Line #49 Headscratchers/SesameStreet


1	[[WMG:Series/SesameStreet]]
2	[[folder: Why Did the Sheep Carry Bert's Bed Out?]]
3	* The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AihWK5On7tc Dance Myself to Sleep]]" sketch - is there a reason the sheep carry Bert's bed out, aside from "Bert panicking is funny?"
4	** [[RuleOfFunny No. No, there is not.]]
5	*** In fact, this is the point of pretty much every Bert and Ernie skit, that Bert panicking (or furious, or stunned to the point of {{Fainting}}) is funny.
6	** Maybe they did it as a joke or they thought he would like it?
7	** Maybe it's similar to crowd surfing.
8	[[/folder]]
9	[[folder: How DO You Get to Sesame Street?]]
10	* Just how DO you get to Sesame Street?
11	** Make friends with people, value the good things in life, learn to love and be kind to others. ''That's'' how you get to Sesame Street.
12	*** Dope yourself up with several amphetamines, hallucinogens, and antidepressants and hope you don't accidentally step off the Yellow Submarine onto Theatre/AvenueQ.
13	*** [[Tropers/{{Nettik}} This troper]] thought that was brilliant, that just made her day.
14	*** You'll need to get directions there from Callahan's Place. It's where Mike sends the ''really'' bad cases.
15	*** To the above troper: I love you for tieing Sesame Street and Callahans. You have made my day.
16	*** If you take ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' at face value when Kermit & Fozzie run across Big Bird, Sesame Street is somewhere in New York.
17	*** Sesame Street was initially taped in Manhattan for the first 24 seasons of the show, and thereafter moved to Kaufman Astoria Studios, Queens in 1993. The older seasons, particularly in things like the alphabet and number sequence montages, are full of scenes of real-life New York City.
18	** You take the A, B, C, or D train, according to the occasionally-seen subway stop.
19	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlsVYObqhykvvv Grover once got lost and wandered onto Vi's Diner on ''The Electric Company'']], but we're left hanging when they find out where he's trying to get back to.
20	-->'''Vi:''' Now, would you like to find out how to get to Sesame Street?
21	-->'''Grover:''' [[NoEnding No, I'd like to see a menu.]]
22	** [[WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses MapQuest it.]]
23	** According to the Elmo Website/YouTube interview, [[MathematiciansAnswer you could take a bus, or a train...]]
24	** Practice, man, practice!
25	** Type it into your GPS.
26	** According to Website/IMDb, "Take the "R" or "M" train to Steinway Street Station. Stay on back of train. Walk west on 34th Avenue, three blocks to 36th Street. Turn left on 36th Street. The entrance to Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens is mid-block (between 34th & 35th Avenues)."
27	*** Then you try and fake out the guards by pretending you're a lost child, just to meet Big Bird and Elmo.
28	** Have a celebrity for a parent.
29	** Elmo is able to reach Santa's Workshop from the closet door in Elmo's World quickly and without comment; you probably get to Sesame Street in the same way: know that it exists, believe you can get there, and really try your best.
30	[[/folder]]
31	[[folder: Economics]]
32	* Just how does the economics of Hooper's Store work? Who pays for all of those birdseed milkshakes for Big Bird? It looks like only the humans (and Kermit, and maybe Grover) have jobs.
33	** I'd say Grover has jobs.
34	*** Of course he has jobs! Everywhere that Mr. Johnson (AKA Fat Blue) goes (whether a restaurant, taxicab, airplane, whatever), Grover's working there!! Like Ryan Seacrest, Grover (who, for some reason, I always pictured looking like [[spoiler:Owen from ''Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story]] as a human) works at about 42 different places.
35	** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sieKcEGeQMw this]] early sketch, Big Bird mentions having a tab. Not sure how that works, either, though.
36	*** Well, the actor that played Mr. Hooper was blacklisted during the [=McCarthy=] Era, maybe it's an elaborate Commune/Barter system?
37	[[/folder]]
38	[[folder: Home Owning Kids?]]
39	* And along these same lines, at least half of the Muppets clearly have the mental and emotional maturity of children, yet they apparently live by themselves. Does Social Services not exist in this universe?
40	** A Muppet version, as evidenced in the movie where Big Bird is ripped from Sesame Street and sent to live with his own kind, a bird foster family. Serious NightmareFuel for this troper as a child.
41	*** It wasn't Social Services exactly. It was a group of birds (especially Miss Finch) that aribitrarily thought Big Bird needed to be with his own kind.
42	** When I was a kid, I always thought Bert & Ernie were brothers, and the sketches that they showed up in happened to be when their folks were at work (hence, them never being around).
43	*** [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike Same here]].
44	*** [[RuleOfThree Same here.]]
45	*** Same here, at least when I actually stop to think about it. Apparently it was the original idea, but they decided to keep it more vague to have more options.
