundgetta and a group of grouches.

“Everything turned out great, we’ll live happily ever after!”, sung Kingston.

Sully was about to speak before being interrupted by Biff.

“And we’ll be giving the world the third greatest gift, laughter.”

“Life’s a happy song”, sung by Roosevelt Franklin and his classmates.

“When there’s someone by your side”, sung Hoots, Athena, Placido Flamingo, Little Bird, Poco Loco, the penguins, chickens, and the duck.

“To sing along!”, sung Herry, the Two-Headed Monster, Maurice Monster, Deena, Pearl, and Harvey Monster.

Cookie Monster walked by with a large plate of cookies.

“Me got everything that me need”, sung Cookie.

“We can be what we want to be!”, sung Murray.

“Nothing that we can’t do”, sung Ernie and Bert.

“The skies are blue with its me and you and you and you and you and you and… All of you!”, sung Big Bird.

“Life’s a happy song!”, sung Mumford, Simon Soundman, Harvey Kneeslapper, Don Music, and Guy Smiley.

“When there’s someone by your side to sing…”, sung Elmo.

“Life’s a happy song”, sung Forgetful Jones, Clementine, Buster, and Gladys.

“When there’s twelve-thousand six-hundred and ninety-four people by your side to sing….”

And everyone finished, “Life’s a happy song when there’s someone by your side to sing alooooooong…”

But as the song was ending, Sherry Neverland, Humphrey, Ingrid, and Benny all walked onto the street.

“Stop singing!”, yelled Benny, “Life’s NOT a happy song!”

“You can say that again”, said Oscar.

“What’s wrong?”, asked Susan.

“Due to the poor economy I had to sell the Furry Arms Hotel”, said Sherry.

“And the new owner wants to change the name of the hotel”, said Ingrid.

Big Bird turned his head to us.

“Well, here we go again!”

The End

And now for some info on the planning for this story!

A few years ago, at least as far back as 2009, I had a desire to do a story where Hooper's Store was affected by the economy. In fact I also wanted to do a story where the Muppet Theater was affected by the economy as well (I can't remember whether I did write that fan fic). But here it seems Alan's financial problems aren't caused by the economy as much as it's caused by Alan frequently letting his friends eat at Hooper's for free. It seems like the characters often get free snacks and meals at Hooper's, only rarely being charged or shown paying (usually only having to pay if it's a plot point). In fact I was trying to remember if Hooper's Store has ever charged money since Alan took over (and then I remembered that it was mentioned in the Cookie Hood episode that they sell cookies "for money", though I don't think Alan appeared in that episode). So I sort of made that a joke in this fan fic.

I had planned on having Cookie Monster be a main character, getting enough "screentime" to make him among the top 5 characters in this story. But pretty much everything Cookie does in this story I had already planned on Cookie doing, aside from giving Cookie a featured part at the beginning and some dialogue here and there that came to me while writing.

On a similar note, I had also wanted to give Grover and Herry bigger parts in the story. In fact, while I wanted Herry to have a big role, I didn't really think of what I wanted him to do before I started writing, with most of his lines just coming to me while writing, pretty much all of his dialogue could easily be given to anybody (I was just rereading the first few chapters and noticed Herry gets the same basic "to the studio!" line TWICE), and the closest thing to thinking of a Herry scene in advance is his pressence in the Monsterpiece Theater segment (which I'll talk about further down this post).

Similarly, I had initially wanted Hoots to have a bigger part, but couldn't think of many ways to use him, and I had wanted Abby to have a slightly bigger part. I oriignally wasn't going to have her end up saving the day, but was going to give her a handful of scenes and lines here and there, before thinking of the fact that she could easily use her magic to save the day. Then I decided to keep her out of the story until the very end because of this (I know, Mumford very well could have saved the day using magic as well).

