Changes: Spaceship Surprise

Revision as of 18:57, 30 July 2019

Spaceship Surprise was a recurring sketch on Sesame Street from season 19.

Inspired by Star Trek, the segment was designed to teach consonant digraphs, the pairing of two consonants to create a new sound. The series focused on the crew of the titular ship, headed by an excitable captain (performed by Jim Henson) and his stoic officer (Richard Hunt). In each segment, the ship would crash land on a different planet, whose populace demonstrated a specific sound. Alliteration was used heavily ("cheering chairs," "shouting shovel," etc.) The skit would generally end with the entire group performing a dance named after the digraph.

In season 25, a sequel series, Spaceship Surprise: The Next Generation, was launched. This time, the emphasis was on consonant sounds in general, and not digraphs. The new crew included:

The Captain, a Purple AM parody of Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard (Martin P. Robinson)

The Security Officer, a Pumpkin AM parody of Michael Dorn's Worf (Kevin Clash)

The Science Officer, a Green AM parody of Brent Spiner's Data (David Rudman)

The Doctor, a Lavender AM parody of Gates McFadden's Doctor Crusher (Camille Bonora)

The original intro music was similar to the original Star Trek theme and featured Martin P. Robinson as the narrator. The new series featured new music similar to Star Trek: The Next Generation series and Jerry Nelson narrating.

In an interview for Tough Pigs, Noel MacNeal explained that Patrick Stewart was meant to make a guest appearance in Spaceship Surprise, but refused, and a different segment featuring Stewart aired instead.

The segments were preceded years prior by a Star Trek spoof entitled "Starship Surprise".

Sketches

Original Series

Picture

Theme / First Appearance

Description

Planet "CH"

Episode 2414

The crew lands on the Planet CH, where they are greeted by Chunky Cheese.

Online: (YouTube)

Planet "SH"

Episode 2468

The crew lands on the Planet SH, where they are greeted by Sheriff Shrimp, and meet a shouting shovel and shopping sheep.

Planet‎ "TR"

Episode 2607

The crew lands on the Planet TR, where they are greeted by Trevor Trout.

Next Generation

Picture

Theme /First Appearance

Description

Planet "H"

Episode 3195

The crew lands on Planet H. They are greeted by Hopalong Hamster, and see Happy Harry the Hopping Haystack and hula dancing hens.

Video: Best of Sesame Street Spoofs!

