# Children of the 70s . . . what do you remember from Sesame Street? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498 "2003-03-06T15:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ford\_prefect42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@ford\_prefect42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ford_prefect42)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/101 "2003-03-09T01:57:48Z")
Wow… to this day I _still_ bust out into “1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12” with some friends. It’s just a hell of a lot of fun. And I agree… SS jumped the shark when they introduced Elmo. Elmo sucks. And how about this one from “Electric Company”: (Silhouetted people) 1st person: “gruh-” 2nd person: “-ayte” Together: “Great!!” Sometimes my friends and I do “buh-” “-eer” “BEER!!” And Morgan Freeman as Easy Reader… sometimes when I watch a movie with Freeman in it I think of him as Easy Reader _hehe_ can’t help it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/102 "2003-03-09T02:34:53Z")
I remember when Bert was writing a fan letter to Mr. Rogers. I thought that was the GREATEST THING EVER. “Bert watches Mr. Rogers too!” Of course, that’s when Ernie comes in with a fan and blows all the pages of the letter everywhere, making Bert yell that he is hot and bothered. Of course, the solution to this is to turn on a fan! I always wanted to play the pinball game that the “1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12” song went with. Oscar the Grouch was always my favorite character. I thought it was great when he would call Gordon “Curly”. I also remember one time when, all of a sudden, Oscar started acting nice, and everyone took him to the hospital, because he was OBVIOUSLY sick. He had the Grouch Flu or something like that. I also remember when Luis and Maria had a baby. Oscar was in charge of communications between the hospital and Sesame Street. He had a HUGE moral dilemma. He was happy that Luis and Maria were having a baby. Being happy made him mad. But, being mad made him happy. I think he was a bigger emotional mess than anyone else that day. I also remember when C-3PO and R2-D2 arrived on the Street. R2 was trying to have a conversation with a fire hydrant. I remember Mr. Hooper dying, but it didn’t make that big an impact on me. I’d been to at least one funeral before. Ernie making the clay bust of Bert, and then stealing his nose is a flat-out classic. I saw a sketch once that took place at a restaurant called Chez I Know You – the restaurant of the semi-stars. Guy Smiley was a regular. I’m still amazed at just how big Oscar’s trash can is. It has a swimming pool AND his pet elephant. AFAIK, Mr. Snuffleupagus is a Snuffleupagus. He has a sister named Alice. I saw a sketch years ago, long after I was a tyke, that had one of Prairie Dawn’s plays. It was based on the four seasons. Everyone who was cast had to leave for various reasons, except for Tim Robbins, who wound up playing all the seasons. Made me laugh. “Oh, welcome, oh, welcome to our lit-tle play. We’re ever so glad you could join us to-day…” I miss the Twiddlebugs. And, I remember when they all had to lick the postage stamp to hang it on the wall. Sesame Street always had great song spoofs – “Rebel L” and “Born to Add” are two of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/103 "2003-03-09T03:02:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SwimmingRiddles \* > \*\*Nope, that was Captain Kangaroo. And “Who are the People in your Neighborhood,” I believe, was Mr. Rogers. > \*\* I think you’re mixing up two very similar songs. Mr. Rogers sang “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood” : _It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood_ _A beautiful day in the neighbourhood_ _Would you be mine? Could you be mine?_ _Blah, blah, blah… won’t you be my neighbour?_ Sesame Street had “Who Are the People in Your Neighbourhood?” _ **SwimmingRiddles** is a person in my neighbourhood_ _In my neighbourhood, in my neihgbourhooooood_ _Who are the people in neighbourhood?_ _They’re the people that you meet, when you’re walking down the street_ _They’re the people that you meet eeeeaach daaaaaay!_ ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/104 "2003-03-09T03:09:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RawkStah \* > \*\*Sesame Street always had great song spoofs – “Rebel L” and “Born to Add” are two of my favorites. \*\* I tuned in when I was about 22 and found the show hysterically funny (when they had the old sketches). Then they had a spoof of The Fine Young Cannibals: A camel was singing “C Drives Me Crazy (C! C!) Like nothing else (C! C!) C drives me crazy and I can’t help myself…” Then they had an updated version of the rubber duck song. It was sort of a calypso tune and the chorus went: “Do the duck! Duck! Do the rubber duck! You do the duck, duck, rubber duck. Do the rubber duck!” About fifty muppets ended up piled in the tub, singing with Ernie, until Bert walked past the bathroom window carrying groceries and totally freaked. I had that song stuck in my head for _days!_ ---