46	** It could be that these Muppets are not "children," but they seem to be mentally young because they're just not used to the conventions of the human world, which is why they need certain things explained to them (i.e., concepts that the show's primary demographic would be learning). For example, as another troper notes below, Muppets don't seem to age, which might be why Big Bird struggled with the idea of Mr. Hooper's death--not just because he's mentally age six.
47	*** Me too. Makes me wonder. Did you tropers have an older/younger sibling who you were with when your parents were at work?
48	** Ernie, Bert, and Grover are adults, they're just goofballs. Actual kid characters like Elmo and Zoe don't live alone. The only kid character who lives alone is Big Bird, thought I don't know why ''he'' lives alone.
49	*** Big Bird is taken care of by everyone who lives on the street, as [[Film/FollowThatBird the movie]] pretty much confirmed. As for why he has his own nest... well, he's still a bird.
50	[[/folder]]
51	[[folder: What's the Deal with Karli?]]
52	* What's the story with Karli, the little green monster with the yellow hair? In one segment, she's established as a foster monster; in another, she's the daughter of a mother with an opioid addiction. This is the same character, right? Are both of these things part of who she is? At first they seem like mutually exclusive aspects of her characterization.
53	** If I recall correctly, she was in foster care because of her mother's addiction.
54	** Chances are she entered the foster system while her mother was away at rehab, and Karli will return to her custody as soon as her mother is healthy enough to do right by her kid.
55	** Maybe Karli isn’t in the proper foster system at all, and her “for-now parents” Clem and Dalia are just family friends looking after her until her mother recovers.
56	[[/folder]]
57	[[folder: What Do You Mean It's Not For Adults?]]
58	* What is it with the beginning message on the "Old School" [=DVDs=] that say the old episodes "Are for adults and may not suit the needs of today's children."? '''''WTF?''''' Are they afraid of today's kids developing a clever sense of humor or something?
59	** Yes
60	** Its because MoralGuardians have become more active and powerful since the loose 1970s. Also, the early episodes were targeted at older children, around eight. Today's episodes are targeted at young children, as young as three.
61	** Also, note that it says "may not suit the needs of today's children," not "are not safe for children."
62	*** Having rewatched many of the old school episodes and witnessed the behavior of many of today's children, old school ''Series/SesameStreet'' is ''exactly'' what they need, be they three, eight, anything in between. It has the right balance between reality and imagination, and it doesn't talk down to them at all. What really gets to me is that the MoralGuardians who called for that warning in the first place [[FridgeLogic probably grew up with these very episodes that turned them into the depraved misanthropes they don't want today's kids to become...]] OH, WAIT, THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED AT ALL.
63	*** [[http://www.toughpigs.com Tough Pigs, a Muppet fan site]], has [[http://www.toughpigs.com/the-voice-of-reason/ a great article on this.]] It goes on for quite a bit mocking the show's FanDumb, so here's the important part of the argument:
64	---->The disclaimer doesn’t say, “Do not under any circumstances let kids see this stuff because it’s bad for them.” It just says it “may not suit the needs of today’s pre-school children.” Now, if you had watched these [=DVDs=], you’d know that the first episode includes a slow-moving, seven-minute segment on milking cows with droning, repetitious narration. Does that sound like the kind of thing today’s kids would sit still for?
65	---->There’s also a film sequence about unsupervised children playing in a construction site. We could debate whether or not watching that is damaging to kids, but can you blame Sesame Workshop for covering themselves by putting a disclaimer in front of something like that?
66	** The Tropes article appears to mentions that they wanted to spare kids from the MindScrew of seeing the old versions of the characters (ex: goofy Big Bird without the afro, orange Grouch). Though, that seems to be a partial reason as that quote doesn't warrant that big of a warning.
67	** It's probably because the older episodes had Muppets hitting each other and calling names. But to be fair, a lot of children's entertainment of that time consisted of chasing, explosions and falling anvils. Sesame Street was still a step up (or several) from that.
68	** The more I think about it, the label you mentioned does not seem to mention it was ''inappropriate'' for children, just not neccesarily suitable. It's like they were addressing the old fans who wanted to return to the older Sesame Street for nostalgic value. And it warns against showing this to kids because of the different tone the series had. There were definite mean-spirited moments and some unnecessarily scary monsters. Scaring kids probably isn't the point of learning numbers and letters and one of those scary monsters (Beautiful-Day monster) appropriately became a Muppet character later.
69	** The older episodes are definitely more violent than newer ones. Not real violence, of course, but slapstick. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oWW3GRAYU4 The baker falling down the stairs at the end of the counting skits]] comes immediately to mind. Stuff that is labeled "imitatable" these days. Probably also things like the Count's lightning (which apparently frightened some children, so they had to tone it down) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwvwLzqmq0Y Nobody]]. (Personally, none of those things scared me. I was instead freaked out by the droning repetitive [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Paj43J0pi4s H]])
70	** There's also a lot of casual sexism and occasional transphobia in older programs, even shows targeted for kids. Girls wanting to be mommies and boys wanting to be cowboys, maybe a scene where a boy wearing "girl's clothing" is portrayed as humiliating or silly, stuff like that. Things that modern kids' programming is aware can be harmful but back then was seen as normal. I'm not saying that ''is'' the reason, just that it's a prime suspect for ''a'' reason they might feel the need to include a disclaimer.