On an opposite note, I had initially planned on having Ernie and Bert featured less than they appeared in the story, mainly because of Kermit's role as host of the telethon (Kermit and Ernie sound so similar it'd be weird for them to interract directly, even in non-audio fan fiction). I had planned on giving them large parts in the scenes before the telethon (and they did end up getting quite a bit of screen time and dialogue there) and then during the telethon use them less (though I did plan on having Bert's pigeon act), until I got the idea of making them be the camera men, increasing their roles a bit (I would say they're 4th and 5th most important/featured in the story, behind Alan, Big Bird, and Kermit.... And all three are probably tied in story importance). It's kind of ironic, I planned on giving Cookie Monster a large role and them small roles, and yet the reverse ended up happening.

I had planned on having a number of additional characters take on the jobs of answering calls. Among those who were dropped from this job include Elmo, Ernie, Rosita, and Dr. Nobel Price (once I got the idea to have Professor Hastings take calls instead).

The opening scene was originally going to have Big Bird and Snuffy as opposed to Big Bird and Cookie Monster. I replaced Snuffy with Cookie because I wasn't sure if Snuffy could fit in Hooper's Store (has he ever been shown inside?), not thinking about the fact that he could have just ordered from outside. Cookie also replaced Snuffy because I thought it would make more sense to have Cookie going to get cookies than Snuffy getting cabbage or spaghetti, in addition to my short-lived desire to give Cookie Monster a bigger part.

I had always planned on including a new "Monsterpiece Theater" segment, but until I started writing I wasn't sure what kind of parody would be featured. When I got the idea to make it "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", I went through a bit of casting decisions: I considered Herbert Birdsfoot and then Farley for the role of "the good" before settling on Herry, Sinister Sam for the role of "the bad" before replacing him with Bad Bart (mainly because "Bad" is part of the character's name), and the news stand dealer was originally going to be the shopkeeper from the Busby Twins segments.

I had initially planned on having Kermit agree to host the telethon as soon as he suggested the idea, as opposed to them going to a network, learn they need a celebrity host, and then having to search for a celebrity host.

For the "We Built This City" sequence, I had at one point considered having Chris and the Alphabeats perform the song while Biff, Sully, and Stella built a city in the background. Another idea I had but dropped was for Biff to sing the song dressed like a punk rock star, wearing a blakc leather jacket, silver chains, and even a mohawk.

For years I had the idea to do a fan fic script of Simon Soundman on "Name That Sound", and now I finally got to do that idea. And realizing I couldn't think of a good enough ending, I just did it "Muppets Tonihgt"-style, by cutting away from the on-stage act before the sketch ended.

I had thought of a number of ideas for how to end it, and I ended up incorporating pretty much all elements in some way. Among the considerations: I planned on having them reach their goal shortly after the telethon started, but then a "The Muppets"-style glitch revealed that the amount they made was actually a lot less, right before time ran out. And I planned on showing Doug get teary-eyed over the speech everybody gave on what a great person Mr. Hooper was, and calling in to pledge whatever amount was still needed (which he ended up mentioning that he tried to do).

After the big speech about how important it was for the place to remain being called Hooper's Store I had considered having it followed by a big closing number, but then felt it was unneccessary with everyone singing "Life's a Happy Song" after the telethon ended. I had no particular song in mind, but it was going to be like the performance of "The Rainbow Connection" in "The Muppets", with all of the human adults (still in the main cast, of course), in addition to a mix of major and minor Sesame Street Muppet characters: Big Bird, Snuffy, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, The Count, Biff, Sully, Don Music, Two-Headed Monster, Elmo, Rosita, Gladys the Cow, Herry, Guy Smiley, and Hoots. But then again, maybe it would have been better if the big speech led to a song, without Kermit going on-stage to introduce it. I'm thinking maybe "Just One Person" or "All Together Now" from Follow That Bird (only a little of that song's heard in the movie, with the soundtrack containing the full song) would have been nice.

Wow! That must have been a lot of work to do an amazing fanfic for everyone. Holy moly! I really loved it! I am glad I saw The Muppets (2011) last year, but my gosh they are simlarities from that movie I saw. Seriously!