Letter of the Day Pageant

Guy announces the five finalists: A, E, I, O, and U.

Guy congratulates the letter E with a song.

behind the scenes with Richard Hunt and other performers

Guy Smiley hosted the Letter of the Day Pageant on Sesame Street in the mid-1980s. (First: Episode 2212) The skit is a spoof of the Miss America pageant, complete with tearful candidates and a song by Guy Smiley (ala Bert Parks singing "There She Is, Miss America"). As part of the spoof, before announcing the runner-up to the winner, Guy notes, "Should our winner be unable to serve, you will replace it in every word in the dictionary."

The five finalists are the five vowels, and the letter E wins. The category winners were the letter S (for swimsuit competition), the letter C (for congeniality) and the tap-dancing letter T (for talent).

An alternate version of the segment that didn't air, where the E held a small bouquet of flowers.

Notes

• Additional performers include Richard Hunt (letter E), Kevin Clash (announcer and letter C), Pam Arciero (letter S), Noel MacNeal, Michael Elizabeth Huston, and Martin P. Robinson. Ivy Austin provides additional vocals for Guy's number.

• The segment was written by Tony Geiss, directed by Jon Stone, and taped on November 8, 1985.

• The pageant takes place at Shrdlu Hall in Atlantic City, Oregon (rather than the more famous city of that name in New Jersey, which was the long-time location of the Miss America pageant). The name of the hall is a reference to Etaoin shrdlu, a nonsense phrase used as a space filler in the days of mechanical typesetting (representing, in order, the twelve most frequently used letters in English).

• Guy Smiley's tuxedo was provided by "After Three and a Half," a takeoff on tuxedo manufacturer After Six. Travel arrangements were provided by "Trans World Bicycles," referencing Trans World Airlines.