71	[[/folder]]
72	[[folder: New Format]]
73	* If halving Sesame Street's runtime was a cost-cutting measure, why does the team have to do things like specialize their versatile video inserts?
74	[[/folder]]
75	[[folder: A Monster of a Puzzle]]
76	* So is "Monster" a surname, a species or a race? And how do they reproduce? Do they age, what sort of family structure do they have? If there were more than one Cookie Monster, I'd be worried, considering how much he eats.
77	** It's a SpeciesSurname. And ''more than one'' Cookie Monster? Come on. Who else would name their kid 'Cookie,' anyway?
78	*** Maybe 'Cookie' is just a nickname; much like the kid in your third class who farted loud enough to be heard on the 2nd floor is known as Jimmy "Stinky" Vincent, he is Mike "Cookie" Monster (or whatever his first name actually is), because of his snack food of choice.
79	*** According to his [[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Cookie_Monster article]] on the amazing Muppet Wiki, he claims to be the last cookie monster in the world, but later mentions there's more than one of him in a video. Really, since we've seen his family before, I think we can assume Cookie Monster is just his name. According to the article above, his name before Cookie was possibly Sid.
80	** I think they reproduce in, y'know, the usual way. And they do age, but [[NotAllowedToGrowUp only to a certain point because plot]].
81	[[/folder]]
82	[[folder: Are Ernie and Bert Really Just Friends]]
83	* Why can't people seem to understand that Bert and Ernie aren't gay, but are instead roommates? They live on Sesame Street together because it's cheaper that way, just how Gonzo and Rizzo are roommates.
84	** Speaking of which, are Bert and Ernie on FriendsRentControl?
85	** Aren't they ''brothers''? And usually ''kids''? Who says they (aside from Bert) are gay?
86	** People would riff on Gonzo and Rizzo being roommates if either of them were noticeably hominoid. As semi-anthropomorphs, they are exempt from sexual speculation, as people stay mentally away from the sexual habits of extraterrestrial avians and terrestrial rodents.
87	*** More like the text-text that Gonzo swings more towards chickens. Since when has [[CrackPairing being a]] [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom semi-anthropomorph]] stopped sexual speculation?
88	** The fact that they argue like an old married couple doesn't help.
89	** What about Statler and Waldorf? They've been together for ''years'' and yet no complaint about their sexual relations. I guess people don't like to mention sexual preferences about old men.
90	*** Do Statler and Waldorf live together? We know they hang out together, but the closest we've seen them to living together is both of them being in the same retirement home.
91	*** Waldorf is married; his wife Astoria takes Statler's place in one episode. However, she looks like Statler in drag.
92	*** [[WildMassGuessing Ah-HA!]] Statler is Waldorf's brother-in-law! Astoria wants them out of the house so she can have her Mah-Jong ladies over so she sends them off to the Muppet Theater every day...
93	** Getting back to the original issue, what really bugs me is that people say they're gay when they clearly have two separate beds.
94	*** I am gay and in a relationship and sleep in a separate bed from my partner. We have conflicting sleeping habits. Considering that Bert always bitches at Ernie for eating in bed, it's not at all inconceivable to apply this to them.
95	*** There's a season 42 episode where a sequence of circumstances leads to Bert and Ernie sleeping together in a tent in Gordon and Susan's bed. It was probably done just to mess with adult viewers, but still, make of that what you will.
96	*** Besides, there’s a convention in very old sitcoms where married couples have separate beds.
97	[[/folder]]
98	[[folder: That's One! One Creature We Can't Identify as a Vampire. Ha Ha Ha!]]
99	* [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy You know what really grinds my gears?]] The fact that the Count never kills anyone, and then sucks their blood for sustenance.
100	** The Count (Full name Count Von Count) is only interested in counting. He's not a real vampire, though I'd bet you could kill him with a stake through the heart.
101	*** Or the puppeteers heart.
102	*** His first name is Count (like [[Webcomic/VanVonHunter Van Von Vaughn]])? He's not, say, Humbert Von Count, Count of Streetsylvania?
103	** Not to mention that he's ''purple''.
104	*** Maybe the color is a result of not getting any blood in a long, ''long'' time?
105	** Maybe he's like a Literature/{{Discworld}} vampire, and he overcame his addiction to blood by shifting the obsession onto something else, in this case counting.
106	** Or he could just be wearing a costume. He's obviously wealthy, judging from his huge castle. Perhaps he actually descends from Eastern European aristocracy and he's just an eccentric billionaire who likes playing dress-up.
107	*** Didn't Dave Chappelle say the Count was a pimp on the comedy special, "Killing Them Softly"?
