The Mad Painter

Template:Performer

Painter7 — "I'm going to paint a seven!"

The Mad Painter was the title character in a series of live-action films on Sesame Street. Produced for the program's third season, the film inserts used comedic slapstick to teach number recognition, emphasizing the symbolic representation of the numeral, and how it is drawn, in contrast to "the Baker Films", which stressed counting and quantity.

The painter character is an eccentric whose hobby is painting numbers (between 2 and 11) in various public and private places. Armed with a set of number stencils, he would begin each skit by announcing the number he intended to paint, but often missed his targets. Property, buildings, clothing, and bald heads were all grist for the painter's mill.

Occasionally, the numerical graffiti artist would suffer the consequences of his peculiar obsession, and elude irate citizenry in a comic chase. Still, he continued his campaign, gaining notoriety in newspapers (the film for 8 includes the blaring headline "PAINTER STRIKES AGAIN!")

Two recurring targets were a young woman, portrayed by Stockard Channing, and a bald, moustachioed man (Jerome Raphel). The segments punctuated the action through a jaunty piano score, reminiscent of silent film accompaniments, as composed by Robert Dennis.

Sketches

Summary	Earliest Known Appearance	Description
Number 2	Episode 0353	The painter paints a number 2 on a sailboat, enraging the owner.
Number 3	Episode 0343	The painter uses condiments to paint a 3 on Channing's sandwich bread. Released as a bonus segment on Old School: Volume 1.
Number 4	Episode 0344	The painter paints a number 4 on Channing's umbrella.
Number 5	Episode 0929	The painter's quest to paint a 5 leads to the zoo, and a gorilla. He finds something to paint his 5 on, and it's a big yellow ball. Even the gorilla helps him out, and they give each other a "5".
Number 6	Episode 0346	The painter paints a 6, with icing, on a birthday cake. The baker finds the cake, offers the painter a slice, and then hits him in the face with the rest of the cake.
Number 7	Episode 0347	The painter keeps attempting to paint a 7 on an elevator door, but it winds up on items belonging to the passengers. Channing also appears in this episode.
Number 8	Episode 0338	The painter dives into a pool, in scuba suit, to render an 8 on the bald pool owner's head.
Number 9	Episode 0349	The painter paints a 9 on a road, where his precious number falls prey to an industrious street cleaner.
Number 10	Episode 0350	The painter paints a 10 on a stool, which the bald man then sits on.
Number 11	Episode 0351	The painter gets his comeuppance again. He attempts to paint an 11 in a doctor's office, but is unable to act in front of the waiting patients. Though he paints an eleven on the door, a janitor washes it off, and the nurse (Channing again) yanks the painter into the office.