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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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[upbeat music]
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♪ ♪
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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- ♪ Sunny day ♪
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♪ Sweepin' the clouds away ♪
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♪ On my way ♪
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♪ To where the air sweet ♪
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♪ Can you tell me how to get ♪
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♪ How to get toSesame Street ♪
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♪ Sesame Street ♪
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[indistinct chatter]
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- Stand by. Here we go.
Very quiet.
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Five, four, three,
two, one, action.
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[guitar music playing]
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♪ ♪
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[footsteps pattering]
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- Buenas noches, señor,
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and welcome to
La Casa de Comidas.
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I'm Grover, you're favorite
singing and dancing waiter.
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We have four specials.
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Número uno,número dos--
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Nu-num--
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[stammers]
[dishes clatter]
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- Yes, uh?
- Ah!
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[upbeat music]
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[indistinct chatter]
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- Okay. So let's do it.
Let's do the...
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- On an average day, accordingto the Nielsen ratings,
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more than 12 millionAmerican children
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under six watchwhat goes on in this room.
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- Okay. All set, guys?
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- Jon Stone was instrumentalin developing "Sesame Street."
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He was its first producer,
still directs half the shows
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and have you ever stopped
smiling
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as you've worked on
all of the--
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- I wouldn't still be doing it
if it weren't fun.
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I love it.
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- Please welcome the creator of
"The Muppets," Mr. Jim Henson.
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- I suppose when we first
did "Sesame Street"
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that was the time where
the audience got to know us.
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- A turning point
in everybody's life,
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you and "Sesame Street."
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- I was there too.
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- Kermit.
- Sure. Sure. I was there.
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- What the original idea?
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What were you trying
to accomplish in 1969?
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- The original idea
came from Joan Cooney,
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who is the womanbehind the whole project.
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- There is no question,
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the people who control
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the system read
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and the people who make it
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in the system read.
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- Here is Joan Cooney,who is showing us
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what televisionreally could be.
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I mean, what she is doing
is what television would do
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if it loved people instead
of trying to sell to people,
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and there is all the difference
in the world.
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[upbeat funky music]
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♪ ♪
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- Oh, you're here.
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Well, since you're here,
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I might as well answer
a set of questions
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which have been submitted to me
here at the old trash can.
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What do you think makes
"Sesame Street"
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so appealing to kids?
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I didn't think they liked it.
I hate it myself.
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[indistinct chatter]
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- Stand by.
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- Okay.
And it's on camera,
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and action.
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- It's hard to talk about"Sesame Street"
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without talking
about Jon Stone.
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I think Jon was probably,
in my view at least,
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the most critical person
to the success of the show.
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- Come in and kind of look
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at the phone
and wonder what it is.
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- He was a wonderful writer.
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He was an amazing director.
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- And bring in the word
across the top.
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- Will do.
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- Oh.
- Tele...
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- Phone.
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[chatter]
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- Telephone.
- [chatter]
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[laughter]
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- And he was reallythe soul of the show.
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- Jon was the guy
who really created
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the whole reality of it,
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you know, the style
and the vision of the show.
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- So the two of you together,
when you get about here
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I hear a bat going--
[squeaking]
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whatever bats do, right?
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- Hey, don't worry, Count,
we'll help you.
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- Oh, we must look
everywhere, high, low--
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- You know, there werea lot of shows
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that really talked downto kids
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and he really didn't want that.
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Jon Stone thought that
you could have a kid's show
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where adults wouldn't run
for the door
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as soon as it was on.
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- Well, I've worked
for over 25 years now
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in television in New York City,
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so I've seen a lot of studios
and a lot of shows.
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[balloon pops][children cheer]
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And I've sat throughso many children's shows,
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just terrible stuff.
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- Hot Ovaltine at breakfast
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gives you the right startin the morning.
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- They'd be selling toysand cereals,
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all that stuff.
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- You tell Mommy or Daddy
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that you want Tootsie Rolls.
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children: Tootsie Rolls!
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- And I hated it.
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- Our dad saw the worldin black and white,
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and so there were good guys.
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You were a good guy,
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or you were a bad guy,
and the good guys,
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he loved with all his heart,
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and the bad guys,
there was no gray.
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- You know, he took thingsso much to heart
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and Dad came to activism
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and feeling strongly
about the world
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because of the era
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that he was kind of becoming
an adult in.
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[soft dramatic music]
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[helicopter whirring]
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- The Vietnam War was goingfull blast.
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[bomb whistling]
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And the countrywas very politicized.
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Everybody was screamingat everybody else,
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and it was impossible
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not to feel stronglyone way or another.
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- Black power.
Black power.
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- I think Dad wore the painof the world
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in a way that
other people can let it go.
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- I had really quitthe business.
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I thought I had doneabout everything
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I was gonna do in television.
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- And then he got this call
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from a producer saying,
you know,
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she would like to talk to him
about this children's program
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that she was
starting to create.
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- Joan Cooney called meand said she was trying
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to put together a staff
to do a new children's show,
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and would I be interested?
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I said no, really, I didn't
want to do television anymore,
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and she is a very charming
and persuasive lady.
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- I think what drew Dad in
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really had to dowith her political vision,
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and I think
when she started talking
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about inner-city children
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and the amount of timethat kids
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are spending watchingbad television
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with nothing to do
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because their parentsare working,
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that's what pulled him in.
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- I had been workingat Channel 13 in New York
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producing documentaries,and through that work
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I had become absolutelyinvolved intellectually
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and spiritually withthe civil rights movement.
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I was not focusedon young children though.
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That all goes back
to Lloyd Morrisett,
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who really was the father
of "Sesame Street."
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- I was a psychologist
at the Carnegie Foundation,
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and we were heavily influenced
by the national dialogue
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on the gap that was
being created in schools.
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- There is a singular lack of
equal educational opportunity
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in the United States
for negroes.
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- This is not
a racial difference
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but a socioeconomic difference.
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[children chattering]
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- We found that those children
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who had entered schoolthree months behind,
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and by the end of first gradebe a year behind
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and get furtherand further behind.
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And I wondered whether therewas a possibility
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that television could be usedto help children with school,
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but television
was not very popular
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with the Carnegie staff.
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Academics were not interested
in television.
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[theme music playing]
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They didn't have itin their homes.
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- Danger, Will Robinson,danger.
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- It was the boob tube.
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[theme song playing]- ♪ The middle would be lost ♪
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- And then one of my friends,Joan, held a dinner party
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and I knew Joan wasa television producer.
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And so, we were just talking
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and I said "Joan,do you think television
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could be used to teachyoung children?"
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- I knew the answer.I knew the answer right away.
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- ♪ When you say "Bud" ♪
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♪ You've said a lot of thingsnobody else can say ♪
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- Every child in Americawas singing beer commercials.
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all: ♪ It means you wantthe beer ♪
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♪ That's got a tastethat's number one ♪
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- Now where had they learnedbeer commercials?
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all: ♪ You tell the worldyou know ♪
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♪ What makes it all the way ♪
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♪ When you say "Bud" ♪
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♪ You say you care enough ♪
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♪ To only wantthe King of Beers ♪
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- A lot of children in America
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were walking into supermarkets
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and identifying product.
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- ♪ Even whiter thanit is before ♪
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- By having seen Cheeron the screen
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or Wonder Bread, et cetera.
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children:♪ An Oscar Mayer wiener ♪
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- So to me it was where kids
just adored the medium,
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00:10:06,148 --> 00:10:09,234
and so why not see
if it could educate them?
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all: ♪ Budweiser ♪
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- ♪ You've said it all ♪
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- So we hired Joan to do
a feasibility study.
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[pensive music]
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♪ ♪
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- Television is a realityto young children,
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maybe the reality,and certainly
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one of the mostinteresting things to them
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in their lives.
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- A child between the ages
of three and five
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watches television
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one half of his waking time.
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The only thing that exceedstelevision is sleep.
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- Joan had a brilliantlysimple notion.
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Children were watching
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a tremendous amountof television.
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If they're going to watch
that much television, why not,
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one, find out what it is
they like to watch,
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two, find out what would begood for them to watch,
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00:11:02,955 --> 00:11:06,333
and then you put the two
together, and that's the show.
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- We were talkingabout 130 hours
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00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:13,715
of television a year,
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and so an initial budgetwas put together.
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A budget of $8 million.
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00:11:21,223 --> 00:11:22,766
[cash register dings]
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It was a lot of money.
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00:11:29,147 --> 00:11:31,608
So the bulkof the original budget
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was provided throughthe Office of Education,
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the federal government.
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- Someone said it won't betaken seriously
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00:11:39,283 --> 00:11:41,326
if a woman heads it,
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but the problem is, they
didn't have a project with me.
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Much of it was in my head,
which I pointed out to them.
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And when "The New York Times"reported on it,
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they said she'll be one
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of the most powerful womenin television.
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00:12:07,269 --> 00:12:09,062
- I went toColumbia University,
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00:12:09,146 --> 00:12:13,775
and I got a master's degreein educational psychology,
253
00:12:13,859 --> 00:12:17,029
and my professor told me thatthere was a group of people
254
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who were developing
a television program
255
00:12:19,198 --> 00:12:20,699
for disadvantaged kids,
256
00:12:20,782 --> 00:12:22,951
so I went in and I met
with Joan Cooney,
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and she said, "You're hired."
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And what she wanted to do
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was get a group of televisionwriters and producers
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and put them togetherwith educators.
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This had neverbeen done before.
262
00:12:38,592 --> 00:12:42,429
It was called the Children's
Television Workshop originally.
263
00:12:42,513 --> 00:12:44,389
I think there wereabout ten people
264
00:12:44,473 --> 00:12:46,683
in the workshopwhen I was hired.
265
00:12:46,767 --> 00:12:49,311
Having educators
266
00:12:49,394 --> 00:12:51,813
and professionaltelevision writers
267
00:12:51,897 --> 00:12:53,524
in the same room
268
00:12:53,607 --> 00:12:57,486
working on the same showwas a very unique idea.
269
00:12:59,863 --> 00:13:01,740
- They told us that we hadto incorporate
270
00:13:01,823 --> 00:13:05,786
all this educationinto this new show.
271
00:13:05,869 --> 00:13:09,373
I was convinced that
it would be impossible to do.
272
00:13:09,456 --> 00:13:11,124
I had never written
anything like this before,
273
00:13:11,208 --> 00:13:13,752
but nobody had ever written
anything like this before.
274
00:13:13,836 --> 00:13:15,504
[phone ringing]
275
00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:17,422
And all we had was this money
276
00:13:17,506 --> 00:13:19,049
from the governmentto do this thing,
277
00:13:19,132 --> 00:13:24,513
but we had no format,no title, no set, no nothing.
278
00:13:24,596 --> 00:13:27,266
- I think it was Jon Stone
who suggested
279
00:13:27,349 --> 00:13:30,310
that we invite Jim Henson
to come to talk to us.
280
00:13:33,146 --> 00:13:36,108
- And here we are sittingin a conference room,
281
00:13:36,191 --> 00:13:38,652
and someone comes inand sits in back
282
00:13:38,735 --> 00:13:42,614
who is bearded with long hair,you know, leather clothes.
283
00:13:42,698 --> 00:13:44,658
And I remember whisperingto Dave Connell,
284
00:13:44,741 --> 00:13:46,326
"How do we knowthat man back there?
285
00:13:46,410 --> 00:13:48,287
He looks like a hippie."
286
00:13:48,370 --> 00:13:50,998
And he said "No, no,that's Jim Henson."
287
00:13:51,081 --> 00:13:54,376
So that was my firstexperience with Jim.
288
00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:03,051
And he was terrific.
289
00:14:03,135 --> 00:14:04,803
- Put out the fire.
290
00:14:04,887 --> 00:14:07,639
[energetic jazz music playing]
291
00:14:07,723 --> 00:14:11,435
♪ ♪
292
00:14:11,518 --> 00:14:14,354
- "The Muppets" startedas a late-night program
293
00:14:14,438 --> 00:14:17,232
on local television
that was, like,
294
00:14:17,316 --> 00:14:19,193
kind of what we would consider
today
295
00:14:19,276 --> 00:14:21,653
like, you know,
short-form comedy,
296
00:14:21,737 --> 00:14:24,364
and it would just come on
quickly after the news,
297
00:14:24,448 --> 00:14:26,992
primarily lip-synchingto records.
298
00:14:27,075 --> 00:14:30,078
- ♪ Old black magichas me in its spell ♪
299
00:14:30,162 --> 00:14:33,207
- ♪ Old black magicthat you weave so well ♪
300
00:14:33,290 --> 00:14:34,791
- It was late-night comedy.
301
00:14:34,875 --> 00:14:36,460
- Yeah, that's right.
302
00:14:36,543 --> 00:14:37,961
- Punsmoke!
303
00:14:38,045 --> 00:14:40,130
- Are you ready? "The Muppets."
[applause]
304
00:14:40,214 --> 00:14:42,132
- They did "The Tonight Show."
305
00:14:42,216 --> 00:14:43,675
- The very talented "Muppets."
306
00:14:43,759 --> 00:14:45,260
- Look at that.
307
00:14:45,344 --> 00:14:48,138
- All these adultvariety shows.
308
00:14:48,222 --> 00:14:49,848
- I've seen you
on television before.
309
00:14:49,932 --> 00:14:52,976
- ♪ In a spin,loving the spin I'm in ♪
310
00:14:53,060 --> 00:14:54,770
♪ Under the old black... ♪
311
00:14:54,853 --> 00:14:56,480
- The creator of "The Muppets,"
Mr. Jim Henson.
312
00:14:56,563 --> 00:14:57,523
[applause]
313
00:14:57,606 --> 00:14:59,149
- ♪ Loving the spin I'm in ♪
314
00:14:59,233 --> 00:15:01,276
♪ Under the old black magiccalled love ♪
315
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,111
- This is Jim Henson.
316
00:15:03,195 --> 00:15:04,404
- He's got a completely
different
317
00:15:04,488 --> 00:15:06,281
kind of personality--
318
00:15:06,365 --> 00:15:07,783
- When I was a little kid,
319
00:15:07,866 --> 00:15:10,577
if I told my friends
that my father was a puppeteer,
320
00:15:10,661 --> 00:15:12,454
they would assume
that that was somebody
321
00:15:12,538 --> 00:15:16,124
who did birthday parties
or church puppets.
322
00:15:17,042 --> 00:15:19,419
You know, they mostlyfelt sorry for us
323
00:15:19,503 --> 00:15:21,880
when they heardabout the puppeteer parents.
324
00:15:21,964 --> 00:15:23,423
[end chords]
325
00:15:23,507 --> 00:15:26,343
[applause]
326
00:15:29,054 --> 00:15:33,600
- My father wasa pretty quiet, shy person,
327
00:15:33,684 --> 00:15:38,939
but he wanted to be hip,he wanted to be cool,
328
00:15:39,022 --> 00:15:41,525
and he wanted his whole
company, Muppets Inc.,
329
00:15:41,608 --> 00:15:44,736
to have this
very cool reputation.
330
00:15:44,820 --> 00:15:46,655
- We're about to show you
the new specially designed
331
00:15:46,738 --> 00:15:49,283
Wilson's Meet Television
campaign.
332
00:15:49,366 --> 00:15:50,367
- You mean all those
crummy commercials
333
00:15:50,450 --> 00:15:52,160
we knocked together?
334
00:15:52,244 --> 00:15:54,621
- And he would producethese commercial campaigns
335
00:15:54,705 --> 00:15:56,540
that were great.
336
00:15:56,623 --> 00:15:58,709
- You'll adore
Wilson's Certified Salami.
337
00:15:58,792 --> 00:16:00,502
- No, I don't fall
for that stuff.
338
00:16:00,586 --> 00:16:02,254
- You will.
339
00:16:02,337 --> 00:16:05,674
Drop down to the store for some
Wilson's Certified Cold Cuts.
340
00:16:05,757 --> 00:16:07,134
- You'll be up a tree
if you don't.
341
00:16:07,217 --> 00:16:09,678
- They were these weirdsophisticated commercials
342
00:16:09,761 --> 00:16:12,055
that were sortof a little bit dark.
343
00:16:12,139 --> 00:16:14,016
- Are you getting on the
Wilkins Coffee bandwagon?
344
00:16:14,099 --> 00:16:16,143
- Never.
345
00:16:16,226 --> 00:16:18,478
- You either go with Wilkins,
or you just don't go.
346
00:16:18,562 --> 00:16:19,938
People who don't drink
Wilkins Coffee
347
00:16:20,022 --> 00:16:21,356
just blow up sometimes.
348
00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,692
- Oh, that's a lot of--
349
00:16:23,775 --> 00:16:25,402
Oof!
350
00:16:25,485 --> 00:16:26,653
I should have saw this coming.
351
00:16:28,071 --> 00:16:29,948
Ooh, that smart!
352
00:16:30,032 --> 00:16:31,575
- They were sort ofthis beatnik-y,
353
00:16:31,658 --> 00:16:33,660
kind of hip company, you know?
354
00:16:34,870 --> 00:16:37,080
[laughter]
355
00:16:37,164 --> 00:16:39,166
- Are we rolling?
- [laughing] Yes.
356
00:16:39,249 --> 00:16:42,085
[laughter]
357
00:16:45,005 --> 00:16:46,965
- It was almost a little
too cool for school, you know,
358
00:16:47,049 --> 00:16:49,134
so that they really
didn't want to appear
359
00:16:49,218 --> 00:16:50,636
like just a puppet company.
360
00:16:53,388 --> 00:16:55,599
Because, frankly,
children's entertainment
361
00:16:55,682 --> 00:16:58,227
wasn't what he had in mind.
362
00:16:58,310 --> 00:17:00,771
[film strip rolls]
363
00:17:00,854 --> 00:17:02,481
- Sound roll 22.
364
00:17:02,564 --> 00:17:04,816
- Jim Henson interview.
365
00:17:04,900 --> 00:17:08,028
- Most of our work was sort
of sophisticated,
366
00:17:08,111 --> 00:17:11,615
and it had a slight black humor
kind of quality,
367
00:17:11,698 --> 00:17:14,159
and our audiencewas really college-aged,
368
00:17:14,243 --> 00:17:15,369
- [gasps]
369
00:17:15,452 --> 00:17:17,120
[audience laughter]
370
00:17:17,204 --> 00:17:19,039
- And so this would bethe first time
371
00:17:19,122 --> 00:17:21,750
we'd ever workedfor children really.
372
00:17:23,043 --> 00:17:24,920
But when I first heardabout it from Jon,
373
00:17:25,003 --> 00:17:26,880
I loved the idea of it,
374
00:17:26,964 --> 00:17:30,801
the whole idea
of taking commercial techniques
375
00:17:30,884 --> 00:17:33,679
and applying themto a show for kids.
376
00:17:33,762 --> 00:17:36,390
- We're planning to treat them
essentially the same way
377
00:17:36,473 --> 00:17:39,935
a commercial enterprise
would create a campaign.
378
00:17:40,018 --> 00:17:43,981
We're trying to sell the
alphabet to preschool children.
379
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:49,736
- We talked to all sorts ofcollege professors, educators,
380
00:17:49,820 --> 00:17:53,490
parents,authors like Maurice Sendak,
381
00:17:53,574 --> 00:17:56,994
and we tried very hard toassimilate all this knowledge
382
00:17:57,077 --> 00:18:00,455
into children's programming
that could be entertaining
383
00:18:00,539 --> 00:18:04,084
and content-filled
at the same time.
384
00:18:04,168 --> 00:18:06,587
- [as Ernie] Here's one half
of my chicken-salad sandwich.
385
00:18:06,670 --> 00:18:09,047
Where's the other half?
It's gone.
386
00:18:09,131 --> 00:18:10,799
- [as Sherlock]
Egad, the hunt's afoot.
387
00:18:10,883 --> 00:18:12,050
Show me the clues.
388
00:18:12,134 --> 00:18:14,011
- It was very exciting.
- Who are you?
389
00:18:14,094 --> 00:18:16,680
- Sherlock Hemlock, the world's
greatest detective.
390
00:18:16,763 --> 00:18:20,058
- This was an experiment,
you know?
391
00:18:20,142 --> 00:18:22,436
We would try new things.
392
00:18:22,519 --> 00:18:23,770
- The letter J.
393
00:18:23,854 --> 00:18:25,564
Two boys are sitting
there talking,
394
00:18:25,647 --> 00:18:26,523
and kind of casually
one of the boy says,
395
00:18:26,607 --> 00:18:28,192
"What's happening, man?"
396
00:18:28,275 --> 00:18:30,736
The other boy says, "I don't
know, it looks like fishhook."
397
00:18:30,819 --> 00:18:33,822
And at that point we will
animate the J into a fishhook.
398
00:18:33,906 --> 00:18:37,784
- Let's create somethingthat's never been done before.
399
00:18:37,868 --> 00:18:39,703
- I don't know.
- What's that?
400
00:18:39,786 --> 00:18:41,246
- It looks like a fishhook.
401
00:18:41,330 --> 00:18:42,956
- It's not a fishhook.
402
00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,460
It's a J.- We would show video to kids.
403
00:18:46,543 --> 00:18:48,921
- It looks delicious.What is it you want to know?
404
00:18:49,004 --> 00:18:50,923
- What happened to the other
half of my sandwich?
405
00:18:51,006 --> 00:18:54,843
- And we developed somethingcalled the distractor.
406
00:18:54,927 --> 00:18:57,846
It was basicallya slide projector
407
00:18:57,930 --> 00:19:01,016
that would show slidesand make a clicking sound.
408
00:19:01,099 --> 00:19:02,893
If what they werewatching on television
409
00:19:02,976 --> 00:19:05,062
wasn't reallyholding their attention,
410
00:19:05,145 --> 00:19:06,605
they would look
at the slide projector
411
00:19:06,688 --> 00:19:09,483
for a longer period of time.
412
00:19:09,566 --> 00:19:13,237
- We studied their reactions,and we quizzed them,
413
00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,364
talked to them,
414
00:19:15,447 --> 00:19:18,158
found out what they retained,what they didn't retain.
415
00:19:18,242 --> 00:19:20,994
- Would you like to hear a
story about the letter J, boys?
416
00:19:21,078 --> 00:19:22,829
- I think it'sa very good idea,
417
00:19:22,913 --> 00:19:25,958
but the words here
are very difficult, you know?
418
00:19:26,041 --> 00:19:28,418
- We're not arguing for
a more didactic turnout?
419
00:19:28,502 --> 00:19:29,670
- No.
- So much as saying
420
00:19:29,753 --> 00:19:31,380
that this
is a difficult entertainment.
421
00:19:31,463 --> 00:19:32,673
- Yeah. Yeah. Right.
422
00:19:32,756 --> 00:19:35,843
- Egad. That's it. I remember.