108	** He's actually the same sort of vampire puppet as Little Vladdie the Dracula puppet from The Middleman, only rather more benign. He somehow ended up at the CTW workshops back in the 70's and the Muppeteers ended up having to work him into the show because they couldn't get him off Jerry Nelson's arm. Eventually the Middleman stopped by to have a word, resulting in the Count's change from being rather dark to much more friendly. The Muppeteers got used to using him as a character on the show, but to this day struggles sometimes still break out when the Count's hapless puppeteer needs to switch out.
109	** The Count is obviously a vampire. An obsessive love of counting is actually a common part of pre-Stoker era vampire lore. I assume he just drinks the blood of animals.
110	*** Actually in Rumanian folklore a vampire's victim can distract the vampire by throwing seeds to the ground. The vampire will immediately and invariably start counting the seeds, and the victim can get away.
111	*** Maybe the Count thrives on counting the way other vampires do on blood. He did used to be able to compel people to do his bidding, which was always just to bring him more stuff to count; this was unsettling enough to be dropped later.
112	[[/folder]]
113	[[folder: How Old Are the Monsters?]]
114	* The Muppets and their ages. Are some of the older ones really adults? Is Elmo really only three? On that note, is Big Bird still only eight? None of them seem to act their age..
115	** Monsters age very, very slowly.
116	*** [[WildMassGuess ...and they use a different calendar.]]
117	*** Especially the Bear family.
118	** NotAllowedToGrowUp
119	** As for exactly how old they are, it has been confirmed that Elmo and Abby are three and a half and three, respectively, Big Bird is six, Prairie Dawn is seven, and Betty Lou is four. Grover, Sonny Friendly, and Guy Smiley are adults because they have jobs, they may act like kids but they're just goofballs. We know that Mama, Papa, and Grandmama Bear, Louie, Jill, Granny Bird, Ingrid and Humphrey are all adults, because they have kids, although their exact ages are unspecified. Frazzle, Telly and Baby Bear are in daycare, so they are about four/five. Oscar and Grundetta are adults because they live on their own and are about to get married. Natasha is a baby and she can crawl and copy sounds (sort of), so I'd put her at about nine months old.
120	[[/folder]]
121	[[folder: Bert and Ernie—Related or Not?]]
122	* Bert and Ernie. Are they brothers, or just room-mates?
123	** [[Tropers/{{Loracarol}} This troper]] heard that they were cousins, but can't remember where.
124	** They're brothers in the books, but I'm not sure which if any are canon. They ''seem'' canon, but then {{Canon}} [[WordOfGod is]] [[WordOfDante a]] [[GodNeverSaidThat tricky]] [[RunningTheAsylum subject]].
125	*** Depending on which God you take WordOfGod from it varies. Certain people claim they're simply roommates. One version claims that they're the Younger and Older Brother as seen from the perspective of the other. Originally they were supposed to be Father (Bert) and Son (Ernie), but original producers thought that a Child talking to thier parent in the manner Ernie did to Bert was a bit much.
126	*** I think they keep it vauge so theres more room for different jokes. It really depends which is funnier.
127	*** Interestingly enough, when the Norwegian version of the show premiered, the kids in the test audience seemed to just assume that Bert was Ernie's father.
128	** Bert has relatives that apparently Ernie hasn't met. Make of that what you will. Ernie meet Bert's Dad once apparently. Bert has a baby nephew who visited a couple of times. (Ernie on the other had a baby female cousin who looks and her laugh sounds a lot like Ernie's )
129	* It's probably one of those things that are deliberately kept ambiguous; so many people have different headcanons about them by now that any canon answer would upset some of the fans.
130	[[/folder]]
131	[[folder: Are Bob and Linda a Couple?]]
132	* Now how long has Bob been keeping Linda around his finger? I mean, these two have been together for who-knows-how-long, Bob's been single for 45 years, and there's no mention of the two getting romantically involved. You could've had a double wedding!
133	** It was very serious; they were even teased at Luis and Maria's wedding as the next couple in line to be wed. Linda just moved before they could make it official.
134	** Bob's actor, Bob [=McGrath=], vetoed his character getting married, as he was doing a touring show with his children at the time and showed concern that ''Sesame Street'''s child audience would assume that Linda was the mother of his kids.
135	[[/folder]]
136	[[folder: Out-Grouching the Grouch]]
137	* God forbid a Larry David-type moves into the neighborhood (i.e. someone with the potential to be a bigger grouch than Oscar).
138	[[/folder]]
139	[[folder: Why Don't They Believe in Santa?]]
140	* The issue of Santa Claus in the ''Christmas Eve on Sesame Street'' special. One of the major points is that Big Bird doesn't need to know if Santa is real or not. But Cookie Monster knows his phone number! Cookie called Santa! Santa apparently is in the phone book or something, so why is the "reality" of St. Nick in question in the Sesame Street universe?
141	** IIRC, the subject of that special wasn't if Santa Claus was real or not, but how he fit through the tiny chimney of 123 Sesame Street. So Big Bird sat up on the roof, determined to find out how Santa did it. Of course, he dozes off, and wakes up just in time to hear Santa leaving.
