The program's original title card.
The title card introduced in season 21.
Sneak Peek Previews was a Sesame Street segment in which Oscar the Grouch and Telly Monster sat in a movie theater and reviewed films. Telly gave the films a number of "wows" (or "yays") while Oscar gave them "phooeys" and vice versa. Telly would usually end up sitting in a broken chair, causing him to spill his popcorn all over the place.
Originally, the films up for review were existing live action or animation inserts. Starting in season 20, the segments instead featured original pieces starring various utility Muppets spoofing notable films (in a similar manner to Monsterpiece Theater). The first four feature Grundgetta as the off-screen title announcer (who often expresses agreement with Oscar afterwards), and the first five all have Oscar or Telly cueing the movie with "Roll it, Ralph!" (a reference to the show's technical director Ralph Mensch).
The segment was inspired by the television show Sneak Previews hosted by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. On that show, Siskel and Ebert reviewed movies and gave them "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" ratings. In fact, the pair appeared in one sketch and demonstrated to Telly and Oscar how to do such.
The format was reused in the video Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies, as well as some compilation screenings shown during the "Sesame Street: The First Generation" exhibition in 1989.
Two segments of the series are catalogued in Sesame Workshop's database, but never appeared in an aired episode: one called "The Big Pig Film" from season 19 and another called "Lambo" starring Meryl Sheep from season 20.[1]
Segments[]
Sources[]
- ↑ personal communication between Sesame Workshop and Scott Hanson