423
00:19:35,926 --> 00:19:38,762
I ate the other half
of your sandwich.
424
00:19:38,846 --> 00:19:40,973
How clever of me
to figure it out.
425
00:19:41,056 --> 00:19:45,686
- Why, gosh, Mr. Hemlock.
Thanks a lot.
426
00:19:45,769 --> 00:19:47,104
If you hadn't found
all those clues,
427
00:19:47,187 --> 00:19:48,564
I never would have known
428
00:19:48,647 --> 00:19:51,400
what happened
to that half of my sandwich.
429
00:19:51,483 --> 00:19:54,152
- Very good.
[chatter, laughter]
430
00:19:54,236 --> 00:19:58,282
- Television is sucha huge influence on children.
431
00:19:58,365 --> 00:20:02,661
There's family or the church
or the school and television.
432
00:20:02,744 --> 00:20:05,998
And as an industry,
we don't generally face up
433
00:20:06,081 --> 00:20:07,583
to that responsibility,
434
00:20:07,666 --> 00:20:09,918
and I was delighted to bedoing that sort of thing.
435
00:20:12,337 --> 00:20:13,839
- Oh, excuse me.
436
00:20:13,922 --> 00:20:16,717
My name is Rowlf,
and this is my friend, Kermit.
437
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,011
- Hiya.
- And I know a lot about this
438
00:20:19,094 --> 00:20:21,096
Children's Television
Workshop show
439
00:20:21,180 --> 00:20:24,266
because us Muppets are
gonna be on it every day.
440
00:20:24,349 --> 00:20:27,769
- Oh, yeah. Says who?
- What do you mean, "Says who?"
441
00:20:27,853 --> 00:20:29,313
Says everybody.
- Yeah!
442
00:20:29,396 --> 00:20:30,814
[overlapping chatter]
443
00:20:30,898 --> 00:20:32,107
- Well, if I'm going
to get involved,
444
00:20:32,191 --> 00:20:33,775
I want to know a little more
about it,
445
00:20:33,859 --> 00:20:36,278
like,
what are those guys doing?
446
00:20:36,361 --> 00:20:38,363
- Well, you see, we haven't
settled on a title
447
00:20:38,447 --> 00:20:41,116
for the show yet,
so the guys are working on it.
448
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,577
- All right. All right, then.
All right.
449
00:20:43,660 --> 00:20:46,705
- How's about we call it
"The Little Kiddie Show"?
450
00:20:46,788 --> 00:20:49,041
- Maybe the "Nitty-Gritty
Little Kiddie Show."
451
00:20:49,124 --> 00:20:50,876
- [sighs]
- Hey,
452
00:20:50,959 --> 00:20:53,378
these kids can't read
or write,
453
00:20:53,462 --> 00:20:54,963
can they?
454
00:20:55,047 --> 00:20:56,048
- Mm-mm.
- No.
455
00:20:56,131 --> 00:20:59,968
- Then how's about
we call the show
456
00:21:00,052 --> 00:21:02,095
"Hey, Stupid"?
457
00:21:02,179 --> 00:21:03,680
- "Hey, Stupid"?
458
00:21:03,764 --> 00:21:06,391
Oh, what am I going to do,
Kermit?
459
00:21:06,475 --> 00:21:09,144
- You really think you're going
to get this show on the air?
460
00:21:09,228 --> 00:21:10,896
[contemplative music]
461
00:21:10,979 --> 00:21:13,774
- Our target audiencewere inner-city children,
462
00:21:13,857 --> 00:21:16,068
and the bull's-eyeof the target audience
463
00:21:16,151 --> 00:21:18,028
were inner-cityBlack children.
464
00:21:20,030 --> 00:21:22,074
But the traditionalchildren's show setting
465
00:21:22,157 --> 00:21:23,700
was always likea cute little tree house
466
00:21:23,784 --> 00:21:25,327
or a club in the backyard
467
00:21:25,410 --> 00:21:28,413
or something fairylandand fanciful,
468
00:21:28,497 --> 00:21:31,458
and so we had struggled
with the idea of the setting,
469
00:21:31,542 --> 00:21:33,377
the home base for this
for a long time,
470
00:21:33,460 --> 00:21:36,046
and it came into focus for me
471
00:21:36,129 --> 00:21:39,800
when I saw a commercial
for the Urban Coalition.
472
00:21:39,883 --> 00:21:43,220
- Send your kid to the ghetto
for the summer.
473
00:21:43,303 --> 00:21:45,013
We got all kind
of facilities here.
474
00:21:45,097 --> 00:21:46,890
Want to see the pool?
Come on.
475
00:21:46,974 --> 00:21:48,267
- And it was shot on locationin Harlem,
476
00:21:48,350 --> 00:21:49,601
out on the sidewalk.
477
00:21:49,685 --> 00:21:51,937
- Open up a hydrant,
jump right in.
478
00:21:52,020 --> 00:21:54,273
At least one pool
on every block.
479
00:21:54,356 --> 00:21:56,775
I'm standing near
home plate right now.
480
00:21:56,859 --> 00:21:58,902
Two stores down is our owner.
481
00:21:58,986 --> 00:22:02,364
It's not Shea Stadium,
but it's exciting.
482
00:22:02,447 --> 00:22:03,740
- And as soon as I saw it,
483
00:22:03,824 --> 00:22:05,993
I knew exactly
where we ought to be on this.
484
00:22:09,121 --> 00:22:13,917
I wanted to capturethat New York energy
485
00:22:14,001 --> 00:22:15,711
because to the three-year-olds
486
00:22:15,794 --> 00:22:18,046
cooped up in the roomupstairs,
487
00:22:18,130 --> 00:22:20,424
the action is on the street.
488
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,890
- I remember Joan said
in an interview,
489
00:22:27,973 --> 00:22:30,559
Joan turned several
shades of pale.
490
00:22:30,642 --> 00:22:33,395
It did seem odd to me
to have an inner city street.
491
00:22:35,355 --> 00:22:39,902
I didn't know how it wouldplay with suburban parents,
492
00:22:39,985 --> 00:22:44,781
but I so trusted his judgment,so I said, "Go ahead. Try it."
493
00:22:46,533 --> 00:22:49,620
- I wanted a realistic set.
494
00:22:54,166 --> 00:22:56,293
Something that would feel like
495
00:22:56,376 --> 00:22:58,962
it's a real street,kind of a real neighborhood.
496
00:23:00,589 --> 00:23:03,425
- Where's this showgoing to take place?
497
00:23:03,509 --> 00:23:06,845
- On a street,on the front steps of a house.
498
00:23:06,929 --> 00:23:10,432
- On a street? Hey, Rowlf?
- Hmm?
499
00:23:10,516 --> 00:23:14,228
- Why don't you call your show
"Sesame Street"?
500
00:23:14,311 --> 00:23:17,231
- What--what was that?
- "Sesame Street,"
501
00:23:17,314 --> 00:23:19,816
you know, like "Open Sesame."
It kind of gives the idea
502
00:23:19,900 --> 00:23:23,111
of a streetwhere neat stuff happens.
503
00:23:23,195 --> 00:23:26,365
- Kermit, why you're a genius.
Mwah!
504
00:23:26,448 --> 00:23:27,616
- Yuck.
505
00:23:27,699 --> 00:23:29,493
- "Sesame Street."
506
00:23:49,263 --> 00:23:51,098
- I was workinghere and there,
507
00:23:51,181 --> 00:23:54,935
and then one day,
my boss called me up and said,
508
00:23:55,018 --> 00:23:56,770
"Next week,
here's your schedule.
509
00:23:56,854 --> 00:23:58,522
You're going to 81st Street.
510
00:23:58,605 --> 00:24:01,692
You're going to shoot this show
we just got," and he says,
511
00:24:01,775 --> 00:24:05,904
"I'm sending a whole crew
down there. We start Monday."
512
00:24:05,988 --> 00:24:11,118
[indistinct chatter]
513
00:24:11,201 --> 00:24:16,081
- So I go down thereand my camera was camera one,
514
00:24:16,164 --> 00:24:19,418
front of the store,Mr. Hooper's Store.
515
00:24:20,335 --> 00:24:22,838
And then we started shooting
"Sesame Street."
516
00:24:22,921 --> 00:24:26,216
[indistinct chatter]
517
00:24:31,054 --> 00:24:35,517
- Initially, when my dad hadthe idea of "Sesame Street"
518
00:24:35,601 --> 00:24:38,520
and having it be likea real neighborhood,
519
00:24:38,604 --> 00:24:41,773
it was going to bejust humans on the street.
520
00:24:41,857 --> 00:24:45,277
- And it's on camera, action.
521
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,905
- And then the Muppetswould be separate pieces.
522
00:24:50,032 --> 00:24:51,325
- Ah!
- Ah!
523
00:24:51,408 --> 00:24:52,451
- Ah!
- Ah!
524
00:24:52,534 --> 00:24:53,744
- [laughs]
525
00:24:53,827 --> 00:24:56,747
- Ah!
[laughter]
526
00:24:56,830 --> 00:24:58,874
- So the Muppets
weren't actually going to
527
00:24:58,957 --> 00:25:00,751
be connected with the street,
they were going to be separate.
528
00:25:00,834 --> 00:25:03,212
[tape rewinding]
529
00:25:03,295 --> 00:25:04,546
And then they startedto run the show
530
00:25:04,630 --> 00:25:06,924
with the test audiences
531
00:25:07,007 --> 00:25:08,634
and there wasabsolutely no way
532
00:25:08,717 --> 00:25:10,969
the street could competewith the Muppets.
533
00:25:11,053 --> 00:25:13,263
[chatter]
[children laughter]
534
00:25:13,347 --> 00:25:15,557
All the kids wantedwere the Muppets,
535
00:25:15,641 --> 00:25:18,227
the street was boring,in comparison.
536
00:25:20,187 --> 00:25:22,481
And that's when they decided
to blend the two
537
00:25:22,564 --> 00:25:24,274
and "Sesame Street" became
538
00:25:24,358 --> 00:25:25,734
New York City neighborhoodthat happens
539
00:25:25,817 --> 00:25:29,655
to have an 8-foot tallyellow bird walking around.
540
00:25:29,738 --> 00:25:32,241
[indistinct chatter]
- [humming]
541
00:25:32,324 --> 00:25:34,159
- Hi, Big Bird.
- Hey, Big Bird.
542
00:25:34,243 --> 00:25:35,953
- Hi, Susan.
- You know what?
543
00:25:36,036 --> 00:25:41,083
- So we're shooting the show,and you see this ugly bird.
544
00:25:41,166 --> 00:25:43,168
- Good morning, Mr. Sooper.
545
00:25:43,252 --> 00:25:45,921
- Uh, Big Bird, Hooper,
say Hooper.
546
00:25:46,004 --> 00:25:48,298
- And the first year...
- Hooper.
547
00:25:48,382 --> 00:25:52,261
- Big Bird wasn't that goodlooking, you know?
548
00:25:52,344 --> 00:25:54,721
I remember thinking, "Who's
going to watch this shit?"
549
00:25:54,805 --> 00:25:57,182
[laughing]
550
00:25:59,351 --> 00:26:01,979
[dynamic tones]
551
00:26:04,690 --> 00:26:06,733
- Public televisionin those days
552
00:26:06,817 --> 00:26:09,778
was largely on UHF channels.
553
00:26:09,862 --> 00:26:13,240
You really had to workwith the set and move
554
00:26:13,323 --> 00:26:16,535
the antenna around and so onto get a clear picture.
555
00:26:16,618 --> 00:26:19,037
So, many people thoughtthat we would not register
556
00:26:19,121 --> 00:26:21,707
a Nielsen number,
557
00:26:21,790 --> 00:26:24,001
that we would havetoo small an audience.
558
00:26:26,295 --> 00:26:30,340
Evelyn Davis ledthe community outreach work.
559
00:26:30,424 --> 00:26:32,467
We weren't so worriedabout reaching
560
00:26:32,551 --> 00:26:34,720
middle-class children,
561
00:26:34,803 --> 00:26:39,266
but we really, really wanted to
reach inner-city kids, badly.
562
00:26:39,349 --> 00:26:46,356
It was hardly worth doing
if we didn't reach them.
563
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,859
- We hope that every child
in the country watches it,
564
00:26:48,942 --> 00:26:51,028
but we do make
a particular effort
565
00:26:51,111 --> 00:26:54,072
to be sure that children
from minority communities
566
00:26:54,156 --> 00:26:56,658
and low-income communities
watch the program.
567
00:27:00,329 --> 00:27:04,082
- So Evelyn worked to tryto reach every parent,
568
00:27:04,166 --> 00:27:08,504
caretaker,YMCA, YWCA,
569
00:27:08,587 --> 00:27:13,217
churches,schools, daycare centers,
570
00:27:13,300 --> 00:27:15,093
any place we could findwhere we could say,
571
00:27:15,177 --> 00:27:17,679
"This show is coming."
572
00:27:17,763 --> 00:27:20,933
- We had done a lot of workto get the information out.
573
00:27:23,393 --> 00:27:26,230
But obviously we were on pins
and needles
574
00:27:26,313 --> 00:27:28,065
before it went on the air.
575
00:27:32,361 --> 00:27:37,282
- There never has been before
a nationwide TV program
576
00:27:37,366 --> 00:27:40,869
designed especially to help
prepare young children
577
00:27:40,953 --> 00:27:43,205
for school.
578
00:27:43,288 --> 00:27:46,041
This week, there will be.
579
00:27:46,124 --> 00:27:48,961
[dynamic music playing]
580
00:27:49,044 --> 00:27:53,131
♪ ♪
581
00:27:53,215 --> 00:27:55,968
["Sesame Street" theme plays]
582
00:27:56,051 --> 00:28:00,055
♪ ♪
583
00:28:00,138 --> 00:28:02,140
- ♪ Sunny day ♪
584
00:28:02,224 --> 00:28:07,271
♪ Sweepin' the clouds away ♪
585
00:28:07,354 --> 00:28:12,359
♪ On my way to wherethe air is sweet ♪
586
00:28:12,442 --> 00:28:15,112
♪ Can you tell me how to get ♪
587
00:28:15,195 --> 00:28:17,906
♪ How to getto Sesame Street? ♪
588
00:28:17,990 --> 00:28:19,408
- When it went on the air,
589
00:28:19,491 --> 00:28:23,203
the phone startedringing off the wall.
590
00:28:23,287 --> 00:28:25,956
No one had ever seen
anything like it.
591
00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:28,584
[percussive music building]
592
00:28:28,667 --> 00:28:33,130
♪ ♪
593
00:28:33,213 --> 00:28:35,507
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
594
00:28:35,591 --> 00:28:37,634
8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
595
00:28:37,718 --> 00:28:40,929
- And there was an immenseinterest in the show.
596
00:28:41,013 --> 00:28:42,472
- A new children's program
597
00:28:42,556 --> 00:28:44,683
will make use
of the commercial technique
598
00:28:44,766 --> 00:28:47,102
to acquaint the youngsters
with the alphabet.
599
00:28:47,186 --> 00:28:49,605
The program is called
"Sesame Street,"
600
00:28:49,688 --> 00:28:54,067
and here is a message from one
of its sponsors, the letter X.
601
00:28:54,151 --> 00:28:56,945
- This is an X.
602
00:28:57,029 --> 00:28:59,531
Even upside down,
it's still an X.
603
00:28:59,615 --> 00:29:01,742
- This is near.
- "Sesame Street"
604
00:29:01,825 --> 00:29:05,704
will be seen on morethan 180 educational stations.
605
00:29:05,787 --> 00:29:07,915
- This is far!
606
00:29:07,998 --> 00:29:10,209
♪ ♪
607
00:29:10,292 --> 00:29:12,711
- The mysterious nose-snatcher.
608
00:29:12,794 --> 00:29:14,254
- No, I don't think so.
609
00:29:15,589 --> 00:29:16,673
- Two!
610
00:29:16,757 --> 00:29:18,342
[pop]
611
00:29:18,425 --> 00:29:21,678
- The mysterious nose-snatcher.
612
00:29:21,762 --> 00:29:26,433
- I remember when it came out.I was in college,
613
00:29:26,517 --> 00:29:28,352
and I walked intothe student union
614
00:29:28,435 --> 00:29:30,979
and there on the screen
was a very young,
615
00:29:31,063 --> 00:29:34,441
very bold James Earl Jones
reciting the alphabet. "A!"
616
00:29:34,525 --> 00:29:39,571
- A, B, C.
617
00:29:39,655 --> 00:29:41,698
- You know, he's so deliberateand the letters
618
00:29:41,782 --> 00:29:43,575
were flashing over his head,and I thought,
619
00:29:43,659 --> 00:29:45,869
"What is this weird thingon television?"
620
00:29:45,953 --> 00:29:47,663
- E.
621
00:29:47,746 --> 00:29:49,957
- I thought it was a show
that taught lip-reading
622
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:51,416
because he was being
so deliberate.
623
00:29:51,500 --> 00:29:53,085
It was so odd.
624
00:29:53,168 --> 00:29:56,630
- Wanda had a pet weasel.
- I'm a weasel.
625
00:29:56,713 --> 00:29:58,799
- Then they cutto an animation.
626
00:29:58,882 --> 00:30:01,218
It was something wild, I think
"Wanda the Witch" or--
627
00:30:01,301 --> 00:30:03,220
- Wanda the Witch lived
628
00:30:03,303 --> 00:30:06,098
somewhere west of Washington.
629
00:30:06,181 --> 00:30:09,017
- And then
very slick singing...
630
00:30:09,101 --> 00:30:10,936
- One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine...
631
00:30:11,019 --> 00:30:13,105
- About the number 10.
632
00:30:13,188 --> 00:30:14,982
- Seven, eight, nine, ten!
633
00:30:15,065 --> 00:30:17,067
- And college studentswere watching it.
634
00:30:17,150 --> 00:30:21,947
It was such a weird
groundbreaking television show.
635
00:30:22,030 --> 00:30:25,367
- "Sesame Street," a uniqueexperimental series.
636
00:30:27,619 --> 00:30:29,788
It's the first educationaltelevision show
637
00:30:29,872 --> 00:30:32,749
to compete with commercial
programs for its audience.
638
00:30:32,833 --> 00:30:34,793
- Excuse me, sir.
- What?
639
00:30:34,877 --> 00:30:37,588
- What is your job
in the neighborhood?
640
00:30:37,671 --> 00:30:40,465
- You're kidding me.
- No, really, what's your job?
641
00:30:40,549 --> 00:30:43,886
- An elephant trainer.
Look at me. I'm driving a bus.
642
00:30:43,969 --> 00:30:46,555
- Working on "Sesame Street,"
643
00:30:46,638 --> 00:30:51,185
it was just a dream come true
to fall into this job.
644
00:30:51,268 --> 00:30:54,021
♪ Because a bus driver is
a person in your neighborhood ♪
645
00:30:54,104 --> 00:30:57,858
- ♪ In your neighborhood ♪
both: ♪ In your neighborhood ♪
646
00:30:57,941 --> 00:31:01,653
- ♪ And the dentist is a person
in your neighborhood ♪
647
00:31:01,737 --> 00:31:03,572
- ♪ They're the people
that you meet ♪
648
00:31:03,655 --> 00:31:05,365
- ♪ When you're walking
down the street ♪
649
00:31:05,449 --> 00:31:08,577
- ♪ They're the people
that you meet ♪
650
00:31:08,660 --> 00:31:12,831
♪ Each day ♪
651
00:31:13,332 --> 00:31:14,875
- Open wide, please.
652
00:31:14,958 --> 00:31:18,170
- Don't talk to the driver.
Oh, there goes my bus!
653
00:31:18,253 --> 00:31:20,130
- "Tooth-thirty."
654
00:31:24,676 --> 00:31:26,595
- And the first year we toured
655
00:31:26,678 --> 00:31:29,014
some of the major citiesin the country.
656
00:31:29,097 --> 00:31:32,768
[cheers and applause]
657
00:31:32,851 --> 00:31:36,396
And I remember Matt Robinson,who was the first Gordon.
658
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,398
- Do all of you watch
"Sesame Street"?
659
00:31:38,482 --> 00:31:39,525
all: Yeah!
660
00:31:39,608 --> 00:31:41,193
- Do all of you?
661
00:31:41,276 --> 00:31:44,655
- He went out and sort ofwarmed the audience up.
662
00:31:44,738 --> 00:31:47,241
He came back and said
"Geez, this is like Woodstock."
663
00:31:47,324 --> 00:31:51,203
[singer vocalizes]
664
00:31:51,286 --> 00:31:53,163
- I said, "Hi."
665
00:31:53,247 --> 00:31:55,374
- One, two, three.
666
00:31:55,457 --> 00:31:57,251
- ♪ "Sesame Street" ♪
667
00:31:57,334 --> 00:31:59,253
- The most talked-about seriesof the '69 season
668
00:31:59,336 --> 00:32:01,547
has been out on the roadchecking up on its audience
669
00:32:01,630 --> 00:32:03,590
and has found nothingbut love.
670
00:32:03,674 --> 00:32:08,178
- These kids know Susan,Gordon, Bob,
671
00:32:08,262 --> 00:32:09,972
Mr. Hooper and Big Bird
672
00:32:10,055 --> 00:32:12,182
as well as their parents knowabout Bob Dylan
673
00:32:12,266 --> 00:32:14,810
or Frank Sinatra.
674
00:32:14,893 --> 00:32:16,937
- It was a madhouse,so we got a feeling
675
00:32:17,020 --> 00:32:18,605
that the show was working.
676
00:32:18,689 --> 00:32:21,316
That was our first real
connection with the audience.
677
00:32:22,734 --> 00:32:24,319
- Consideringthe adulation that
678
00:32:24,403 --> 00:32:26,697
the "Sesame Street" playersreceived from the younger set,
679
00:32:26,780 --> 00:32:28,407
it was enough to make
a TV newsman
680
00:32:28,490 --> 00:32:29,783
want to change his image.
681
00:32:29,867 --> 00:32:31,410
- One, two, three.
682
00:32:31,493 --> 00:32:33,161
- ♪ "Sesame Street" ♪
683
00:32:33,245 --> 00:32:36,123
- A, B, C and...
684
00:32:36,206 --> 00:32:39,001
- ♪ "Sesame Street" ♪
685
00:32:39,084 --> 00:32:43,463
- And I was stunned atthe overwhelming support
686
00:32:43,547 --> 00:32:45,215
for what we were doing.
687
00:32:45,299 --> 00:32:49,094
It was like a swish
of a hurricane
688
00:32:49,178 --> 00:32:51,805
coming in through a window.
689
00:32:51,889 --> 00:32:54,933
It was as if the worldhad been waiting for this.
