Season 13 (November 23, 1981 – May 21, 1982)
By time of the lucky 13th season of Sesame Street, everyone who was familiar with the show knew all about the street and its residents. The audience had a pretty good idea of what to expect from the location and characters central to the show. But the show’s creators continued to expand the show’s universe by sending the characters out into the world beyond the street – and by bringing in relatives and friends to visit the neighborhood. And obviously it worked, because the show doesn’t approach anything that could be described as boring.
All you have to do is browse the episode list on Muppet Wiki to see what I’m talking about. There are so many “Character X comes to Sesame Street” stories. A flower vendor named Winkle shows up to sell flowers. Big Bird’s granny stops by for a surprise visit. And there are visits by Maria’s friend Sue, Olivia’s pilot boyfriend Hal, David’s niece Akim, David’s grandmother Harriet, Mr. Hooper’s brother Arnold, Maria’s cousin Mercedes, an eel named Samantha, and Big Bird’s cousin Zero, who is a penguin. In season 13, Sesame Street has more comings and goings than a lemonade stand in August.
(Big Bird’s cousin is a penguin? Hmm… Is Big Bird part-penguin?)
But the main characters aren’t just content to hang around and wait for people to come to them. Big Bird and Snuffy explore a cave full of hidden treasure, Oscar goes to camp, Telly goes to daycare, and Maria and David take Big Bird to Harriet’s farm. More locations means more opportunities for teaching the kids at home, of course – after all, how many times can you count apples in Hooper’s Store?
Speaking of counting, one of my favorite insert segments premiering this season finds the Count venturing far from Sesame Street, and far from his dark, gloomy castle. It’s “Coconut Counting Man,” a lovely song written by Chris Cerf, in which Harry Belafonte seems perfectly happy to be alone on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean with the Count, whose only purpose in life is to count coconuts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjNbUo80bz0
That’s really all there is to it, but the song is so bouncy and warm, and Belafonte and the Count’s performances are so buoyant – complemented perfectly by a pair of backup-singing birds — that the number ends up being surprisingly uplifting. I mean, I have no special affinity for coconuts, but if I was ever in a bad mood and heard this song, chances are it would pick me up. And who could resisit the Count’s floppy strat hat?
And as if all that wasn’t enough, this is also the season when the show takes us to a crayon factory to see how crayons are made! Thus ensuring that millions of children would grow up to be adults who occasionally reminisced, “Hey, remember that thing on Sesame Street where they showed how crayons are made?”
Notable Character Debut: Aristotle, the show’s first blind Muppet. I’ve often wondered why the writers chose to make their blind character a Muppet, rather than introducing a new human regular. But Aristotle is a cool character, endearingly performed by Richard Hunt. He likes to collect things, which seems like a character trait with at least as much potential as “likes cookies.” But Muppet Wiki shows him appearing just a few times over this season and the next, so I don’t know why he ceased appearing after that.
Notable Character Departure: Mona Monster, we hardly knew ye. Telly’s big sister appeared on the show this season, then disappeared… or did she? The puppet would return later as Telly’s anxious friend Juliet, and later still as Natasha’s mom Ingrid. What a journey! Did Telly ever notice that his friends Juliet and Ingrid looked uncannily like his sister?
MVM (Most Valuable Muppet): Forgetful Jones, one of the most underrated Sesame Street Muppets. He appears in both inserts and street scenes a lot this season, and you always have a pretty good idea of how it’s going to go, but his new performer Richard Hunt makes it funny every dang time.
MVH (Most Valuable Human): Until very recently, I was unaware of Timi, a friend of Linda’s who is fluent in sign language. Among her occasional appearances, she shows up for two consecutive episodes this season working with Oscar and Slimey at their TV station!
MVE (Most Valuable Episode): It’s hard to top the season premiere, episode 1576, in which visiting birdwatchers are amazed to discover Big Bird on Sesame Street, and try to place him in a bird sanctuary. First of all, one of the birdwatchers is the always-delightful Madeline Kahn, who always works well with Muppets. Second, the other birdwatcher – a proper British chap — is played by Richard Hunt, in a rare onscreen acting role. And third, the premise of “a well-meaning but misguided lady tries to take Big Bird away from Sesame Street so he can be with other birds” was so compelling they used it as the story of the first Sesame Street movie a few years later.
Other Notable Episodes: In episode 1580, Oscar forgets Grundgetta’s birthday, and we learn that, although grouches like unpleasant things, they still want people to remember their birthdays. So they can get unpleasant present, of course. I’m also intrigued by episode 1663, in which Bob finds himself speaking to a sentient payphone.
Classic Sketch Debut: Is this the debut season for the sketch where Gordon plays an impassioned motivational speaker extolling the virtues of rain? I don’t know, but it shows up in a few episodes this season, and I love it. Roscoe Orman really sells it, and it’s so ridiculous that it demands you pay attention and learn about rain.
Classic Song Debut: “Dance Myself to Sleep!” In which Ernie can’t sleep, so he torments his roommate with singing and dancing and bugle-playing. The matter-of-fact way that Ernie sings about the sheep senselessly tossing Bert outside is just excellent.
Best Celebrity Moment: Outside of Belafonte and Kahn’s appearances, Diana Ross singing “Believe in Yourself” to Big Bird is pretty swell. Hey, all three of them were Muppet Show guest stars. Neat.
WTF Moment: In reading about this season, I learned that Oscar the Grouch had a robot named Charles who made at least seven appearances across a few seasons. A robot! Named Charles!!!
One More Thing: This season also saw the debut of the Dingers! The Honkers were such a smash hit that the writers said to themselves, “Wow, kids love Muppets who produce sounds by striking their own body parts. Let’s do that again!”
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by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com