**Author:** ![mishaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@mishaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mishaa)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/105 "2003-03-09T03:18:34Z")
I have a group of friends that are my age (30-34) that crack up when I do my Kermit impression - I raise my arms, wiggle my hands and yell “aaahhhggggggg” Remember how he would run and do that from his reporting segments? _sigh_ love those muppets… ---
**Author:** ![Deej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@Deej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deej)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/106 "2003-03-09T03:29:29Z")
- It’s a lovely eleven morning! I heard eleven worms yawning! I saw eleven cows sleeping Midst the buttercups, I said “How’s the cottage cheese?” They said “Oh dry up!”\* [www.sesameseventies.com](http://www.sesameseventies.com) ---
**Author:** ![Deej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@Deej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deej)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/107 "2003-03-09T03:36:04Z")
guess I could have finished my post above… the site above relates to the 1979 album “Sesame Street Fever” with a few links to music, lyrics and stories. ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/108 "2003-03-09T04:03:50Z")
Anyone have the entire lyrics to the Alligator King song? There’s a Ricky Nelson song that always puts the end of that song in my head. Don’t recall the name of the Ricky song (Teenage Idol, perhaps?), but I do know the end of the Alligator King song. "Said the Alligator King to his seventh son, 'My son, you win the crown. You didn’t give me diamonds or rubies, but, you helped me up when I was down. Take the crown, it’s yours, my son. I hope you don’t mind the dents. I bought it on sale at a discount store, and it only cost me seven cents!’" ---
**Author:** ![Wodewic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f07891/32.png) [@Wodewic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wodewic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/109 "2003-03-09T05:22:08Z")
Memories permanently etched in my mind: -The skit where Kermit is showing how to count to four by making Grover walk all the way to the back of the room, take a block and place it on the table in front of the room, repeating this exhausting exercise four times. Upon completion Kermit says “OK, now we will learn how to count to a hundred”. Grover faints. -I also have a vague memory of muppets teaching about shapes by drawing them graphically on the screen. When they get to the triangle, a cool hippie muppet converts the triangle into an electric guitar. -One particular episode that freaked me out was seeing Bert asleep in his chair. That was the only time I ever saw a muppet with his eyes closed (all you saw were his eyebrows). That gave me the creeps. -There was another Bert and Ernie episode where they were cleaning the house. Ernie threw clothes up in the air. I have no idea why that was so funny, but I just went into hysterics everytime I saw the clothes fly and heard that whistle sound effect. -Oscar once let Maria and Louise into his trashcan as guests in his home. -And of course, there was the time where Big Bird wanted to leave Sesame Street, but not get lost on the way back, so he decided to tie a piece of string to a fixture on the set so that he could retrace his steps. The end result was that he got the entire street tangled in string. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/110 "2003-03-09T09:05:12Z")
I was a child of the 60s, but when _Sesame Street_ debuted in 1970, I had younger sisters and it was on, so I watched it. Didn’t care that I was too old for it. Right at the beginning, during the first season, was the most memorable piece ever, which made a powerful impression on me. Because it always made me trance out. It was the “E Song.” Surely the mellowest thing ever televised. It was so tranqilizing I felt it was a little spooky, but I loved it just the same. _E E See Me Eating a peach Sitting on my eagle Chasing a beagle To the queen on her knees Under a tree By the sea She was looking for her Easter egg Having a dream about eating ice cream In the Land of Steam When a baby seal Tickled her heel She let out a squeal And woke from her dream in time to see The eagle and me Flying away with the Easter egg Over the evening sea Hee hee hee E E_ The vibratory sound of the repeated _e_ sounds got into my pineal gland and reverberated there, I think. The background music was trance-inducing too. And when the eagle flew away over the evening sea, my brain was deep into the theta waves. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/111 "2003-03-10T15:54:28Z")
