Sesame Street characters being idiots.
- Mr. Johnson always gets the short end of the stick with customer service. In one case, he goes to Pizzeria Dos, wanting just a slice of pizza and a cup of grape drink. The identical twin brothers running the place give him two slices and two cups of grape drink, as is fitting their brand.
You'd Expect: Mr. Johnson, on realizing the catch, to ask for the price of the whole order, pay for it, and take home what he doesn't eat. Leftover pizza and grape drink mean extra stuff for lunch the next day. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?
Instead: He keeps complaining, saying that he'd need two of him to eat that much food.
The Result: The brothers make a doppelganger of Mr. Johnson, who proceeds to faint. The doppelganger shrugs, then faints as well. Realizing Mr. Johnson didn't pay and that the food will go to waste, the brothers clink the (paper) cups and start to drink up. - Pretty much every segment involving Buddy and Jim or Wally and Ralph were built on "What an Idiot!" moments. One example comes in a segment in which Buddy and Jim need to bring an ironing board into another room, but Buddy can't fit the ironing board through the doorway, because he's holding the board sideways.
You'd expect: He'd think to just turn it upwards so it would fit.
Instead: Well, actually, he does do that... Quite a bit throughout the sketch. He turns it upwards and then brings it in, but only to show what he did from the other side, and then brings it back the other room, doing this a few times.
So Now You'd Expect: Them to catch on, especially when it is in the other room.
Instead: They don't.
And then: They decide to saw the ironing board in half.
You'd expect: Them to cut sideways and to bring in separate halves.
Instead: They cut from the top, and continue holding both halves the same way.
And then: They decide to put small holes in the side of the wall to make the ironing board fit through.
But first: They each hold a different end, making it hard to get through.
But then: Buddy had Jim hold the ironing board from the middle, to which it would fit through.
And finally: Although this method works, Buddy holds Jim sideways as he holds the board, resulting in the ironing board getting through the way they should have done in the first place, while also allowing Jim's heads and feet to fit through the holes. - In the special "Elmo Saves Christmas," Elmo frees Santa from his chimney when the latter gets stuck on Christmas Eve. Santa thanks Elmo and decides to offer him a special gift.
You'd Expect: Santa's gifts would be simple but beautiful toys, thus offering no moral hazard.
Instead: Santa offers Elmo either a magic snowglobe or a pink teddy bear. Elmo chooses the bear, but changes his mind when Santa tells him the snowglobe grants three wishes, that act on a Reality Warper basis.
The Result: Elmo uses his first wish for a glass of water, and then for Christmas Every Day. Santa realizes he messed up and visits Sesame Street to tell off Elmo for his foolishness. Since Elmo can't understand that permanent holidays are a bad thing in the long run, Santa has to send Elmo with a time-traveling reindeer to see the consequences. For Elmo to fix things, he has to go back in time and make a different decision.
To Make Matters Worse: When the elves find out, they call out Santa for giving the snowglobe again as a gift, meaning similar events have happened before.- A year after that first fateful Christmas, Elmo and Lightning find that Christmas is desolate on Sesame Street and Santa is retiring, due to burnout. Elmo is horrified about the fact that the carolers have lost their voices, the Fix-It Shop has permanently closed (resulting in Maria and Luis forgetting how to fix things), Big Bird is despondent knowing he'll never see Snuffy (who is visiting his family) again, and the Count is tired of counting Christmases. Santa reminds Elmo that he has one more wish with the snowglobe, and Lightning suggests that he use it to fix things so that everyone isn't miserable.
You'd Expect: Elmo would quickly make the wish of turning everything back to normal. Do it quietly, the way he wished for Christmas Every Day and watch the holidays return to their former cheer.
Instead: He calls together everyone on Sesame Street to announce that this was all his fault because he thought he would make his friends and neighbors happy with his wish. Elmo also admits that if nothing had gone wrong, he would have spent his third wish on rollerblades. Unfortunately, Oscar the Grouch tells him to wish for that instead so that everyone will stay miserable.
The Result: When Elmo breaks the snowglobe before he can make his third wish, everyone is understandably angry and disappointed in Elmo for creating this mess in the first place and giving them false hope in the second. Since all looks lost, Elmo and Lightning desperately go back in time to undo the bad timeline, where Elmo gets a different gift from Santa and promises to have learned from his mistakes.
- A year after that first fateful Christmas, Elmo and Lightning find that Christmas is desolate on Sesame Street and Santa is retiring, due to burnout. Elmo is horrified about the fact that the carolers have lost their voices, the Fix-It Shop has permanently closed (resulting in Maria and Luis forgetting how to fix things), Big Bird is despondent knowing he'll never see Snuffy (who is visiting his family) again, and the Count is tired of counting Christmases. Santa reminds Elmo that he has one more wish with the snowglobe, and Lightning suggests that he use it to fix things so that everyone isn't miserable.
