NTV

Music by	Stephen Lawrence
Lyrics by	Mark Saltzman
Date	1984
Publisher	SJL Music Co. Sesame Street Inc.
First	Episode 2071

"NTV" is a Sesame Street song parodying the 1980s new wave music scene. On the MTV-spoofed channel of the same name, host Nora Nicks introduces the newest hit song from Nick Normal and the Nickmatics, referred to in the segment as "The Letter N."

In the song, Nick Normal sings about his Friday afternoon, and the events that happened that day, all involving negative words beginning with "N" (Nothing, Never, and No), with cutaways translated on each verse. After the final chorus pointing out the words beginning with "N," a giant animated letter N appears at the end of the video, much to Nick's horror.

Notes

• The segment was directed by Lisa Simon and was taped on October 11, 1984.

• The music video features MTV-style captions at the beginning that refer to "N Records."

• The segment was notably featured in Episode 2888 in a scene where Maria and Big Bird are watching NTV in the Fix-It Shop. Nora Nicks makes a cameo shortly afterwards.

• In its initial airing, the cutaway verses were shown in color and full screen. Subsequent airings in season 17 onward (starting with Episode 2129) presented the scenes in monochrome and letterboxed widescreen.

Nothing

Never

No

Releases

Online

• SesameStreet's YouTube Channel

Sources