Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is an hour-long, Emmy Award-winning Sesame Street Christmas special that first aired on PBS on December 3, 1978, at 7pm.
Oscar the Grouch raises doubts about whether Santa Claus can deliver presents on Christmas Eve if he can't fit through the narrow chimneys on Sesame Street, so Big Bird resolves to figure it out with the help of his friends Patty, Kermit, and Grover. Big Bird falls asleep while waiting on the roof of 123 Sesame Street to see Santa go down the chimney and is rescued by Gordon and Susan. Before his rescue, during the search, Maria confronts Oscar for upsetting Big Bird.
Meanwhile, Cookie Monster tries to communicate with Santa to ask for cookies for Christmas, but on all three attempts he gets so carried away with thinking about what sort of cookies Santa will bring him, that he winds up eating a pencil, typewriter, and telephone. While all this is going on, Ernie and Bert re-enact O. Henry's classic story "The Gift of the Magi" and, with the help of Mr. Hooper, learn a valuable lesson about generosity.
The program features a variety of seasonal tunes, including "True Blue Miracle," "Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year)," "I Hate Christmas," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The special opens with an ice-skating sequence, combining the Sesame characters from Ice Follies with the Sesame Street humans to create the illusion that the entire cast of the show is enjoying an ice-skating trip. One of the highlights of this section is Big Bird skating with a little girl to José Feliciano's recording of "Feliz Navidad".
Gallery
Cast
- Muppet Performers: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt
- Cast: Linda Bove, Northern Calloway, Debbie Chen, Will Lee, Loretta Long, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, Alaina Reed
- Skating Muppets: skaters from the Holiday on Ice shows
Credits
- "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street"
- Starring Jim Henson's Muppets: Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt
- The Cast of Sesame Street: Linda Bove, Northern Calloway, Debbie Chen, Loretta Long, Will Lee, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, Alania Reed and Carroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar
- with: Danny Epstein, Billy Mack, Chet O'Brien, Jon Stone, Christopher Wein
- Producer: Dulcy Singer
- Written by Jon Stone and Joseph A. Bailey
- Skaters from Holiday on Ice
- "True Blue Miracle" Composed by Carol Hall
- "Keep Christmas With You" and "I Hate Christmas" Composed by Sam Pottle and David Axelrod
- Children's Choir: Bob Singleton's Kids Chorus
- Choir Director: Bob Singleton
- Original Music Arranger and Conductor: Dick Lieb
- Music Coordinator: Danny Epstein
- Music Assistant: Dave Connor
- Associate Director: Ozzie Alfonso
- Associate Producer: Diana Birkenfield
- Director of Operations: Ronald L. Weaver
- Production Supervisor: Robert Braithwaite
- Muppets by: Donald Sahlin, Kermit Love, Caroly Wilcox, John Lovelady
- Muppet Winter Costumes: Calista Hendrickson, Sherry Amott
- Muppet Skating Builders: Faz Fazakas, Jan Rosenthal, Larry Jameson, Wendy Midener
- Muppet Workshop Coordinators: Amy Van Gilder, Mari Kaestle
- Muppet Design Consultant: Michael K. Frith
- Muppet Creative Consultant: Frank Oz
- Choreographer: Norman Maen
- Production Designer: Ronald Baldwin
- Art Director: Alan J. Compton
- Production Stage Manager: Chet O'Brien
- Stage Manager: Emily Squires
- Floor Manager: Stephen Springford
- Senior Floor Manager: Richard Holloway
- Set Decorator: Nat Mongioi
- Senior Scenic Artist: Victor DiNapoli
- Special Effects: Tim McElcheran
- Lighting Directors: David M. Clark, Tony DiGirolamo
- Graphic Artist: Gerri Brioso
- Costume Designer: Bill Kellard
- Make-Up: Phyllis Grens Sternick
- Hair Stylist: Lee Trent
- Wardrobe: Grisha Mynova
- Production Assistants: Mercedes Polanco, Sharen Gay, Cathi Rosenberg
- Camera: Frank Biondo, Joe Lo-Ré, Mike Whitcutt
- Technical Advisor: Walt Rauffer
- Technical Director: Ralph Mensch
- Sound Effects: Dick Maitland, Roy Carch
- Audio: Mike Shoskes, Jay Judell
- Video: Rolf Wahl
- Videotape Editors: Vincent Sims, John Hutchison
- Vision Mixer: Felicity Maton
- Executive Producers: Jon Stone, Jim Henson
- Production Conceived and Directed by: Jon Stone
- Major funding for this program was provided by a grant from
- The Office of Education, Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare and by Public Television Stations.
- Additional supports was provided by grants from The Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York.
- "Sesame Street" and the "Sesame Street" sign are trademarks and service marks of the Children's Television Workshop.
- © 1978 Children's Television Workshop
- "Sesame Street 10 Season"
Notes
- Jon Stone provides the voice of Santa Claus when Cookie Monster tries calling him.[1]
- When Big Bird and Patty check on Oscar following his ice skating accident, his original line was "Sure. I've been thrown out of better places than that." It was later re-dubbed in post-production (to "Let's go back and do it, again!"), as the original line was deemed too adult.[2]
- Oscar's trash can area is modified to resemble it's initial, pre-1974 arrangement.
Edits
- In various re-airings on PBS in the late-1980s, the closing scene with Susan and Gordon finding that Cookie Monster ate most of their Christmas tree was cut.
- On video releases since the mid-1990s, the original 1978 Children's Television Workshop logo with Christmas music was cut. The 1995 VHS replaces it with the 1983 CTW opening logo, and DVD releases of the special start without any logos.
Sources
- ↑ The Muppet Mindset interview with Joseph A. Bailey
- ↑ Bailey, Joseph. Memoirs of a Muppets Writer, page 236
See also
- Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (album)
- Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (book)
- Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (video)