142	** The bigger logic flaw for this troper (and which turned out of kind of be how Gordon resolves the question at the end) was--Big Bird is worried because Oscar says Santa can't get down chimneys and therefore can't leave any presents, right? This isn't Big Bird's first time at the Christmas rodeo, though. The correct response to Oscar's 'theory' is "Oh, yeah? Then how did he get the presents in the house LAST year, smart guy?" Which in the end is basically what Gordon tells him ("Does it look like no one's getting any presents?") Oscar's got Big Bird going on the HOW part of the question, but as it's already been demonstrated that Santa DOES get in, why agonize over the how with the assumption that if you don't find out, Santa will no longer be able to do it? (Unless Oscar does in fact know Santa's real, as Cookie seems to, and is even CRUELER than we thought, because in the Sesame Street universe it's the opposite of what he implies to Big Bird--if you do know how Santa does it, then he doesn't bring presents. And this was an even eviler plot than it seems on face value. Oscar wasn't just trying to mess with Big Bird's head, he was trying to trick him into actually not getting any presents!)
143	[[/folder]]
144	[[folder: Toddlers with Cell Phones?]]
145	* Referencing the time when the episodes are being made is a good thing. But why is Abby, a toddler, the only on camera person on Sesame Street who owns a cell phone?
146	** All the Muppets have been around since the early '70s, and many were old enough then to have been around for decades even at that point. They're old enough to not exactly be able to keep up with all this newfangled technology the kids are into these days.
147	** There was an episode where Oscar got a cell phone and was using it to annoy people.
148	** In the late 90s, cell phones did start appearing on the show... back when people still called them cellULAR phones, and when they were still basically like pocket-sized cordless phones. Similarly, it was around 2000 or so when computers started to pop up on the show as well... how come we still don't see a whole lot of them either?
149	** Magic.
150	*** Does that mean "because she's the only character with magic and the only cell phones on Sesame Street are magical ones"? Because there have been regular ones seen too.
151	** Presumably, because the majority of the show's young audience won't have cell phones of their own yet and the writers don't want them to get jealous. Abby has one because wish-fulfillment is her role on the program, and many little viewers probably ''want'' a phone.
152	[[/folder]]
153	[[folder: Luis and Maria's Choice of Honeymoon Location]]
154	* Sesame Street seems to be one of the nicer, middle-class neighborhoods in New York. I don't mean upper-middle-class, I mean nice as in peaceful, friendly, down-to-Earth places (sweet enough to make Oscar sick). Would it have been that much of a stretch for Luis and Maria to go back to Hawaii or Puerto Rico for their honeymoon (as opposed to the Adirondack Mountains)?
155	** They just didn't feel like it.
156	[[/folder]]
157	[[folder: Elmo and Abby Sitting in a Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G]]
158	* Toddlers dating. Especially dating Elmo. Abby get away from that red freak before he corrupts your magic.
159	** Besides a few [[{{Shipping}} shippers]], who says they're dating?
160	*** Both of the items I made above regarding Abby came from a time when Headscratchers was still called It Just Bugs Me. To actually answer, after watching some episodes as an adult, it seems that Abby and Elmo are paired a little too often. An episode that opens with them sunbathing side by side did it for me.
161	** They're not dating, just best friends. Sunbathing doesn't have those kinds of connotations with kids. Usually.
162	** Boy and girls can just be friends. Alternatively, puppy love and ToyShip is a thing. They're little kids, they're not going to seriously date or anything even if they have crushes.
163	[[/folder]]
164	[[folder: Elmo Gets Abby's Wand]]
165	* Original poster of the Headscratcher here: I learned of a musical (I think) when I was listening to the radio where Elmo gets his hands on Abby's wand.
166	** Get your mind out of the gutter. Abby's got a magic wand - that's what Elmo gets his hands on. And he uses it to make everyone sing all the time, by the way.
167	[[/folder]]
168	[[folder: You've Got Problems]]
169	* Why does Cookie Monster have to eat less cookies, but Elmo doesn't have to go to speech therapy? Children don't need to be thinking that they should be speaking about themselves in the third-person!
170	** Remember to send [[strike:Baby Beaw]] Baby Bear to those therapy sessions too!
171	** As mentioned below, anyone who's actually been watching the show knows that no, Cookie Monster's diet hasn't been changed in the slightest.
172	*** "Well me known for eating cookie, When me don't, they shout, "Look, he trying to throw loyal fans a curve! What he doing eating fish, Or vegetable dish? Man, he sure got lot of nerve!" Actually, if we want to send Elmo to speech therapy for being a [[ThirdPersonPerson Third-Person Monster]], maybe Cookie should drop in from time to time for inappropriate use of object pronouns, and omission of linking verbs.
