"The Legend of the Lovely Lady Linda" is a Sesame Street insert from season two. It focuses on the letter L in the form of a story, read by Bob and acted out by the Anything Muppets. (First: Episode 0197)
Bob tells the story of Linda, a lovely young lady who has been locked up since she was little by her wicked uncle Ludwig of Liverwurst. The loathsome Ludwig orders his niece to do laborious chores, such as preparing his luscious lunch (while she is only permitted to eat a small loaf of bread and a small amount of liquid) and doing a large amount of laundry (against a failing lamp light, since it is late).
Late at night, a tired Linda bemoans her lousy life and entertains her dreams of running away to "live in liberty." Suddenly, Linda slips and nearly falls from a window, but luckily she is saved by lowly lackey Louis of Lisbon. The two take a liking to each other as Linda tells Louis of her situation, and he devises a plan: with a lute, Linda sings Ludwig a "la"-laden lullaby, and when he falls asleep, Louis ties the cruel uncle up with his lasso and locks him in the dungeon (amid Ludwig's protests to call his lawyer). Linda assumes the two will be married now, but Louis is already married to Lavinia of Larchmont. He instead sets Linda up with his brother, Lloyd of London.
The insert was written by Emily Perl Kingsley. Performers included Fran Brill (Linda), Caroll Spinney (Ludwig), and Frank Oz (Louis).
Releases[]
- Audio
- Sesame Street Story Time (1978, edited)
- Sesame Street Treasury (1980, edited)
- Books
- The Sesame Street Book of Fairy Tales (1975, as "The Legend of Linda the Lonely")