PERFORMER | various |
DEBUT | 1966 |
DESIGN | Jim Henson designer |
Don Sahlin builder |
Beautiful Day Monster is a blue Muppet monster best remembered from his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969, ruining a girl's beautiful day. Three years before, he began life as The Crown-Grabber in an unaired commercial for Wheels, Crowns and Flutes. He has made several appearances in the premiere season of Sesame Street, on The Muppet Show, and several other Muppet projects. Wherever the Beautiful Day Monster goes, destruction and mayhem soon follow.
Although the monster was known as "Beautiful Day Monster" behind the scenes,[1] he went by many names on Sesame Street, such as "Fred," "Harold," "Louie," "Snookie," "Lulu," and "Windy." He was also a contestant on the game show, "The Mr. and Mrs. Game," where he was named "Ralph" and had a wife, also a contestant. For a few sketches, the monster was turned into a female character with a dark black wig, a necklace and a pink ribbon. He was sometimes an opponent of Ernie and Bert, using subtle tricks such as disguises to steal cookies; nevertheless, Ernie used to call him "that silly monster". He also appeared as a friend of Cookie Monster, in the "Here and There" sketch. As a particularly frightening monster, he demonstrated his dreadful vocal power in a lecture of Kermit the Frog, when he pronounced the B, chasing Kermit away and creating a spooky light effect. In the "Mr and Mrs Game" sketch, he answered his favorite sport was "scaring people". He also liked to eat ukuleles (but never when they are already broken.) After the first season, Beautiful Day Monster and most of the other early Sesame monsters were replaced by friendlier looking monsters with brighter colors.
A small Beautiful Day Monster (used in the original Ed Sullivan sketch when the monster has shrunk) was used alongside the regular-sized monster to demonstrate the difference between 'little' and 'big', where he was known as "Frank."
For The Muppet Show, the Beautiful Day Monster puppet was reconstructed and his teeth removed to give him a less frightening appearance. In one memorable sketch in episode 108, he asked a travel agent (Paul Williams) about the cost of a trip to Pittsburgh. No matter what the travel agent offered, Beautiful Day Monster asked "You got anything cheaper?" until the agent dropped a weight on him, flattening him enough to send him by mail. This was his only major appearance in a Muppet Show sketch, although he appeared several times behind Gonzo during the final moment of "The Muppet Show Theme" (being hit by Gonzo's mallet in the first season, or interfering with a huge tuba in the next ones). The flattened version of the puppet would appear in the At the Dance sketch in the next episode, wearing a wig and dancing with Rowlf. In episode 114, he plays the barman in the rendition of "A Nice Girl Like Me" by Sandy Duncan. In episode 119, he wanders the ballroom accompanied by a lot of bats, causing a remark by Mildred Huxtetter, "This man is absolutely batty", and he is in the monstrous audience seen in the Talk Spot.
A rebuilt version of Beautiful Day Monster first appeared in The Muppets as a background character, and has popped up frequently since. During The Muppets Take the Bowl he walked by during the "Parade of Obscure Characters," where Kermit offhandedly acknowledged him by name, a rare occurrence for the character.
Filmography[]
- Wheels, Flutes and Crowns (as The Crown Grabber)
- The Mike Douglas Show
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
- The Wonderful Night of Hercules Brown
- "Kermit's Stepping Stones to Success"
- The Ed Sullivan Show
- "Happy Girl Meets a Monster," (voiced by Jim Henson)
- "What Kind of Fool Am I?"