690
00:32:55,017 --> 00:32:56,768
- I think "Sesame Street"is the greatest thing
691
00:32:56,852 --> 00:32:58,478
that ever happened
in television.
692
00:32:58,562 --> 00:33:01,023
- Oh, yes, aren't they great?
- You know?
693
00:33:01,106 --> 00:33:03,233
- ♪ Sesame Street ♪
694
00:33:03,317 --> 00:33:05,777
- I'd advise three years old
start watching "Sesame Street."
695
00:33:05,861 --> 00:33:07,779
I'd set up and watch it.
You really can learn.
696
00:33:07,863 --> 00:33:09,740
It's cute the way
they put them things together,
697
00:33:09,823 --> 00:33:11,783
and my little daughter
watches it,
698
00:33:11,867 --> 00:33:13,994
and she's getting so smart.
She knows everything about it.
699
00:33:14,077 --> 00:33:18,749
- ♪ Sesame--"Sesame Street" ♪
- It was amazing.
700
00:33:18,832 --> 00:33:21,668
- What's your feeling about
what it does so well?
701
00:33:21,752 --> 00:33:23,921
- Well, I think the public
was really ready
702
00:33:24,004 --> 00:33:25,255
for change in television,
703
00:33:25,339 --> 00:33:28,008
and we hit that,
the crest of that wave,
704
00:33:28,091 --> 00:33:30,511
and children neededwhat we're providing.
705
00:33:33,096 --> 00:33:35,599
- Now for the award
for children's programming.
706
00:33:35,682 --> 00:33:37,809
Let's see who the winner is:
707
00:33:37,893 --> 00:33:40,687
Jon Stone, Ray Sipherd,
Dan Wilcox, Bruce Hart...
708
00:33:40,771 --> 00:33:41,939
[applause]
709
00:33:42,022 --> 00:33:44,441
- It was just one miracle
after another.
710
00:33:45,859 --> 00:33:47,277
[cheers and applause]
711
00:33:47,361 --> 00:33:48,862
- Thank you.
712
00:33:48,946 --> 00:33:51,823
["Sesame Street" theme songplaying]
713
00:33:51,907 --> 00:33:54,451
♪ ♪
714
00:33:54,535 --> 00:33:57,663
- [whistling to
the theme song]
715
00:33:57,746 --> 00:34:00,040
[cars honking]
716
00:34:03,669 --> 00:34:06,839
- Hey. Come on over.
Glad you could make it.
717
00:34:06,922 --> 00:34:10,551
This is a swinging sunny day
on Sesame Street.
718
00:34:10,634 --> 00:34:14,763
- "Sesame Street" was justso big, and it was so popular.
719
00:34:14,847 --> 00:34:16,765
You know, back then,
you say your dad is Gordon
720
00:34:16,849 --> 00:34:18,308
on "Sesame Street,"
721
00:34:18,392 --> 00:34:20,227
you know what I mean,
that's a big deal,
722
00:34:20,310 --> 00:34:22,896
right, really big deal
723
00:34:22,980 --> 00:34:26,650
because he was so well-knownin this world of children.
724
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,154
- Hi.- Hi.
725
00:34:31,238 --> 00:34:34,491
- We looked in the TV.
It still wasn't registering.
726
00:34:34,575 --> 00:34:36,451
Like, how'd he get in that box?
727
00:34:36,535 --> 00:34:37,953
- How did he get in the box?
728
00:34:38,036 --> 00:34:39,955
- You know,
what's he doing there,
729
00:34:40,038 --> 00:34:41,832
and how come he's not stopping
everything to say hi to us?
730
00:34:41,915 --> 00:34:43,876
- Sally, you've never seena street like Sesame Street.
731
00:34:43,959 --> 00:34:46,044
Everything happens here.You're going to love it.
732
00:34:46,128 --> 00:34:48,547
- Yeah, and who's that little
girl whose hand he's holding?
733
00:34:48,630 --> 00:34:49,965
- That's another problem.
734
00:34:50,048 --> 00:34:51,383
- Who is that little girl?
735
00:34:51,466 --> 00:34:52,759
- Oh, boy.
- She's my age.
736
00:34:52,843 --> 00:34:53,886
- Oh, boy.
737
00:34:53,969 --> 00:34:55,554
- And why is
he holding her hand?
738
00:34:55,637 --> 00:34:57,806
- Breathe deeply.
You're going to get through it.
739
00:34:59,808 --> 00:35:02,728
- Gordon!
I want you to meet Gordon.
740
00:35:02,811 --> 00:35:04,897
- Oh, all right. All right.
- Gordon!
741
00:35:04,980 --> 00:35:06,398
- Somebody say,
"Mixed neighborhood"?
742
00:35:06,481 --> 00:35:08,192
- Oh, yeah. How you doing?
743
00:35:08,275 --> 00:35:09,484
It's nice to see you.
- Okay.
744
00:35:09,568 --> 00:35:11,486
- Before he was on"Sesame Street,"
745
00:35:11,570 --> 00:35:15,324
Matt was basicallythe Black Johnny Carson
746
00:35:15,407 --> 00:35:17,784
in Philadelphia.
747
00:35:17,868 --> 00:35:20,537
- This is "Black Book."
I'm Matt Robinson,
748
00:35:20,621 --> 00:35:23,165
and we're going to continue
right after this.
749
00:35:23,248 --> 00:35:25,083
- "Black Book."
750
00:35:25,167 --> 00:35:27,961
- That's how he beganhis television career.
751
00:35:28,045 --> 00:35:30,547
- "Angelitos negros"...
- But that show...
752
00:35:30,631 --> 00:35:33,008
- Is Spanish for Black angels.
753
00:35:33,091 --> 00:35:36,220
- Was all about Black,
754
00:35:36,303 --> 00:35:40,682
and it made him
just a little more serious
755
00:35:40,766 --> 00:35:43,644
about what the struggle
was all about.
756
00:35:43,727 --> 00:35:46,563
Those wererevolutionary times.
757
00:35:48,815 --> 00:35:53,153
And then Mattcomes home one night
758
00:35:53,237 --> 00:35:58,742
and says he'd been contacted by
Children's Television Workshop,
759
00:35:58,825 --> 00:36:01,870
and they wanted himas a writer.
760
00:36:01,954 --> 00:36:05,874
And then they wanted himto be on camera.
761
00:36:05,958 --> 00:36:11,296
He was going to be interactingwith people and Muppets.
762
00:36:11,380 --> 00:36:17,177
But where does Mr. Blackfit into this kiddie show?
763
00:36:17,261 --> 00:36:23,267
They sold him on what
this show could become,
764
00:36:23,350 --> 00:36:26,061
something revolutionary.
765
00:36:26,144 --> 00:36:28,939
- Hey, Gordon! Come on over!
- Yeah. Got my whole gang here.
766
00:36:29,022 --> 00:36:30,816
- Groovy.
- Give me something, Odetta.
767
00:36:30,899 --> 00:36:33,944
- ♪ Hammer in the morning ♪
- All right.
768
00:36:34,027 --> 00:36:36,196
- ♪ Hammer in the evening ♪
- [clapping along]
769
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:38,031
- ♪ All over this land ♪
770
00:36:38,115 --> 00:36:39,867
- Mm-hmm.
771
00:36:39,950 --> 00:36:43,787
- We felt we could demonstratethings very subtlety
772
00:36:43,871 --> 00:36:45,455
that were really important.
773
00:36:45,539 --> 00:36:48,041
- 13.
- 13.
774
00:36:48,125 --> 00:36:50,294
- 14!
- 14.
775
00:36:50,377 --> 00:36:53,088
- So, of course, there wasthe cognitive stuff,
776
00:36:53,172 --> 00:36:56,884
numbers, letters,all those things,
777
00:36:56,967 --> 00:36:59,928
but equally important,
maybe even more important,
778
00:37:00,012 --> 00:37:02,556
was the fact that Sesame
was a neighborhood
779
00:37:02,639 --> 00:37:08,437
where people of all races,
kids and adults and monsters...
780
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:09,646
- Hi, Mr. Looper.
What you doing?
781
00:37:09,730 --> 00:37:11,899
- Hooper, Hooper.
- Hooper.
782
00:37:11,982 --> 00:37:13,400
- Live together.
783
00:37:13,483 --> 00:37:15,652
[overlapping chatter]
- I love that ice-cream store.
784
00:37:15,736 --> 00:37:18,113
- ♪ If I had a song ♪
- If I had a song.
785
00:37:18,197 --> 00:37:20,365
- ♪ I'd sing it
in the morning ♪
786
00:37:20,449 --> 00:37:23,327
- ♪ Sing it in the morning ♪
- ♪ Sing it in the evening ♪
787
00:37:23,410 --> 00:37:25,662
- ♪ Sing it in the evening ♪
- Jon Stone, now that
788
00:37:25,746 --> 00:37:27,581
"Sesame Street"
is into its second season,
789
00:37:27,664 --> 00:37:30,876
what has been the impact
of the special things
790
00:37:30,959 --> 00:37:33,337
that you've done,
the integrated cast,
791
00:37:33,420 --> 00:37:35,005
as you've seen it?
792
00:37:35,088 --> 00:37:38,091
- It really speaks for itself
on the air.
793
00:37:38,175 --> 00:37:41,386
We've never beaten that horse
to death by talking about it.
794
00:37:41,470 --> 00:37:43,514
We simply show it.
795
00:37:43,597 --> 00:37:46,517
- ♪ It's the hammer
of justice ♪
796
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:48,727
♪ The bell of freedom ♪
797
00:37:48,810 --> 00:37:51,480
♪ A song about love ♪
798
00:37:51,563 --> 00:37:53,190
♪ For all of my brothers ♪
799
00:37:53,273 --> 00:37:58,946
♪ All over the land ♪
800
00:37:59,029 --> 00:38:01,907
[somber music]
801
00:38:01,990 --> 00:38:05,911
♪ ♪
802
00:38:05,994 --> 00:38:08,956
- This million-dollarpublic television facility
803
00:38:09,039 --> 00:38:11,875
located in the affluentwhite suburbs of Jackson
804
00:38:11,959 --> 00:38:15,212
is broadcastingfive hours a day,
805
00:38:15,295 --> 00:38:18,382
mostly film and tape programsproduced in the North.
806
00:38:21,844 --> 00:38:24,930
But "Sesame Street"is not on the air.
807
00:38:25,013 --> 00:38:27,391
Some who saw itapparently disliked the number
808
00:38:27,474 --> 00:38:29,226
of Black performers.
809
00:38:29,309 --> 00:38:31,645
- Mrs. Cooney,
what is your reaction?
810
00:38:31,728 --> 00:38:33,230
- There's no question
811
00:38:33,313 --> 00:38:34,606
that we're integrated,
812
00:38:34,690 --> 00:38:36,275
and we reflect to some degree
813
00:38:36,358 --> 00:38:37,818
inner city, I would say,
814
00:38:37,901 --> 00:38:39,903
Black inner city life,
815
00:38:39,987 --> 00:38:42,030
and we're very proud of that.
816
00:38:42,114 --> 00:38:43,407
I mean,
if that's our worst sin,
817
00:38:43,490 --> 00:38:46,285
I'm happy to be a sinner.
818
00:38:46,368 --> 00:38:47,870
- Is there anything about
"Sesame Street"
819
00:38:47,953 --> 00:38:49,246
which would make it not fit
820
00:38:49,329 --> 00:38:51,415
the needs of people
in Mississippi?
821
00:38:52,583 --> 00:38:54,543
- Uh,
822
00:38:54,626 --> 00:38:57,296
"Sesame Street" was considered
along with the other ones.
823
00:38:57,379 --> 00:38:59,089
For instance,
"Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"
824
00:38:59,173 --> 00:39:01,091
uses puppets
in a different way.
825
00:39:01,175 --> 00:39:02,885
It's a quiet program.
826
00:39:02,968 --> 00:39:05,095
- Give me some help here.
Tell me, "Sesame Street,"
827
00:39:05,179 --> 00:39:06,805
it is integrated
racially, isn't it?
828
00:39:06,889 --> 00:39:08,056
- Yes.
829
00:39:08,140 --> 00:39:09,349
- Do you think that had
anything to do
830
00:39:09,433 --> 00:39:11,602
with the tabling,
if that's what we can call it
831
00:39:11,685 --> 00:39:12,895
accurately,
of "Sesame Street"
832
00:39:12,978 --> 00:39:14,563
for the fact
that it heavily integrated
833
00:39:14,646 --> 00:39:19,484
that there is a Black father
figure in the program?
834
00:39:19,568 --> 00:39:24,031
- That's an extremely difficult
question for me to answer.
835
00:39:24,114 --> 00:39:26,033
If the people want it,
they'll let us know.
836
00:39:26,116 --> 00:39:29,077
If they don't,
they'll let us know.
837
00:39:29,161 --> 00:39:33,081
- Okay. Jimmy, do you like
"Sesame Street"?
838
00:39:33,165 --> 00:39:35,083
- I like it quite a bit.
839
00:39:35,167 --> 00:39:36,752
- Do you like it better
than other programs,
840
00:39:36,835 --> 00:39:38,837
or is there something else
you like better?
841
00:39:38,921 --> 00:39:41,798
- I like that the best.
842
00:39:41,882 --> 00:39:43,884
- What do you learn there?
843
00:39:43,967 --> 00:39:45,511
- ABCs.
844
00:39:47,137 --> 00:39:49,681
- Mississippi is oneof the poorest states.
845
00:39:49,765 --> 00:39:52,601
Many children, Blackand white, never see a book
846
00:39:52,684 --> 00:39:55,020
until they start first grade.
847
00:39:55,103 --> 00:39:56,897
- We're making an attempt
to persuade
848
00:39:56,980 --> 00:39:59,107
the Educational Television
Commission
849
00:39:59,191 --> 00:40:01,193
to consider
carrying this program--
850
00:40:01,276 --> 00:40:04,947
- A man that was running
a commercial station in Jackson
851
00:40:05,030 --> 00:40:06,323
put it on.
852
00:40:06,406 --> 00:40:08,116
- If it is not scheduled,
853
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:09,826
then our station and others
in the state
854
00:40:09,910 --> 00:40:11,828
are making plans to do so.
855
00:40:13,413 --> 00:40:14,873
- Good?
856
00:40:18,001 --> 00:40:19,461
- Rolling.
857
00:40:19,545 --> 00:40:21,463
- So while the politicianscontinue to squabble
858
00:40:21,547 --> 00:40:23,006
over "Sesame Street"...
859
00:40:23,090 --> 00:40:24,174
- Quiet!
860
00:40:26,385 --> 00:40:28,345
- Thousands ofMississippi schoolchildren
861
00:40:28,428 --> 00:40:31,598
are watching the programon commercial stations
862
00:40:31,682 --> 00:40:34,434
whether the officialswho control educational TV
863
00:40:34,518 --> 00:40:36,019
here like it or not.
864
00:40:38,021 --> 00:40:40,983
- Eventually MississippiPublic TV
865
00:40:41,066 --> 00:40:42,693
put it back on the air.
866
00:40:42,776 --> 00:40:45,445
[indistinct chatter]
867
00:40:45,529 --> 00:40:48,991
which shows you that all this
maybe made a difference.
868
00:40:50,492 --> 00:40:52,244
[device beeps]
869
00:40:52,327 --> 00:40:55,122
- Okay. Anytime.
870
00:40:55,205 --> 00:40:58,917
- I just want you to repeat
after me each time, okay?
871
00:40:59,001 --> 00:41:00,377
- Okay.
- All right.
872
00:41:00,460 --> 00:41:02,087
Here we go.
I am.
873
00:41:02,171 --> 00:41:04,256
children: I am.
- Somebody.
874
00:41:04,339 --> 00:41:05,924
children: Somebody.
- I am.
875
00:41:06,008 --> 00:41:07,593
children: I am.
- Somebody.
876
00:41:07,676 --> 00:41:09,344
children: Somebody.
- I may be young.
877
00:41:09,428 --> 00:41:11,263
children: I may be young.
- But I am.
878
00:41:11,346 --> 00:41:12,931
- But I am.
children: Somebody.
879
00:41:13,015 --> 00:41:14,725
children: Somebody.
- I may be small.
880
00:41:14,808 --> 00:41:16,727
children: I may be small.
- But I am.
881
00:41:16,810 --> 00:41:18,437
children: But I am.
- Somebody.
882
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:20,814
children: Somebody.
- I can change the world.
883
00:41:20,898 --> 00:41:22,482
children: I can change
the world.
884
00:41:22,566 --> 00:41:24,026
- I am.
children: I am.
885
00:41:24,109 --> 00:41:26,028
- I am!
children: I am.
886
00:41:26,111 --> 00:41:27,779
- I am.
children: I am.
887
00:41:27,863 --> 00:41:29,281
- Somebody.
children: Somebody.
888
00:41:29,364 --> 00:41:30,365
- We are beautiful.
889
00:41:30,449 --> 00:41:31,450
children: We are beautiful.
890
00:41:31,533 --> 00:41:33,368
- Beautiful children
will grow up.
891
00:41:33,452 --> 00:41:35,412
children: Beautiful children
will grow up.
892
00:41:35,495 --> 00:41:37,289
- And make
the whole world beautiful.
893
00:41:37,372 --> 00:41:39,875
children: And make
the whole world beautiful.
894
00:41:39,958 --> 00:41:41,710
- Right on.
children: Right on.
895
00:41:41,793 --> 00:41:42,920
- [laughs]
896
00:41:45,297 --> 00:41:49,510
- [indistinct]
And mark it.
897
00:41:49,593 --> 00:41:51,803
- What? What is it?
898
00:41:51,887 --> 00:41:55,474
Hmm, hmm, hmm. Hmm, hmm.
899
00:41:55,557 --> 00:41:56,767
- What are those?
900
00:41:56,850 --> 00:41:58,185
- Well, these are questions,
Bert,
901
00:41:58,268 --> 00:41:59,978
questions that
we're supposed to answer.
902
00:42:00,062 --> 00:42:01,355
- Oh. Oh.
903
00:42:01,438 --> 00:42:04,024
- You ready, ready to answer
a question, Bert?
904
00:42:04,107 --> 00:42:05,359
- Yeah. Why do we have
to answer questions?
905
00:42:05,442 --> 00:42:06,693
- I don't know.
906
00:42:06,777 --> 00:42:08,403
I was given this paper
that has questions on it,
907
00:42:08,487 --> 00:42:10,155
and it says,
"Answer these questions."
908
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,115
- Okay.
- So listen to this.
909
00:42:12,199 --> 00:42:14,785
- Okay.
- Are you two best friends?
910
00:42:17,412 --> 00:42:21,208
- Why, yes. We're good buddies
until he starts something.
911
00:42:21,291 --> 00:42:23,752
- That's true.
Me and my old buddy, Bert,
912
00:42:23,836 --> 00:42:25,754
we are close friends,
Bert and I.
913
00:42:25,838 --> 00:42:27,130
- We are.
We're the best of friends.
914
00:42:27,214 --> 00:42:28,799
- Yes.
- What was that?
915
00:42:28,882 --> 00:42:30,175
- What was what?
916
00:42:30,259 --> 00:42:32,344
- You just--
Your hand went like that.
917
00:42:32,427 --> 00:42:34,471
- Oh, I--
- See. That's what I mean.
918
00:42:34,555 --> 00:42:36,056
We're good friends
until he starts something.
919
00:42:36,139 --> 00:42:37,266
- I didn't start anything,
Bert.
920
00:42:37,349 --> 00:42:40,477
- Yeah.
- Didn't start anything.
921
00:42:40,561 --> 00:42:44,064
Okay. Next question,
do you all ever argue?
922
00:42:47,651 --> 00:42:52,155
- Jim Henson, Frank Ozare super puppeteers,
923
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:53,699
and the Muppetsare unquestionably
924
00:42:53,782 --> 00:42:55,367
the stars of the show,
925
00:42:55,450 --> 00:42:58,120
and Bert'smy all-time favorite.
926
00:42:58,203 --> 00:43:00,539
- What are some advantages
of having a roommate?
927
00:43:00,622 --> 00:43:03,083
- I suppose the main advantage
is if you wanted
928
00:43:03,166 --> 00:43:05,002
to mess up the place,
you wouldn't have to do it
929
00:43:05,085 --> 00:43:07,171
because your roommate
always does it.
930
00:43:07,254 --> 00:43:09,131
- Frank throws himself
into the characters
931
00:43:09,214 --> 00:43:11,008
so thoroughly that you just...
932
00:43:11,091 --> 00:43:14,970
You believe Bert as much as if
he were Sir Laurence Olivier.
933
00:43:16,305 --> 00:43:17,347
- [sighs]
934
00:43:17,431 --> 00:43:18,724
Are we finished?
935
00:43:18,807 --> 00:43:20,601
- Yeah, that's
the last question.
936
00:43:20,684 --> 00:43:21,935
- Okay.
- Matter of fact,
937
00:43:22,019 --> 00:43:23,896
there's nothing
written on this anyhow.
938
00:43:23,979 --> 00:43:26,190
I made those up, Bert.
939
00:43:28,859 --> 00:43:30,819
- You what?
- [laughs]
940
00:43:30,903 --> 00:43:33,405
- You're supposed to go--
[laughter]
941
00:43:33,488 --> 00:43:35,949
- Laurel and Hardy,
Abbott and Costello,
942
00:43:36,033 --> 00:43:40,662
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis,
these are just comedy teams,
943
00:43:40,746 --> 00:43:42,998
and Jim and Frankwere a comedy team.
944
00:43:43,081 --> 00:43:46,168
[upbeat music]
945
00:43:46,251 --> 00:43:49,004
- We've worked together as
a pair for 12, 13 years now.
946
00:43:49,087 --> 00:43:51,423
- Too long.
- Too long.
947
00:43:51,507 --> 00:43:53,133
- We dislike each other
tensely,
948
00:43:53,217 --> 00:43:55,552
which is why we can work
so well together.
949
00:43:55,636 --> 00:43:57,429
- There's kind of a little bit
of love/hate there.
950
00:43:57,513 --> 00:43:58,931
[laughter]
951
00:43:59,014 --> 00:44:00,098
- And you two really don't
952
00:44:00,182 --> 00:44:01,433
agree with each other
on anything.
953
00:44:01,517 --> 00:44:02,893
- Oh, on some things, yes.
- Oh.
954
00:44:02,976 --> 00:44:04,269
Not on all things.
- No.
955
00:44:04,353 --> 00:44:05,646
- Well, not on many things.
- Or was.
956
00:44:05,729 --> 00:44:08,565
- Two things.
[laughter]
957
00:44:08,649 --> 00:44:10,984
- They weren't even whatI would call best friends
958
00:44:11,068 --> 00:44:13,111
away from the set.
