The meme. ExplanationThe explanation behind the meme.
Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
This trope page has been brought to you by the letters "M" and "E", and by the number "2". explanation Nearly every episode ends by saying that Sesame Street is "brought to you" by the letter(s) or number(s) most frequently spotlighted in the episode's segments (nowadays known as the "Letter of the Day" or "Number of the Day"). This has made its way into the public lexicon, even spawning a trope name.
One! Two! Two Sesame Street references! Ah ah ah! explanationCount von Count's counting method is a wide-spread meme, applied to many things.
OMNOMNOMNOM explanationThe noise Cookie Monster makes when eating cookies. More recently became the defacto onomatopoeia for vigorous eating.
One of these memes just doesn't belong. explanationComes from the song "One of These Things (Is Not Like the Other)", which is used to point out something different in a group of highly similar things. Another trope namer.
Literally the entire segment where Jack Black talks about octagons has become a Fountain of Memes due to Black's weird demeanor and the fact that someone known for veryraunchyworks is on a show for younger viewers and has been widely used since in Voice Clip Songs, YTPMVs, YouTube Poops, and other remixes.
How DO you get to Sesame Street? explanationThe opening theme asks "can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?", and nobody ever provides an explanation, leading many to ask this question.
Cookie Monster isn't a letter of the alphabet.note This sketch, with Kermit teaching a girl about the alphabet, is among the show's most memorable.
A particular image of Kermit making a scrunched up, annoyed face during this scene is a somewhat popular reaction image, which can be found here or within this GIF◊).
The original 1975 clip of "Fur".explanationSomeone went on the Muppet Central forum asking for a copy of the song "Fur" from 1975. But there was a catch: it had to be from the song's first appearance in 1975 - a Youtube clip would not do; it had to be videotaped from that first airing. This became a running joke regarding the obsessive nature of some Muppet fans.
Elmo's Got The Moves explanationThis song written for a Public Service Announcement about exercise became a common source for word replacement remixes in 2016.
Did Grover say the F word? explanationA clip from episode 4902 went viral on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit in late 2018. The clip involves Rosita taking pictures of Grover exercising on her phone's camera. She suggests to move the camera over slightly, to which Grover replies "That sounds like an excellent idea." Similar to the Laurel vs Yanny argument from earlier that year, some people thought Grover said "That's a fucking excellent idea."
This desecration of "The Count's Song"... by Lemon Demon, which is popular due to how censoring every "count" in the song (besides the Count's name) with beeping makes it seem much dirtier as a result.
This parody of Huey Lewis and the News's "It's Hip To Be Square" has overlapped with another meme from a decidedly not child-friendly movie. There were many YouTube comments (at least before COPPA forced YouTube to disable comments on videos for kids) about how it's "so catchy that people don't even listen to the lyrics" or how they should "try getting a reservation at Hooper's store now...!"
"Bertstrips" are out-of-context images from the show put with captions that describe very dark, disturbing, and often line-crossing acts, typically involving sex, crime, drug use, racism, or multiples thereof.
STOP THE COUNT! explanationDonald Trump tweeted this in response to Nevada taking forever to finish counting up all their votes for the 2020 Presidental Election. Naturally, Sesame Street fans made memes about Count von Count and Nevada's votes, and joked that Trump is scared of the Count.
In a similar vein, the ongoing war on Big Bird after he got vaccinated (especially an Arizona politician who called him a "communist" for it).
This Tumblr post recounting an international groupchat discovering that there are international versions of Sesame Street through confusion over how Big Bird looks. Cue jokes that this is like looking "into the Big Bird-verse". In particular, Garibaldo (Brazilian!Big Bird) has been subject to memes because of how scary he looks.
It's even gone as far as being acknowledged by Big Bird himself, who took the opportunity to tell everyone about some of his family around the world. Aww.
No'man the Camel, Big Bird's equivalent in the Arabic version of Sesame Street, also gained meme notoriety from this due to the bizarre story of his costume going MIA, supposedly stolen by Saddam Hussein's military, during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. When the show was revived in 2015, a new costume had to be made for No'man.
Elmo is unhinged ExplanationElmo's comical, one-sided rivalry with Zoe's rock Rocco has been subject to various memes, edits, and compilations as of May 2021, and made a resurgence in January 2022 (see below), featuring Elmo "being savage at a rock" and Rocco "fucking with the sanity of everyone on the Street".
The clip from episode 3850 where Elmo snaps because Zoe won’t let him drive her “Zoemobile” is gaining some notoriety too, being nicknamed “ALASKA” by the fanbase.
"Oatmeal container, a wooden bowl." "A plastic water bottle and a PAYPA TAL ROWL!" explainationAround mid-December of 2021, this audio clip from the song I Wonder, What If, Let's Try, started going viral on TikTok...mostly because of how sassy Elmo sounds when saying "paper towel roll".
"Elmo's dance is to fly, zoom like a plane, but somedays, ELMO CHUGS ALONG LIKE A TRAIN! Woo-Woo!" explainationShortly after the PAYPA TAL ROWL clip became viral in December 2021, TikTok soon spread around another clip from the song "Dancing Is Easy", shared because of Elmo suddenly going much harder than expected when becoming a train. This soon became both a reaction meme and a full-on dance in the platform.