Online: (YouTube)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:Sesame.jimmartin-trek.jpg|frame|''Sesame Street'' writer Jim Martin reports for duty in ''Spaceship Surprise: The Next Generation''.]]
+[[Image:Sesame.jimmartin-trek.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Jim Martin]] with the Next Generation crew.]]
-'''''Spaceship Surprise''''' was a recurring sketch on ''[[Sesame Street]]''.
+'''Spaceship Surprise''' was a recurring sketch on ''[[Sesame Street]]'' from [[Season 19 (1987-1988)|season 19]].
-Inspired by ''[[Star Trek]]'', the segment was designed to teach consonant digraphs, the pairing of two consonants to create a new sound. The series focused on the crew of the titular ship, headed by an excitable [[Spaceship Surprise Captain|captain]] and his stoic [[Spaceship Surprise Mate|officer]]. In each segment, the ship would crash land on a different planet, whose populace demonstrated a specific sound. Alliteration was used heavily ("cheering chairs," "shouting shovel," etc.) The skit would generally end with the entire group performing a dance named after the digraph.
+Inspired by ''[[Star Trek]]'', the segment was designed to teach consonant digraphs, the pairing of two consonants to create a new sound. The series focused on the crew of the titular ship, headed by an excitable [[Spaceship Surprise Captain|captain]] (performed by [[Jim Henson]]) and his stoic [[Spaceship Surprise Mate|officer]] ([[Richard Hunt]]). In each segment, the ship would crash land on a different planet, whose populace demonstrated a specific sound. Alliteration was used heavily ("cheering chairs," "shouting shovel," etc.) The skit would generally end with the entire group performing a dance named after the digraph.
-Sometime in the 1990s, a sequel series, ''Spaceship Surprise: The Next Generation'', was launched. This time, the emphasis was on consonant sounds in general, and not digraphs. The new crew included:
-*The Captain, a [[Purple]] AM parody of [[Patrick Stewart|Patrick Stewart's]] Jean-Luc Picard ([[Martin P. Robinson]])
+In [[Season 25 (1993-1994)|season 25]], a sequel series, ''Spaceship Surprise: The Next Generation'', was launched. This time, the emphasis was on consonant sounds in general, and not digraphs. The new crew included:
-*The Security Officer, a [[Pumpkin]] AM parody of [[Michael Dorn|Michael Dorn's]] Worf ([[Kevin Clash]])
-*The Science Officer, a [[Green]] AM parody of Brent Spiner's Data  ([[David Rudman]])
-*The Doctor, a [[Lavender]] AM parody of [[Gates McFadden|Gates McFadden's]] Doctor Crusher ([[Camille Banora]])
+* [[Next Generation Captain|The Captain]], a [[Purple]] AM parody of [[Patrick Stewart|Patrick Stewart's]] Jean-Luc Picard ([[Martin P. Robinson]])
+* [[Next Generation Security Officer|The Security Officer]], a [[Pumpkin]] AM parody of [[Michael Dorn|Michael Dorn's]] Worf ([[Kevin Clash]])
+* The Science Officer, a [[Green]] AM parody of Brent Spiner's Data ([[David Rudman]])
+* The Doctor, a [[Lavender]] AM parody of [[Gates McFadden|Gates McFadden's]] Doctor Crusher ([[Camille Bonora]])
+The original intro music was similar to the original Star Trek theme and featured [[Martin P. Robinson]] as the narrator. The new series featured new music similar to Star Trek: The Next Generation series and [[Jerry Nelson]] narrating.
+In an interview for [[Tough Pigs]], [[Noel MacNeal]] explained that [[Patrick Stewart]] was meant to make a guest appearance in Spaceship Surprise, but refused, and a different segment featuring Stewart aired instead.
+The segments were preceded years prior by a ''Star Trek'' spoof entitled "[[Starship Surprise]]".
+<gallery widths="250" perrow="2">
+Image:SSoriginalcrew.jpg‎|Original crew.
+Image:SSnewcrew.jpg‎|Next Generation crew.
+Image:SpaceshipSurprise.jpg
+Image:Nextgenerationlogo.jpg‎|
+</gallery>
 ==Sketches==
 ===Original Series===
+{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="8" valign="top"
-*'''Planet Ch''' - [[Chunky Cheese]] greets the group. {{eka|2479}} {{hulu|74209}} {{SSvideo|00086a27-1593-11dd-b10a-6119e86ae19b}}
+|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-*'''Planet Tr''' - [[Trevor Trout]] greets the group. {{eka|2607}}
+! Picture !! width=100| Theme / First Appearance !! Description
-*'''Planet Sh''' - [[Sheriff Shrimp]] greets the group. {{eka|2776}}
+|-
+| [[Image:PlanetCH.jpg‎|250px|center]]
+| align=center | Planet "CH" <hr/> [[Episode 2414]]
+| The crew lands on the Planet CH, where they are greeted by [[Chunky Cheese]]. {{sketchrelease|online={{youtube|xCcAdgH65FA}}}}
+|-
+| [[Image:PlanetSH.jpg‎|250px|center]]
+| align=center | Planet "SH"<hr/>[[Episode 2468]]
+| The crew lands on the Planet SH, where they are greeted by [[Sheriff Shrimp]], and meet a shouting shovel and shopping sheep.
+|-
+| [[Image:Spaceship.TR.jpg|250px|center]]
+| align=center | Planet‎ "TR"<hr/>[[Episode 2607]]
+| The crew lands on the Planet TR, where they are greeted by [[Trevor Trout]].
+|}
 ===Next Generation===
+{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="8" valign="top"
-*'''Planet H''' - The crew is greeted by [[Hopalong Hamster]], and see [[Happy Harry the Hopping Haystack]] and hula dancing hens. {{eka|3195}}
+|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
+! Picture !! width=100| Theme /[[Muppet Wiki:Earliest Known Appearance|First Appearance]] !! Description
+|-
+| [[Image:SpaceshipH.jpg‎|250px|center]]
+| align=center | Planet "H"<hr/> [[Episode 3195]]
+| The crew lands on Planet H. They are greeted by [[Hopalong Hamster]], and see [[Happy Harry the Hopping Haystack]] and hula dancing hens. {{sketchrelease|video=''[[Best of Sesame Street Spoofs!]]''|online={{youtube|7xXY_5NLCNY}}}}
+|}
+__NOWYSIWYG__
 [[Category:Sesame Street Recurring Sketches]]
 [[Category:Space]]