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| Sesame Street | |||||||||
| The adults on Sesame Street finally meet Mr. Snuffleupagus | |||||||||
| Air date | November 18, 1985 (season premiere) | ||||||||
| Season | Season 17 (1985-1986) | ||||||||
| Written by | Norman Stiles | ||||||||
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Background
Since Mr. Snuffleupagus made his first appearance in the Season 3 premiere, the adults had thought that Mr. Snuffleupagus was just an imaginary friend of Big Bird's. Big Bird would often try to arrange for them to see Mr. Snuffleupagus, face-to-face, but Snuffy would always be gone by the time they finally chose to look at him. After years of not seeing him and many near-misses, and in a storyline that first kicked off the previous season in Episode 1966, the adults finally got to see Mr. Snuffleupagus for the first time in this episode.
In the documentary Sesame Street Unpaved, hosted by Sonia Manzano, Snuffy's performer, Martin P. Robinson, revealed that Snuffy was finally introduced to the main human cast mainly due to a string of high profile and sometimes graphic stories of pedophilia and sexual abuse of children on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. The writers felt that by having the adults refuse to believe Big Bird despite the fact that he was telling the truth, they were scaring children into thinking that their parents would not believe them if they had been sexually abused and that they'd just be better off remaining silent. In addition, during Robinson's explanation, Loretta Long uttered the words "Bronx daycare," a reference to reports of sexual abuse at the PRACA Day Care Center in New York City's Bronx borough, as covered by area TV station WNBC.
In 1988, a book about the adults meeting Mr. Snuffleupagus, titled Meet Mr. Snuffleupagus, was released. However, in that book, they meet him when he takes a toaster to the Fix-It Shop to get it fixed. The sequence in which the cast meets Mr. Snuffleupagus was included in Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Streets Forever, Sesame Street Unpaved, The Street We Live On, and 40 Years of Sunny Days. A script for most of the street scenes was featured in Sesame Street Unpaved.
Segments
| Picture | Segment | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCENE 1 | Big Bird tells Snuffy about his plan to show the adults that he exists. A flashback montage is shown of the adults thinking Mr. Snuffleupagus is imaginary and Big Bird insisting that he's real. Big Bird describes the plan telling Snuffy he's going to yell a secret word to the adults so they can rush up to see him. The secret word is "food." | ||
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Cartoon | A boy acts out his feelings as animals. ("There's a zoo in me!") (First: Episode 0783) | |
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Muppets | Cookie Monster sounds out the word FOOD, then eats it. (First: Episode 0601) | |
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Song | Joe Raposo sings "Dressed Up". (First: Episode 0302) | |
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Cartoon | "Name That Food" game show hosted by Don Carrot Artist: Elwood Smith (First: Episode 1491) | |
| SCENE 2 | Snuffy decides to go back home to tell his mommy about Big Bird's plan. But Big Bird is eager to get it under way, and calls the adults, thinking he can get them there before Snuffy leaves. He fails, however, and Bob tries to convince Big Bird once again that Snuffy is just his imaginary friend, though Gordon and Maria, who by this time have decided to believe Big Bird, insist that he's wrong. Gordon suggests he find someone to help him so that Snuffy doesn't run away when Big Bird yells "food." Elmo volunteers to take the job. | ||
| SCENE 2 cont'd |
Phil Donahue, who has come to pick up his toaster from the fix-it shop, interviews the adults about whether they think Big Bird's secret word is silly or not. Maria, Gordon, Linda, and Uncle Wally say it isn't silly, whereas David, Bob, Luis, Susan, and even Piri all think it is. Oscar the Grouch doesn't care either way and says they're all wasting their time. Phil suggests it doesn't matter whether it's silly or not and that they should simply agree to disagree about the situation.
Suddenly, everyone hears Big Bird yell, "Food!" and run to his nest, only to find Elmo holding onto Zoe covered with a Snuffy-like blanket. Big Bird claims that it was just practice and is satisfied that it worked. Gordon and David, however, request for no more practices as everyone is very busy. | ||
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Animation | A car drives through blocks. (First: Episode 1446) | |
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Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Grover asks Maya to help him follow an arrow. The arrow changes direction until Grover falls down, exhausted. (First: Episode 1641) | |
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Song | Joe Raposo sings "Peanut Butter". (re-filmed version) (First: Episode 1966) | |
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Film | People jump. (First: Episode 0774) | |
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Muppets | Sesame Street News Flash: Kermit the Frog asks the Three Little Pigs how they feel after the Big Bad Wolf blew their houses down. | |
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Cartoon | "Pinball Number Count" #6 Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0983) | |
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Muppets / Celebrity | Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin) tells Herry about feeling proud. (First: Episode 0913) | |
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Song | "Me and My Chair" (First: Episode 1706) | |
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Film | Footage of a city neighborhood; includes shots of a sno-cone vendor. Singer: "¡Linda paloma!" (First: Episode 0426) | |
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Muppets | The Count sings "The Batty Bat." | |
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Film | A film insert of kittens playing, with child voiceovers in English and Spanish. (First: Episode 0429) | |
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Film | A film insert about washing elephants at the Bronx Zoo. The song "Splish Splash" is used in part of the segment. | |
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Cartoon | Farm animals are counted 1-6. (First: Episode 1692) | |
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Muppets | Two-Headed Monster finds a pencil with a broken point, and demonstrates the fun you can have with it. | |
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Film | Children on a playground form the letters of the alphabet. (First: Episode 1966) | |
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Cartoon | S - Snake: A snake charmer irritates the snake. (First: Episode 0063) | |
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Cartoon | A pencil tries to write the word DANCE. (First: Episode 1966) This segment was cut from the Noggin version. | |
| SCENE 3 | Big Bird asks Elmo to hang on to Snuffy's snuffle while he gets the adults. Snuffy tries to wander away but Elmo hangs on even when Snuffy swings his snuffle around. The adults arrive and get their first look at Mr. Snuffleupagus.
Overwhelmed by the excitement, Big Bird hesitates to join them and remarks about getting a strange feeling he's losing an old friend. He eventually returns to his nest and rejoices at the sight of the adults finally seeing Snuffy. He says, "At last! Oh, joy joy! I told you there was a Snuffleupagus and at last, you've seen him and you gotta believe it, right? I told you all along that there was a Snuffleupagus, my best pal. He's not imaginary but you never believed me!" Gordon reminds him that he, Maria, and Linda believed him but Big Bird reminds the others that they never did. Susan says he has a right to be angry because they didn't believe him after all this time. Big Bird admits it was very hard for him. Susan apologizes "from the bottom of my heart". Bob tells Big Bird that from that day on whenever he tells them something, they'll believe him. Snuffy then says to Big Bird "Maybe we should get that in writing" to which Big Bird and all the adults laugh. Big Bird then introduces each of the adults to Snuffy. | ||
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Cartoon | A girl inflates a balloon in the shape of an S. (First: Episode 0414) | |
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Muppets | Ernie sings "Dance Myself to Sleep." (First: Episode 1705) | |
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Cartoon | Two balls follow an arrow down a hole. | |
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SCENE 4 | After Snuffy has been introduced to all the adults, Elmo suggests a group hug, to which Phil Donahue joins in.
Disgusted by this "revolting spectacle", Oscar announces the sponsors. "Hey, come on, I'll meet ya down at the swamp!" | |
Known missing segments | |||
| Picture | Segment | Description | |
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Cartoon | The 'J' Train (First: Episode 1169) | |
Cast
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External Links
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