Henry cites me as being down on current Sesame Street. (What, you thought it was getting to be a serious blog?) And granted, I have my reservations; whenever I catch a groovy old one with, say, Bob singing “Good Morning Starshine” (oh, yes) I get a bit misty about my childhood. And much as anyone, I regret Cookie Monster being pressed into the service of nutrition with cookies being “a sometime food,” unlike fruits and vegetables.
Still, watching with my kids, I now believe Cookie one of the great redeeming features of Sesame Street. Why? Two examples, which I paraphrase from memory:
[on the word "cowabunga"]
Prairie: That’s not even a word!
Cookie: Sure, it word. Oh, it esoteric, but it word.
[on how he feels on an unfortunate occasion I can't remember]
Cookie: Me not too sad. Maybe a bit lachrymose.
Below, watch him saying he doesn’t like the word “pusillanimous,” and talking about his ambition to be an ophthalmologist.
Okay, so I think it’s funny when an embodied three-year-old id waxes sesquipedalian. What makes you laugh?
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April 9, 2008 at 9:02 am
standpipe
Years ago I heard “Good Morning Starshine” for the first (and AOTW, only) time, and all this time I thought I had hallucinated “gliddy glop gloopy”. But no!
April 9, 2008 at 9:04 am
eric
What kind of a hippie are you?
April 9, 2008 at 9:08 am
Megan
It makes me laugh when Ernie has tap-dancing sheep carry Bert away. That’s funny every time.
April 9, 2008 at 9:20 am
A White Bear
I am, of course, a huge fan of this classic SS performance. Is anything cooler? No, nothing is cooler.
April 9, 2008 at 10:02 am
Walt
In George Bush’s America, nothing makes me laugh.
April 9, 2008 at 10:14 am
Galvinji
The Aida-influenced version of “C is for Cookie” they did a few years ago isn’t bad either.
April 9, 2008 at 10:24 am
ari
In George Bush’s America, nothing makes me laugh.
I sometimes feel like this. But then something breaks the mood. Speaking of which, do you ever watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force? Adam Kotsko (great blog, by the way) linked recently to a really funny episode.
April 9, 2008 at 10:36 am
PorJ
What makes you laugh?
Two quick classics from the vault:
A funny - and offensive - tune. And yes
that’s Chevy Chase on drums, Christopher Guest on guitar, and Belushi at his best. (Sample lyrics: “I’ve been trying to get myself together/I got into arts & crafts, then got into leather!”)
Its easy to forget how genuinely talented
Eddie Murphy was….
April 9, 2008 at 10:46 am
ari
The wired mic in the second clap is hard for me to fathom, even more of a nostalgia piece than Eddie’s* outfit.
* Yes, we’re tight, first-name basis tight.
April 9, 2008 at 11:39 am
Spike
You know who else is awesome? Oscar the Grouch. I just can’t imagine a character like that being created for a kids show these days…
April 9, 2008 at 11:58 am
urbino
The yip-yips. Every time.
April 9, 2008 at 12:02 pm
urbino
And of course this, which I would’ve sworn was a SS bit, but apparently was from The Muppet Show.
April 9, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Kieran
Cookie has always had that cultured side to him, not just in his aspect as host of Monsterpiece Theater.
April 9, 2008 at 12:30 pm
KRK
What makes you laugh?
Today, this
made me laugh.
April 9, 2008 at 1:04 pm
eric
My kids have watched Mahna Mahna about a zillion times.
April 9, 2008 at 1:17 pm
bitchphd
It makes me laugh when Ernie has tap-dancing sheep carry Bert away. That’s funny every time.
And therein is the crux of the difference between me and Megan. That sketch is the definitive proof that Ernie is a complete and total asshole, in my book. Poor damn Bert.
April 9, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Megan
My sister’s physics professor always added ‘do do, dododo’ after saying ‘phenomena’. Now we do too.
Also, I thought this discussion of Harry Belafonte’s turn on the Muppet Show was very interesting. I’d love to find the source of Belafonte’s quotes.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_314:_Harry_Belafonte
(I’d link it, but have had the links from my comments stripped several places recently.)