173	** Elmo is supposed to be around 3.5 years old, and kids that age do sometimes refer to themselves in third person. If you go on the theory that Muppets are adults/older, but just not used to the human world and its conventions, maybe the third-person thing is a leftover quirk of Elmo's that doesn't transfer into our world that well. As for Baby Bear, maybe the producers thought (think) that having him attend speech therapy would teach that there is something "wrong" with speech impediments/disabilities (and you don't normally see that kind of sensitivity toward disabilities, so if that's true, thank heavens). And the reason Cookie Monster took flak about his cookie habit is because the MoralGuardians need to get a life. Never, not once, have I heard of a child watching Cookie Monster and growing up to be an obese, type 2 diabetic cookie addict
174	*** According to [[http://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/elmo-cookie-monster.jpg?w=650 this picture]] about the mental disorders of Sesame Street Muppets, Elmo suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I wish the list had included some of the newer muppets too.
175	** Monsters are different than people and he doesn't have to eat fewer cookies, that's an UrbanLegend.
176	** apparently Cookie monster has a either a cousin or a sister who likes Veggies (she's one of many "retired" characters Sesame Street has seen in its 50 years
177	[[/folder]]
178	[[folder: Are They Critiquing Our Singing?]]
179	* Now I love ''Sing (Sing A Song)'', but one lyric still annoys me. "Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear." This is implying that '''everyone''' can't sing prettily enough. It should be "Don't worry '''if''' it's not good enough for anyone else to hear." This would convey the proper message: that regardless of your singing ability it's important to sing out loud and strong to share your feelings.
180	** Hold on a sec: The line is saying ''don't worry'' that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear. As in "Don't think 'Oh, I can't sing, because it probably will be bad!' because it's NOT."
181	** I disagree. "Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear." This is a decree that your singing voice is not good enough for ''anyone'' to hear. Your voice is not merely worse than the average person, it's the absolute worst voice that can possible sing a song. This is a bad message.
182	** If it meant that, it would say "Don't worry because it's not good enough for anyone else to hear." As it is, the message is not to worry about your singing ability not being good enough without any kind of judgment on whether or not that's actually true.
183	** I always took it to mean "If you enjoy doing something, even if you're not very good at it, don't let other people try and stop you. Do it for yourself instead."
184	** Isn't this a Headscratcher for TheCarpenters more than Seasame Street?
185	** I think kids listening to the song aren't going to be picky over the grammar and will still get the intended message; if it helps though, think of it as "don't be worried if you ''think that'' it's not good enough for anyone else to hear" or "don't ''think'' that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear".
186	[[/folder]]
187	[[folder: Big Bird's Species]]
188	* What kind of bird is Big Bird? The size seems to indicate a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratite ratite]], but ratite posture is horizontally oriented, and Big Bird is perfectly vertical like a penguin...
189	** For that matter, if he is still a juvenile, as he clearly is, ''how big is he going to get when he's full grown''?
190	** Well, he ''is'' a big bird, after all!
191	** A parrot, obviously. He can talk, that settles it.
192	** Maybe he's the last [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aepyornis elephant bird]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinornis moa]]. No, screw that. He's a juvenile [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roc_(mythology) roc]], who will grow up to destroy the street. ''Damn'', that would make a good fanfic.
193	*** If he were a moa, he'd have no arms.
194	** Big Bird is what hatched out of Humpty Dumpty!
195	** Big Bird is a phoenix. Hm... Who knew I'd want to write a fanfic about ''Sesame Street''!
196	** One zoologist has suggested that Big Bird is a [[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2010/06/30/what-if-anything-is-big-bird/ flightless crane]] that retains juvenile characteristics into adulthood.
197	** His friend is a woolly mammoth. Maybe Big Bird is also prehistoric, this time a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae terror bird]].
198	** Carrol Spinney (by proxy of Big Bird) says that he's a lark. Get it?
199	** Didn't he say he was a golden condor on ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood''?
200	** Well, he's said that he's a lark in some places and a golden condor in others. In one of the Sesame Street Live shows (I dunno if those are supposed to be canon, but still) he says that he's a canary. In a Wired video he says that he thinks that he's a "Bigus Canarius". Somebody on ToughPigs theorized that he could be "a confused mutt of a bird".
201	** I think he's an immature [[https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/The_Griffin Griffin]].
202	[[/folder]]
203	[[folder: Why Do We All Sing the Same Song?]]
204	* What was the ''point'' of this song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYXJlfcfFKU We All Sing the Same Song]]?!
205	** The message is that we are all people, despite our differences. It's clearly an anti-prejudice song.
206	[[/folder]]
207	[[folder: Just What IS the Name of That Song?]]
208	* What's the name of that song?
209	** That ''is'' the name of the song. Don't read into it too much. It's a chicken-and-egg thing. It's kind of a BLAM song, come to think of it.
210	*** No, I mean the one they were identifying ''within'' the song, with the lyric: ''la de da de dum, la de da de dum, something-something birds''.
211	*** It's probably a second song that was made up specifically for this one.
212	[[/folder]]
213	[[folder: The Case of the Waiter Hater]]
214	* Why does the fat blue Muppet continue to go to Charlie's Restaurant if he's expressed such dismay at being waited on by Grover?
215	** He's always in a hurry. Maybe it's the only restaurant near enough to his office for him to get there and back on his lunch break.