- Several years later, Martin Short appeared as his character Ed Grimley in a sketch with Billy Crystal as his friend Ricky, who has helped Ed get a shirt washed but now they need it to dry. After hanging the shirt on a rope that only one end of was tied to a tree, they decide that they need to tie the other end to something.
You'd expect: Them to tie it to the tree close enough to the tree that the other end is tied to.
Instead: Ricky ties the other end around Ed's waist. But since this prevents Ed from leaving to have lunch with Ricky, they decide to tie the rope to something else.
So now You'd expect: Ricky to untie the end tied around Ed and maybe figure out he can tie it to the other tree.
Instead: He unties the end that's tied to a tree and ties it around his waist, so the shirt can hang on the rope and they can both leave. - Also a source of humor in various Twiddlebugs sketches. In one segment, the Twiddlebugs plan to go to the zoo, but since they are so small that walking there would take them three days, they consider other options, eventually figuring out that they can take the car to the zoo.
You'd Expect: One of the parents to drive the car and the others to ride it.
Instead: Each Twiddlebug lifts part of the car and they all carry it with them to the zoo. - In another sketch, the Twiddlebugs are inside and want to go outside. Eventually, they realize they can use the door.
You'd expect: Them to open the door and leave.
Instead: They remove the door and successfully break the wall down with it. - In one segment, Bert needs to buy groceries but has misplaced his key, so he asks Ernie to listen for him when he comes back. After Ernie turns down an opportunity to practice, Bert leaves but realizes that he forgot his money and needs back in, but when he knocks, Ernie thinks he is practicing. Eventually, after trying everything Bert can to get Ernie to hear that he's there, Ernie decides to open the door and compliment his "practice".
You'd expect: For Bert to come right in to get his money, or to at least explain to Ernie that he needs to get money.
Instead: A worn-out Bert stays outside the apartment catching his breath, and then Ernie tells Bert that he's going to take a long bath and then be ready to answer the door when he's back, locking Bert out again (and still without his money).
And worse: Earlier, Bert had turned down Ernie's offer to let Bert borrow his key. He also kept announcing his actions with "This is me [doing something]", which would have made it sound even more like he was practicing. - In another segment, Bert tries to fall asleep but cannot because there is water dripping in the other room. He tells Ernie (who didn’t turn the sink all the way off) to take care of the noise.
You'd Expect: For Ernie to simply turn off the faucet.
Instead: He turns on the radio to drown out the noise of the water dripping.
The Result: Bert acknowledges that while he can no longer hear the water dripping, he cannot sleep because the radio is too loud.
You'd Then Expect: That Ernie would realize that creating more noise is only going to make the problem worse and to shut off the radio and the faucet.
Instead: He turns on a vacuum cleaner to drown out the noise of the radio.
The Result: Bert has to stop all of the noise himself. However, he ends up unable to sleep anyway because of Ernie’s snoring. - In Rocco's debut episode, Elmo is doubtful and laughing because Zoe is claiming a rock can talk. He finally agrees to humor her, as long as he can recite the number of the day, which is twelve, because Zoe pretends that every time Elmo is "mean to Rocco", Rocco is crying. Zoe then proceeds to use Rocco to do playtime her way, acting Innocently Insensitive and demanding that Elmo sing an apology song to Rocco every time he understandably wants to do something else and says that Rocco's activities are "silly". (The thing is he's not wrong when Zoe says that Rocco's favorite game is one where he wins by saying, "rock" repeatedly rather than new words.)
You'd Expect: That Zoe would realize that she's taking her pretending too far. Sure, Elmo should be nicer but he's not wrong that playtime is about compromise.
Instead: She spends the whole episode steamrolling Elmo about what "Rocco" wants to do. This includes making him sing the apology song several times in a row. Then just as he's about to announce the letter of the day, as he's been wanting to do all-episode, Zoe interrupts and has Rocco announce it because "Rocco" thought Elmo was taking too much time.
The Result: Elmo hits his Rage Breaking Point and calls out Zoe, saying that this was the one thing that he wanted to do and she couldn't even respect that.
You'd Then Expect: Zoe would sincerely apologize and realize that she messed up. You'd also expect her to offer a different game to play, realising that the Rocco game annoys him.
Instead: She says, "Oh well; come on Elmo let's play with Rocco".
