Sesame Street at Night? (found "Sesame Street" television special; 1977): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 17:17, 21 April 2024

A still from the special.

Status: Found

Date found: 08 Apr 2024

Found by: Pasteris Archive

Sesame Street at Night? is a half-hour PBS special that aired on March 11th of 1977 to celebrate Sesame Street's 1,000th episode. The question mark in the title is not a typo and actually is the special's name; it's loosely based on a critic's remark when Sesame Street first came out - "it's too good for kids".

Film critic and Today Show co-host Gene Shalit hosted the special, following a previous Today Show skit in which Bert played a new interviewer who disguised himself as Shalit at Ernie's suggestion (to avoid being harassed by fans later). The special subsequently featured a Muppet lookalike of Shalit himself. Featured segments included Grover and Lena Horne singing "How Do You Do?".

While Betamax was already common in some homes at that point in time, there weren't any recordings available for many years. Only a few press releases and photos, as well as a couple of brief mentions in the Jim Henson's Red Book blog (run by the Jim Henson Company), proved that the special existed.^[1]^[2] That was, until April 8, 2024, when the full special was finally uploaded to YouTube by Pasteris Archive.

Gallery

Gene Shalit's Muppet

Design of Bert's Today Show Shalit disguise by Bonnie Erickson.
Gene Shalit's Muppet as it looked in the special.

Script

The script for The Today Show appearance with Muppet Bert as Gene Shalit.

References

↑ An entry in Jim Henson's Red Book which has some information on the special. Retrieved 18 Jan '19
↑ Another entry from Jim Henson's Red Book, which has more information on the special. Retrieved 18 Jan '19

[1] An entry in Jim Henson's Red Book which has some information on the special. Retrieved 18 Jan '19

[2] Another entry from Jim Henson's Red Book, which has more information on the special. Retrieved 18 Jan '19

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{InfoboxLost
+{{InfoboxFound
 |title=<center>Sesame Street at Night? (1977)</center>
 |image=Sesame Street at Night- PBS.jpg
 |imagecaption=A still from the special.
-|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
+|status=<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''
+|datefound=08 Apr 2024
+|foundby=Pasteris Archive
 }}
-'''''Sesame Street at Night?''''' is a half-hour PBS special that aired on March 11th of 1977 to celebrate ''Sesame Street's'' 1,000th episode. The question mark in the title is not a typo and actually is the special's name; it's loosely based on a critic's remark when ''Sesame Street'' first came out - "it's too good for kids".
+'''''Sesame Street at Night?''''' is a half-hour PBS special that aired on March 11th of 1977 to celebrate [[Sesame Street (partially lost children's educational TV series; 1969-present)|''Sesame Street's'']] 1,000th episode. The question mark in the title is not a typo and actually is the special's name; it's loosely based on a critic's remark when ''Sesame Street'' first came out - "it's too good for kids".
-Film critic and ''Today Show'' co-host Gene Shalit hosted the special, following on a previous ''Today Show'' skit in which Bert played a new interviewer who disguised himself as Shalit at Ernie's suggestion (to avoid being harassed by fans later). The special subsequently featured a Muppet lookalike of Shalit himself. Featured segments included Grover and Lena Horne singing "How Do You Do?".
+Film critic and ''Today Show'' co-host Gene Shalit hosted the special, following a previous ''Today Show'' skit in which Bert played a new interviewer who disguised himself as Shalit at Ernie's suggestion (to avoid being harassed by fans later). The special subsequently featured a Muppet lookalike of Shalit himself. Featured segments included Grover and Lena Horne singing "How Do You Do?".
-While Betamax was already common in some homes at that point in time, no one has come forward with a recording. Only a few press releases and photos, as well as a couple of brief mentions in the ''Jim Henson's Red Book'' blog (run by the Jim Henson Company), prove that this special existed.<ref>[https://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/page/133/ An entry in ''Jim Henson's Red Book'' which has some information on the special.] Retrieved 18 Jan '19</ref><ref>[https://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2012/04/431974/ Another entry from ''Jim Henson's Red Book'', which has more information on the special.] Retrieved 18 Jan '19</ref>
+While Betamax was already common in some homes at that point in time, there weren't any recordings available for many years. Only a few press releases and photos, as well as a couple of brief mentions in the ''Jim Henson's Red Book'' blog (run by the Jim Henson Company), proved that the special existed.<ref>[https://henson.com/jimsredbook/page/133/ An entry in ''Jim Henson's Red Book'' which has some information on the special.] Retrieved 18 Jan '19</ref><ref>[https://henson.com/jimsredbook/2012/04/431974/ Another entry from ''Jim Henson's Red Book'', which has more information on the special.] Retrieved 18 Jan '19</ref> That was, until April 8, 2024, when the full special was finally uploaded to YouTube by Pasteris Archive.
 ==Gallery==
@@ Line 21: / Line 23: @@
 File: GeneScript.jpg|The script for ''The Today Show'' appearance with Muppet Bert as Gene Shalit.
 </gallery>
-==See Also==
-*[[Sesame Street (partially lost children's educational TV series; 1969-present)]]
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}
-==See More==
+[[Category:Found media]]
-Three photos which appear to be from the filming of the 1,000th episode.
+[[Category:Found puppetry]]
+[[Category:Found TV]]
-Find them here: [https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_1000] (Scroll to bottom)
-[[Category:Lost puppetry]]
-[[Category:Lost TV]]
-[[Category:Completely lost media]]
 [[Category:Historic]]
+<no-comment-streams />