My Favorite Moments from “Sesame Street”

A huge 50th anniversary this year is from the kids show “Sesame Street”. I’ve talked about this show several times, and why not? I loved it as a kid and the fact it is still going strong is amazing. With their combination of education information and character segments how could anyone not like this show? The characters that came from this show are iconic, from Big Bird to Elmo. Everyone has a special place in their heart for this show. I sure did, not only did watch all the time as a kid, I had several Sesame Street books, got the magazine, saw the stage show “Sesame Street Live” a few times, and even visited Sesame Place in Langhorne Pennsylvania. I saw “Follow That Bird” in theaters, and even had an Oscar the Grouch talking alarm clock once upon a time.

So today I decided it would be fun to go through my favorite Sesame Street segments. These are bits that I either always remembered, or just love for one reason or another. There is no order or theme, just a look at one of the best kids TV shows ever made.



The Opening
I know it’s different now, but the classic will always be my favorite.

The Cake Guy
This was a counting segment and at the end of it, a chef would always fall down with the appropriate number of cakes. And yes that Jim Henson’s voice you hear.

Who are the People in your Neighborhood
Is there anyone who doesn’t know this song? Even though I never really related to it, living in the suburbs and not the city I never ran into many people in my neighborhood

One of these things is not like the other
This one is kinda iconic, I think most think of this when they are in a situation where one thing clearly does not belong with the others.

Bert and Ernie
I could do a whole article on these guys. They had so many bits that it’s impossible to pick one or two favorites. So here is a good one I found. How come I dodn’t care as a kid that Ernie sounded like Kermit?

Grover under the covers
There is just something about this sweet little segment I always liked. I have no idea what it is. Grover is under his sheets pretending he is on the moon. What kid hasn’t done something like this?

Oscar The Grouch
Oscar was perfect for this show. In much the same way Spock was the only Vulcan on a ship of illogical humans, Oscar was the only grump on a street of positive happy people. I think he took as his responsibility to throw some cold water onto everyone’s cheeriness. And he loved every second. Hard to believe that great Carroll Spinney did his voice as well as Big Bird’s.

Mr.Hooper
Yeah you knew this had to be coming. When the actor who played Mr.Hooper passed, the shoe dealt with it head on. And it’s still one of the best example of acknowledging an actors (and subsequently the character) death on any show.

Snuffy Revealed
I had stopped watching Sesame Street by this time, but somehow caught it on TV. For years Snufy was Big Bird’s friend that no one believed really existed. When creators realized that was sending a bad message, he was finally revealed. In a fantastic scene. Great to see that they treated this with the weight it deserved. Big Bird gets Elmo to hold Snuffy so he can’t leaves. Then he calls his friends in and….

R2D2 and C3PO
Yeah I keep bringing this up, but can you blame me? This is just so surreal! I guess having the Star Wars characters on The Muppet Show wasn’t enough. The strange thing is how natural everyone takes the presence of these two. Then again, they accept an 8 foot talking bird so I guess two droid’s aren’t that crazy. (Actually watching the clip, the people are a little weirded out).

Muppet News Flash!
Oh Kermit, never change. I’m sharing this one because it bugged me as a kid. The obviously fake effect used when the cow jumps over the moon was weird. Now, it’s just kinda funny.

Elmo Song
My little nephew loved this song when he a lad. I never really grew up with Elmo. Yes, I’m that old.

Celebrities
Covering every celebrity who has appeared on this show is flat out impossible. If there was a person in news, entertainment, or sports who was famous they were on this show at least once. Sometimes it was a cute gag, and sometimes the whole episode was based around them. In fact watching these old shows is a great way to reminiscence on what was spopular at that time. Here is one example I found with the kids from The Cosby Show.

And one of my favorite moments from the show from amn awesome celebrity who everyone loved:

And yes, there were parodies. Lots and lots of parodies.

(hey this as close to a Game of Thrones tribute you’re gonna get from me)






Finally there was no other way to end this than with this clip:

I wish I had knowledge of later years, as you can tell these clips are kinda based around the same time frame. So let me know what your favorite moments were that I didn’t see because of my advanced age. This show blended education and entertainment so seamlessly. Many have tried to intimate it but there can only be one Sesame Street. Fifty years and still counting!!