- Sesame Street Pitch Reel
- The Muppets on Puppets
- Sesame Street (Frank Oz, Jim Henson, Caroll Spinney, Joe Raposo, Daniel Seagren)
- Pure Goldie
- Herb Alpert and the TJB (voiced by Jerry Nelson and puppeteered by Frank Oz)
- The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
- The Muppet Show
- "The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 2-5)
- Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Comedy Tonight")
- Episode 108: Paul Williams (Travel Agency sketch, performed by Richard Hunt)
- Episode 109: Charles Aznavour ("I Feel Pretty", At the Dance)
- Episode 113: Bruce Forsyth (At the Dance)
- Episode 114: Sandy Duncan ("A Nice Girl Like Me")
- Episode 116: Avery Schreiber (Gonzo's Opening Gong only)
- Episode 119: Vincent Price (At the Dance, Audience)
- Episode 121: Twiggy (Gonzo's Opening Gong only)
- Episode 122: Ethel Merman
- Episode 201: Don Knotts (Audience)
- Episode 202: Zero Mostel (UK Spot, with Kermit and Sam in the Prop Room, performed by Jerry Nelson)
- Episode 203: Milton Berle
- Episode 204: Rich Little
- Episode 207: Edgar Bergen (Audience)
- Episode 208: Steve Martin
- Episode 211: Dom DeLuise
- Episode 214: Elton John (Audience)
- Episode 219: Peter Sellers (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
- Episode 222: Teresa Brewer ("Cheesecake")
- Episode 301: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge (Audience)
- Episode 302: Leo Sayer (Audience)
- Episode 303: Roy Clark (Audience)
- Episode 317: Spike Milligan (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
- Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
- Episode 410: Kenny Rogers ("Love Lifted Me")
- Episode 424: Diana Ross (Audience)
- The Muppet Movie (the "Rainbow Connection" finale)
- The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
- The Jim Henson Hour
- "Power" (performed by Dan Redican)
- The Cosby Show
- "Cliff's Nightmare" (performed by Kevin Clash)
- The Muppet Show Theme Music Video
- The Muppets (performed by Bill Barretta)
- Kermit's Party
- Muppets Most Wanted
- The Muppets 2015 Presentation Pilot
- The Muppets
- Warburtons commercial
- The Muppets Take the Bowl
- The Muppets Take the O2
- Muppets Haunted Mansion (performed by Bill Barretta)
Sesame Street sketches[]
Picture | Summary / EKA | Description | |
---|---|---|---|
More and Less Episode 0004 |
Cookie Monster drinks Kermit's glass of milk, which he was going to use to explain "more" and "less." When Kermit insults Cookie Monster, several of Cookie Monster's monster pals, accompanied by frightening music, gang up on Kermit, prompting him to point out that now there are more monsters and less frogs. | ||
Kiss From A Monster Episode 0005 |
Ernie laughs when Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes says "Bleah!" after getting kissed by a monster. Bert says that Ernie would react the same way if he got kissed by a monster. "No, I wouldn't. I'd think it was funny!" says Ernie. Then the Beautiful Day Monster shows up and kisses Ernie, who says, "Bleah!" Bert laughs. | ||
Song of 5 Episode 0006 |
Beautiful Day Monster, Thudge, an early Grover, Flute-Snatcher, and Snerk make a cameo in the Song of 5. | ||
How many? Episode 0009 |
Ernie shows Bert how many legs a dog has, how many legs a table has, and how many eyes a monster has, but Bert denies that the monster has four eyes. Apparently, the four-eyed monster (Beautiful Day Monster, with two extra eyes) shows up proving he indeed has four eyes. | ||
Everybody Scratch Episode 0012 |
Ernie and Bert have difficulty scratching their backs, so both help each other scratch their back. While Ernie's itch takes a little too long to scratch, he introduces a film called "Everybody Scratch". After the film, Ernie notices that Bert has stopped scratching his back; Beautiful Day Monster is. | ||
Big and Small Episode 0015 |
Kermit presents a lecture on big and small with the Beautiful Day Monster and a small monster. Splurge comes in at the end to show what a really big monster looks like. | ||
The Boy, the Girl and the Jellybeans Episode 0016 |
A boy and girl share a bag of jellybeans, but they're scared away by a monster. They make friends with the monster, and share the jellybeans with him. (3-part sketch) | ||
"Yellow Submarine" Episode 0017 |
Bob dresses up three Anything Muppets (Fat Blue, Pumpkin, and Purple), who scoot off to their submarine and sing "Yellow Submarine," where they party with other Muppets (including the hippie, Beautiful Day Monster, and Cookie Monster).
| ||
Balloons Episode 0021 |
Big Bird happens upon Beautiful Day Monster (Jim Henson) and they challenge each other on what they know about balloons. The monster asks if Big Bird knows what happens when he bites a balloon, then proceeds to do so, popping them. Big Bird calls him out on his mean act, but the monster produces a giant sized balloon for him in consolation. | ||
Through The Hoop Episode 0023 |
Ernie demonstrates the word "through" with the help of Beautiful Day Monster and Bert, who holds a hoop. | ||
Kermit on Hair Episode 0028 |
Kermit talks about hair. According to Kermit, "Hair is a part of you. It is not a part of me, because I am a frog." He points out that some people have hair on their heads, while others have it on their faces. But if you have hair all over your body (like Beautiful Day Monster, who emerges brushing himself and singing "A pretty girl is like a melody ...") then you're a monster! | ||
Lulu's Back in Town Episode 0030 |
Tony sings "Lulu's Back in Town". Lulu turns out to be the Beautiful Day Monster, with a wig and necklace. | ||