216	** One episode had him going to Hooper's Store for a change; Grover heard about this and actually called him at Hooper's, crying and begging him to come back to Charlie's. Apparently Grover is extremely dedicated to serving his favorite customer, and Mr. Johnson realized it just wasn't worth it to go elsewhere.
217	** Alternately, Grover only works there ''occasionally,'' and Mr. Johnson (as his name has now been revealed to be) keeps coming to the place because whenever Grover ''isn't'' the waiter it's actually a very nice place to eat. So every time Mr. Johnson enters the restaurant, it's with the hope that ''today'' isn't one of the seemingly-random days when Grover is working... and often, it ''isn't,'' and Mr. Johnson has a very nice meal during which nothing funny whatsoever happens -- but that wouldn't be very entertaining to show on TV, so we only get to see the times when he discovers to his annoyance that Grover is at work today.
218	** Well, considering that Grover works at EVERY OTHER RESTAURANT IN TOWN, it's not like he has much in the way of OTHER options...
219	[[/folder]]
220	[[folder: Hello, My Name is Not Veggie Monster]]
221	* The whole Veggie Monster thing. Anyone who actually ''saw'' "Cookies Are A Sometimes Food" knows that the song is sung to Cookie, who at the end declares that "sometime is now" and starts eating a lot of cookies. He's always been an AntiRoleModel of sorts, and the fact that everyone is now convinced that this has changed is irritating, especially because if you don't watch the show enough to spot the fact that this is only a rumor, than why do you care so much?
222	** Sometimes people just like to be mad and complain about "moral guardians ruining our media" without actually researching if the things they're complaining about are true and not something an internet site blew out of proportion for news.
223	[[/folder]]
224	[[folder: Zoe's Fashion Sense]]
225	* Why oh ''why'' did they have to make Zoe wear the tutu permanently? I'm fine with her loving ballet-- what little girl didn't at that age?-- but this is a bit much.
226	** WordOfGod is because they wanted to show how sometimes kids get attached to a certain article of clothing that they like, and wear it constantly... like when I was a kid, for example, for a year, I wore like the exact same blue polo shirt and navy shorts almost every single day, because I went through this phase that I wanted to wear the same outfit all the time like a cartoon character. But as far as Zoe goes, it's almost kind of like how Bear from ''WesternAnimation/{{Franklin}}'' started wearing that vest ''all the time''.
227	** Apparently it's because they didn't want people to mistake her for a boy all the time.
228	[[/folder]]
229	[[folder: Dorothy the Shapeshifter]]
230	* Why does Dorothy seem to shapeshift episode to episode of Elmo's World? She shrinks, grows, gains spots, loses spots...is she a time lord?
231	** The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] reason is that, well, goldfish don't live very long...
232	*** Actually, [[https://puregoldfish.com/lifespan/ they do]]...
233	** Maybe Abby or Mumford did it.
234	** Alternatively, Dorothy ''does'' have powers. I mean, people can read her mind.
235	[[/folder]]
236	[[folder: Ceiling Fans Outdoors?]]
237	* Logically, how is it possible for a ceiling fan to hang over Big Bird's nest (in the old days), when his nest is outside? (Yeah, I'm sure in the studio, the fan probably hung from the lighting grid like the tireswing in the Arbor area used to, but still...)
238	** Maybe it hangs off a fixture from one of the nearby buildings?
239	[[/folder]]
240	[[folder: Snuffy's Real, I Swear]]
241	* In the episode where the adults finally see Mr. Snuffleupagus, it's clear that although they haven't seen him Maria, Gordon, and Linda have all become convinced that he is real. And after a false alarm where it turned out Big Bird was just practicing with his secret word, the third time he yells the secret word the adults all refuse to go in (though I think Big Bird promised not to practice yelling the secret word), even the ones who had believed him at this point. What's the deal with that?
242	** Like you said, it was the third time, and by now everyone's probably a bit annoyed at all the false alarms. They know Big Bird wouldn't play tricks, but he has been known to jump the gun too many times. Even if his friends believe him about Snuffy, they don't enjoy running over every five seconds "just in case he's there."
243	[[/folder]]
244	[[folder: Bert and Ernie's Confusing Adventures]]
245	* How does Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures make sense? It can't be dreaming, as it is very seldom you have non-recurring dreams with a recurring theme and even theme song, and intro dialogue. And Ernie calls it "pictures in his head" but usually the viewers don't see imaginary things going on, usually he is telling Bert about his imaginings, and Bert is saying stuff like "Ernie, go back to sleep" and all that malarky. Furthermore, this can't be "adventures happen some nights but not others", as the first words of the theme song is ''Every'' night when I lie in bed. And Ernie's imagination does not magically ''cause'' the bed to tap, as that would cause the bed to tap all the ''time'', so what is up with the adventures?