The Result: Elmo goes, "OH NO," saying he doesn't want to play with either her or Rocco anymore. He starts playing by himself, as Zoe feels guilty and tries to shout that "Rocco" didn't mean it. Gina has to tell Zoe that regardless of the fact that she was pretending, she hurt Elmo's feelings. Zoe sings an apology song to Elmo, who forgives her and feels they're even now. - In one episode, Baby Bear arrives in a playdate tired. He explains that this family of bears, rather than hibernate for the winter, have several days of the year where they just sleep, called a hibernation nap. Baby Bear still came because he promised Elmo he would be there, but starts falling asleep during their activities; Elmo, with frustration, tells Baby Bear as he does this multiple times. His friend doesn't believe him, despite the loud snoring.
You'd Expect: Baby Bear would realize that this playdate is sunk if he can't even stay awake counting or reciting the alphabet, and that Elmo has no reason to lie, so he must actually be falling asleep even if he didn't realise it. Elmo tells him bluntly that he's falling asleep. Not to mention that being tired feels bad, which would make playing no longer fun.
Instead: He keeps insisting that he is fine. Elmo is patient as Baby Bear falls asleep but gives one angry Aside Glance to the camera after another while trying to find a way to keep his friend awake.
The Result: Eventually, Elmo resorts to holding a sleeping Baby Bear upright while Oscar's elephant Fluffy sprays water at them. He topples over because Baby Bear is too heavy, and the water hits Hooper's Store owner Alan instead.
Fortunately: Alan talks some sense into Baby Bear that if he's this tired, he needs to sleep. He sings a lullaby and carries a dozing Baby Bear back to his house so he can rest out the days. - During the infamous Wicked Witch of the West episode, David gets into a battle of wills with the Witch because he found her flying broom after she dropped it and she tried threatening him and Big Bird into giving it back. He finally agrees to give it back to her when he makes her ask politely. When she leaves, the Sesame Street cast wishes her luck and a safe flight back to Oz. She takes off.
You'd Expect: Considering the ruckus that started because the broom fell in front of Hooper's Store in the first place, that the Witch could be more careful.
Instead: She shows off to the audience and says, "Look, no hands!" while flying.
The Result: The broom falls back on Sesame Street, into David's hands. He starts crying tears of frustration. - From Seasons 3-16, Big Bird's friend Mr. Snuffleupagus was thought to be his imaginary friend by the adults of the street, despite not even bothering to see him (or made aware of his presence for that matter). Big Bird tries constantly to prove he's not imagining by bringing the adults to show Snuffy to them, but Snuffy has a habit of leaving early due to forgetting something or remembering he has to be somewhere.
You'd Expect: For Big Bird to get someone else who knows Snuffy to stay and watch over him so he does not leave.
Instead: He never bothers to do this and right when the adults come, Snuffy's gone. It's only by the time of the Season 17 premiere does Gordon suggest this advice, which in turn helps Big Bird succeed at last with Elmo's help.
Alternatively You'd Expect: Snuffy to shout or holler at the adults to get them to turn around when he passes by.
Instead: He just keeps silent, likely due to his shy nature. - In one Ernie and Bert skit, Bert is about to bathe his nephew Brad, but Ernie thinks Brad needs some toys.
You'd Expect: Ernie to only give Brad a few toys.
Instead: He completely fills the bathtub with toys (and to top it off, some of them were more beach/pool toys than bath toys anyway). Bert points out that there is no way Brad could take a bath with that many toys.
You'd Then Expect: Ernie to apologise and take out some of the toys, only leaving a few.note
Instead: He gets into the tub himself, saying that if Bert couldn't give Brad a bath, he should have a bath instead. - Played deliberately for comedy in another Ernie and Bert skit — Ernie has collected ice cubes and, not realising that ice cubes melt, thinks that a fish stole them and left water nearby. Bert explains that the ice cubes melted.
You'd Expect: Ernie to realise they melted of their own accord.
Instead: He concludes that a fish is the one who melted them. - In one episode, a cook needs someone to look after his kitchen for a while.
You'd Expect: Him to ask someone who has experience with cooking and is not incompetent enough or naughty enough to foul up.
Instead: He asks Oscar the Grouch, a character whose two main interests are gross things and annoying people.
The Result: Oscar ruins the soup by adding trash to it. - In one Ernie and Bert skit, Ernie does an "experiment" that he learned about in his book, that consists only of having Bert jump in place while he takes notes. Bert gets tired and angry, then when Ernie says that there is another step to the "experiment", Bert angrily declares he wants no part in it... only for Ernie to reveal that the other part is him drinking juice.
You'd Expect: Ernie to realise this probably isn't what Bert was expecting, and ask Bert if he still wants the juice.
Instead: Ernie drinks the juice himself.
The Result: Bert passes out.