Well, after remembering that the nectarine-picking aliens were Koozbanians named Geefle and Gonk, I took a quick hit at Google and came up with [this](http://www.netspace.org/~dmacks/pub/muppets/comprehensive_muppet_listing). Relevant quotes from the list: > [@](#): > > Name: Geefle > Species: Alien > Series: Sesame Street > Description: Jointless Fruit picker. Could reach fruit on Koosbanian nectarine tree, but could not bend elbows to put fruit in mouth. Tall and yellow, with a furry body and tuft of hair on top of head. High pitched voice. > Quotes: !No. Let!s call it… Shirley!! > > Name: Gonk > Species: Alien > Series: The Muppet Show (sic) > Description: Stunted Geefle stuffer. Too short to reach fruit on Koozbanian nectarine tree, he could only eat when the Geefle gave him some of the fruit. The Gonk is short and blue, with bendable elbows. Deep, gravelly voice. > Quotes: !Lets call it… cooperation!! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/112 "2003-03-10T16:02:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SwimmingRiddles \* > **That about "A Gallon of Milk, a loaf of bread, and a stick of buttah."** How about the one where the kid gets lost and goes through this completely psychedelic neighborhood, then meets up with this jive-talking guy with a yo-yo who tells him to remember everything in reverse so he can get back home? _Ha-HAAAAAAAAA! Yeah!_ The lyrics to the song that played as he rode back were pretty trippy too: _Behind your face There is a place That’s called your brains or your mind. If you could sneak a peek inside Oh, what wonderful things you’d find!_ ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/113 "2003-03-10T21:57:25Z")
**RawkStah** : [The Alligator King](http://home.nc.rr.com/muppetsongs/songs/alligator_king). [sub]Google is thy friend.[/sub] We’ve just recently opened the 25th Anniversary Sesame Street DVD, and this song is on there. Now it’s taken up permanent residence in my frontal lobe — I can’t stop singing it!! That psychedelic-neighborhood cartoon was cool, with it’s sketch-book graphics, but it was also kinda scary. At least, it freaked ME out. Lord, this thread is making me seven years old again. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/114 "2003-03-11T01:46:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Olentzero \* > \*\*Well, after remembering that the nectarine-picking aliens were Koozbanians named Geefle and Gonk, I took a quick hit at Google and came up with [this](http://www.netspace.org/~dmacks/pub/muppets/comprehensive_muppet_listing). Relevant quotes from the list: \*\* Ahh, a link that supports the “Shirley” camp. Too bad it isn’t a reliable source. I mean, there is that mistake where they say Gonk was on the Muppet Show (which **Olentzero**"_sic_"ed, to his credit), they call Herry the Monster “Harry”, and they get Oscar’s species wrong. He’s a Grouch, not a Monster. I came across this site while searching, but didn’t think it was worth bringing into the debate. Obviously not carefully researched. ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/115 "2003-03-11T02:16:53Z")
Ms. Robyn could you please share the pinball wav. with me? I loved that. You can still watch the original shows on Nogin but it is on at like 3am. That and the Electric Co. and 3-2-1 Contact. And what about the little type writter guy? He was Sesame Street right? Most of the stuff I remember has already been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/116 "2003-03-11T22:18:02Z")
Remember the skywriter? Recall his name was Alphabet Base or similar. An animated guy walks up to the letters OPEN. “Oh Pee Ee En. That spells open!” he then pulls it open, revealing another man in a bathtub, who says “Would you mind closing my open?” \ “Thanks…” The periodically-changing Gordon. ---
**Author:** ![ForgottenLore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@ForgottenLore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForgottenLore)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/117 "2003-03-11T22:40:31Z")
“Pssst… Hey… You wanna buy an _eight_?” ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/118 "2003-03-12T00:22:21Z")
I almost forgot… The monsters that said, “Yiiiiiip yip yip yip yip”, “Noooooooooo no no no no”, and “Boooooooooooooooorrriinnnnnnnnnngggggggg” ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/119 "2003-03-12T00:25:46Z")
make that “Nooooooooooooooope nope nope nope” ---
**Author:** ![toofargone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@toofargone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofargone)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498/120 "2003-03-12T21:12:21Z")
I remember grover as a waiter w/the blue guy, large round head. Grover never got that he needed a spoon to eat his soup. Wasn’t there a fly in the soup one time too? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-of-the-70s-what-do-you-remember-from-sesame-street/159498.md?page=7)