April 9, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Megan
Wow. That’s totally timely, ’cause that Belafonte story talks about whether Muppets can be assholes.
(I agree that if I were Bert, I would not like to be carried off my tap-dancing sheep.)
April 9, 2008 at 1:27 pm
bitchphd
What makes me laugh in that particular sketch is when Bert says “whaaat?” when Ernie hauls out the sheep. Poor Bert.
I’m also a big fan of The Count.
April 9, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Megan
The version I have on my music CD is different from the one on Youtube. But on CD, in the midst of his shouting about being carried off, Bert asks “Where do the sheep get tap shoes?” and it kills me every time.
April 9, 2008 at 1:39 pm
ari
Honestly, the only thing that reliably makes me laugh is our baby. If this were that type of blog, I’d upload a video of the kid teaching himself how to fake laugh, which has been going on for the past week or two. He’ll be sitting in his carseat, staring out the window, and then suddenly chuckle to himself while looking to see if we’ve noticed. And it’s not his real laugh, the one that explodes from him when I do something ridiculous (like wearing the cat as a hat). This one is clearly a case of him performing amused. It’s a purely social move on his part. And it’s hilarious.
April 9, 2008 at 2:02 pm
eric
physics professor always added ‘do do, dododo’ after saying ‘phenomena’
April 9, 2008 at 2:07 pm
ari
That was very funny. Especially Kermit. Sandra Bulluck much less so. But the final lines are excellent.
April 9, 2008 at 2:07 pm
eric
The “Mahna Mahna” song predates the Muppets, by the way, and comes from an, erm, racy movie about Sweden, apparently.
April 9, 2008 at 2:17 pm
ari
apparently
That’s doing quite a bit of work for you there, isn’t it?
April 9, 2008 at 2:18 pm
eric
I haven’t seen the movie. Have you?
April 9, 2008 at 2:32 pm
urbino
My sister’s physics professor always added ‘do do, dododo’ after saying ‘phenomena’.
Actually, I always do that, too. I just have fewer occasions to say “phenomena” (do do do-do-do) than a physics professor.
April 9, 2008 at 2:33 pm
urbino
Am I the only yip-yips fan? Seriously?
April 9, 2008 at 2:54 pm
BP
urbino, I’ve definitely been known to break into the yip-yips now and again. Drives my girlfriend insane. Which is a nice bonus.
April 9, 2008 at 3:00 pm
ari
Am I the only yip-yips fan?
Nope, I’m with you. I actually have every Muppets episode on DVD (believe it or not, an offer on late-night TV that captured my fancy some years back). And just the other day, I was looking for the yip-yips. I wanted to show my older boy the skit. It never occurred to me to check YouTube. Because the internet is not my friend.
April 9, 2008 at 3:35 pm
A White Bear
The yip-yips. Every time.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
All my childhood nightmares. I had yip-yip hallucinations.
April 9, 2008 at 4:27 pm
d
Agreement with Spike on Oscar. He always seems like he’s about five seconds from actually telling someone to fuck off. I love that about him. Plus, the inclusion of the phrase <a href=”“rusty trombone” in “I Love Trash” is fantastic, even if unintentionally meaningful to an audience four decades later.
Also: until I had a kid I had no idea that Oscar used to be orange.
April 9, 2008 at 4:36 pm
urbino
I should be so lucky.
Drives my girlfriend insane.
Because you go, “Brrrrrr-ing!” every time your cell phone rings (btw, wouldn’t that be teh awesome ringtone?), or because you look at her and say, “Coooowww?”
Have you ever said something nice to the internet, Ari?
April 9, 2008 at 4:39 pm
A White Bear
btw, wouldn’t that be teh awesome ringtone?
Our internet friend Heebie Geebie has a ringtone of herself saying “brrring! brrrring!”