246	[[/folder]]
247	[[folder: Woolly Logic]]
248	* In the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCVMF4Kdang Bert's Blanket]], the sheep come in and tell Bert how the blanket is made but they only go up to the part where the farmer shears them because they don't know how it turns into a blanket so Bert explains how the wool gets woven into thread, then dyed grey, then woven and bought. But the thing is if the sheep don't know how the blanket is actually made, how do they know it's made of wool at all??! Much less ''their own wool, specifically''.
249	** The farmer told them?
250	[[/folder]]
251	[[folder: Oscar's Childhood]]
252	In a ChristmasEpisode, several characters try to stop Oscar from being such a killjoy on Christmas by doing to him what the ghost does to Scrooge in ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''. One woman tells Oscar that in his infancy, he was a CheerfulChild. However, Oscar claims she's wrong and that he was grumpy even as a baby. Who's right? Also, at one point, the woman sings "You loved our Christmas trash, you even offered cash". How can a baby offer cash?
253	** In baby dollars?
254	** That would be "A Special Sesame Street Christmas". As for whoever's right, I don't know.
255	** It depends if Grouch's grouchiness is a species trait they're born with or a cultural trait that they learn from their society. It would seem to be the latter, but we don't have enough information to know for sure.
256	[[/folder]]
257	[[folder: A Digital Watch Would Be a Pretty Neat Idea]]
258	* Why doesn't Captain Breakfast have a means of telling what time it is? One would think it would help him know when it's too late to continue promoting breakfast in a location and start moving west. Or go back to Breakfast HQ or whatever and work on his technique. Something other than trying to persuade children to eat breakfast at the wrong time of day. (Of course, one could also ask why the first words out of the girl's mouth were "I don't want any breakfast" instead of "Excuse me, sir? It's lunchtime right now.")
259	[[/folder]]
260	[[folder: Rub a Dub Dub, Oscar's in the Tub--Why?!]]
261	* In the song "Do the Rubber Duck", several characters are in Ernie's bathtub, including ''Oscar''! Why? Related, why does Oscar wash his hands in the "Lead Away" video?
262	** He wants to make a bathtub ring, apparently. That, or maybe even he has his limits when it comes to (a lack of) personal hygiene.
263	*** Does that mean he likes the acoustics when singing in the bathtub?
264	** Maybe he wants to get clean so he can enjoy making himself really dirty again. And even grouches would want to avoid germs sometimes.
265	[[/folder]]
266	[[folder: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, That's Familiar to Me]]
267	* At the beginning of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do8Ch288ub0 Alphabet Chat]] segments, they sing a song that is the alphabet, but it's not the standard alphabet song. Still, I can't help but think it's very familiar. Where does the tune come from?
268	** It's from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcFHuUJE0mU Bach's Fugue No. 2]].
269	[[/folder]]
270	[[folder: Letter of the Day Cookies]]
271	* In the "Letter of the Day" segments hosted by Cookie Monster, the letter of the day appears on a cookie. Cookie Monster wasn't supposed to eat it, but always did anyway at the end of the segments. But if Cookie Monster wasn't supposed to eat them, why were the letters on cookies?
272	** Either the prop department just wanted to mess with Cookie Monster... or alternately, if he was the one bringing the letter cookies, he didn't have a pen and paper handy and just grabbed a cookie, wrote the letter in frosting and thought "Me can manage not to eat this, me got willpower!"
273	[[/folder]]
274	[[folder: Cadabby Custody]]
275	* Abby's parents are divorced, and she divides her time between her mother's home on Sesame Street and her father's place back in Fairyland. Abby still goes to school in Fairyland, so that implies her father has primary custody. But she's on Sesame Street way too often for her mother to simply have custody of her every weekend or so. At the risk of delving into New York/Fairyland child services law, how does Abby's custody arrangement work?
276	** Well, her school can fly, so it can be anywhere she is.
277	** Maybe they have equal custody, or she sleeps at and attends school in Fairyland but comes to Sesame Street to play a lot even when she's staying with her dad? Since she's a fairy, she can probably just magically teleport between the two locations so it's not like it'd be hard for her to go back and forth.
278	[[/folder]]
279	[[folder: It's Not Called Rhyme-Itis]]
280	* How come when Oscar got kind-itis, he was rhyming? Rhyming has nothing to do with being kind.
281	[[/folder]]
282	[[folder: Birdy Pox]]
283	* How did Big Bird catch Birdy Pox if it only affects birds who are not only his species, but ''his age''? No one like that is around.
284	[[/folder]]
285	[[WMG:Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures]]
286	[[folder: Computer bug]]
287	* There are a lot of headscratchers in this one. First of all, why is the mouse connected on the wrong end? Also, why didn't it appear for the first few scenes (look closely!) Then the biggest of all: When Ernie asks Bert to [[spoiler: take a picture of himself holding the mouse to be teleported inside the computer]], he simply places the camera on top of the computer monitor, then clicks the mouse, which was ''connected to the computer'', and somehow the camera was able to teleport both Bert and the mouse.
288	** I think the mouse is magical. It activated the camera and teleported Bert inside because it wanted to go to cyberspace and come alive.
289	[[/folder]]

Context Headscratchers / SesameStreet