Oscar the Grouch

[pkbites]

I could swear remembering that when Sesame Street first came on in the late 60's that Oscar the Grouch was orange, not green. My wife says I'm insane & my childhood memories are distorted. She's only half right, but I still remember him being orange. Can anyone back me up?

[VaHermit]

Wow, color TV in the sixty's when the NBC peacock was doing his thing. Must have been a rich kid.

Sorry, the sin of envy overtook me for a minute. Damn you Satan, pal my ass.

[Cabbage]

Now that you mention it, I seem to vaguely recall that Oscar had a cousin or brother who would come to The Can to visit occasionally. I don't remember his name, or his color. He may have been Spanish, but I'm not sure. Actually, I'm not sure about any of this; it could all be wrong, but now that you've brought it up, it does seem to ring a bell.

[Flat U. Lance]

There was an orange grouch, but I don't know if it was named Oscar. You can catch classic episodes on the "Noggin" channel on Dish Network.

[Gilligan]

Can’t remember myself, but I thought if there were some old collectibles at eBay, there might be a picture of an orange Oscar. Some items dated from 1974 show a green Oscar., but there is this one book from 1971 with an orange Oscar (although not identified as Oscar, it sure looks like him.)

Oscar (http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321629103)

[Kilgore Trout]

you are correct. the original oscar was a rusty colour.
i have a book covering the history of sesame street, but it is at home, so i can't verify the claim.

but i am certain that oscar was originally orange.

[Arnold Winkelried]

This site, Characters on Sesame Street and the Muppet Show (http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~csilvers/muppet-characters.html), says
Oscar the Grouch : First season he was orange!

[Kilgore Trout]

i consulted my book when i got home, and also discovered this:

During the first season, Oscar the Grouch had a couple of problems. For starters, he was a birght, somewhat toxic orange color. Moreover, the positioning of the set meant that Caroll Spinney (who plays Oscar) had to work with his left hand, even though the Muppet was designed for his right. This made Oscar's mouth see, a bit skewed. for the second season, the set placement was shifted so that Caroll could work Oscar with his right hand, and orange Oscar was replaced with the green Oscar we know and love today.

[Kilgore Trout]

but there is this one book from 1971 with an orange Oscar (although not identified as Oscar, it sure looks like him.)

strange... by 1971, the green oscar had taken over.
sesame street first aired november 10th, 1969.

[samclem]

A 1971 copyrighted book could have easily had info which was gathered during 1970, the first season.

[Gilligan]

Oops. I took another look at the eBay listing. The Woody Woodpecker book shown is from 1971, and the Sesame St. book is from 1970. I missed that the first time, sorry.

[jesuslynch]

First off, let me apologize for bumping up such an old thread. However, last weekend I saw an episode of SS that in fact did have an orange Grouch in it.

One of Oscar's friends that had moved out of the neighborhood came for a visit. His friend had turned into a neat freak and took to cleaning Oscar's garbage can. His friend's name was, of course, Felix.