Balsamic vinegar, that's a big word for Elmo. explanationIn early January 2022, a clip from Elmo's appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2015 resurfaced. In it, Elmo is cooking with Fallon and lists off some ingredients they need, one of them being balsamic vinegar. Elmo pronounces it with a strong quasi-New York accent, then pauses acknowledging how weird it sounds as well how it's a "big word for Elmo". Naturally, this exploded on TikTok with audio recreation memes and fan art.
"But Rocco is JUST A ROCK!"explanationAs mentioned before, this clip managed to go viral on Twitter, to the point that Elmo himself tweeted about the whole ordeal. And then Saturday Night Live did their take during a "Weekend Update" segment.
Bert is Evil ExplanationAn early internet meme in the form of a website where Bert was photoshopped into scenes of disastrous events and with notorious people such as Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein, making him a Memetic Psychopath. It received major attention in October 2001, when one of the website's images showing Bert next to Osama Bin Laden was featured in a pro-Bin Laden demonstration in Bangladesh.
Potraying Oscar's grouchiness as a result of PTSD, mainly from wars, especially the Vietnam War.
Bert and Ernie playing metal on the drums ExplanationComes from an remix of a scene where Bert and Ernie are playing on drums, which syncs the drum-playing to "A Divine Proclamation of Finishing The Present Existence" by Last Days of Humanity. While the original video is no longer available, it became popular and inspired many MADs and MMDs of other characters playing the drums to the song, often tagged as "Susami Street" on the Japanese web.
That's Real Fuckin' Neato ExplanationA cropped image of a page from the book Just Like Ernie where Bert is leaning on a wall and wearing sunglasses which has the words "That's Real Fuckin' Neato" added to the left of him has seen some use as a reaction image.
"It is a cookie!" "No, it is not a cookie!" ExplanationThe sketch where Cookie Monster tries to guess what's inside Kermit's Mystery Box has received its share of edits and remixes, just like the above segment where Kermit teaches the alphabet.
IT'S NOT FUCKING WEED YOU PIECE OF SHIT STONER ExplanationOne of the most popular derivatives of this scene comes from a 4chan thread where someone presents their own version of the segment, with the first clue being that the item in the box was green. Someone responded "WEED", and this was the reply. The line has often been used whenever something resembling marijuana has popped up, and it inspired various redraws featuring characters from other media.
Elmo rising from fire ExplanationIn 2012, a picture of a crudely-designed Elmo◊ on a Sesame Street-themed birthday cake was posted on the website Cake Wrecks. This version of Elmo, sometimes nicknamed "Hellmo" on Tumblr, would serve for the basis for a popular GIF◊ where he is overlaid over a flaming background. The GIF has inspired many variations, with some adding captions, some adding other things into the GIF, and some having other characters re-enact Elmo's pose.
Devastated Elmo ExplanationAn image of a person in a distraught-looking Elmo costume, originating from this◊ photo, has been photoshopped in other images to make him seem like he's devastated/horrified at or jealous of something.
Elmo Choosing Cocaine ExplanationA two-panel image◊ which features Elmo choosing cocaine over fruits. It has become an object-labelling meme, with the fruits being labelled with a healthy/favorable option and the cocaine being labelled with an unhealthy/unfavorable option.
"We ride at dawn, bitches!" ExplanationA picture◊ of Big Bird sitting on a carriage with the words "we ride at dawn bitches" below him has been used to point out reckless actions and poor judgement.
Grover Stopped Smiling Explanation Originated from the Sesame Street Start to Read video "I Want to Go Home!”, or more specifically the "Two Wheels for Grover" story, where Big Bird narrates the text on-screen. Mainly used as a reaction image.
Realistic Bert Explanation A 3D model of a humanlike face artistically manipulated into something loosely resembling Bert. Its bulging eyes and conically peaked cranium evoke Unintentional Uncanny Valley for many. It acquired further notoriety in the DOOM community for showing up in Terry WADs, usually in Jump Scare traps as a One-Hit Rape enemy with the actor name "FuckNose" and associated with a distorted voice clip often quoted as "KABATCHE KABATCHE POPPA."
Mental Health Elmo.ExplanationOn January 29, 2024, Elmo posted a question on X asking if everyone was doing okay. Cue millions of people posting their stress and worries towards the red muppet and being glad that Elmo was there to listen to everything they had to say.
Leading directly to Larry David Attacks Elmo on Live TV ExplanationBecause of the publicity over this incident, Elmo (and his dad Louie) appeared as a guest on Today on February 1, only to have David, also on the show to promote Curb Your Enthusiasm, sneak out of the green room to crash the set and jokingly throttle Elmo. A lot of people pointed out that "Larry physically attacks a beloved children's character on network TV and has to deal with the fallout" sounds like it could be the plot of a Curb episode. and Wil Wheaton Chastises Larry David for Attacking Elmo Explanation A few days later, Wheaton took to Facebook for a passionate 900-word essay on the incident, decrying it as an "appalling, unforgivable, despicable act" and calling David “a stupid, self-centered, tone deaf asshole”.
Small Big Bird ExplanationIn January 2024, the Big Bird Twitter / X account put up a series of posts in which Big Bird claimed to have shrunk down to insect size, a storyline borrowed from a 2005 episode of the show. Other posters created a Running Gag about it based on showing mock-concern and criticizing other characters and even government officials for not doing anything to help Big Bird.
Sesame Street rave ExplanationA gif of the Sesame Street characters, with a lobster as the DJ partying became a popular gif, usually as a way of making fun of people listening to bad music.
or within this GIF