959
00:44:13,195 --> 00:44:14,905
You know,Jim had five children,
960
00:44:14,988 --> 00:44:16,448
and Frank was single
961
00:44:16,532 --> 00:44:19,576
and, you know,completely different lives.
962
00:44:19,660 --> 00:44:21,453
- Bert, why don't you
loan him your scarf?
963
00:44:21,537 --> 00:44:23,455
- Be nice of you if you
pulled the scarf.
964
00:44:23,539 --> 00:44:25,832
- But there wasincredible chemistry.
965
00:44:25,916 --> 00:44:27,626
- [silly whoosh noise]
966
00:44:28,544 --> 00:44:30,087
- Maybe you'd loan
him your scarf.
967
00:44:30,170 --> 00:44:31,421
- Ah!
968
00:44:31,505 --> 00:44:33,131
Ernie.
969
00:44:33,215 --> 00:44:36,593
- Honestly, to be on the set
watching this dynamic
970
00:44:36,677 --> 00:44:39,137
between this two guys,
it was magic.
971
00:44:41,807 --> 00:44:43,600
[squeaking]
- Ah! Ah! Ah!
972
00:44:43,684 --> 00:44:45,811
- [snickering]
Hi, Bert.
973
00:44:45,894 --> 00:44:48,522
- Ernie.
[laughter]
974
00:44:48,605 --> 00:44:50,065
- What a drive.
975
00:44:50,148 --> 00:44:53,819
- Before I became a puppeteer,
976
00:44:53,902 --> 00:44:56,738
I was an unemployed actressin New York.
977
00:44:58,198 --> 00:45:00,909
There was an ad in Backstage
978
00:45:00,993 --> 00:45:04,454
saying that Jim Henson waslooking to train puppeteers.
979
00:45:06,290 --> 00:45:09,126
The guys had beendoing female characters,
980
00:45:09,209 --> 00:45:10,711
and it was hysterical
981
00:45:10,794 --> 00:45:12,713
because they were doing themin falsetto.
982
00:45:12,796 --> 00:45:14,339
- Sky.
- It's not?
983
00:45:14,423 --> 00:45:16,967
- No, that's Wanda the Witch.
984
00:45:17,050 --> 00:45:21,763
- And I think they startedfeeling a little pressure
985
00:45:21,847 --> 00:45:24,183
about how they should hirea real female
986
00:45:24,266 --> 00:45:26,226
to do these characters.
987
00:45:26,310 --> 00:45:29,771
I mean, I'd never played
with a puppet in my life,
988
00:45:29,855 --> 00:45:32,900
but it was better than
modeling bras at Lady Marlene,
989
00:45:32,983 --> 00:45:34,776
which was one of my other jobs.
990
00:45:34,860 --> 00:45:36,904
- Stand by, rehearsal.
991
00:45:36,987 --> 00:45:41,992
- Okay and theme.
992
00:45:42,075 --> 00:45:47,956
- So the whole idea is to make
this piece of felt and fuzz
993
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,792
react and move
994
00:45:50,876 --> 00:45:56,465
and look like a person,like a real thing.
995
00:45:56,548 --> 00:45:58,342
- ♪ Exercise, we just gonna
work it out ♪
996
00:45:58,425 --> 00:46:01,512
- And it's so, so hard to do.
997
00:46:01,595 --> 00:46:04,890
Not only are you keepingthe character alive,
998
00:46:04,973 --> 00:46:08,936
but you are looking ata monitor that's on the floor
999
00:46:09,019 --> 00:46:10,687
- All right, hold on.
1000
00:46:10,771 --> 00:46:12,648
- Because that's how you seewhat you're doing.
1001
00:46:12,731 --> 00:46:15,484
You're not watching the camera.
You're looking down here,
1002
00:46:15,567 --> 00:46:20,614
so it's multitasking
like you wouldn't believe.
1003
00:46:20,697 --> 00:46:21,907
- Okay. Then we'll...
1004
00:46:21,990 --> 00:46:23,700
- Usingthe television monitor,
1005
00:46:23,784 --> 00:46:25,869
you can perform
1006
00:46:25,953 --> 00:46:30,499
and see your performanceexactly as the audience does.
1007
00:46:30,582 --> 00:46:32,417
- Right, Bert? Bert?
1008
00:46:32,501 --> 00:46:34,878
- This is unique
in the performance field.
1009
00:46:34,962 --> 00:46:37,130
I mean, no other actor
can ever see their performance
1010
00:46:37,214 --> 00:46:38,715
at the same time
they're doing it.
1011
00:46:38,799 --> 00:46:41,134
- Bert? He's sleeping.
1012
00:46:41,218 --> 00:46:42,719
Well, I don't mind
if he's sleeping.
1013
00:46:42,803 --> 00:46:45,430
- As we're performing,we're also framing the shots
1014
00:46:45,514 --> 00:46:47,516
in such a way that it feels
1015
00:46:47,599 --> 00:46:50,102
like these things
are totally dimensional.
1016
00:46:50,185 --> 00:46:52,271
- Now where is he this time?
1017
00:46:52,354 --> 00:46:55,148
He knew
he was supposed to be here.
1018
00:46:55,232 --> 00:46:58,861
Roosevelt Franklin.
Roosevelt Franklin.
1019
00:46:58,944 --> 00:47:01,738
- Roosevelt Franklin is whom--
is who--who is he?
1020
00:47:01,822 --> 00:47:04,741
- He is a Black Muppet created
1021
00:47:04,825 --> 00:47:08,328
by the man who plays
Gordon, Matt Robinson.
1022
00:47:08,412 --> 00:47:11,748
- ♪ Roosevelt Franklin,what you say? ♪
1023
00:47:11,832 --> 00:47:16,086
- ♪ You know the very first
letter is the letter A ♪
1024
00:47:16,170 --> 00:47:18,881
- ♪ What more can you tell me ♪
1025
00:47:18,964 --> 00:47:20,591
- ♪ I know the very
next letter is... ♪
1026
00:47:20,674 --> 00:47:22,301
- Rooseveltwas very specific.
1027
00:47:22,384 --> 00:47:23,844
- Roosevelt was a Black kid.
1028
00:47:23,927 --> 00:47:26,597
- He was a Black kid
in a classroom telling you
1029
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:29,391
that learning was cool,
and if you weren't down
1030
00:47:29,474 --> 00:47:31,727
with that,
couldn't hang out with him.
1031
00:47:31,810 --> 00:47:33,061
- Yeah, 'cause you wanted--
1032
00:47:33,145 --> 00:47:34,396
everyone wanted to hang
with Roosevelt Franklin
1033
00:47:34,479 --> 00:47:36,607
because he had the flavor,
you know.
1034
00:47:38,692 --> 00:47:42,279
[overlapping chatter]
1035
00:47:42,362 --> 00:47:45,574
- I don't know what's wrong
with everybody,
1036
00:47:45,657 --> 00:47:48,994
but when I come in,
I want some action.
1037
00:47:49,077 --> 00:47:50,621
- Action?
1038
00:47:50,704 --> 00:47:54,124
- I think Matt createdRoosevelt Franklin
1039
00:47:54,208 --> 00:47:56,293
because he was tired
of pretending
1040
00:47:56,376 --> 00:47:59,630
that everybody
blended in together.
1041
00:47:59,713 --> 00:48:02,674
He loved the messageof "Sesame Street,"
1042
00:48:02,758 --> 00:48:06,386
but he wantedchildren of color
1043
00:48:06,470 --> 00:48:08,972
to be recognizedas children of color
1044
00:48:09,056 --> 00:48:11,016
because in real life
1045
00:48:11,099 --> 00:48:14,853
those children knewthey were different.
1046
00:48:14,937 --> 00:48:18,273
They knew they were brown,so why couldn't they be brown?
1047
00:48:18,357 --> 00:48:21,527
Why couldn't their difference
be recognized?
1048
00:48:21,610 --> 00:48:24,446
- You are free when you arewalking and talking,
1049
00:48:24,530 --> 00:48:28,367
and tell everybody I am great
when the sun comes up.
1050
00:48:28,450 --> 00:48:29,535
- Yeah!
1051
00:48:29,618 --> 00:48:31,995
- I am great when
the sun go down.
1052
00:48:32,079 --> 00:48:33,330
- All right, Roosevelt!
- Sun up.
1053
00:48:33,413 --> 00:48:34,623
- Yeah!
- Sun down.
1054
00:48:34,706 --> 00:48:35,999
- Yeah!
1055
00:48:36,083 --> 00:48:37,751
- Nobody's ever going to
put me down.
1056
00:48:37,835 --> 00:48:40,087
- All right, Roosevelt!
1057
00:48:41,672 --> 00:48:44,925
- But there were a lotof Black parents
1058
00:48:45,008 --> 00:48:47,302
that really complained
to "Sesame Street"
1059
00:48:47,386 --> 00:48:48,720
that they didn't like
Roosevelt.
1060
00:48:48,804 --> 00:48:50,764
- Letter-writing campaign,
they went after him.
1061
00:48:50,848 --> 00:48:52,683
- Yeah, yeah, they didgo after Roosevelt.
1062
00:48:55,060 --> 00:48:59,731
- They did not want to bereminded of this character
1063
00:48:59,815 --> 00:49:04,903
who sang in dialect
and talked Black.
1064
00:49:04,987 --> 00:49:07,155
- Uh-oh. Check out, Roosevelt.
1065
00:49:07,239 --> 00:49:09,533
- Something must be up.
- Yeah.
1066
00:49:11,743 --> 00:49:14,913
- And then Roosevelt
disappeared.
1067
00:49:14,997 --> 00:49:17,165
He just disappeared.
1068
00:49:17,249 --> 00:49:22,045
For Matt, Roosevelt Franklinrepresented truth.
1069
00:49:23,463 --> 00:49:25,299
He knew they meant well,
1070
00:49:25,382 --> 00:49:27,676
but it was the beginning
of the end for him.
1071
00:49:29,761 --> 00:49:33,432
And then he left"Sesame Street."
1072
00:49:41,273 --> 00:49:43,942
["Sesame Street" theme song
playing]
1073
00:49:44,026 --> 00:49:47,362
♪ ♪
1074
00:49:47,446 --> 00:49:48,572
- Morning.
- [yawns]
1075
00:49:48,655 --> 00:49:50,199
Hi, morning, Zoe.
How are you?
1076
00:49:51,450 --> 00:49:52,618
- Oh, hey, Gordon.
- Hey, Bob.
1077
00:49:52,701 --> 00:49:54,036
- Hey. How you doing?
- How you doing?
1078
00:49:54,119 --> 00:49:55,204
- Hey, that was a great time
at your place last night.
1079
00:49:55,287 --> 00:49:56,622
- Yeah, wasn't it?
1080
00:49:56,705 --> 00:49:58,332
- I took overthe role of Gordon,
1081
00:49:58,415 --> 00:50:00,959
and working on the showwas wonderful.
1082
00:50:01,043 --> 00:50:05,005
It had that sense of, you know,
1083
00:50:05,088 --> 00:50:09,426
both serious intent and joy.
1084
00:50:09,510 --> 00:50:12,221
- Yes.
- Hi, Forgetful.
1085
00:50:12,304 --> 00:50:15,265
- Oh, hi, Bertram.
- Gordon.
1086
00:50:15,349 --> 00:50:16,725
- Gordon?
- Gordon.
1087
00:50:16,808 --> 00:50:19,895
- Oh, yeah, Bertram is
your wife's name.
1088
00:50:19,978 --> 00:50:21,730
- No, no, no.
Her name is Susan.
1089
00:50:21,813 --> 00:50:24,525
- Spontaneity and funand zany.
1090
00:50:24,608 --> 00:50:26,276
- No. No. Yeah,
Susan, of course.
1091
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:30,072
- And it always respected
the children.
1092
00:50:30,155 --> 00:50:34,618
Children were never talked
down to on "Sesame Street."
1093
00:50:34,701 --> 00:50:36,620
- Hey. You know something?
I'm tired now.
1094
00:50:36,703 --> 00:50:39,164
I think I'm going to go
on a coffee break.
1095
00:50:39,248 --> 00:50:40,624
Will you do me a favor?
1096
00:50:40,707 --> 00:50:42,543
Answer the teléfono for me?
1097
00:50:42,626 --> 00:50:44,086
And if they don't speak
English,
1098
00:50:44,169 --> 00:50:45,629
you know,
[speaks Spanish].
1099
00:50:45,712 --> 00:50:47,589
- It was very difficultat that time
1100
00:50:47,673 --> 00:50:49,466
to find meaningful work
1101
00:50:49,550 --> 00:50:52,219
as Latino actors, you know?
1102
00:50:52,302 --> 00:50:54,888
I don't remember ever readingfor any kind
1103
00:50:54,972 --> 00:50:56,890
of a positive character.
1104
00:50:56,974 --> 00:50:58,642
The only roles thatI could find
1105
00:50:58,725 --> 00:51:02,521
were gang membersor drug addicts.
1106
00:51:02,604 --> 00:51:05,649
I realized I had gotten
a role on television
1107
00:51:05,732 --> 00:51:09,611
that was a role
of a Latino, Mexican-American,
1108
00:51:09,695 --> 00:51:12,364
who was like a regular person.
1109
00:51:12,447 --> 00:51:13,657
- Hey, Mack.
- Luis.
1110
00:51:13,740 --> 00:51:15,367
- You got a mango?
- Have I got a mango?
1111
00:51:15,450 --> 00:51:17,202
- He was partof the neighborhood.
1112
00:51:17,286 --> 00:51:20,080
He had his own business.
1113
00:51:20,163 --> 00:51:21,874
- Maria.
- What is it?
1114
00:51:21,957 --> 00:51:23,625
- I got to go out
for a few minutes.
1115
00:51:23,709 --> 00:51:26,295
- It was a role thathadn't been shown before.
1116
00:51:26,378 --> 00:51:27,880
[phone ringing]
1117
00:51:27,963 --> 00:51:31,925
- It was Jon Stonewho cast me as Maria.
1118
00:51:32,009 --> 00:51:33,385
Hello, Fix-it Shop.
1119
00:51:33,468 --> 00:51:35,262
And I think he was looking
for someone
1120
00:51:35,345 --> 00:51:37,181
who was unpolished and raw,
1121
00:51:37,264 --> 00:51:41,018
and, boy,
was I unpolished and raw.
1122
00:51:41,101 --> 00:51:43,187
- You can't take a pretty
picture with a shiny nose.
1123
00:51:43,270 --> 00:51:46,064
- I remember one dayI was all made up,
1124
00:51:46,148 --> 00:51:47,900
and Jon grabbed me off the set
1125
00:51:47,983 --> 00:51:50,527
and dragged me
into the makeup room,
1126
00:51:50,611 --> 00:51:52,070
and he says
to the makeup artist,
1127
00:51:52,154 --> 00:51:55,824
"I go through all the trouble
of hiring a real person,
1128
00:51:55,908 --> 00:51:59,828
and you make her up
to look like a Kewpie doll?"
1129
00:52:02,706 --> 00:52:05,250
And I saw itas a political show
1130
00:52:05,334 --> 00:52:08,962
because of the diversity ofthe cast that was unheard of
1131
00:52:09,046 --> 00:52:12,132
and because we would haveseminars with activists,
1132
00:52:12,216 --> 00:52:14,843
and they would say,
"You people are doing this,
1133
00:52:14,927 --> 00:52:17,596
and you're not showing us
like we really are,"
1134
00:52:17,679 --> 00:52:19,681
and La Leche League, you know,
1135
00:52:19,765 --> 00:52:22,976
"Why aren't you showing
nursing on 'Sesame Street'?"
1136
00:52:23,060 --> 00:52:26,021
- What you doing, Buffy?
- I'm feeding the baby.
1137
00:52:26,104 --> 00:52:28,106
See, he's drinking milk
from my breast.
1138
00:52:28,190 --> 00:52:29,691
- It was fantastic,
1139
00:52:29,775 --> 00:52:32,653
and we would,
you know, cultivate that.
1140
00:52:32,736 --> 00:52:34,196
- When you're growing up
and you don't see yourself
1141
00:52:34,279 --> 00:52:35,864
in the media,
1142
00:52:35,948 --> 00:52:38,116
then you get the feeling
that you don't exist, see,
1143
00:52:38,200 --> 00:52:40,452
and that's when you start
feeling that you're not part
1144
00:52:40,536 --> 00:52:43,038
of this society,
of this culture.
1145
00:52:43,121 --> 00:52:46,750
Television has so much powerof doing that.
1146
00:52:46,834 --> 00:52:49,086
- I had a great dealof influence
1147
00:52:49,169 --> 00:52:51,296
in the creation of Maria.
1148
00:52:51,380 --> 00:52:54,299
[both speaking Spanish]
1149
00:52:54,383 --> 00:52:59,304
- And Jon let me know that
by rehearsing a script with me
1150
00:52:59,388 --> 00:53:02,057
and then saying, "Would you
really talk like that?"
1151
00:53:02,140 --> 00:53:05,143
And I'd say, "Well, no,
actually I'd say it like this."
1152
00:53:05,227 --> 00:53:07,938
Of course, the writer
is pulling his hair out but--
1153
00:53:08,021 --> 00:53:10,274
- Do I carry the letter?
- You don't have to.
1154
00:53:10,357 --> 00:53:11,400
No, she will carry it.
1155
00:53:13,569 --> 00:53:16,405
- Say, Big Bird, somebody wants
to take your picture.
1156
00:53:16,488 --> 00:53:18,115
- Oh, boy.
1157
00:53:18,198 --> 00:53:23,370
Well, which side, my left side
or my right side?
1158
00:53:23,453 --> 00:53:25,747
You're it. Tag.
1159
00:53:25,831 --> 00:53:27,666
- Big Bird could walk on
1160
00:53:27,749 --> 00:53:30,377
without a puppeteerbeing seen,
1161
00:53:30,460 --> 00:53:33,088
and that's because I'm inside.
1162
00:53:33,172 --> 00:53:34,715
And the puppet would be lowered
down over me
1163
00:53:34,798 --> 00:53:36,675
and I'd go in
through the bottom
1164
00:53:36,758 --> 00:53:40,846
and put my hand up in the head
and operate the head like that.
1165
00:53:40,929 --> 00:53:42,389
- Oh, well, then where
will I live?
1166
00:53:42,472 --> 00:53:43,807
- Oh, don't worry about that.
1167
00:53:43,891 --> 00:53:45,559
You'll have a house
all your own.
1168
00:53:45,642 --> 00:53:46,935
Here's a lovely...
1169
00:53:47,019 --> 00:53:48,896
- His head was very elaborate.
1170
00:53:51,023 --> 00:53:53,442
The thumb was in the bottom
part of the beak.
1171
00:53:53,525 --> 00:53:56,987
When they say, "Action,"
I come alive.
1172
00:53:57,070 --> 00:54:00,157
And there were all kinds
of little gears inside his eyes
1173
00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:02,534
that I could move
with my little finger.
1174
00:54:02,618 --> 00:54:04,995
That's the only finger
I could spare.
1175
00:54:05,078 --> 00:54:06,538
- Ooh, ah, ooh, oh,
1176
00:54:06,622 --> 00:54:10,250
you silly door,
right in my way. Hmm.
1177
00:54:10,334 --> 00:54:12,669
- Originally, Big Bird
was supposed to be kind of
1178
00:54:12,753 --> 00:54:15,297
a big dumb, goofy guy.
1179
00:54:15,380 --> 00:54:16,590
- Whoa.
1180
00:54:16,673 --> 00:54:19,927
Big Bird, Bird.
1181
00:54:20,010 --> 00:54:22,554
- So I think it was abouta month or two in,
1182
00:54:22,638 --> 00:54:24,348
I said, "You know,
1183
00:54:24,431 --> 00:54:27,684
"I don't think I should beplaying him as a goofy guy.
1184
00:54:27,768 --> 00:54:31,021
"He has so much more depth.He's a very complex character.
1185
00:54:33,232 --> 00:54:36,193
"I think I should play him
as a child who's just learning,
1186
00:54:36,276 --> 00:54:39,196
and he doesn't know
a lot of things yet."
1187
00:54:39,279 --> 00:54:41,323
- Oh, I didn't do my share,
and that wasn't fair.
1188
00:54:41,406 --> 00:54:43,367
- We needed a peerfor the audience.
1189
00:54:43,450 --> 00:54:45,869
- I've got a great idea.
I could take all the toys out
1190
00:54:45,953 --> 00:54:48,163
and then put them
back in again, and that way--
1191
00:54:48,247 --> 00:54:50,207
- No, no, Big Bird.
1192
00:54:50,290 --> 00:54:51,959
- A characterthat was young enough
1193
00:54:52,042 --> 00:54:53,961
to make the same mistakes
1194
00:54:54,044 --> 00:54:55,796
and have the same problems
1195
00:54:55,879 --> 00:54:57,589
that a four-year-oldwould have.
1196
00:54:57,673 --> 00:54:58,757
- I think you're right.
- Yeah.
1197
00:54:58,841 --> 00:55:00,342
- Yay!
1198
00:55:00,425 --> 00:55:02,219
- And no one else could play
Big Bird, I don't think,
1199
00:55:02,302 --> 00:55:04,096
certainly not the way Caroll
plays it.
1200
00:55:04,179 --> 00:55:05,806
He is Big Bird.
1201
00:55:07,724 --> 00:55:10,143
- This is Mr. Caroll Spinney.
1202
00:55:10,227 --> 00:55:11,603
Do you have any trouble
1203
00:55:11,687 --> 00:55:14,314
separating your personality
from Big Bird?
1204
00:55:15,524 --> 00:55:17,025
- I--
One of the things
1205
00:55:17,109 --> 00:55:18,777
we've played up
or I've played up with the bird
1206
00:55:18,861 --> 00:55:21,154
is that he's very insecure
because I think actually
1207
00:55:21,238 --> 00:55:22,865
a lot of children
will have this problem.
1208
00:55:22,948 --> 00:55:26,243
I know I never will lose it,
I'm afraid,
1209
00:55:26,326 --> 00:55:30,706
and so I use my insecurities
to understand the bird,
1210
00:55:30,789 --> 00:55:32,499
but Oscar has
no such insecurities at all.
1211
00:55:32,583 --> 00:55:34,251
[laughter]
1212
00:55:34,334 --> 00:55:38,505
- The further you stay away
from my can, the better.
1213
00:55:38,589 --> 00:55:40,174
Keep moving there.
1214
00:55:40,257 --> 00:55:43,218
- Over here, Oscar?
- Yeah. Just keep walking,
1215
00:55:43,302 --> 00:55:44,636
Bright Eyes.
1216
00:55:44,720 --> 00:55:47,472
- I also play Oscar the Grouch.
1217
00:55:47,556 --> 00:55:49,266
- Do I get paid?
1218
00:55:49,349 --> 00:55:53,562
- Well, no. I get the money.