Kermit on the Letter F Episode 0033 |
Kermit plans to talk about the letter F, but Beautiful Day Monster delivers an E instead, so he fixes it by using an ax and chopping off the bottom line of the E to make it look like an F. | ||
Subtracting Cookies Episode 0041 |
Ernie struggles to save a plate of cookies for Bert. Beautiful Day Monster disguises himself as a baker and a little girl to trick Ernie out of four of the five cookies, but Bert blames Ernie. | ||
"Some" and "All" Episode 0061 |
Beautiful Day Monster appears among the group of Muppets demonstrating "none," "some" and "all". | ||
Pick Your Pet Episode 0067 |
Lucy Jones asks a series of questions to the animals, asking them questions that would relate to a cat. Her time runs up before she can ask Beautiful Day Monster any questions, and she has to choose, so she chooses Beautiful Day Monster, who acts like a cat when she finds out what she got, and she is happy with her pet. | ||
Kermit's B Sound Lecture Episode 0068 |
Kermit presents a highly-descriptive lecture about making a B sound, complete with providing us a demonstration, and teaches the Beautiful Day Monster how to make a B sound. Turns out, the monster's B sound results as a "BAAAAAAAH!" which scares off Kermit and fogs up the screen in a creepy light. | ||
Kermit's Between Lecture Episode 0070 |
Kermit demonstrates between by using a ping-pong ball, a donut, and a Beatles record sitting on a table, with the donut between the record and the ball. Beautiful Day Monster comes along and proceeds to eat everything. Kermit fears he will also get eaten, but the monster thanks him with a kiss. | ||
The Mr. and Mrs. Game Episode 0072 |
Beautiful Day (as "Mr. Monster") has to match up his answers with that of his wife. | ||
Windy Episode 0074 |
Tony sings about his girlfriend Windy. Windy is Beautiful Day Monster dressed up in a wig. | ||
Broken ukulele Episode 0080 |
Part 1: Ernie encounters a sobbing Beautiful Day Monster, who is crying because his ukulele is broken. Ernie shows him a few things one can do with a broken ukulele, but that doesn't stop the monster from crying. Ernie then offers to fix the ukulele. Part 2: Ernie brings back the ukulele, all fixed. And what does the monster do? He eats it! | ||
Monsters Look at "A" Episode 0083 |
Monsters, including an early Grover, Flute-Snatcher, Cookie Monster, Beautiful Day Monster, and Scudge, are looking at something. Billy appears, and is reprimanded with "Eyy!" After a few times, Fred's son turns toward the viewer and yells "A!", revealing that the group is staring at the letter A. | ||
Muppet "G" Tag Episode 0085 |
A group of monsters enter the frame, look upward, and exclaim "Gee!" The camera pulls back and reveals they're admiring a letter G. | ||
Monsters Whisper "C" Episode 0089 |
Monsters, including an early Grover, Cookie Monster, and Beautiful Day Monster, pass on the message, "See." The wide shot reveals that the monsters were whispering about the Letter C. Caroll Spinney performs Cookie Monster here. | ||
F Cheer #5 Episode 0094 |
Beautiful Day Monster is part of a group of cheerleaders who cheer up to the letter F. When the leader asks what "ABCDEF" spells, they are all stumped, and Beautiful Day Monster comments on how weird that is. | ||
Professor Hastings' feelings lecture Episode 0106 |
Professor Hastings conducts a lecture about the ways people feel, but keeps drifting off. Meanwhile, two groups of Muppets behind him pass by; one cheering for their winning team, and the others crying for the losing team. Beautiful Day Monster is among those in the sad team. | ||
Here and There Episode 0111 |
Fred's son wants to learn about "here" and "there," so the Beautiful Day Monster and Cookie Monster show him by spreading apart, each calling Fred's son over to their side. However, whenever Baby gets to "there," he always finds himself "here." | ||
First and Last Episode 0116 |
A group of Monsters, led by a hippie, play a game where they march in a line and then switch directions. Grover wants to be first and not last, but can't keep up with the ever-switching directions. This sketch was later remade, with the blue version of Grover and with the monsters being replaced. | ||
Clues Episode 0118 |
Kermit talks about clues. He shows that a boy has grown some carrots because he has a hoe, a watering can, and a bunch of carrots. Next, he confirms that a man has built a birdhouse because of his wood, paint, and carpenter's tools. When he notices Beautiful Day Monster with a suitcase and an umbrella, Kermit assumes that the monster is going on a trip. The monster corrects him; he's planning to eat his umbrella, and uses the suitcase to carry the ketchup he'll use to eat it with. | ||
Ernie eats Bert's cake Episode 0119 |
Ernie eats the chocolate cake that Bert was planning on eating. Bert sees some icing on Ernie's mouth, a bib around his neck, and a fork and knife in Ernie's hand, and Ernie tells Bert that a monster came in, ate Bert's cake, and put the evidence on Ernie. Bert doesn't believe Ernie's lie and gets another piece of cake, but when he leaves the room, Beautiful Day Monster comes in and does exactly what Ernie told Bert happened to the first cake, but when Bert comes back and sees the other cake eaten and Ernie says that the monster ate it, Bert doesn't believe him. |
Book appearances[]
- The Muppet Show Book
- Kermit's Summer Fun
- The Muppet Show Comic Book issue #3 - Gonzo's Story (Cover A)
- Muppet Snow White
- The Muppets Character Encyclopedia