A Special Sesame Street Christmas
A Special Sesame Street Christmas is a 1978 CBS Christmas special, made the same year as the better-known Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. The special was first broadcast on Friday, December 8, 1978, at 8 PM ET on CBS, pre-empting Wonder Woman that week, starring Leslie Uggams.
The special features only three of the Sesame Street Muppets: Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, and Barkley the dog. Barkley is played by gymnast Toby Towson. The puppet used for the special was different from the one used for the series, making him five feet tall, or higher, at times in the special. Mr. Hooper, David, Bob, and Maria are the only humans from the regular cast to make appearances, while most of the regulars are replaced by a large, somewhat all-star cast.
The special features many plot elements that are very loosely tied together, the most important being Oscar as the "Ebenezer Scrooge" on Sesame Street, as a minor takeoff on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. They include Leslie Uggams thinking lemonade was hot chocolate, singer Anne Murray and a magic eggnog container, Oscar adopting a kitten with a broken leg, and Ethel Merman calling Imogene Coca an idiot. Also appearing are Dick Smothers (only one half of the Smothers Brothers was hired for the special), Henry Fonda and Michael Jackson.
The special was mainly produced for CBS not by the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), but by Bob Banner Associates, notable for Perry Como's Christmas specials. The producers paid CTW for the use of the set, some of the adult characters, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, with everything else, including the script and the Barkley costume, provided by Banner staffers.
This program was nominated in the 31st Annual Emmy Awards (1979) under the category of Outstanding Children's Program, losing to Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. Both specials are now available on DVD.[1]
See also
References
- ^ amazon.com: "A Special Sesame Street Christmas"
External links
- A Blue Christmas Tough Pigs review of the special.
- A Muppety Christmas[permanent dead link] Overview of the special. Site also includes many other specials, movies, videos, albums and assorted cards and ornaments.
- Internet Movie Database entry
- v
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- Fictional location
- Sesame Workshop
- Characters
- Educational goals
- Format
- Influence
- Licensing
- Recurring segments
- Accolades
- Fran Brill
- Kevin Clash
- Joan Ganz Cooney
- Ryan Dillon
- Louise Gold
- Jim Henson
- Richard Hunt
- Eric Jacobson
- Gerald S. Lesser
- Peter Linz
- Kermit Love
- Joey Mazzarino
- Lloyd Morrisett
- Jerry Nelson
- Carmen Osbahr
- Frank Oz
- Carol-Lynn Parente
- Joe Raposo
- Martin P. Robinson
- David Rudman
- Jon Stone
- Caroll Spinney
- Matt Vogel
- Steve Whitmire
- List of guest stars
- List of puppeteers
- Theme song
- "Bein' Green"
- "C Is For Cookie"
- "I Love Trash"
- "Mah Nà Mah Nà"
- "Monster in the Mirror"
- "One of These Things (Is Not Like the Others)"
- "Rubber Duckie"
- "Sesame's Treet"
- "Sing"
- Follow That Bird (1985)
- The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
Cameos |
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specials
- Julie on Sesame Street (1973)
- Out to Lunch (1974)
- Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
- A Special Sesame Street Christmas (1978)
- Big Bird in China (1983)
- Don't Eat the Pictures (1983)
- A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
- Sesame Street, Special (1988)
- Big Bird in Japan (1989)
- Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting (1989)
- Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake (1991)
- Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years (1993)
- Sesame Street Stays Up Late! (1993)
- Elmo Saves Christmas (1996)
- Elmopalooza (1998)
- The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street (1998)
- CinderElmo (1999)
- Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2007)
- Abby in Wonderland (2008)
- The Cookie Thief (2015)
- Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas (2016)
- Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2019)
- Sesame Street: Elmo's Playdate (2020)
- The Monster at the End of This Story (2020)
- The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover (1971)
- Sesame Street Together Book (1971)
- The House of Seven Colors (1985)
- Happy Birthday, Cookie Monster (1986)
- Sesame Street Magazine
- Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street
- The Sesame Street Dictionary
- Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street
- Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America
- Big Bird's Egg Catch
- Alpha Beam with Ernie
- The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
- Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure
- Cookie's Counting Carnival
- Ready, Set, Grover!
- Once Upon a Monster
- Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece
- Kinect Sesame Street TV
- The Jim Henson Company
- Noggin (1999-2002)
- Sesame Street in the UK
- Sesame Street Live
- Comic strip
- Syndication packages
- The Muppets
- Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
- I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story
- The World According to Sesame Street
- Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
- Big Bag
- Oobi (episodes)
- Panwapa
- Jim Henson Idea Man
- Teletape Studios
- Kaufman Astoria Studios
- The Joan Ganz Cooney Center
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