- You bastard.
1219
00:55:53,645 --> 00:55:57,816
[laughter]
1220
00:55:57,900 --> 00:56:03,739
- With Big Birdand Oscar the Grouch,
1221
00:56:03,822 --> 00:56:07,326
I think Carroll Spinney saveda lot of money in therapy
1222
00:56:07,409 --> 00:56:11,747
by being able to play those
two disparate characters.
1223
00:56:11,830 --> 00:56:13,957
- You know I hate you?
- I do.
1224
00:56:14,041 --> 00:56:15,584
You've told me that before.
1225
00:56:15,667 --> 00:56:17,669
- Well, I have to tell
somebody.
1226
00:56:17,753 --> 00:56:19,671
- He says things
as Oscar
1227
00:56:19,755 --> 00:56:22,174
that he would never
say as himself.
1228
00:56:22,257 --> 00:56:26,929
- Oh, yes. Any changes I'd like
to see on the show?
1229
00:56:27,012 --> 00:56:29,056
Yeah, well, we don't really
have very much sex.
1230
00:56:29,139 --> 00:56:32,059
[laughter]
1231
00:56:32,142 --> 00:56:33,894
- Stand by. Okay.
1232
00:56:33,977 --> 00:56:35,938
- Caroll, give him
a little dialogue.
1233
00:56:36,021 --> 00:56:38,690
- Yes, here's
a little dialogue.
1234
00:56:38,774 --> 00:56:40,984
Your mother wears
Army boots.
1235
00:56:41,068 --> 00:56:42,653
[laughter]
1236
00:56:42,736 --> 00:56:45,030
[indistinct chatter]
1237
00:56:45,113 --> 00:56:47,783
- Dad felt very strongly
that kids need to see
1238
00:56:47,866 --> 00:56:49,326
that not everybody is nice,
1239
00:56:49,409 --> 00:56:51,203
and not everybody is easy,
and this is how you deal
1240
00:56:51,286 --> 00:56:53,539
with the grouchwho's in your neighborhood.
1241
00:56:53,622 --> 00:56:55,082
- Hey, Bob. What is this?
1242
00:56:55,165 --> 00:56:56,875
- I think Oscar is really
going to do it this time.
1243
00:56:56,959 --> 00:56:58,252
- Oscar is really going to do--
1244
00:56:58,335 --> 00:57:00,254
- Yep, you guys have guessed
right.
1245
00:57:00,337 --> 00:57:01,505
I'm moving away forever.
1246
00:57:01,588 --> 00:57:04,883
- Oscar is the dark sideof everybody.
1247
00:57:04,967 --> 00:57:06,969
- No ifs, ands or buts, fellas.
1248
00:57:07,052 --> 00:57:09,304
Nothing you can say
will change my mind.
1249
00:57:09,388 --> 00:57:11,306
- He's what children
are constantly told
1250
00:57:11,390 --> 00:57:13,308
they must not do. Don't say
that.
1251
00:57:13,392 --> 00:57:15,561
It's bad. Don't do that.
Don't talk back.
1252
00:57:15,644 --> 00:57:17,980
- Too much noise and playing
and kids
1253
00:57:18,063 --> 00:57:19,231
and too much laughing...
- Come on, man.
1254
00:57:19,314 --> 00:57:20,440
- Come on now.
- And too much everything
1255
00:57:20,524 --> 00:57:21,692
that bothers me.
1256
00:57:21,775 --> 00:57:24,403
- Oscar the Grouch was created
1257
00:57:24,486 --> 00:57:26,280
very much to show that
1258
00:57:26,363 --> 00:57:28,991
even somebody with a completely
different point of view
1259
00:57:29,074 --> 00:57:32,536
than yours
could be your friend.
1260
00:57:32,619 --> 00:57:36,206
- Why do you like rain, Oscar?
- Oh, the rain is beautiful.
1261
00:57:36,290 --> 00:57:38,000
I'll tell you.
1262
00:57:38,083 --> 00:57:43,213
The rain is so nice.
It's all wet and soggy.
1263
00:57:43,297 --> 00:57:46,383
[upbeat music playing]
1264
00:57:46,466 --> 00:57:50,971
♪ Rain falls,
puddles on the street ♪
1265
00:57:51,054 --> 00:57:53,974
♪ No one can go out
and play ♪
1266
00:57:54,057 --> 00:57:55,475
[laughs]
1267
00:57:55,559 --> 00:57:59,438
♪ Rain falls,
people soak from head to feet ♪
1268
00:57:59,521 --> 00:58:02,274
♪ Gee, I like a rainy day ♪
1269
00:58:02,357 --> 00:58:04,109
[laughs]
1270
00:58:04,193 --> 00:58:06,320
♪ Trucks roll by splashing mudon everyone ♪
1271
00:58:06,403 --> 00:58:10,073
- Joe Raposo was hiredto do the music for "Sesame."
1272
00:58:10,157 --> 00:58:12,451
He did all the arranging,
1273
00:58:12,534 --> 00:58:15,746
and he had so much heart
and so much knowledge.
1274
00:58:17,456 --> 00:58:19,666
- ♪ Sing ♪
1275
00:58:19,750 --> 00:58:22,211
- ♪ Sing ♪
- ♪ Sing a song ♪
1276
00:58:22,294 --> 00:58:25,881
- ♪ Sing a song ♪
- ♪ Sing out loud ♪
1277
00:58:25,964 --> 00:58:28,342
- ♪ Sing out loud ♪
- That's good.
1278
00:58:28,425 --> 00:58:29,426
♪ Sing out strong ♪
1279
00:58:29,510 --> 00:58:31,428
- Joe Raposo I call
the music man.
1280
00:58:31,512 --> 00:58:34,932
He was the music man,
you know, in every respect.
1281
00:58:35,015 --> 00:58:38,393
[singing in Spanish]
1282
00:58:38,477 --> 00:58:42,022
This guy was like a Muppethimself, you know?
1283
00:58:42,105 --> 00:58:44,107
His personality
was just so big that
1284
00:58:44,191 --> 00:58:45,442
when he walked into a room,
1285
00:58:45,526 --> 00:58:48,695
you couldn't not notice
Joe Raposo.
1286
00:58:48,779 --> 00:58:51,198
♪ ♪
1287
00:58:51,281 --> 00:58:52,991
- Don't ask me what makes me
write these things.
1288
00:58:53,075 --> 00:58:54,409
I don't--
1289
00:58:54,493 --> 00:58:56,537
♪ Around, around ♪
1290
00:58:56,620 --> 00:59:02,376
♪ Around, around
over, under, through ♪
1291
00:59:02,459 --> 00:59:06,004
- [breathing heavily]
♪ Around, around, around ♪
1292
00:59:06,088 --> 00:59:09,591
♪ Over and under and through ♪
1293
00:59:09,675 --> 00:59:11,009
Oh, boy.
1294
00:59:11,093 --> 00:59:13,554
♪ Over, see, and under ♪
1295
00:59:13,637 --> 00:59:15,764
♪ And through
and through and through ♪
1296
00:59:15,848 --> 00:59:17,349
And through!
1297
00:59:17,432 --> 00:59:19,893
I did it. [sighs]
1298
00:59:19,977 --> 00:59:24,439
- And of course, you know,
his talent was just so amazing
1299
00:59:24,523 --> 00:59:28,944
that he could come up
with all of these songs.
1300
00:59:29,027 --> 00:59:32,406
- ♪ I'm an aardvark,and I'm proud ♪
1301
00:59:32,489 --> 00:59:35,492
♪ I'm an aardvark,and I'm happy ♪
1302
00:59:35,576 --> 00:59:38,871
♪ Two ismy favorite number ♪
1303
00:59:38,954 --> 00:59:42,040
♪ Two is neat ♪
1304
00:59:42,124 --> 00:59:45,586
♪ Two is being together ♪
1305
00:59:45,669 --> 00:59:48,463
♪ Two is sweet ♪
1306
00:59:48,547 --> 00:59:51,008
♪ If I could only paddlelike a doggy on a paddle ♪
1307
00:59:51,091 --> 00:59:53,677
♪ I would paddle my wayto you ♪
1308
00:59:53,760 --> 00:59:55,095
♪ No river too wide ♪
1309
00:59:55,179 --> 00:59:57,472
- It was like somebody
was working on the show,
1310
00:59:57,556 --> 00:59:59,892
and they had an idea
for something, say,
1311
00:59:59,975 --> 01:00:01,768
"We need a songabout something here,"
1312
01:00:01,852 --> 01:00:04,438
and he'd go off and, like,
five minutes later come back
1313
01:00:04,521 --> 01:00:06,857
and show them the music
for a new song.
1314
01:00:08,442 --> 01:00:10,277
- Hmm.
1315
01:00:10,360 --> 01:00:13,906
- It was 1970 in the middle
of the first taping season
1316
01:00:13,989 --> 01:00:15,616
that Jon Stone came to me,
1317
01:00:15,699 --> 01:00:17,242
and he said, "You know,
we got this character,
1318
01:00:17,326 --> 01:00:20,579
this Kermit the Frog,"
and Jon said to me,
1319
01:00:20,662 --> 01:00:24,249
"What does Kermit think about
when he's alone?
1320
01:00:24,333 --> 01:00:27,461
Does he ever have
a quiet moment?
1321
01:00:27,544 --> 01:00:29,421
What would you think
about doing a song
1322
01:00:29,505 --> 01:00:31,423
that's quiet for him?"
1323
01:00:31,507 --> 01:00:34,384
[soft piano music]
1324
01:00:34,468 --> 01:00:36,678
♪ ♪
1325
01:00:36,762 --> 01:00:39,264
I was at my desk,
1326
01:00:39,348 --> 01:00:41,183
and I was thinkingabout the frog
1327
01:00:41,266 --> 01:00:43,227
and about the swampand the log.
1328
01:00:46,230 --> 01:00:48,315
And what his lifewas like alone,
1329
01:00:48,398 --> 01:00:50,526
and what did he actually
think of himself?
1330
01:00:50,609 --> 01:00:55,489
And, I mean, like a shot,
I mean, without thinking twice,
1331
01:00:55,572 --> 01:00:58,909
I put my hands down
on a B-flat chord.
1332
01:00:58,992 --> 01:01:01,537
This whole song
just unfolded by itself.
1333
01:01:01,620 --> 01:01:06,583
♪ ♪
1334
01:01:06,667 --> 01:01:10,254
- ♪ It's not that easy
being green ♪
1335
01:01:11,463 --> 01:01:15,801
♪ Having to spend each day
the color of the leaves ♪
1336
01:01:18,053 --> 01:01:20,389
♪ When I think
it could be nicer ♪
1337
01:01:20,472 --> 01:01:22,891
♪ Being red or yellow
or gold ♪
1338
01:01:22,975 --> 01:01:26,270
♪ Or something
much more colorful like that ♪
1339
01:01:29,898 --> 01:01:32,943
- ♪ It's not easy being green ♪
1340
01:01:33,026 --> 01:01:36,655
♪ It seems you blend in with
so many other ordinary things ♪
1341
01:01:37,739 --> 01:01:39,992
♪ And people tend
to pass you over ♪
1342
01:01:40,075 --> 01:01:41,618
- ♪ Because you're not ♪
1343
01:01:41,702 --> 01:01:44,705
♪ Standing out like
flashy sparkles in the water ♪
1344
01:01:44,788 --> 01:01:47,624
♪ Or stars in the sky ♪
1345
01:01:47,708 --> 01:01:50,210
- "It's Not Easy Being Green"with Kermit the Frog.
1346
01:01:50,294 --> 01:01:53,547
- ♪ But green is
the color of spring ♪
1347
01:01:53,630 --> 01:01:56,967
- So many thingsin this one song.
1348
01:01:57,050 --> 01:02:00,721
I mean,
this was a profound song.
1349
01:02:00,804 --> 01:02:05,475
- ♪ And green could be big
like an ocean ♪
1350
01:02:05,559 --> 01:02:08,604
♪ Or important like
a mountain ♪
1351
01:02:08,687 --> 01:02:10,647
♪ Or tall like a tree ♪
1352
01:02:10,731 --> 01:02:12,524
- And I remember thinking,
1353
01:02:12,608 --> 01:02:14,985
"Are they singing about what
I think they're singing about?"
1354
01:02:15,068 --> 01:02:17,404
Of course, they were
singing about race,
1355
01:02:17,487 --> 01:02:20,157
but they were also singing
about being down in the dumps
1356
01:02:20,240 --> 01:02:22,576
because you'rea little green frog.
1357
01:02:22,659 --> 01:02:25,954
Some kids just thought it wasabout a little green puppet
1358
01:02:26,038 --> 01:02:30,209
and other kids thought about,
"Maybe it was something else."
1359
01:02:31,793 --> 01:02:33,253
- My father's belief
1360
01:02:33,337 --> 01:02:35,589
that children
should never be spoken down
1361
01:02:35,672 --> 01:02:38,383
to specifically
in the world of music
1362
01:02:38,467 --> 01:02:40,844
made the music as sophisticated
as he could.
1363
01:02:40,928 --> 01:02:43,764
[upbeat music]
1364
01:02:43,847 --> 01:02:46,767
- P.
1365
01:02:46,850 --> 01:02:48,227
Q.
1366
01:02:48,310 --> 01:02:50,812
- The American musical scene
1367
01:02:50,896 --> 01:02:54,358
is a fantastic smorgasbord
of fabulous styles.
1368
01:02:54,441 --> 01:02:57,236
- ♪ You can count on me ♪
1369
01:02:57,319 --> 01:02:59,321
♪ Count on me ♪
1370
01:02:59,404 --> 01:03:02,032
- If you're familiar with them,
1371
01:03:02,115 --> 01:03:04,785
you take, "Hey, kids.
Here's an olive."
1372
01:03:04,868 --> 01:03:08,372
- ♪ Oh, whenever I see
your grouchy face ♪
1373
01:03:08,455 --> 01:03:13,210
♪ It makes me want to smile
because I like you ♪
1374
01:03:13,293 --> 01:03:14,503
♪ Just a little bit ♪
1375
01:03:14,586 --> 01:03:16,380
- "Hey, kids. Here's
a piece of pastrami.
1376
01:03:16,463 --> 01:03:17,673
"Hey, kids.
Here's some black-eyed peas.
1377
01:03:17,756 --> 01:03:19,508
Hey, kids."
1378
01:03:19,591 --> 01:03:23,804
- ♪ Now, Nasty Dan was a nasty
man the whole day long ♪
1379
01:03:23,887 --> 01:03:25,889
- Good for him.
- ♪ He'd go where he could ♪
1380
01:03:25,973 --> 01:03:28,684
♪ And he would try real good
to make things go wrong ♪
1381
01:03:28,767 --> 01:03:30,018
- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1382
01:03:30,102 --> 01:03:32,354
- ♪ He'd jump for joy
when a little boy ♪
1383
01:03:32,437 --> 01:03:33,689
♪ Would trip and fall ♪
1384
01:03:33,772 --> 01:03:35,107
- Really mean, huh?
1385
01:03:35,190 --> 01:03:37,901
- ♪ And the only words
that he ever said ♪
1386
01:03:37,985 --> 01:03:39,611
♪ Were, "I don't like you
at all" ♪
1387
01:03:39,695 --> 01:03:42,281
- Yeah! Right on.
1388
01:03:42,364 --> 01:03:44,032
- And every once in a while,
1389
01:03:44,116 --> 01:03:45,492
"How about a
little filet mignon?"
1390
01:03:45,576 --> 01:03:51,123
♪ ♪
1391
01:03:51,206 --> 01:03:53,750
Are you kidding? Wow!
1392
01:03:53,834 --> 01:04:00,883
♪ ♪
1393
01:04:07,472 --> 01:04:09,808
- So my father and a few
other people were tasked
1394
01:04:09,892 --> 01:04:11,810
with creating
all of the music for the show,
1395
01:04:11,894 --> 01:04:17,191
so you're talking about 100
or more episodes each season.
1396
01:04:17,274 --> 01:04:19,234
That's a lot of musicto produce.
1397
01:04:22,070 --> 01:04:24,156
They would make itevery week for the show.
1398
01:04:24,239 --> 01:04:25,490
- Stand by.
1399
01:04:25,574 --> 01:04:27,993
This is a direct cue.
Quiet, please!
1400
01:04:28,076 --> 01:04:30,370
- The production sessions,they would go into 3:00
1401
01:04:30,454 --> 01:04:33,248
in the morning,4:00 in the morning.
1402
01:04:33,332 --> 01:04:36,126
And I would sleep there.
1403
01:04:36,210 --> 01:04:37,586
My father would be stuckin the session.
1404
01:04:37,669 --> 01:04:39,880
My mother wouldhave gone home,
1405
01:04:39,963 --> 01:04:41,173
and he would say,
"Oh, I'll bring the kids home
1406
01:04:41,256 --> 01:04:42,925
when we're done."
1407
01:04:43,008 --> 01:04:44,843
He never went home.
1408
01:04:44,927 --> 01:04:48,055
[solemn music]
1409
01:04:48,138 --> 01:04:50,182
- My father didn't even havean apartment
1410
01:04:50,265 --> 01:04:52,684
in New York City or anything.
1411
01:04:52,768 --> 01:04:54,811
And he would go to work
and come back four days later,
1412
01:04:54,895 --> 01:04:56,522
that sort of thing,
1413
01:04:56,605 --> 01:04:59,983
and I just thought,
"Well, that's what fathers do."
1414
01:05:00,067 --> 01:05:01,652
[bright music]
1415
01:05:01,735 --> 01:05:08,408
- ♪ Oh, me know it true
that me so blue ♪
1416
01:05:08,492 --> 01:05:14,540
♪ When you far away
and you not stay in view ♪
1417
01:05:14,623 --> 01:05:19,378
- There were no hoursto the day.
1418
01:05:19,461 --> 01:05:22,172
We worked from morningdeep into the night.
1419
01:05:22,256 --> 01:05:25,175
No one ever kept track of when
we were going to have lunch,
1420
01:05:25,259 --> 01:05:26,301
when we were going
to have dinner.
1421
01:05:26,385 --> 01:05:28,554
It was getting the show up.
1422
01:05:28,637 --> 01:05:32,975
- ♪ Me got to be blue,me got to be blue ♪
1423
01:05:33,058 --> 01:05:34,852
- How do you manage a lifelike that?
1424
01:05:34,935 --> 01:05:37,187
- ♪ What else can me do? ♪
1425
01:05:37,271 --> 01:05:41,984
- It seems unreasonable to me,
but that was what they did.
1426
01:05:42,067 --> 01:05:46,405
And Jon Stone rode herdover that group better
1427
01:05:46,488 --> 01:05:48,699
than anybodycould have possibly.
1428
01:05:48,782 --> 01:05:52,077
♪ ♪
1429
01:05:52,160 --> 01:05:54,580
- ♪ Now you know it not you ♪
1430
01:05:54,663 --> 01:05:56,957
- Now he would say thathe had three children.
1431
01:05:57,040 --> 01:05:59,877
He had Polly. He had Kate,
and he had "Sesame Street,"
1432
01:05:59,960 --> 01:06:05,966
and that he felt really
passionate about all of us,
1433
01:06:06,049 --> 01:06:07,885
but as his daughters,
1434
01:06:07,968 --> 01:06:09,761
you know, we could grow upand be anything,
1435
01:06:09,845 --> 01:06:12,890
and he would support usand celebrate us,
1436
01:06:12,973 --> 01:06:16,310
but "Sesame Street"had to maintain an integrity,
1437
01:06:16,393 --> 01:06:19,271
and I think he felt the weightof holding onto that
1438
01:06:19,354 --> 01:06:21,815
and being responsible for it.
1439
01:06:21,899 --> 01:06:25,444
- ♪ Just got to be blue ♪
1440
01:06:27,279 --> 01:06:29,406
♪ Once more, with feeling! ♪
1441
01:06:31,408 --> 01:06:33,452
- All right. Okay.
1442
01:06:33,535 --> 01:06:36,622
Three and two,
you want to come to the front.
1443
01:06:36,705 --> 01:06:39,750
- What we mostly saw was
the funny side of our dad,
1444
01:06:39,833 --> 01:06:41,793
the entertainer.
1445
01:06:41,877 --> 01:06:47,049
But Dad had a dark side,dealt with depression,
1446
01:06:47,132 --> 01:06:50,677
and he felt hurtwhen things didn't go his way.
1447
01:06:50,761 --> 01:06:52,346
- Stand by!
- Take two.
1448
01:06:52,429 --> 01:06:53,972
- Say, "Big Bird!"
1449
01:06:54,056 --> 01:06:56,475
Somebody wants to take your--
1450
01:06:56,558 --> 01:06:59,645
- Not that camera.
- Where do you want cameras?
1451
01:06:59,728 --> 01:07:01,438
- Frankie, you're not
on a five.
1452
01:07:04,149 --> 01:07:07,319
Okay, I need to do it?
Chopped.
1453
01:07:07,402 --> 01:07:10,781
- I don't knowif he wanted love,
1454
01:07:10,864 --> 01:07:17,037
but he was a very sensitive,
difficult man.
1455
01:07:17,120 --> 01:07:20,290
- You know, I never had
deep conversations with Jon
1456
01:07:20,374 --> 01:07:22,960
about his feelings
about things.
1457
01:07:23,043 --> 01:07:27,881
He held his feelings
close to his chest,
1458
01:07:27,965 --> 01:07:30,342
but for some reason,
1459
01:07:30,425 --> 01:07:34,388
publicly he was never giventhe credit that he deserved.
1460
01:07:36,056 --> 01:07:39,351
- He certainly wanted creditfor the things
1461
01:07:39,434 --> 01:07:41,895
he had accomplishedon the show,
1462
01:07:41,979 --> 01:07:44,690
but it was very hard to getthe press
1463
01:07:44,773 --> 01:07:47,109
trained on anyone but me,
1464
01:07:47,192 --> 01:07:51,822
so it was awkward at times.
1465
01:07:51,905 --> 01:07:53,866
♪ ♪
1466
01:07:53,949 --> 01:07:55,701
- ♪ When someone socks mein the eye ♪
1467
01:07:55,784 --> 01:07:56,952
♪ And they don't even
tell me why ♪
1468
01:07:57,035 --> 01:07:58,328
♪ That makes me mad ♪
1469
01:07:58,412 --> 01:08:00,747
- ♪ Yeah, we're angry,
very, very angry ♪
1470
01:08:00,831 --> 01:08:03,375
- Jon did not have much tastefor bureaucracy.
1471
01:08:03,458 --> 01:08:04,960
He was an iconoclast in a way.
1472
01:08:05,043 --> 01:08:08,422
I mean, if there was anything
nonsensical about the way
1473
01:08:08,505 --> 01:08:11,175
the workshop was being run,
1474
01:08:11,258 --> 01:08:15,095
he would try to express iton the show or off.