April 9, 2008 at 4:43 pm
ari
And I have almost exactly that ringtone, which exists as an mpeg on my computer, and thus probably could be uploaded onto this blog (by someone who whispers sweet nothings to the internets).
April 9, 2008 at 4:45 pm
eric
probably could be uploaded onto this blog (by someone who whispers sweet nothings to the internets)
Just quit being coy and email it to me, will you, and I’ll take care of it.
April 9, 2008 at 4:51 pm
ari
Oscar used to be orange, d? WTF? Then what accounts for the change, smart guy? Are you still opposed to closing our borders? You’ve totally upped my racial anxiety quotient by, well, a lot.
April 9, 2008 at 4:54 pm
ari
I have to find it. Give me a minute. Oh, here it is. It’s on its way to you. And by the way, I wasn’t being coy. I was alluding to Urbino’s question about whether I’m nice to the internets. But I’m happy to take advantage of your misreading of the situation.
April 9, 2008 at 5:02 pm
ari
Sorry, my mistake. The phone thing was a false alarm (read: me being a doofus).
April 9, 2008 at 5:05 pm
urbino
Note to my future biographers:
The first sentence of my comment @4:36 was in response to AWB’s @3:35. Someone — I won’t name names — must’ve demoderated d’s comment @4:27, ex post factoid.
April 9, 2008 at 5:06 pm
urbino
The phone thing was a false alarm (read: me being a doofus).
Hope dasher.
April 9, 2008 at 5:10 pm
eric
But a perfectly cromulent hope dasher, nevertheless.
April 9, 2008 at 5:42 pm
ari
d’s comments, as in every single one of them, keep getting diverted to the spam queue. This creates work for me. d is worth this work. But just barely. He’s on notice. Don’t waste this second chance I’m giving you, d.
April 9, 2008 at 5:47 pm
ari
As for the mistake about the ringtone, that one may have been actionable. My attorney has suggested that I say no more on the subject.
April 9, 2008 at 5:53 pm
urbino
I thought Johnny Cochran had passed away.
April 9, 2008 at 6:09 pm
ari
You do not want to mess with zombie Johnnie, dude.
April 9, 2008 at 6:17 pm
urbino
True dat.
April 9, 2008 at 7:41 pm
A White Bear
Oh, Jesus, is your clock on Pacific Time? I was looking back and thinking, “But I was teaching at 3:35!!”
Edge of the American West, indeed.
April 9, 2008 at 8:50 pm
bitchphd
I actually have every Muppets episode on DVD (believe it or not, an offer on late-night TV that captured my fancy some years back).
GREEN WITH ENVY!!!! Can borrow sometime, pls?
And Oscar is totally the best muppet ever. I refuse to believe in an orange Oscar, though; even on b&w tv as a kid, I always knew he was green.
April 9, 2008 at 8:51 pm
bitchphd
But not with envy. B/c Oscar can’t be bothered envying all the pathetic people around him. That’s how cool he is.
April 9, 2008 at 9:11 pm
ari
You may borrow the Muppets any time you’d like. I consider the dvds something like common property. Because no one person should be able to own the Muppets. If you see what I mean.
April 9, 2008 at 9:35 pm
bitchphd
I will totally borrow them next time I’m around, and force Mr. B. to burn copies of them.
April 9, 2008 at 10:07 pm
ari
Burning muppets should be a capital offense.
April 9, 2008 at 10:37 pm
bitchphd
But it isn’t. Unlike burning DVDs, which I would never, ever do.
April 9, 2008 at 11:06 pm
d
I’m crushed that I keep getting dumped in the spam folder. Why oh why? It’s some sort of anti-Alaskan thing, I’m sure. Arrogant Lower-48ers.
As for Oscar’s mysterious racial transformation, it’s kind of strange. He was originally yellow — for one episode, I think — and then he was turned orange to contrast with Big Bird. That apparently lasted a month before he re-appeared in his now-familiar green.
If it had been a real Sesame Street, a bank would have redlined him during one of those episodes — they’d have shoved him into the back lot with Snuffy.
