Sketches That Bugs You Alot

[Brinatello]

The Grover waiter skits were a very clever idea that got off track and then ran to the ground. When it first started, Grover was a sympathetic character who got the worst of it from an unreasonable customer, Fat Blue (and sometimes a couple of other muppets). I actually thought these early skits were the funniest. Then they reversed the situation and Grover became an incompetent waiter that ruined Fat Blue's order. The change was good for a while. But, then that scenario just got taken a little too far with Grover working and appearing everywhere that Fat Blue goes. They seemed to forget that Grover was classically the fall guy who was worked to exhaustion by unreasonable requests and demands from others. Turning him into some kind of devilish imp that pops up everywhere to drive Fat Blue crazy was just not in keeping with who Grover was originally supposed to be.

That is so true! There was one I read in memorable quotes at IMDb where Grover is a taxi driver and Fat Blue wants to go to the library. After a whole argument of Grover suggesting other places and ticking him off, he admits his taxi cab is broken! See, that kind of stuff gets annoying when Grover becomes such a pest.

Although, another skit similar to someone getting annoyed was the one with Cookie Monster and the librarian. Cookie kept asking for different kinds of things for the librarian to get and before he leaves, he says "...and a box of cookies, please." While that was annoying to watch, that made me laugh to Cookie's constant request to something he couldn't have.

 

[CBPuppets]

As far as the "Hey Stupid" Thing goes, It was Skip from the Wilson's Meats commercial who came up with the title.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I'm trying to think but I can't recall any puppet sketches that bugged me. Some of the more disturbing cartoons got a little annoying after a while. Like the one where the kid is trying to go to bed and his dog keeps pretending to be an alligator. I didn't get why that dumb dog kept doing that! lol

Pretty much anything about Sesame Street that bugs me came in the mid-90s but that's another issue!

 

[Cookie fan]

Linda Alphabet Sketch

There was an Alphabet Sketch that Linda did (probably late 70's - early 80's), it had 2 Lindas side by side- one Linda signed the letters calmly and the other rather unconventional. The whole sketch had a male voiceover and I hated the way the voiceover was done. Especially when they reached by the letter "m". Loved Linda but the voiceover...no way.

 

[ISNorden]

That is so true! There was one I read in memorable quotes at IMDb where Grover is a taxi driver and Fat Blue wants to go to the library. After a whole argument of Grover suggesting other places and ticking him off, he admits his taxi cab is broken! See, that kind of stuff gets annoying when Grover becomes such a pest.

Although, another skit similar to someone getting annoyed was the one with Cookie Monster and the librarian. Cookie kept asking for different kinds of things for the librarian to get and before he leaves, he says "...and a box of cookies, please." While that was annoying to watch, that made me laugh to Cookie's constant request to something he couldn't have.

Agreed on both counts! Grover's perpetual job-hopping becomes hard for even a four-year-old to believe after watching it for a whole season. For that matter, I doubt he'd accept Grover's change from an innocent employee with an impossible customer...to an incurable bumbler with an innocent customer. (Any character who's been on the same show for thirty-odd years is bound to change, of course; but Grover turning into a vengeful stalker makes as much sense as Cookie Monster turning into Fruit Monster.)


Speaking of Cookie Monster...yes, he has always been a one-note character. (Every sketch starring him deals with food/hunger in some way, although he might not mention cookies as such.) On the other hand, obsessive types aren't necessarily so foolish that they refuse to get a point until they make someone else go berserk in public.

 

[ISNorden]

Some of the more disturbing cartoons got a little annoying after a while. Like the one where the kid is trying to go to bed and his dog keeps pretending to be an alligator. I didn't get why that dumb dog kept doing that!

Absolutely! Most preschoolers can easily be scared even by imaginary threats; giving Sparky lyrics like "I'm afraid of getting thinner, won't you please become my dinner?" was a Bad Idea in my opinion.

Pretty much anything about Sesame Street that bugs me came in the mid-90s but that's another issue!

Mind if I e-mail you a couple of protest songs I wrote about Sesame Street going downhill? (Unfortunately, the lyrics sparked a flame war when I posted them here; I don't want history repeating itself.)

 

[ISNorden]

Do you have certain Classic SS Sketches that kind of bugs you all the time?

I always hated sketches that ended with characters falling and/or hurting themselves. Yes, that includes the "Baker" counting films and Luis/Bob's "train puzzle" sketch, among others; when the victim was a recurring character, that bothered me even more.

