Count von Count



Count von Count is a purple vampire-type Sesame Street character; he first appeared on the show in Season 4 (1972-1973).

The Count's main purpose is educating children on simple mathematics concepts, most notably counting. The Count has a compulsive love of counting (arithmomania); he will count anything and everything, regardless of size, amount, or how much annoyance he is causing the other people around him. When he finishes counting, he laughs and announces his total, and lightning crashes in the sky.

According to Sesame Street Unpaved, the Count is 1,832,652 years old.

He is made from the Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet.

When the Count sings, the background music resembles Roma music, no matter what the song.

The Count bears a noticeable resemblance to Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, including a similar accent and oversized, pointed teeth, but it would appear that he is different from other vampires. For example, most vampires wither in direct sunlight; the Count does not and in fact enjoys being outside.

The Count lives in an old, cobweb-infested castle which he shares with many bats. Sometimes he counts them. Some of the pet bats are named, including Grisha, Misha, Sasha, and Tattiana. He has a cat, Fatatatita, as well.

The Count's former girlfriend, Countess von Backwards, was known for counting backwards. More recently he has been seen with a new girlfriend, Countess Dahling Von Dahling. His brother and mother have made appearances on the show.

He made an appearance in The Muppets Take Manhattan, then in the Sesame Street movies Follow That Bird and Elmo in Grouchland.

In Season 33, the Count got a daily segment on Sesame Street called The Number of The Day.

He was a DJ for his own radio station in the album The Count's Countdown. He was the host of a music video show in Count it Higher: Great Music Videos from Sesame Street. He was an announcer in Learning About Numbers.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, some traditional vampire myths depict vampires as having a similar obsession with counting small objects, providing a means of distracting them by tossing a handful of seeds or salt on the ground.
 * The Count made a special appearance on Episode 518 of The Muppet Show.
 * The Count's New York license plate number (as seen in Follow That Bird) is 12345678910.

International versions

 * In the Mexican show Plaza Sésamo, the Count's name is El Conde Contar.
 * In the Portuguese show Rua Sésamo, the Count's name is Conde de Contar.
 * In the Dutch show Sesamstraat, the Count's name is Graaf Tel.
 * In the German show Sesamstrasse, the Count's name is Graf Zahl.
 * In the Israeli show Rechov Sumsum, the Count's name is מר סופר.