April 9, 2008 at 11:16 pm
urbino
And the Swedish Chef. Laugh my ass off at the very mention of that guy. Google’s greatest achievement thus far is adding “Bork! Bork! Bork!” as an available language for their UI.
April 10, 2008 at 12:14 am
herbert browne
Ok… being free of Ac from ‘70 to ‘82 means that Sesame Street remained untrod, mostly (although I saw it once, in 1977 at a friend’s house- and shrieked about “finally, something Good on TV!” until they told me what it was). But, “Cowabunga”? It’s gotta mean that St. Peter bears a remarkable similarity to Howdy Doody… (reaches for seltzer bottle) ^..^
April 10, 2008 at 4:44 am
tina
Oh, you guys have improved what looks to be a crappy day — thanks so much.
Me, I’m really noise-sensitive, as in some things put me on the ceiling and some get me laughing like an idiot. On of the latter is the Muppets’ rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” where Beaker does his little “Meeee-me-me-me-me,” and then Piggy chimes in, “fiiiiiiiiiiive! Gooooooooooooold! rrrrrrrriiinnnnnnngs! BA-DUMP-BUMP-BUMP …” Slays me.
Thanks for bringing back the yip-yips (oddly, none of my children were Sesame Street fans) — I’ll be on YouTube every chance I get today. And I also have that “phenomenon (doot-do-de-dodo)” problem. I’m not alone!
April 10, 2008 at 6:06 am
eric
Orange Oscar (and thin Gordon).
April 10, 2008 at 6:08 am
eric
Man, when people say Oscar used to be edgier, they aren’t kidding:
April 10, 2008 at 6:10 am
eric
Oscar explains:
April 10, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Kieran
You know what’s scary? The early, brain-damaged, pin-headed Big Bird is scary.
April 10, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Luke
Dave Chappelle’s bit about Sesame Street.
April 10, 2008 at 7:12 pm
bitchphd
I realized today what reliably makes me laugh: watching little kids run down the beach as a wave pulls out, then up the beach as a new one rolls in. They look just like sandpipers, and it’s hilarious.
April 10, 2008 at 9:24 pm
urbino
I like Chappelle’s muppet bit about STDs, also featuring a trash can grouch. The YouTubes don’t seem to have it, though.
April 10, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Hemlock
Big Bird is the Socrates of the twenty-first century, “Follow that Bird” notwithstanding.
April 10, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Hemlock
Oscar had the whole homeless-look-i-don’t-really-care thing going on. All the guest actresses argued with him, but they all secretly loved him (I could tell). I tried to emulate him as an undergrad, but that approach didn’t really work for me. My undergad university was more like Fraggle Rock (similar Henson show). That is, social interaction devoid of any real purpose and people bending their heads into strange steam billowing out from rocky outcroppings…and then said people suddenly jumping around and singing.
Cookie Monster always made me hungry. I remember that much.
April 10, 2008 at 10:16 pm
urbino
I tried to emulate him as an undergrad, but that approach didn’t really work for me.
Probably your lack of all-over fuzziness. Of course, I’ve never seen you.
May 16, 2008 at 12:54 am
washerdreyer
Burning muppets should be a capital offense.
What about hunting muppets?
May 16, 2008 at 1:47 pm
“I feel very sorry that your best friend Jim died.” « The Edge of the American West
[...] in 1990, Jim Henson died. And we seem to be angling to become the Internet’s go-to blog for all things Henson. Regardless, the above video is Part One of the Muppets’ tribute to Henson after his death. [...]
July 1, 2008 at 10:01 pm
The Robert Downey, Jr., of cookies. « The Edge of the American West
[...] 1, 2008 in history and current events by eric Cookie Monster continues his epic streak of awesomeness with an appearance on [...]
July 2, 2008 at 10:13 am
Robert Halford
Awesome clip. You probably all knew, but I just learned, that the Pointer Sisters sang the incredible “pinball” song after an amateur DJ friend put it on a mix tape. I’ve got it on constant repeat on the Itunes. Just objectively a good funky tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-YcBVEnLT8