On a similar note, any sketch that makes otherwise neutral topics look scary still bother me as an adult. "X Marks the Spot" is the classic example; the song associates that letter with pirates, poison, railroad crossings, and danger in general. (Not to mention that "X-ray machine looking right inside of you"...kids typically get X-rayed in dentists' offices or hospitals, and typically go there when something's wrong.) Only one non-threatening X-word appears in the lyrics, and even then it seems like an afterthought at the end: "in case these thoughts of X are vexing you/X stands for Xylophone, too!" (Yeah, right--tell kids about "xylophone" AFTER you convince them that an innocent letter is spooky and evil... )

 

[muppet maniac]

...and another thing: I've been a member since 2002 and I've always been hearing complaints from people that SS has gone downhill, and about characters and bits of the show they want brought back: Biff and Sully, Little Jerry and the Monotones, Chrissy and the Alphabeats, Sonny Friendly, Teeny Little SuperGuy, Betty Lou, Herbert Birdsfoot...and the list goes on. My word on this is: Is it REALLY worth it to bring any of them back?(or all of them for that matter?) Some of those characters never really worked out in the first place. almost everybody here likes those characters, but why? Are you all saying that because another one does? I mean, Betty Lou was hardly ever a character at all(except for the 90s of course) You're always saying that elmo, Zoe, Rosita, baby Bear and Telly are annoying and that everybody loved the SS from the 70s/80s. Well, SS DID have some annoying stuff back then as well.

Plus, it seems that almost everyone here likes the Jim/Frank characters on the street. Particularly Grover. Now, there's something there I want to bring up, which I haven't for a while but think now's the good time to do so. I already said that I didn't like Miss Piggy, because of her voice and personality...but with Grover(also performed by Frank), well, since they almost sound alike...it KiND of irritates me. I mean, he's an okay character, I don't hate him or anything. Of course I DO KNOW that my absolute favorites are Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Animal and some others but I'll stop here for now. People at Jumptheshark said that Elmo "runs around like an idiot", and that Grover is way better than him. Well, isn't that what Grover has done back in the day? Stuff he does just isn't merely as funny as everyone here said. No no, I'm not saying I hate him. Just that he didnt appeal to me as much. If you want to know which characters I can't stand, see below:

Prairie Dawn was too goody-goody. Not exactly my fave. There, I said it. Ones I know I don't like are: Natasha, Humphrey, Ingrid, Baby Bear, Curly Bear, Lulu, Elizabeth, Little Murray Sparkles...basically, any of the 90s characters(or: the "goody-goody" ones) Heck, I couldn't BARE to watch an episode of the 29th-30th season. At least, I hoped I didn't sight anything with those characters. The Around-the-corner set never appealed to me.

I also hated the Ladybugs' Picnic song, Alligator King, etc. Like I said, I was never into the cartoons.

And one thing I could not stand was that they've screwed up Oscar's character over the years. In the 90s, he somehow became mischeivous and sort of a trickster. I like it better when he's a "grump"-meaning that he's just one who complains and grumbles all the tiime, and that he wasn't as sociable, but still there's a heart of gold underneath that gruff exterior. Just like in the old(70s) episodes. So yeah, more "junkyard dog" attitude and less of this "prank-monkey" nonsense. To me, when he is paired with Telly just makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Like moments when Daffy Duck is seen trying to get rid of Speedy Gonzales. Oscar is a GRUMP. Write that down: GRUMP.

Heck, I've never said this before but some stuff on The Muppet Show may have been(as Statler and Waldorf have always said) kinda...well you get the idea. I love TMS(like I do with SS), but there's some stuff that's been terrible. And lame.

To me, SS was better in the 70s. Not because of the same reasons as everyone else, but it's because it felt like a real street populated by real adults and children playing, learning and haaving fun together, and seeing some rather unusual creatures walking about-like big yellow birds, a fuzzy green thing in a trashcan, and so forth. This was the better way to combine reality with fantasy. 80s, ok as well, but hey the earlier ones were the real deal. Heck, so much better than what I've seen so far.

 

[Drtooth]

I have always hated long films about talking to kids or watching flowers grow to boring classical music.

And that crap with the poorly drawn animals "dancing" series. That gets more annoying with each passing year. And they keep making more of them.