1475
01:08:15,179 --> 01:08:18,515
A funny little story thattells you a lot about him,
1476
01:08:18,599 --> 01:08:19,933
when "Sesame" started,
1477
01:08:20,017 --> 01:08:21,643
we had one of
those little signs
1478
01:08:21,727 --> 01:08:25,189
where you put little
white letters into grooves,
1479
01:08:25,272 --> 01:08:28,817
and it said
Children's Television Workshop.
1480
01:08:28,901 --> 01:08:30,485
Every morningwhen Jon came in,
1481
01:08:30,569 --> 01:08:32,613
he would change that
1482
01:08:32,696 --> 01:08:34,698
to Children'sTelevision Porkshow.
1483
01:08:34,781 --> 01:08:36,241
[laughs]
1484
01:08:36,325 --> 01:08:39,369
Just by changing
the P and the W.
1485
01:08:39,453 --> 01:08:41,788
He was just irreverent.
1486
01:08:41,872 --> 01:08:45,209
- Technical term. We like
to call it "waiting around."
1487
01:08:49,046 --> 01:08:54,051
- My dad was very closewith Jon Stone and Joe Raposo.
1488
01:08:54,134 --> 01:08:58,305
I think he loved the energy
of them and the boldness
1489
01:08:58,388 --> 01:09:01,475
of what they were trying to do,
and he got caught up in that,
1490
01:09:01,558 --> 01:09:05,020
and it was very inspiring
for him.
1491
01:09:05,103 --> 01:09:08,357
- Take one, rolling.
- One, two, three, four!
1492
01:09:08,440 --> 01:09:10,484
[upbeat music]
1493
01:09:10,567 --> 01:09:13,320
- Fat.
- Fat.
1494
01:09:13,403 --> 01:09:14,571
- Fat.
1495
01:09:14,655 --> 01:09:15,948
- Fat.
- Cat.
1496
01:09:16,031 --> 01:09:17,533
- Cat.
- Cat.
1497
01:09:17,616 --> 01:09:20,077
- I remember Jim Henson,Frank Oz
1498
01:09:20,160 --> 01:09:22,663
doing a puppet bit,everybody hysterical.
1499
01:09:22,746 --> 01:09:25,082
Jim Henson saying,"What are we teaching?"
1500
01:09:25,165 --> 01:09:28,418
Jon Stone saying, "Happiness."
1501
01:09:28,502 --> 01:09:32,256
"That's the ticket.
That's the joy."
1502
01:09:32,339 --> 01:09:34,424
- ♪ A fat cat sat on a hat ♪
1503
01:09:34,508 --> 01:09:36,176
♪ So I ran on a mat,
pat-a-pat ♪
1504
01:09:36,260 --> 01:09:37,553
♪ Had a chat with a gnat ♪
1505
01:09:37,636 --> 01:09:39,054
♪ That he pat in a vat
that was flat ♪
1506
01:09:39,137 --> 01:09:40,973
Oh, yeah!
1507
01:09:41,056 --> 01:09:44,935
Oh, fat, cat, sat, hat,
and that's that!
1508
01:09:45,018 --> 01:09:46,603
- Scat!
1509
01:09:47,938 --> 01:09:50,023
- One thing that I will creditJoan Ganz Cooney with
1510
01:09:50,107 --> 01:09:53,694
was that she let these guysdo what they could do.
1511
01:09:53,777 --> 01:09:56,113
They had ideas and conceptsand behaviors
1512
01:09:56,196 --> 01:09:59,783
that were just off-the-wall,
1513
01:09:59,867 --> 01:10:01,118
and they were allowedto do it,
1514
01:10:01,201 --> 01:10:03,287
and that's what people loved.
1515
01:10:03,370 --> 01:10:07,791
They felt the lunacy on the
screen, the contained madness.
1516
01:10:07,875 --> 01:10:12,504
- Train rhyme with rain!
Me win cookie.
1517
01:10:13,797 --> 01:10:16,175
- So these wildly
creative people
1518
01:10:16,258 --> 01:10:18,427
were allowed to just try stuff.
1519
01:10:18,510 --> 01:10:20,929
♪ ♪
1520
01:10:21,013 --> 01:10:24,683
- It was chaos,
but it was the chaos of people
1521
01:10:24,766 --> 01:10:28,145
dedicated to a real ideal.
1522
01:10:28,228 --> 01:10:29,855
Believing somethingcould be done
1523
01:10:29,938 --> 01:10:32,816
and having the will to do it,
1524
01:10:32,900 --> 01:10:36,820
and it was the most excitingperiod of our lives.
1525
01:10:36,904 --> 01:10:43,702
♪ ♪
1526
01:10:47,372 --> 01:10:50,000
- Those first yearsof "Sesame Street,"
1527
01:10:50,083 --> 01:10:54,338
it was just shockinghow much they did.
1528
01:10:55,714 --> 01:10:57,257
- ♪ I'm the King of Eight ♪
1529
01:10:57,341 --> 01:10:58,759
♪ And I'm here to state ♪
1530
01:10:58,842 --> 01:11:00,177
♪ That everything here
has to total eight ♪
1531
01:11:00,260 --> 01:11:01,970
♪ ♪
1532
01:11:02,054 --> 01:11:06,600
- ♪ One wedding cake! Oop ♪
1533
01:11:12,689 --> 01:11:14,358
- I think it's overstimulating.
1534
01:11:14,441 --> 01:11:16,693
I think it's kind of staggering
to a young child's brain
1535
01:11:16,777 --> 01:11:19,571
to have that much excitement
and noise,
1536
01:11:19,655 --> 01:11:23,450
sound and all kinds of figures
bombarded at them really.
1537
01:11:23,534 --> 01:11:26,995
- I want cookie. I want cookie!
Give me cookie.
1538
01:11:27,079 --> 01:11:29,790
Oh, oh, the cookie!
Oh, thank you. Oh!
1539
01:11:33,377 --> 01:11:39,925
- Noony, noony, noo, noo,
noony, noony, noo. Mm-mmm.
1540
01:11:40,008 --> 01:11:42,427
- P. P!
1541
01:11:42,511 --> 01:11:45,013
Huh? Oh...
1542
01:11:45,097 --> 01:11:47,766
Argh. Ah.
1543
01:11:48,517 --> 01:11:50,227
- Pencil!
1544
01:11:50,310 --> 01:11:53,063
- I had very little experienceas a writer,
1545
01:11:53,146 --> 01:11:55,816
and I had no job.
1546
01:11:55,899 --> 01:11:57,192
- Aw.
1547
01:11:57,276 --> 01:12:01,071
- I was basically
just writing jokes,
1548
01:12:01,154 --> 01:12:05,576
and I was watching TV,
and I saw "Sesame Street."
1549
01:12:05,659 --> 01:12:07,119
- And, matter of fact,
there it is!
1550
01:12:07,202 --> 01:12:09,371
They've got Mr. Humpty Dumpty
back together again.
1551
01:12:09,454 --> 01:12:11,164
For all the egg lovers
of the country, I want you
1552
01:12:11,248 --> 01:12:15,502
to know it's very nice
to have you back.
1553
01:12:15,586 --> 01:12:18,338
Uh. Uh, horses?
[sirens wail]
1554
01:12:18,422 --> 01:12:20,382
- I was--wow, that's great.
1555
01:12:20,465 --> 01:12:22,009
- [snickering]
1556
01:12:22,092 --> 01:12:23,302
- It was funny.
1557
01:12:23,385 --> 01:12:25,637
- Ooh. Yeah.
1558
01:12:25,721 --> 01:12:27,723
- And it wasthe only other show
1559
01:12:27,806 --> 01:12:30,517
besides "The Tonight Show"in New York
1560
01:12:30,601 --> 01:12:34,897
that really had comedy writersworking for them,
1561
01:12:34,980 --> 01:12:36,690
and I didn't think
I had a chance in hell
1562
01:12:36,773 --> 01:12:38,692
at getting a job
at "The Johnny Carson Show."
1563
01:12:38,775 --> 01:12:40,861
- You can forget
that immediately.
1564
01:12:40,944 --> 01:12:44,072
- And I needed a job.
1565
01:12:44,156 --> 01:12:47,409
But "Sesame Street"
has a curriculum,
1566
01:12:47,492 --> 01:12:52,247
so everything that was written
taught something.
1567
01:12:53,457 --> 01:12:56,752
And the idea that it was morethan just telling jokes
1568
01:12:56,835 --> 01:12:59,963
appealed to me.
It had to be entertaining,
1569
01:13:00,047 --> 01:13:01,715
and it was going to teach
at the same time,
1570
01:13:01,798 --> 01:13:04,468
and that's hard to do.
1571
01:13:04,551 --> 01:13:05,928
- And I think, you know,
1572
01:13:06,011 --> 01:13:07,721
she may have
a personal sensitivity to it
1573
01:13:07,804 --> 01:13:10,307
because that's the first time
I've heard that particular one.
1574
01:13:10,390 --> 01:13:15,062
- The writers didn't alwaysunderstand educational terms.
1575
01:13:16,813 --> 01:13:21,777
So we came up with this big
tome, the Writers' Notebook.
1576
01:13:21,860 --> 01:13:26,907
It has all the rules
of the show tabbed
1577
01:13:26,990 --> 01:13:29,284
that the writers could
thumb through
1578
01:13:29,368 --> 01:13:31,078
to help them understand
1579
01:13:31,161 --> 01:13:36,792
how to translate educational
terms into production terms.
1580
01:13:36,875 --> 01:13:39,169
And it was helpful
to the educators
1581
01:13:39,253 --> 01:13:42,422
because they could communicate
with the writers
1582
01:13:42,506 --> 01:13:45,717
in a nonthreatening way.
1583
01:13:45,801 --> 01:13:48,136
So instead of saying,you know,
1584
01:13:48,220 --> 01:13:51,849
"cognitive development
learning letters,"
1585
01:13:51,932 --> 01:13:54,935
what you said is,
"After watching the segment,
1586
01:13:55,018 --> 01:13:57,938
the child should be able
to identify..."
1587
01:13:58,021 --> 01:13:59,648
- Frog.
- "The letter Y,"
1588
01:13:59,731 --> 01:14:01,567
for example.
1589
01:14:01,650 --> 01:14:05,612
- What's the first letter
in the word "yellow"?
1590
01:14:05,696 --> 01:14:07,030
- Y.
1591
01:14:07,114 --> 01:14:08,907
- Because I can't remember.
1592
01:14:08,991 --> 01:14:12,035
- When the curriculum and theentertainment worked together,
1593
01:14:12,119 --> 01:14:15,497
you know, it was like magic!
1594
01:14:15,581 --> 01:14:17,499
- Action!
- Come, my lovelies!
1595
01:14:17,583 --> 01:14:19,042
Breathe deeply.
1596
01:14:19,126 --> 01:14:22,296
Enjoy the fresh air,
ah, ah, ah.
1597
01:14:22,379 --> 01:14:24,590
- When I came upwith the Count,
1598
01:14:24,673 --> 01:14:26,633
I was talking with Sharon.
1599
01:14:26,717 --> 01:14:29,845
I said, "I have this ideafor Count von Count,"
1600
01:14:29,928 --> 01:14:32,055
and she said,
"Well, enumeration,
1601
01:14:32,139 --> 01:14:34,474
that's what you're teaching."
1602
01:14:34,558 --> 01:14:35,684
Well, what is enumeration?
1603
01:14:35,767 --> 01:14:37,644
- Did you say seven?
- Yes.
1604
01:14:37,728 --> 01:14:39,980
- I think there's
only six, Count.
1605
01:14:40,063 --> 01:14:43,483
- That's funny. I had seven
when I left the castle.
1606
01:14:43,567 --> 01:14:45,485
I will count them.
1607
01:14:45,569 --> 01:14:49,323
One, one beautiful bat.
Two terrific bats. Three ...
1608
01:14:49,406 --> 01:14:51,950
- When you count, one, two,three, four, five,
1609
01:14:52,034 --> 01:14:55,954
you're just counting,
but if you count fingers,
1610
01:14:56,038 --> 01:14:57,623
it's one,
two, three, four, five.
1611
01:14:57,706 --> 01:15:00,125
When you get to the fifth,
you know you have five fingers.
1612
01:15:00,209 --> 01:15:02,628
- Five fingers.
1613
01:15:02,711 --> 01:15:05,672
- That's enumeration,
all right?
1614
01:15:05,756 --> 01:15:09,218
[phone ringing]
1615
01:15:09,301 --> 01:15:15,390
One ring! Two, two rings.
Three, three rings!
1616
01:15:15,474 --> 01:15:17,267
[laughs]
1617
01:15:17,351 --> 01:15:20,729
Is that mine?
Oh, it must be mine.
1618
01:15:20,812 --> 01:15:25,234
- I think what amazes me
most looking back at "Sesame"
1619
01:15:25,317 --> 01:15:29,571
is that there was an
underlying humor in everything.
1620
01:15:29,655 --> 01:15:32,199
- Ah, listen, Jack. If you want
to work in a world-famous
1621
01:15:32,282 --> 01:15:34,159
nursery rhyme,
you got to do it right.
1622
01:15:34,243 --> 01:15:36,411
- I mean,we were all comedy freaks,
1623
01:15:36,495 --> 01:15:38,622
and all of usloved parody, satire.
1624
01:15:38,705 --> 01:15:41,375
- Now jump over means
you jump up into the air,
1625
01:15:41,458 --> 01:15:43,001
and you leap,
and you sail gracefully
1626
01:15:43,085 --> 01:15:44,837
over the candlestick,
1627
01:15:44,920 --> 01:15:47,130
and you land on the other side.
1628
01:15:48,632 --> 01:15:52,553
- And we would try to appealto adults as well as to kids.
1629
01:15:52,636 --> 01:15:53,804
- He did it! He did it, folks.
1630
01:15:53,887 --> 01:15:56,265
Jack jumped
over the candlestick.
1631
01:15:56,348 --> 01:15:59,601
- Ooh, yeah. Jack also broke
every bone in his body, frog.
1632
01:15:59,685 --> 01:16:01,103
- Oh, I'm sorry about that.
1633
01:16:01,186 --> 01:16:02,563
- Yeah, I'm going to sue
Mother Goose for that.
1634
01:16:02,646 --> 01:16:04,523
That's some heavy action.
1635
01:16:04,606 --> 01:16:06,650
- Boy, these nursery rhymes
get weirder all the time.
1636
01:16:06,733 --> 01:16:07,985
Weird.
1637
01:16:08,068 --> 01:16:09,903
- We found out that if adults
1638
01:16:09,987 --> 01:16:12,781
watched the show with kids,
1639
01:16:12,865 --> 01:16:14,575
that the kids
really learned more.
1640
01:16:14,658 --> 01:16:17,619
- Now three plus
one equals four!
1641
01:16:17,703 --> 01:16:20,747
- Three plus one equals four?
1642
01:16:20,831 --> 01:16:22,499
- Yes, always.
1643
01:16:22,583 --> 01:16:24,710
- The conversation thatthe adult had with the child
1644
01:16:24,793 --> 01:16:27,337
while the show was on the air
and after the show
1645
01:16:27,421 --> 01:16:30,424
was on the air
really enhanced the learning,
1646
01:16:30,507 --> 01:16:34,428
so there was a real conscious
effort to attract adults.
1647
01:16:34,511 --> 01:16:36,221
- I am the Count!
1648
01:16:36,305 --> 01:16:39,183
They call me the Count
because I love to count things!
1649
01:16:39,266 --> 01:16:41,143
- Wonderful!
Well, I am Guy Smiley.
1650
01:16:41,226 --> 01:16:42,644
They call me Guy Smiley
1651
01:16:42,728 --> 01:16:45,439
because I changed my name
from Bernie Liederkranz.
1652
01:16:45,522 --> 01:16:47,774
[cheers and applause]
- Yes, thank you.
1653
01:16:47,858 --> 01:16:50,319
Yes, I did.
I did.
1654
01:16:50,402 --> 01:16:52,988
- So things like"Monsterpiece Theater,"
1655
01:16:53,071 --> 01:16:56,575
the parody element
wasn't for the kids.
1656
01:16:56,658 --> 01:16:59,578
They didn't have to know
"Masterpiece Theater."
1657
01:16:59,661 --> 01:17:01,705
"Monsterpiece Theater"
is a funny thing anyway.
1658
01:17:01,788 --> 01:17:06,335
- Good evening, and welcome
to "Monsterpiece Theater."
1659
01:17:06,418 --> 01:17:11,757
Me Alistair Cookie.
Tonight, me proud to present
1660
01:17:11,840 --> 01:17:15,052
"One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
1661
01:17:15,135 --> 01:17:21,099
- Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.
1662
01:17:21,183 --> 01:17:22,559
Cuckoo?
1663
01:17:22,643 --> 01:17:24,811
- We wrote something that
we knew we would like.
1664
01:17:24,895 --> 01:17:27,648
I think that was the key,
and the show
1665
01:17:27,731 --> 01:17:30,526
would not have worked
if that weren't the case.
1666
01:17:30,609 --> 01:17:33,987
- One of Chris' incredible
talents is his ability
1667
01:17:34,071 --> 01:17:35,822
to write a song
1668
01:17:35,906 --> 01:17:39,993
that sounds like the original
but isn't the original.
1669
01:17:40,077 --> 01:17:41,453
- I think I remember
how to do it.
1670
01:17:41,537 --> 01:17:43,747
I might start
in the wrong key, but.
1671
01:17:43,830 --> 01:17:50,462
♪ ♪
1672
01:17:50,546 --> 01:17:53,674
♪ When I find
I can't remember ♪
1673
01:17:53,757 --> 01:17:58,095
♪ What comes after A
and before C ♪
1674
01:17:58,178 --> 01:18:01,807
♪ My mother always whispers
"Letter B" ♪
1675
01:18:04,268 --> 01:18:07,521
♪ She told me B starts "big"
and "bird" ♪
1676
01:18:07,604 --> 01:18:10,649
♪ And "ball" and "bat"
and "battery" ♪
1677
01:18:10,732 --> 01:18:15,028
♪ Yes, buh-buh-buh-buh-buh
means letter B ♪
1678
01:18:17,030 --> 01:18:20,534
- ♪ Letter B, letter B ♪
1679
01:18:20,617 --> 01:18:25,330
♪ Letter B, letter B ♪
1680
01:18:25,414 --> 01:18:32,129
♪ My mother whispers B words,
letter B ♪
1681
01:18:32,212 --> 01:18:35,215
[cheers and applause]
1682
01:18:35,299 --> 01:18:42,139
♪ ♪
1683
01:18:50,898 --> 01:18:52,566
- That was a $5 million
lawsuit.
1684
01:18:52,649 --> 01:18:55,736
- [laughs]
1685
01:18:55,819 --> 01:19:00,115
- ♪ My mother whispers B words,
letter B ♪
1686
01:19:00,199 --> 01:19:03,493
- It was all of us having
the time of our lives
1687
01:19:03,577 --> 01:19:06,872
writing silly things
but always with this message
1688
01:19:06,955 --> 01:19:09,708
that television
could be socially valuable.
1689
01:19:09,791 --> 01:19:11,668
- Yeah.
1690
01:19:11,752 --> 01:19:15,047
[soft music]
1691
01:19:15,130 --> 01:19:17,966
♪ ♪
1692
01:19:18,050 --> 01:19:21,803
- Big Bird, that's me.
[chuckles]
1693
01:19:21,887 --> 01:19:28,894
♪ ♪
1694
01:19:34,107 --> 01:19:38,570
- Well, I just drew pictures
of all of my grown-up friends
1695
01:19:38,654 --> 01:19:39,696
on "Sesame Street."
1696
01:19:39,780 --> 01:19:42,199
- Look at me!
- That's you, Luis.
1697
01:19:42,282 --> 01:19:43,784
[chatter]
- Yeah.
1698
01:19:43,867 --> 01:19:45,661
- I know that's got to be me.
- There's Susan.
1699
01:19:45,744 --> 01:19:47,496
- Yeah, that's ...
You're always smiling, Susan.
1700
01:19:47,579 --> 01:19:49,122
- How's that?
- That looks great.
1701
01:19:49,206 --> 01:19:51,458
- Does that look like you?
- That's good.
1702
01:19:51,542 --> 01:19:56,922
- And this is Mr. Hooper,
who was played by Will Lee.
1703
01:19:57,005 --> 01:20:00,092
He was our grandfather figure,
such a kindly man.
1704
01:20:00,175 --> 01:20:02,094
He was always so sweet.
1705
01:20:02,177 --> 01:20:04,137
♪ ♪
1706
01:20:04,221 --> 01:20:06,598
And he died in 1982.
1707
01:20:06,682 --> 01:20:09,601
♪ ♪
1708
01:20:09,685 --> 01:20:13,230
- Take two!
- We had lost a friend.
1709
01:20:13,313 --> 01:20:15,983
He was part of our family.
1710
01:20:16,066 --> 01:20:21,280
- It was a huge, huge loss.
- Can I see Mr. Hooper?
1711
01:20:21,363 --> 01:20:23,949
- You want to see the store?
Okay, come on in.
1712
01:20:26,201 --> 01:20:30,163
- Yeah. I still miss him. Yeah.
1713
01:20:31,540 --> 01:20:33,959
- So we had a decision to make.
1714
01:20:34,042 --> 01:20:36,587
- We had to describe
his absence
1715
01:20:36,670 --> 01:20:39,298
from the show
or explain it,
1716
01:20:39,381 --> 01:20:41,592
and believe me, everybody said,
1717
01:20:41,675 --> 01:20:45,137
"Let's just say he retired
and went to Florida."
1718
01:20:45,220 --> 01:20:46,680
- But people said,
"Well, maybe it's...
1719
01:20:46,763 --> 01:20:49,433
That would be
a missed opportunity."
1720
01:20:49,516 --> 01:20:52,519
- If we've been trying to betruthful all along,
1721
01:20:52,603 --> 01:20:55,939
why should we
shortchange kids now?
1722
01:20:57,858 --> 01:21:00,903
- Jon, you know, when they
speak our language...
1723
01:21:00,986 --> 01:21:04,698
- We talked for a while abouthow to deal with his death,
1724
01:21:04,781 --> 01:21:07,451
and we decided, "Well, we'd
really like to have his death
1725
01:21:07,534 --> 01:21:10,662
"used in a educational way
1726
01:21:10,746 --> 01:21:13,582
that might help children
deal with that."
1727
01:21:13,665 --> 01:21:15,167
- And so the questionwas asked
1728
01:21:15,250 --> 01:21:17,503
of our research department,
1729
01:21:17,586 --> 01:21:19,671
"What do three- tofive-year-olds need to know
1730
01:21:19,755 --> 01:21:21,131
about death?"
