Telly appreciation thread

[Redsonga]

I love Telly, he is like the Boober of SST only he seems to not get picked on as much as I remember him being in the 80's. It seemed like everyone was always putting him down...

And I live in northern Cali and have always gotten PBS..it really is the heartland of it IMHO . So Sac should get it, I would think

 

[CensoredAlso]

My first memory of Telly was him getting all frustrated because he was trying (and failing) to teach kids addition in Spanish. Maria comes over and sings about the numbers 1-10 in Spanish (which I can still repeat to this day! )

I always loved his really bizarre slightly twisted relationship with Oscar, lol. Telly's so timid and worried, yet the one character he gravitates to is this obnoxious guy who makes him do crazy things. In Follow That Bird, when Oscar keeps trying to find the grouch landmarks of America, Telly timidly admits, "It is different, Maria!"

In a weird way I think Telly was hoping some of Oscar's assertiveness would rub off on him.

 

[Redsonga]

To me, Telly's best 'friend' will always be Oscar. I have never gotten into the whole Baby Bear, Elmo, or My Fair Triangle storlines as much as the days of Telly wearing a trash can lid on his head

 

[CensoredAlso]

To me, Telly's best 'friend' will always be Oscar. I have never gotten into the whole Baby Bear, Elmo, or My Fair Triangle storlines as much as the days of Telly wearing a trash can lid on his head

Exactly, even as a kid I thought it was rather intriguing how Oscar was so nasty to Telly, yet Telly remained so loyal, lol. Says a lot more about human nature than your typical kids show.

 

[Redsonga]

Exactly, even as a kid I thought it was rather intriguing how Oscar was so nasty to Telly, yet Telly remained so loyal, lol. Says a lot more about human nature than your typical kids show.

That is one reason Telly was/is one of my favorites. I was the type who was shy and would trade my snack away just to have someone be 'friends' with me (until my ma found out and stopped me). So I felt for Telly...

 

[CensoredAlso]

That is one reason Telly was/is one of my favorites. I was the type who was shy and would trade my snack away just to have someone be 'friends' with me (until my ma found out and stopped me). So I felt for Telly...

I think it's certainly much for helpful to show that on a kids program, rather than always showing a bunch of friends who basically always get along. I could never identify with that, heh.

 

[StreetScenes]

Exactly, even as a kid I thought it was rather intriguing how Oscar was so nasty to Telly, yet Telly remained so loyal, lol. Says a lot more about human nature than your typical kids show.

yeah, in some ways Telly sees right through Oscar more than other characters do. like he knows Oscar values their friendship more than he admits, and Telly almost takes pity on Oscar for being misunderstood. Telly's a really good friend to Oscar, and now to Baby Bear. Even though he lacks self-confidence when the spotlight is on him, he doesn't even think about it when he's doing something for someone else, even if it's something as small as going along with Oscar's plans against his better judgment. Telly seems to know that Oscar appreciates him even though Oscar himself may not realize it.

 

[CensoredAlso]

yeah, in some ways Telly sees right through Oscar more than other characters do. like he knows Oscar values their friendship more than he admits

Well put, that's the kind of multi-layering that should be in more kids shows.

Telly seems to have always been the default best friend; from what I read he also filled that role with Aristotle, the blind monster character.

 

[StreetScenes]

i'm thinking that maybe the fact that his triangle obsession came long after the character was created and developed makes it more human. kind of like bert with pigeons, bottle caps, oatmeal, and the occasional argyle sock, rather than muppets like count and cookie whose characters started with the obsession (which is not to say that they didn't grow tremendously since then). but with Telly, it seems more human & relatable--like a kid who goes through a dinosaur phase or an outer space phase. or like us, who lead semi-normal existences but perk up at any mention of a muppet...

 

[CensoredAlso]

I understand why they decided he couldn't be a character obsessed with Television, as he was originally. It's not the best thing to kids to relate to, lol. But somehow being obsessed with triangles seems a little too safe to me, like every parent's dream, hehe. But that's just me, each to his own.