Sesame Street 50 in 50: Season 28

Published: July 12, 2019

Season 28 (November 18, 1996 – May 16, 1997)

Every Sesame Street nerd can name lots of characters who have come and gone on the show over the years. Sometimes we lament the disappearance of an entertaining Muppet (Elizabeth totally should have stuck around longer!), and sometimes we’re more neutral (Professor Hastings’ retirement was certainly acceptable).

But once a character falls out of common usage on the show, we generally don’t expect them to come back. Which is why it’s quite surprising that season 28 features plenty of new material starring Frazzle. Yes, Frazzle!

He was never exactly a main character, and I wouldn’t expect anyone who’s not A Muppet Fan Like Us to be able to identify him. But he popped up periodically throughout the ‘70s, as part of the ensemble of monsters, and he even had his very own song. He was around. But by the mid-’90s, he had faded into obscurity. Maybe because he’s really scary-looking? Or because his speech is unintelligible, with most of his dialogue amounting to “ARRRVABLAWGAVABLAVAGAWWWAG?”

And then out of nowhere, he starts showing up again in season 28, in all his pointy-toothed glory. See, after the departure of short-lived human character Angela, Gina is now in charge of the day care center on Sesame Street. And in episode 3532, she introduces the newest kid in day care: Frazzle! Frazzle has a hard time adjusting to all the new faces, and spends most of the episode cowering under a blanket. But soon he comes out of his fuzzy shell, and before long he’s having a great time annoying Zoe (episode 3553) and communicating with Natasha (episode 3643).

So apparently Frazzle is of preschool age. I suppose I wouldn’t have stopped to consider how old Frazzle was before this season, but if I had, I never would have guessed he was a preschooler. I probably would have assumed he was an adult. I mean, look at the size of those fangs! Are you telling me those are his baby teeth?!

But here we are. Frazzle is definitively established as a little kid. If you squint your eyes, it’s something of a metaphor for the show. For many years, it’s been humming along as a show that’s educational for kids, but that is entertaining for people of any age. And then sometime in this era, like the ambiguously-aged Frazzle being explicitly labeled as a child, Sesame Street becomes more specifically calculated to appeal mostly to very young children. Like children who would be in day care.

In this 50th anniversary year, Sesame Street is doing a lot to appeal to grown-up fans who graduated preschool a long time ago. Maybe it’s a good time to re-reintroduce Frazzle, this time as a grown-up 40-year-old monster. They could even give him his own Twitter account. His first tweet should probably be “ARRRVABLAWGAVABLAVAGAWWWAG!”

Notable Departure: This is the last season for head writer Norman Stiles, who wrote a ton of street stories and sketches, and whose sensibility has a lot to do with what we think of as the tone of “classic Sesame Street.” Soon after, he and his colleagues Michael Frith and Chris Cerf would go on to create Between the Lions.

MVM (Most Valuable Muppet): Big Bird continues to be a solid player, including episode 3646, where he hangs out with his cousin Abelardo Montoya, the big bird of Plaza Sesamo.

MVH (Most Valuable Human): This season has episode 3595, in which Prairie Dawn gets sick on the day of a pageant, and Celina comes up with a great idea for a substitute. Which is why I have to give it to… Bob.

MVH Addendum: In watching several “Around the Corner”-era episodes for this article series, I’ve come to realize that Celina was considerably funnier, more charming, and less cutesy-saccharine-kids-show-host than I remembered. She certainly could have stayed on the show longer.

MVE (Most Valuable Episode): Episode 3609 teases the wedding we’ve been waiting for for years when Oscar proposes to Grundgetta — and she accidentally says yes! Martha Sewer shows up to help them plan the ceremony, but ultimately it falls apart before they make it official. It turns out they can’t be married, because that would make them too happy. Grouches!

Other Notable Episodes: Episode 3655 finds Maria and Luis squeezing into the Furry Arms Hotel with Telly for a convention of the Friends of Three. Luis is having fun, Maria is having less fun… and then guest performer Mumford does a trick that turns one Maria into THREE Marias! Which is when Luis makes this face:

Classic Sketch Debut: I don’t know that any became all-time classics, but it’s nice to see some new Muppet inserts this season in the style of the old ones. You know, with the Muppets hanging out behind a wall in front of a blue backdrop and stuff.

Curriculum Focus: Sickness and hospitals. Isn’t that nice?

Best Celebrity Moment: When Maria has to go to the hospital for stomach pains, her doctor is none other than ER’s Noah Wyle! His name is Dr. Colburn rather than Dr. Carter, so sorry, ER-heads, this is not an official crossover.

One More Thing: There’s a nice nod to the show’s history in episode 3611, when a bird art dealer drops by and offers to pay Big Bird exorbitant amounts of birdseed for his original drawing of Mr. Hooper. After reminiscing about his old storekeeper pal, Big Bird realizes he could never part with it. At this point, it’s been well over a decade since Mr. Hooper died, so it’s nice that Big Bird still remembers him despite many ensuing years of being six years old.