1731
01:21:21,215 --> 01:21:24,510
So it came down to some very,
very simple things.
1732
01:21:24,593 --> 01:21:27,137
They need to know that
when somebody dies,
1733
01:21:27,221 --> 01:21:28,972
they don't come back.
1734
01:21:30,849 --> 01:21:34,520
And that whateveryou're feeling is okay.
1735
01:21:34,603 --> 01:21:36,230
You can be angry.
You can be sad.
1736
01:21:36,313 --> 01:21:38,065
You know,
it can be all of them.
1737
01:21:38,148 --> 01:21:41,026
Whatever you feel is fine.
1738
01:21:41,109 --> 01:21:45,072
- TV is make-believe,but life is real.
1739
01:21:45,155 --> 01:21:48,867
In real life, Will Lee died,
1740
01:21:48,951 --> 01:21:51,411
and tomorrowon "Sesame Street,"
1741
01:21:51,495 --> 01:21:53,664
Mr. Hooper will die too.
1742
01:21:55,541 --> 01:21:57,251
- When I wrote the scene,
1743
01:21:57,334 --> 01:22:00,587
I didn't want it
to be that it just happened.
1744
01:22:02,798 --> 01:22:06,009
It seemed that
that would be too jarring.
1745
01:22:07,553 --> 01:22:10,556
I thought it was betterif Big Bird
1746
01:22:10,639 --> 01:22:12,975
just hasn't processed it.
1747
01:22:13,058 --> 01:22:14,893
You know, they might havetold him that he died,
1748
01:22:14,977 --> 01:22:17,521
but he didn't knowwhat "died" meant,
1749
01:22:17,604 --> 01:22:19,648
and now he's just goingto first find out.
1750
01:22:19,731 --> 01:22:22,442
- And last but not least
1751
01:22:22,526 --> 01:22:25,237
ta-da!
- Oh, look at that one.
1752
01:22:25,320 --> 01:22:26,280
- Big Bird, that's
so beautiful.
1753
01:22:26,363 --> 01:22:27,906
- That's nice.
1754
01:22:27,990 --> 01:22:29,533
- It really looks like him.
- Yeah, you captured him.
1755
01:22:29,616 --> 01:22:31,577
- Wow, that's beautiful,
Big Bird.
1756
01:22:31,660 --> 01:22:33,078
- Oh, thank you.
1757
01:22:33,161 --> 01:22:35,038
Well, I can't wait
until he sees it!
1758
01:22:35,122 --> 01:22:37,207
Hmm.
1759
01:22:37,291 --> 01:22:42,254
Say, where is he?
I want to give it to him.
1760
01:22:42,337 --> 01:22:44,298
I know. He's in the store.
1761
01:22:44,381 --> 01:22:48,468
- Big Bird, he's--he's not
in there.
1762
01:22:48,552 --> 01:22:51,597
- Oh, then where is he?
1763
01:22:51,680 --> 01:22:54,558
- We carefullyand thoroughly researched
1764
01:22:54,641 --> 01:22:57,728
what children's normalreactions to a death are,
1765
01:22:57,811 --> 01:22:59,938
and we tried to deal
with those in the form
1766
01:23:00,022 --> 01:23:02,316
of Big Bird's reaction
to Mr. Hooper's death.
1767
01:23:02,399 --> 01:23:06,904
- Big Bird, don't you remember
we told you?
1768
01:23:06,987 --> 01:23:10,824
Mr. Hooper died. He's dead.
1769
01:23:10,908 --> 01:23:12,993
- Oh, yeah. I remember.
1770
01:23:13,076 --> 01:23:16,413
Well, I'll give it to him
when he comes back.
1771
01:23:16,496 --> 01:23:20,501
- Big Bird, Mr. Hooper
is not coming back.
1772
01:23:20,584 --> 01:23:24,963
- It's hard to watch.
It was a difficult show to do.
1773
01:23:25,047 --> 01:23:28,091
♪ ♪
1774
01:23:28,175 --> 01:23:33,847
- Big Bird, when people die,
they don't come back.
1775
01:23:33,931 --> 01:23:37,309
- Ever?
- No, never.
1776
01:23:39,686 --> 01:23:41,605
- Hmm.
1777
01:23:42,481 --> 01:23:45,108
- It was aboutthe fictional person
1778
01:23:45,192 --> 01:23:46,902
and the real person.
1779
01:23:46,985 --> 01:23:48,487
They were going to be talking
about Mr. Hooper,
1780
01:23:48,570 --> 01:23:50,155
but as human beings,
1781
01:23:50,239 --> 01:23:53,825
they were going to be talking
about their friend Will.
1782
01:23:53,909 --> 01:23:57,955
- But I don't like it.
It makes me sad.
1783
01:23:58,038 --> 01:23:59,790
- We all feel sad, Big Bird.
1784
01:24:01,458 --> 01:24:05,921
- He's never coming back?
- Never.
1785
01:24:06,004 --> 01:24:08,257
- No.
- Well, I don't understand!
1786
01:24:08,340 --> 01:24:10,801
Why does it have
to be this way?
1787
01:24:10,884 --> 01:24:12,803
Give me one good reason.
1788
01:24:14,263 --> 01:24:17,349
- Big Bird,
1789
01:24:17,432 --> 01:24:21,520
it has to be
this way because.
1790
01:24:22,938 --> 01:24:24,273
- Just because?
1791
01:24:24,356 --> 01:24:26,692
- Just because.
1792
01:24:28,277 --> 01:24:30,153
- Oh.
1793
01:24:33,866 --> 01:24:38,537
You know, I'm going
to miss you, Mr. Looper.
1794
01:24:38,620 --> 01:24:42,499
- That's Hooper,
Big Bird, Hooper.
1795
01:24:42,583 --> 01:24:45,419
- Those are real tears,you know.
1796
01:24:45,502 --> 01:24:47,963
There was no acting.
1797
01:24:48,046 --> 01:24:49,715
- Right.
1798
01:24:49,798 --> 01:24:56,555
♪ ♪
1799
01:25:01,602 --> 01:25:04,438
- In five,
four, three, two, one!
1800
01:25:04,521 --> 01:25:06,857
- I wonder if I got
any mail yet today.
1801
01:25:08,358 --> 01:25:10,360
Oh, there's something.
1802
01:25:13,488 --> 01:25:15,866
Where the hell did it go?
1803
01:25:15,949 --> 01:25:18,160
- One of the great things
about being part of "Sesame"
1804
01:25:18,243 --> 01:25:21,163
was seeing what happened
when a take went wrong.
1805
01:25:21,246 --> 01:25:25,209
- I have paint on my nose?
- Yes, right! [laughing]
1806
01:25:25,292 --> 01:25:26,752
- There, is that better?
- No!
1807
01:25:26,835 --> 01:25:29,755
[laughter]
1808
01:25:29,838 --> 01:25:32,049
You're permanently
scarred for life.
1809
01:25:32,132 --> 01:25:34,343
- The puppeteers would
just keep going,
1810
01:25:34,426 --> 01:25:35,844
and they would do
all the things
1811
01:25:35,928 --> 01:25:38,680
that we could never
possibly do on television.
1812
01:25:38,764 --> 01:25:40,807
- Oh, say, frog.
- What?
1813
01:25:40,891 --> 01:25:43,227
- Have you ever wondered
what it would be like to be...
1814
01:25:43,310 --> 01:25:46,104
[choking noises]
1815
01:25:46,188 --> 01:25:47,564
- Gladys?
1816
01:25:47,648 --> 01:25:49,650
Oh, thank goodness
she died.
1817
01:25:49,733 --> 01:25:51,860
[laughter]
1818
01:25:51,944 --> 01:25:54,446
[indistinct chatter]
1819
01:25:54,530 --> 01:25:56,782
- Jim Henson, Frank Oz,
1820
01:25:56,865 --> 01:25:58,116
they were really professional.
1821
01:25:58,200 --> 01:25:59,618
You know,if they were serious,
1822
01:25:59,701 --> 01:26:02,663
and Jim maybe had to go
somewhere to get out,
1823
01:26:02,746 --> 01:26:04,790
then it was serious, you know?
1824
01:26:04,873 --> 01:26:06,416
[doorbell rings]
1825
01:26:08,293 --> 01:26:10,170
- But if they wereon kidding around...
1826
01:26:10,254 --> 01:26:13,215
- Oh, hello there!
Greetings, froggy, baby ...
1827
01:26:13,298 --> 01:26:15,384
- You had a good day.They were hysterical.
1828
01:26:15,467 --> 01:26:16,844
- Go away, Grover.
1829
01:26:16,927 --> 01:26:18,512
Whatever it is,
we do not want any.
1830
01:26:18,595 --> 01:26:21,598
- Whoa!
[indistinct speech]
1831
01:26:21,682 --> 01:26:23,600
Open, please.
- What?
1832
01:26:23,684 --> 01:26:26,687
- Please, did you open?
Open the damn door!
1833
01:26:26,770 --> 01:26:29,481
[laughter]
1834
01:26:30,482 --> 01:26:32,734
- You... I
1835
01:26:32,818 --> 01:26:34,570
- You know, it's too bad
you couldn't come to the park
1836
01:26:34,653 --> 01:26:37,239
and play with me today, Bert.
1837
01:26:37,322 --> 01:26:39,992
- Mmm. Yeah, me too, Ernie,
1838
01:26:40,075 --> 01:26:43,120
but I had a lot of stuff
to do around here, you know.
1839
01:26:43,203 --> 01:26:44,621
- Hey, Bert.
- Mmm?
1840
01:26:44,705 --> 01:26:45,998
- You said, "Me too."
1841
01:26:46,081 --> 01:26:48,709
That didn't follow
what I said, Bert.
1842
01:26:48,792 --> 01:26:50,586
[laughter]
- I'm sorry.
1843
01:26:50,669 --> 01:26:52,337
- I thought maybe
somebody could...
1844
01:26:52,421 --> 01:26:54,464
a friend could save it.
1845
01:26:54,548 --> 01:26:58,093
- Jim and I, we areunrelenting in our cruelty
1846
01:26:58,177 --> 01:27:00,971
towards each other because
you can't see our faces,
1847
01:27:01,054 --> 01:27:05,726
but if one of us screws up,
instead of pinching in to help,
1848
01:27:05,809 --> 01:27:08,145
the other just
kind of smiles at him.
1849
01:27:08,228 --> 01:27:09,605
[laughter]
1850
01:27:11,607 --> 01:27:14,568
- Night, Ernie.
- Me too, Bert.
1851
01:27:14,651 --> 01:27:18,197
- Oh, that's cute.
Oh, that's funny.
1852
01:27:18,280 --> 01:27:20,949
Lost 17 seconds
of our life just then.
1853
01:27:21,033 --> 01:27:24,453
- We were all so sillytogether.
1854
01:27:24,536 --> 01:27:27,206
- We added tats.
That's Tuesday.
1855
01:27:27,289 --> 01:27:32,044
- And the most wonderful thing
was to hear Jim Henson laugh,
1856
01:27:32,127 --> 01:27:36,632
let alone make him laugh.
That was, like, fantastic.
1857
01:27:36,715 --> 01:27:38,091
- Wait a minute,
that's last Tuesday.
1858
01:27:38,175 --> 01:27:39,593
- No, tats. I said we had tats.
I said tats.
1859
01:27:39,676 --> 01:27:40,928
- I thought that was weird.
1860
01:27:41,011 --> 01:27:43,388
- We added tats last ...
Oh, Your Majesty.
1861
01:27:43,472 --> 01:27:44,890
It's been so hard.
1862
01:27:44,973 --> 01:27:47,434
- How many lines do you have?
1863
01:27:47,518 --> 01:27:48,769
- Let me see.
Um...
1864
01:27:48,852 --> 01:27:50,521
Well, the first one ...
1865
01:27:50,604 --> 01:27:52,648
- Let me see. Well...
- Three.
1866
01:27:52,731 --> 01:27:55,776
- Three. Well, try to get
the first one better!
1867
01:27:55,859 --> 01:28:00,155
- Yes, Your Majesty.
[laughter]
1868
01:28:00,239 --> 01:28:02,199
- Jim was such a geniusin terms of, you know,
1869
01:28:02,282 --> 01:28:06,703
how to create the imagery
with the puppets
1870
01:28:06,787 --> 01:28:10,082
and make it all kind of work,
you know, in a magical way.
1871
01:28:10,165 --> 01:28:14,002
I mean, it was like
these were real people.
1872
01:28:14,086 --> 01:28:15,963
- Hey, listen, we thought
we would talk to you
1873
01:28:16,046 --> 01:28:21,093
a little bit about the concept
of being next to. You see?
1874
01:28:21,176 --> 01:28:24,847
Now then, right there you see
Charla is next to Frannie.
1875
01:28:24,930 --> 01:28:26,765
- The kids accepted themas being real.
1876
01:28:26,849 --> 01:28:28,684
- What is that over here?
1877
01:28:28,767 --> 01:28:30,394
- Arrow.
- A what?
1878
01:28:30,477 --> 01:28:32,020
- Arrow.
1879
01:28:32,104 --> 01:28:33,438
- An arrow?
1880
01:28:33,522 --> 01:28:35,440
- Those one-on-one bitswith the Muppets.
1881
01:28:35,524 --> 01:28:36,692
- Let's hear you
sing the alphabet.
1882
01:28:36,775 --> 01:28:40,404
- A, B, C, D, E, F,
Cookie Monster.
1883
01:28:40,487 --> 01:28:44,199
- It wasn't rehearsed, and it
wasn't professional children
1884
01:28:44,283 --> 01:28:49,413
with professional smiles.
It was a pretty low-key,
1885
01:28:49,496 --> 01:28:50,789
fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants--
1886
01:28:50,873 --> 01:28:51,915
I mean, that was part
of the charm of it
1887
01:28:51,999 --> 01:28:53,750
was that everybody was real.
1888
01:28:53,834 --> 01:28:55,711
- You're not singing
the alphabet.
1889
01:28:55,794 --> 01:29:02,551
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H,
I, J, K, L, M, N,
1890
01:29:02,634 --> 01:29:07,890
O, P, Q, R, S...
- Cookie Monster!
1891
01:29:07,973 --> 01:29:09,600
- I go this way.
1892
01:29:11,018 --> 01:29:13,187
- That way!
- That way?
1893
01:29:13,270 --> 01:29:14,688
- Yes.
1894
01:29:14,771 --> 01:29:16,356
- But the arrow was pointing
the other way!
1895
01:29:16,440 --> 01:29:18,984
- No, that way.
- Okay, it's pointing that way.
1896
01:29:19,067 --> 01:29:21,570
I'll go that way.
1897
01:29:21,653 --> 01:29:24,281
- This way.
- That way.
1898
01:29:24,364 --> 01:29:26,700
- Frank Oz is sitting there
with Grover,
1899
01:29:26,783 --> 01:29:29,077
and you have a little child,
1900
01:29:29,161 --> 01:29:31,788
and the child is interacting
with Grover.
1901
01:29:33,332 --> 01:29:35,667
- Oh, hello, Polly.
1902
01:29:35,751 --> 01:29:37,753
- Frank Oz doesn't existfor that child.
1903
01:29:37,836 --> 01:29:39,963
- It's nice to see you.
- It's Grover.
1904
01:29:41,298 --> 01:29:42,549
- Polly?
- What?
1905
01:29:42,633 --> 01:29:44,593
- Can you count up to five?
- Yes.
1906
01:29:44,676 --> 01:29:46,678
- Can you tell me how?
1907
01:29:48,722 --> 01:29:50,599
One hand, just hold up
one hand.
1908
01:29:50,682 --> 01:29:53,477
Now count how many fingers
there are on that hand.
1909
01:29:53,560 --> 01:29:58,315
- One, two, three, four, five.
- Boy, are you lucky!
1910
01:29:58,398 --> 01:29:59,942
Five fingers.
1911
01:30:00,025 --> 01:30:02,236
- My famous momentwith Grover.
1912
01:30:02,319 --> 01:30:05,155
You know, this superstaron television.
1913
01:30:05,239 --> 01:30:08,992
It was a wonderful way
to grow up where, you know,
1914
01:30:09,076 --> 01:30:13,664
I had all these friends
that were blue and fuzzy.
1915
01:30:13,747 --> 01:30:17,417
- Polly, I am so proud of you.
1916
01:30:20,212 --> 01:30:21,839
Aw!
1917
01:30:23,131 --> 01:30:24,716
- They were close together,
you see?
1918
01:30:24,800 --> 01:30:26,760
So they are next to each other.
1919
01:30:26,844 --> 01:30:30,556
Now, Kermit the Frog
is next to Carlo.
1920
01:30:32,099 --> 01:30:34,852
- I know that.
- Oh. Thank you.
1921
01:30:34,935 --> 01:30:36,520
That's lovely.
- [giggling]
1922
01:30:36,603 --> 01:30:39,982
- It's that way.
- [panting]
1923
01:30:40,065 --> 01:30:43,694
[sighs]
- [laughing]
1924
01:30:45,863 --> 01:30:48,407
What happened, arrow?
1925
01:30:48,490 --> 01:30:51,326
- ♪ W, X, Y and Z ♪
1926
01:30:51,410 --> 01:30:53,453
- ♪ Now I know ♪
- ♪ Now I've sung ♪
1927
01:30:53,537 --> 01:30:54,997
- ♪ My ABCs, won't you ♪
1928
01:30:55,080 --> 01:30:57,124
- Next time,
Cookie Monster is--
1929
01:30:57,207 --> 01:30:59,376
- Next time Cookie Monster
can do it with you.
1930
01:30:59,459 --> 01:31:01,628
I'm leaving.
1931
01:31:01,712 --> 01:31:05,090
- I love you.
- I love you too.
1932
01:31:05,174 --> 01:31:06,550
- Thanks.
1933
01:31:10,179 --> 01:31:13,390
- I remember once wherea lawyer said to me,
1934
01:31:13,473 --> 01:31:15,475
"I often negotiatewith Henson,"
1935
01:31:15,559 --> 01:31:17,436
and I said, "Give himanything he wants."
1936
01:31:17,519 --> 01:31:19,688
[laughs]
1937
01:31:19,771 --> 01:31:21,481
And the lawyer said,
1938
01:31:21,565 --> 01:31:26,236
"Oh, that's the worst attitude
I ever saw from any client."
1939
01:31:27,905 --> 01:31:31,033
I said, "He is precious to me."
1940
01:31:31,116 --> 01:31:32,492
- Tell me, Joan,did you ever think
1941
01:31:32,576 --> 01:31:35,287
when you started this show
20 years ago
1942
01:31:35,370 --> 01:31:37,289
that we would be sitting here
now talking about it?
1943
01:31:37,372 --> 01:31:39,166
- Jim, I didn't think
you'd be here.
1944
01:31:39,249 --> 01:31:40,667
- Oh, really?
1945
01:31:40,751 --> 01:31:42,252
- I would have thought you
would have flown the coop.
1946
01:31:42,336 --> 01:31:44,004
- Oh, I see.
1947
01:31:44,087 --> 01:31:46,131
- What's interesting about it
from the viewpoint--
1948
01:31:46,215 --> 01:31:47,758
Well, from both
of our viewpoints
1949
01:31:47,841 --> 01:31:50,385
is it's sort a form
of immortality
1950
01:31:50,469 --> 01:31:53,597
because if you think about it,
Ernie will live forever.
1951
01:31:53,680 --> 01:31:55,766
We've now built
this huge library
1952
01:31:55,849 --> 01:31:59,102
of fabulous "Muppet" pieces
1953
01:31:59,186 --> 01:32:01,855
as well as other kinds
of things so that--
1954
01:32:01,939 --> 01:32:03,649
- Does this mean I can
really stop doing Ernie?
1955
01:32:03,732 --> 01:32:08,320
- No, it doesn't, but it means
that 200 years from now,
1956
01:32:08,403 --> 01:32:09,738
people will look--
1957
01:32:09,821 --> 01:32:11,615
be looking at Bert and Ernie
and Kermit the Frog.
1958
01:32:11,698 --> 01:32:13,116
It's interesting.
1959
01:32:13,200 --> 01:32:14,993
- Yeah. Frank--
I was talking with Frank Oz.
1960
01:32:15,077 --> 01:32:17,829
You know, he and I imagined
when we're in our 80s
1961
01:32:17,913 --> 01:32:19,414
doing Ernie and Bert,
1962
01:32:19,498 --> 01:32:22,000
you know, in rocking chairs
and still doing it.
1963
01:32:22,084 --> 01:32:24,461
- Oh, I hope so.
- I can imagine that.
1964
01:32:24,545 --> 01:32:26,505
- I may not there with you.
1965
01:32:26,588 --> 01:32:28,799
[both laughing]
1966
01:32:32,177 --> 01:32:35,305
- For millions of people,
a little of the magic is gone.
1967
01:32:35,389 --> 01:32:37,432
Jim Henson, the man
who created The Muppets,
1968
01:32:37,516 --> 01:32:40,561
the man who made complex
characters out of cloth,
1969
01:32:40,644 --> 01:32:43,230
has died at the age of only 53.
1970
01:32:45,774 --> 01:32:49,027
- My name is Jon Stone.
I'm a writer and director.
1971
01:32:50,612 --> 01:32:54,575
I don't remember exactly
how Jim and I met.
1972
01:32:54,658 --> 01:33:00,664
I know it was 1963 or '64,
but from the moment we met,
1973
01:33:00,747 --> 01:33:03,500
we were never very far apart.
1974
01:33:03,584 --> 01:33:06,420
That happened
to a lot of people.
1975
01:33:06,503 --> 01:33:07,754
More and more of us
1976
01:33:07,838 --> 01:33:11,592
joined Jim's
extended family over the years.
1977
01:33:11,675 --> 01:33:16,096
All the designers and builders
and writers and puppeteers,
1978
01:33:16,180 --> 01:33:20,225
one by one,
all of us heard the unhearable,
1979
01:33:20,309 --> 01:33:23,145
and my phone rang all that day
and that night
1980
01:33:23,228 --> 01:33:28,066
and all the next day.
The calls were from you.
1981
01:33:28,150 --> 01:33:31,862
Each of you hurting so much
and knowing
1982
01:33:31,945 --> 01:33:35,115
that I must be hurting
that much too.
1983
01:33:35,199 --> 01:33:38,619
So you called just to see
if I was all right.
1984
01:33:38,702 --> 01:33:44,499
It is no accident
that you loving, talented,
1985
01:33:44,583 --> 01:33:49,880
caring people wound up
in Jim Henson's family.
1986
01:33:49,963 --> 01:33:55,677
I loved Jim very much,
and I love you very much too.
