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 antennas coming out of the top of his head, and his eyes would whirl around when he watched TV. A segment of his first appearance appears on the 40 Years of Sunny Days DVD set. This one-note personality, along with the antennas and whirling eyes, was soon dropped, and Telly became the worrying, easily frustrated character he remains today (however, in the Talk, Listen, Connect episode Deployments, he is still shown to be an expert on TV and computers).

Telly was originally performed by Bob Payne for his first few appearances in 1979, then by Brian Muehl who used a low, gruff-sounding voice. Muehl also developed Telly's worrywart personality, making Telly a character who always needed reassurance in order to be confident. When Martin P. Robinson took over in 1984, he originally began with the personality Muehl already established for the character, using a voice similar to Muehl’s Telly voice. However, Telly evolved over time, gaining a much stronger emotional range. “His main thing now is that he believes totally in whatever he’s into,” says Robinson “And he can turn on a dime and that doesn’t belie what he was feeling before. He can go from great joy to great sorrow and it’s all totally genuine.”

Early on, Telly was often paired with Oscar the Grouch, whom he tried to befriend against tremendous odds. The two were traveling 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." A more recent pairing together was in a sketch demonstrating words that begin with the letter B.

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. Telly has a favorite toy doll which he named "Freddy." When Telly was a baby monster, his favorite toy was a stuffed animal horse which he named "Clark" before he got "Freddy". In the video Bedtime Stories & Songs, when Telly comes to Big Bird's nest for a sleepover, he brings a menagerie of different stuffed animals that almost overflow the entire nest. He also plays the bassoon, the tuba and, of course, the triangle. He also occasionally appears as a Monster on the Spot reporter. He also often jumps on a pogo stick, after Mr. Handford taught him how to in a 1993 episode.

Modern versions of the Telly puppet have movable eyelids to let his eyes widen, a handy technique when the monster is in panic mode. There are also two Telly puppets that have been interchangeably used throughout the show. The more frequently used version is a "sack puppet", similar in design to Cookie Monster or Rowlf the Dog, where the arm sleeves are directly attached to the base of the puppet. The second version is a full-body version of the character, with legs and feet attached. The puppet's arms are stuffed, with visible arm sleeves similar in design to the arms of Ernie or Fozzie Bear.

For Sesame Street's 40th season, Sesame Workshop featured a digital promotion called "Muppetbook", which featured profiles similar to those seen on Facebook. The profile listed squares, circles, and Woody Allen movies (too much anxiety) as Telly's pet peeves. Among his favorite songs are "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Don't Worry, Be Happy," and "Don't Cry Out Loud."

Filmography

 * Sesame Street
 * Big Bird in China
 * Don't Eat the Pictures
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan
 * Follow That Bird
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * Learning About Letters
 * Sleepytime Songs and Stories
 * 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 Jam: A Musical Celebration
 * Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Streets Forever
 * Sesame Street Stays Up Late
 * Don't Forget to Watch the Movie
 * We All Sing Together
 * The Great Numbers Game
 * Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
 * Elmopalooza
 * Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf
 * A Brief History of Motion Pictures
 * The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
 * CinderElmo
 * The Street We Live On
 * Let's Make Music

Book appearances

 * The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
 * City (1982)
 * More Who's Who on Sesame Street (1982)
 * Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1983 reprint)
 * People in Your Neighborhood (1983)
 * A Baby Sister for Herry (1984)
 * Lovable, Furry Old Grover in Please Don't Push the Red Button (1984)
 * A Silly Sesame Street Story: The Three Little Pigs (1984)
 * Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985)
 * Big Bird Joins the Carnival (1985)
 * Ernie's Finish the Picture (1985)
 * Follow That Bird Activity Book (1985)
 * Follow That Bird coloring book (1985)
 * Sign Language ABC (1985)
 * A Bird's Best Friend (1986)
 * Find the Shapes (1986)
 * Through the Year (1986)
 * The Runaway Soup and Other Stories (1987)
 * Colors (1987)
 * Shape Up! (1987)
 * Big Bird's Square Meal (1988)
 * Going Places (1988)
 * A New Playground on Sesame Street (1988)
 * Oh, I Am So Embarrassed! (1988)
 * The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words (1988)
 * Come As You Are (1989)
 * The New Who's Who on Sesame Street (1989)
 * Museum of Monster Art (1990)
 * How to Get to Sesame Street (1991)
 * Sesame Street 123 (1991)
 * We're Counting on You, Grover! (1991)
 * What Do You Do? (1992 edition)
 * 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)
 * Elmo's Mother Goose (1993)
 * From Trash to Treasure (1993)
 * Around the Corner on Sesame Street (1994)
 * Bright and Early with Elmo (1994)
 * Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book (1994)
 * Ready, Set, Go! A Counting Book (1995)
 * Sesame Street Stays Up Late (1995)
 * B is for Books! (1996)
 * Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
 * Rise and Shine! (1996; reworked as Up, Up, Up! in 2011)
 * Elmo's Christmas Colors (1997)
 * Pumpkin Patch Party (1997)
 * The Sesame Street Word Book (1998)
 * Elmo's ABC Book (2000)
 * Watch Out for Banana Peels (2000)
 * Elmo and the Monsters (2001)
 * Clap Your Hands! (2002)
 * Look and Find Elmo (2002)
 * Get Up and Go Songs (2003)
 * Cookie's Color Caper (2004)
 * Elmo's World: Sports! (2004)
 * Fun with Friends (2004)
 * Boo! (2005)
 * Hooray for Our Heroes! (2005)
 * Red or Blue, I Like You! (2005)
 * Fly Away with Big Bird (2006)
 * Name Those Shapes (2006)
 * Friendly, Frosty Monsters (2007)
 * Good Night, Tucked in Tight (2007)
 * Music Player Storybook (2007)
 * Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
 * Sesame Street Super Sticker Book (2007)
 * What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
 * Color Carnival (2008)
 * Storybook ABCs (2008)
 * Count to 10 (2009)
 * Love, Elmo (2009)
 * Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? (2009)
 * Healthy Monster Triathlon (2010)
 * Plant a Tree for Me! (2010)
 * Potty Time for Monsters (2011)
 * Elmo and Ernie's Joke Book (2012)
 * Elmo's Rockin' Rhyme Time! (2012)
 * Over on Sesame Street (2012)

Character merchandise

 * Groiler Christmas ornament
 * Beanbag toy
 * 13" plush
 * 1987 PVC figurine
 * 1998 PVC figurine
 * 2011 Hasbro figure