Telly Monster

Telly Monster is a slightly neurotic young monster who lives at 1304 Sesame Street.

Telly was initially conceived as a monster obsessed with watching television; his name is short for "Television Monster". In his early appearances on Sesame Street, Telly had antennae coming out of the top of his head, and his eyes would whirl around when he watched TV. This one-note personality, along with the antennae and whirligig eyes, was soon dropped, and Telly became the worrying, easily frustrated character he remains today.

Telly was originally performed by Brian Muehl using a low, gruff-sounding voice. When Marty Robinson took over in 1984, he originally used the voice that Brian used for Telly, but it later evolved into the more excited-sounding voice he has today.

Telly is often paired with Oscar the Grouch, whom he often tries to befriend against tremendous odds. The two were companions in Follow That Bird, and Telly is a member of Oscar's fan club, the Grouchketeers. The two starred in two recurring sketches together: "Ask Oscar", which Telly introduced, and "Sneak Peek Previews".

In recent years, Telly has often been seen in the company of his good friend Baby Bear. Telly has a great love of triangles, and owns a pet hamster named Chuckie Sue. He also plays the bassoon, the tuba and, of course, the triangle. He also occasionally appears as a "Monster on the Spot" reporter.

Modern versions of the Telly puppet have moveable eyelids to let his eyes widen, a handy technique when the monster is in panic mode.

TV special appearances

 * Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
 * Big Bird in China
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * Sesame Street, Special
 * Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
 * The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
 * Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake
 * Sesame Street Stays Up Late
 * Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration
 * Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Streets Forever
 * Elmopalooza
 * CinderElmo
 * The Street We Live On

Movie appearances

 * The Muppets Take Manhattan
 * Follow That Bird
 * The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

Video appearances

 * Learning About Letters
 * Sleepytime Songs and Stories
 * We All Sing Together
 * The Great Numbers Game
 * Let's Make Music

Book appearances

 * The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
 * A Baby Sister for Herry (1984)
 * Loveable, Furry Old Grover in Please Don't Push the Red Button (1984)
 * A Silly Sesame Street Story: The Three Little Pigs (1984)
 * The New Who's Who on Sesame Street (1989)
 * How to Get to Sesame Street (1991)
 * Grover's 10 Terrific Ways to Help Our Wonderful World (1992)
 * Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad (1992)
 * We're Different, We're the Same (1992)
 * From Trash to Treasure (1993)
 * Going Places (1998)
 * The Sesame Street Word Book (1998)
 * Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
 * What Makes You Giggle? (2007)