1987
01:33:55,761 --> 01:33:58,597
[piano music]
1988
01:33:58,680 --> 01:34:05,771
♪ ♪
1989
01:34:07,231 --> 01:34:13,237
- ♪ It's not that easy
being green ♪
1990
01:34:13,320 --> 01:34:19,034
♪ Having to spend the day
the color of the leaves ♪
1991
01:34:19,117 --> 01:34:22,162
♪ When I think
it could be nicer ♪
1992
01:34:22,246 --> 01:34:24,540
♪ Being red or yellow
or gold ♪
1993
01:34:24,623 --> 01:34:28,460
♪ Or something much
more colorful like that ♪
1994
01:34:29,586 --> 01:34:31,880
- That song was a pointof departure for the series
1995
01:34:31,964 --> 01:34:34,550
and for me.
1996
01:34:34,633 --> 01:34:36,301
- ♪ Being green ♪
1997
01:34:36,385 --> 01:34:38,345
- The song addressesthat one thing that's
1998
01:34:38,428 --> 01:34:41,014
at the kernel of our being.
1999
01:34:41,098 --> 01:34:43,141
We're not sure what we are
or what we can be.
2000
01:34:43,225 --> 01:34:44,560
We know there's potential,
2001
01:34:44,643 --> 01:34:46,937
and the realization
to accept ourselves.
2002
01:34:47,020 --> 01:34:48,355
- ♪ I am green ♪
2003
01:34:48,438 --> 01:34:50,274
♪ And it'll do fine ♪
2004
01:34:50,357 --> 01:34:52,317
♪ It's beautiful ♪
2005
01:34:52,401 --> 01:34:56,280
♪ And I think it'swhat I want to be ♪
2006
01:34:58,615 --> 01:35:00,242
- To know that we can becomesomething
2007
01:35:00,325 --> 01:35:03,203
that we perhaps never dreamedwe could be...
2008
01:35:07,165 --> 01:35:09,126
That's what
"Sesame Street" is about.
2009
01:35:15,591 --> 01:35:19,178
[indistinct chatter]
2010
01:35:19,261 --> 01:35:20,679
- Stand by.
- Okay.
2011
01:35:20,762 --> 01:35:22,264
- Switching over.
2012
01:35:22,347 --> 01:35:24,433
- P.
2013
01:35:24,516 --> 01:35:26,810
[gibberish]
2014
01:35:30,022 --> 01:35:33,275
- R.
- No, no, no, no, no.
2015
01:35:37,654 --> 01:35:40,824
- P.
- No! [growls]
2016
01:35:50,626 --> 01:35:54,296
But if you say the name first
and then the sound shot.
2017
01:35:54,379 --> 01:35:55,714
- Wait, we're teaching
something here?
2018
01:35:55,797 --> 01:35:57,007
- Yeah!
2019
01:35:59,468 --> 01:36:02,596
- The happiest timeof his life
2020
01:36:02,679 --> 01:36:05,641
were those early yearsin "Sesame Street"
2021
01:36:05,724 --> 01:36:10,437
when Dad suddenly hadthis family around him.
2022
01:36:21,406 --> 01:36:23,867
That was all he couldever have wished for.
2023
01:36:27,120 --> 01:36:28,956
You know, he battleddepression
2024
01:36:29,039 --> 01:36:31,208
for a good part of his life,
2025
01:36:31,291 --> 01:36:35,462
but on set with the Muppets
he was so happy.
2026
01:36:35,546 --> 01:36:37,172
- All right. Quiet please.
Here we go.
2027
01:36:43,846 --> 01:36:46,014
[laughter]
2028
01:36:49,935 --> 01:36:51,353
- Cookie Monster?
2029
01:36:51,436 --> 01:36:53,063
- Hmm, what?
- That's just so disgusting.
2030
01:36:54,857 --> 01:36:56,149
- Sorry, Jon.
2031
01:36:56,233 --> 01:36:57,860
- Don't worry, Jon,
keep rolling.
2032
01:36:57,943 --> 01:36:59,695
- So sorry, Jon.
- Sorry, Jon.
2033
01:36:59,778 --> 01:37:03,657
- I bet Jon would like to do
those shots one more time!
2034
01:37:03,740 --> 01:37:05,742
- Of course--
- Please don't hurt me.
2035
01:37:05,826 --> 01:37:09,872
Don't yell at me, Jonny.
Please! Fade to black!
2036
01:37:11,957 --> 01:37:15,127
[indistinct chatter, laughter]
2037
01:37:16,837 --> 01:37:19,840
- "Sesame Street" trulywas the love of his life,
2038
01:37:19,923 --> 01:37:25,220
and that's the thing that he
stuck with longer than anybody,
2039
01:37:25,304 --> 01:37:27,389
right up until the end.
2040
01:37:27,472 --> 01:37:29,391
- There must be something
to life besides big balloons
2041
01:37:29,474 --> 01:37:31,560
and little balloons.
I like little sized balloons.
2042
01:37:31,643 --> 01:37:34,646
- Years ago I triedto persuade Joan Cooney
2043
01:37:34,730 --> 01:37:38,400
to do a special entitled"Backstage at Sesame Street"
2044
01:37:38,483 --> 01:37:43,113
because I wanted to capture
the family aura
2045
01:37:43,197 --> 01:37:46,241
that we had in the studio
and still have,
2046
01:37:46,325 --> 01:37:51,038
but we never did the show.Maybe we're doing it now.
2047
01:37:51,121 --> 01:37:52,497
[chuckles]
2048
01:38:01,465 --> 01:38:05,636
- It was a family, is a family,
2049
01:38:05,719 --> 01:38:09,348
and really all of us
loved each other,
2050
01:38:09,431 --> 01:38:11,391
and it shows in the work.
2051
01:38:13,268 --> 01:38:15,479
- The most amazing part of
"Sesame Street"
2052
01:38:15,562 --> 01:38:18,148
was how everybody was
in the right place
2053
01:38:18,232 --> 01:38:20,317
at the right time,
2054
01:38:20,400 --> 01:38:22,486
and that's the thing
that made the show.
2055
01:38:26,198 --> 01:38:29,952
- Thinking about in the verybeginning of the show
2056
01:38:30,035 --> 01:38:33,497
and all of the peoplethat worked on it.
2057
01:38:33,580 --> 01:38:35,999
It's hard for me
to talk about it.
2058
01:38:36,083 --> 01:38:38,001
It's very emotional.
2059
01:38:41,421 --> 01:38:43,924
It can't be reproduced.
2060
01:38:45,843 --> 01:38:49,221
- It's still to this day isvery difficult for me
2061
01:38:49,304 --> 01:38:51,348
to wrap my mind around
2062
01:38:51,431 --> 01:38:54,810
how big this thing is,
how big it became.
2063
01:38:54,893 --> 01:38:58,605
- I don't know that there is
a show
2064
01:38:58,689 --> 01:39:01,775
that is as universally loved
from childhood
2065
01:39:01,859 --> 01:39:05,112
through adulthoodas "Sesame Street" is.
2066
01:39:05,195 --> 01:39:08,532
- "Sesame Street" wanted togive kids tools
2067
01:39:08,615 --> 01:39:12,411
to create the world
they wanted to live in.
2068
01:39:12,494 --> 01:39:14,746
- You know, in the beginning,
2069
01:39:14,830 --> 01:39:18,500
we thoughtwe were helping education,
2070
01:39:18,584 --> 01:39:21,712
maybe changingchildren's television,
2071
01:39:21,795 --> 01:39:25,966
but I don't think any of us
sat there thinking,
2072
01:39:26,049 --> 01:39:29,469
"Oh, my God.
We're changing the world."
2073
01:39:29,553 --> 01:39:31,513
- There was justa magic moment in time
2074
01:39:31,597 --> 01:39:33,765
where we all workedon an idea
2075
01:39:33,849 --> 01:39:35,726
that we understoodwas bigger than ourselves.
2076
01:39:37,269 --> 01:39:41,356
- It was an amazing experience.
2077
01:39:41,440 --> 01:39:43,150
- This is whyit's still loved.
2078
01:39:43,233 --> 01:39:45,152
The people who do it love it.
2079
01:39:46,778 --> 01:39:48,530
They're genuine,and they believed in
2080
01:39:48,614 --> 01:39:50,282
what they're doing,
2081
01:39:50,365 --> 01:39:52,117
and from the very beginning,
2082
01:39:52,201 --> 01:39:54,703
the joy that those guysput into the show,
2083
01:39:54,786 --> 01:39:57,080
the joy that they all felt...
2084
01:39:58,916 --> 01:40:01,502
It shows on every frameof the show
2085
01:40:01,585 --> 01:40:03,754
throughout its history.
2086
01:40:03,837 --> 01:40:05,672
- Wind.
2087
01:40:05,756 --> 01:40:11,470
♪ ♪
2088
01:40:11,553 --> 01:40:14,264
- Ah!
2089
01:40:14,348 --> 01:40:18,060
- "Sesame Street" is immortal.
2090
01:40:18,143 --> 01:40:20,062
- Shake your head.
Shake your head.
2091
01:40:20,145 --> 01:40:21,605
Shake your head.
2092
01:40:21,688 --> 01:40:23,357
- Oh, boy, is this fun!
- Shake your head.
2093
01:40:23,440 --> 01:40:25,776
Shake your head.
Shake your head.
2094
01:40:27,694 --> 01:40:30,405
- Is it--aren't you glad
you're playing, everybody?
2095
01:40:30,489 --> 01:40:33,158
["Sesame Street" theme songends]
2096
01:40:33,242 --> 01:40:40,249
♪ ♪
2097
01:40:55,389 --> 01:40:57,808
- ♪ Dance, dance,
dance, dance, dance ♪
2098
01:40:57,891 --> 01:40:59,351
All right!
2099
01:40:59,434 --> 01:41:01,144
♪ Dance, dance, dance ♪
2100
01:41:01,228 --> 01:41:03,272
♪ Everybody dance ♪
2101
01:41:03,355 --> 01:41:05,232
♪ Everybody
dance ♪
2102
01:41:05,315 --> 01:41:07,442
♪ You can dance with me ♪
2103
01:41:07,526 --> 01:41:09,528
♪ You can dance
with me ♪
2104
01:41:09,611 --> 01:41:11,280
♪ Dance, dance, dance ♪
2105
01:41:11,363 --> 01:41:12,739
♪ Dance, dance,
dance ♪
2106
01:41:12,823 --> 01:41:14,032
All right!
2107
01:41:14,116 --> 01:41:15,242
♪ Dance, dance, dance ♪
2108
01:41:15,325 --> 01:41:16,827
All right!
♪ Everybody dance ♪
2109
01:41:16,910 --> 01:41:18,453
♪ You can dance ♪
2110
01:41:18,537 --> 01:41:20,330
- ♪ The mama pajama
rolled out of bed ♪
2111
01:41:20,414 --> 01:41:22,791
♪ She ran to
the police station ♪
2112
01:41:22,875 --> 01:41:24,710
♪ When the papa found out
he began to shout ♪
2113
01:41:24,793 --> 01:41:27,379
♪ And he started
the investigation ♪
2114
01:41:27,462 --> 01:41:29,131
♪ It's against the law ♪
2115
01:41:29,214 --> 01:41:31,550
♪ It was against the law ♪
2116
01:41:31,633 --> 01:41:33,594
♪ What the mama saw ♪
2117
01:41:33,677 --> 01:41:35,304
♪ It was against the law ♪
2118
01:41:35,387 --> 01:41:36,972
- ♪ It's against the law ♪
2119
01:41:37,055 --> 01:41:38,515
- ♪ The mama looked down
and spit on the ground ♪
2120
01:41:38,599 --> 01:41:41,393
♪ Every time my name
gets mentioned ♪
2121
01:41:41,476 --> 01:41:44,021
♪ The papa said,
"Oy, if I get that boy ♪
2122
01:41:44,104 --> 01:41:46,231
♪ I'm gonna stick him
in the house of detention" ♪
2123
01:41:46,315 --> 01:41:48,525
♪ Well I'm on my way ♪
2124
01:41:48,609 --> 01:41:50,402
♪ I don't know where
I'm going ♪
2125
01:41:50,485 --> 01:41:52,112
♪ But I'm on my way ♪
2126
01:41:52,196 --> 01:41:53,530
♪ I'm taking my time ♪
2127
01:41:53,614 --> 01:41:54,948
♪ But I don't know where ♪
2128
01:41:55,032 --> 01:41:59,119
♪ Goodbye to Rosie,
the queen of Corona ♪
2129
01:41:59,203 --> 01:42:00,579
♪ Seeing me and Julio ♪
2130
01:42:00,662 --> 01:42:03,248
♪ Down by the schoolyard ♪
2131
01:42:03,332 --> 01:42:04,499
♪ Seeing me and Julio ♪
2132
01:42:04,583 --> 01:42:06,126
♪ Down by the schoolyard ♪
2133
01:42:06,210 --> 01:42:07,711
- ♪ Dance, dance, dance ♪
2134
01:42:07,794 --> 01:42:09,421
♪ Everybody dance ♪
2135
01:42:09,505 --> 01:42:14,301
♪ Everybody ♪
2136
01:42:14,384 --> 01:42:16,011
- Whoo!
2137
01:42:16,094 --> 01:42:19,306
[cheers and applause]
2138
01:42:19,389 --> 01:42:23,977
[upbeat jazz music]
2139
01:42:24,061 --> 01:42:26,605
- ♪ Excuse me, Mr. Hoots
I hate to bug a busy bird ♪
2140
01:42:26,688 --> 01:42:27,940
♪ But I want to learn the sax ♪
2141
01:42:28,023 --> 01:42:29,525
♪ And I need a helpful word ♪
2142
01:42:29,608 --> 01:42:31,401
♪ I always get a silly squeak ♪
2143
01:42:31,485 --> 01:42:33,320
♪ When I play the blues ♪
2144
01:42:34,947 --> 01:42:36,156
- ♪ Ernie, keep your cool ♪
2145
01:42:36,240 --> 01:42:37,783
♪ I'll teach you
how to blow the sax ♪
2146
01:42:37,866 --> 01:42:39,243
♪ I think I dig your problem ♪
2147
01:42:39,326 --> 01:42:40,619
♪ It's rubber, and it quacks ♪
2148
01:42:40,702 --> 01:42:42,329
♪ You'll never find
the skill you seek ♪
2149
01:42:42,412 --> 01:42:44,289
♪ Till you pay your dues ♪
2150
01:42:45,832 --> 01:42:48,794
♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2151
01:42:48,877 --> 01:42:51,547
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2152
01:42:51,630 --> 01:42:53,006
♪ Put down the duckie yeah ♪
2153
01:42:53,090 --> 01:42:55,259
♪ You've got to leave
the duck alone ♪
2154
01:42:57,052 --> 01:42:59,847
all: ♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2155
01:42:59,930 --> 01:43:02,599
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2156
01:43:02,683 --> 01:43:06,895
♪ Put down the duckie if you
wanna play the saxophone ♪
2157
01:43:06,979 --> 01:43:09,231
- Whoo!
2158
01:43:09,314 --> 01:43:11,942
- You didn't hear
a word I said.
2159
01:43:12,025 --> 01:43:14,903
♪ You got to get it
through your head ♪
2160
01:43:14,987 --> 01:43:17,531
♪ Don't be a stubborn cluck ♪
2161
01:43:17,614 --> 01:43:19,241
♪ Ernie, lay aside the duck ♪
2162
01:43:19,324 --> 01:43:20,492
♪ I've learned a thing or two ♪
2163
01:43:20,576 --> 01:43:22,202
♪ From years of playing
in a band ♪
2164
01:43:22,286 --> 01:43:24,621
♪ It's hard to play a saxophone
with something in your hand ♪
2165
01:43:24,705 --> 01:43:26,081
♪ To be a fine musician ♪
2166
01:43:26,164 --> 01:43:29,960
♪ You're going to have to face
the facts ♪
2167
01:43:30,043 --> 01:43:33,213
all: ♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2168
01:43:33,297 --> 01:43:35,966
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2169
01:43:36,049 --> 01:43:37,217
♪ Put down
the duckie ♪
2170
01:43:37,301 --> 01:43:40,804
♪ You've got to leave
the duck alone ♪
2171
01:43:40,888 --> 01:43:44,266
♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2172
01:43:44,349 --> 01:43:46,935
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2173
01:43:47,019 --> 01:43:50,147
♪ Put the duckie if you want
to play the saxophone ♪
2174
01:43:50,230 --> 01:43:51,815
- Yeah!
2175
01:43:51,899 --> 01:43:53,108
- ♪ Though you're blessed
with flying fingers ♪
2176
01:43:53,192 --> 01:43:54,860
♪ When you want to wail,
you're stuck ♪
2177
01:43:54,943 --> 01:43:56,153
♪ What good are flying
fingers ♪
2178
01:43:56,236 --> 01:43:57,946
♪ If they're wrapped around
a duck ♪
2179
01:43:58,030 --> 01:44:01,366
♪ Change the toy's position
if you wanna ace the sax ♪
2180
01:44:01,450 --> 01:44:02,993
♪ Yeah! ♪
2181
01:44:03,076 --> 01:44:05,537
all: ♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2182
01:44:05,621 --> 01:44:08,332
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2183
01:44:08,415 --> 01:44:09,625
♪ Put down
the duckie ♪
2184
01:44:09,708 --> 01:44:11,710
♪ You've got to leave
the duck alone ♪
2185
01:44:11,793 --> 01:44:13,045
♪ Don't mess with me ♪
2186
01:44:13,128 --> 01:44:16,340
♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2187
01:44:16,423 --> 01:44:17,633
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2188
01:44:17,716 --> 01:44:20,093
♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2189
01:44:20,177 --> 01:44:22,513
♪If you want to play
the saxophone ♪
2190
01:44:25,766 --> 01:44:28,310
- ♪ Don't have to put it
on a train ♪
2191
01:44:28,393 --> 01:44:31,188
♪ Don't have to wash it
down the drain ♪
2192
01:44:31,271 --> 01:44:33,982
♪ Don't have to lock it
in a drawer ♪
2193
01:44:34,066 --> 01:44:36,818
♪ Don't have to shove it
out the door ♪
2194
01:44:36,902 --> 01:44:39,571
♪ Don't have to stuff it
in your pocket ♪
2195
01:44:39,655 --> 01:44:42,115
♪ Or send it flying
in a rocket ♪
2196
01:44:42,199 --> 01:44:44,910
♪ Don't have to get it
out of town ♪
2197
01:44:44,993 --> 01:44:47,162
♪ Ernie put the quacker down ♪
2198
01:44:47,246 --> 01:44:48,830
- Oh, gee, Hoots, you know
2199
01:44:48,914 --> 01:44:50,707
I really love my duckie.
I can't bear to part with him.
2200
01:44:50,791 --> 01:44:53,210
- Oh, you don't have
to lose your duck.
2201
01:44:53,293 --> 01:44:55,921
all: ♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2202
01:44:56,004 --> 01:44:58,799
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2203
01:44:58,882 --> 01:45:00,092
♪ Put down
the duckie ♪
2204
01:45:00,175 --> 01:45:01,844
♪ You've got leave
the duck alone ♪
2205
01:45:03,929 --> 01:45:06,849
♪ You've got to put down
the duckie ♪
2206
01:45:06,932 --> 01:45:09,726
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2207
01:45:09,810 --> 01:45:11,019
♪ Put down
the duckie ♪
2208
01:45:11,103 --> 01:45:13,689
♪ If you want to play
the saxophone ♪
2209
01:45:14,815 --> 01:45:16,775
- Gee, Hoots, you know
I really love my duckie.
2210
01:45:16,859 --> 01:45:18,569
I can't part with him.
2211
01:45:18,652 --> 01:45:20,195
- Well, you don't have
to lose your duck.
2212
01:45:20,279 --> 01:45:22,030
You can pick it up
when you're finished.
2213
01:45:22,114 --> 01:45:23,198
- I can?
- Yeah!
2214
01:45:23,282 --> 01:45:24,992
- Oh, wow!
2215
01:45:25,075 --> 01:45:31,915
♪ ♪
2216
01:45:35,711 --> 01:45:37,921
♪ You've got put down
the duckie ♪
2217
01:45:38,005 --> 01:45:40,048
- ♪ Put down the duckie ♪
- ♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2218
01:45:40,132 --> 01:45:42,467
- ♪ Put that down ♪
- ♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2219
01:45:42,551 --> 01:45:44,803
♪ Yeah, you've got to leave
the duck alone ♪
2220
01:45:46,847 --> 01:45:48,140
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2221
01:45:48,223 --> 01:45:49,558
- ♪ Put down
the duckie ♪
2222
01:45:49,641 --> 01:45:51,018
- ♪ Put down that duckie ♪
2223
01:45:51,101 --> 01:45:52,352
- ♪ Put down ♪
2224
01:45:52,436 --> 01:45:53,687
- ♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2225
01:45:53,770 --> 01:45:55,522
♪ If you want to play
the saxophone ♪
2226
01:45:55,606 --> 01:45:57,441
♪ One more time ♪
2227
01:45:57,524 --> 01:46:00,569
all: ♪ You've got put down
the duckie ♪
2228
01:46:00,652 --> 01:46:03,447
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2229
01:46:03,530 --> 01:46:04,740
♪ Put down
the duckie ♪
2230
01:46:04,823 --> 01:46:08,660
♪ You've got to leave
the duck alone ♪
2231
01:46:08,744 --> 01:46:11,622
♪ You've got put down
the duckie ♪
2232
01:46:11,705 --> 01:46:14,374
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2233
01:46:14,458 --> 01:46:15,709
♪ Put down the duckie ♪
2234
01:46:15,792 --> 01:46:19,755
♪ If you want to play
the saxophone ♪
2235
01:46:19,838 --> 01:46:22,466
- Whoo.
Can I pick up my duckie?
2236
01:46:22,549 --> 01:46:25,135
- By all means!
- Oh, thank you.
2237
01:46:25,219 --> 01:46:27,513
Oh, duckie,
I missed you so much.
2238
01:46:27,596 --> 01:46:29,264
Yes, me too.
2239
01:46:29,348 --> 01:46:31,058
- Take care, Ernie, my man!
2240
01:46:33,519 --> 01:46:35,646
- Well, I want you to know
how truly unpleasant
2241
01:46:35,729 --> 01:46:37,481
it has been having
to talk to you.
2242
01:46:37,564 --> 01:46:40,317
So I'm going to leave now
so ta-ta.
2243
01:46:40,400 --> 01:46:42,694
Oh, that sounded as though
I might have cared too.
2244
01:46:42,778 --> 01:46:45,030
How about scram,
get out of here,
2245
01:46:45,113 --> 01:46:47,491
and I can't stand you?
[laughs]
2246
01:46:47,574 --> 01:46:49,576
Ow, why don't you watch that?
166962
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