Now, this is how you do a season finale.
As Sesame Street wrapped its 12th season in 1981, PBS, I'd imagine, arranged for Fred Rogers to make a guest appearance, interacting mostly with Big Bird (Carroll Spinney). Following is a compilation of segments from the episode, followed by the closing credits.
I am not sure if Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) ever arranged a crossover between Street and the original Electric Company during the latter's run (1971-7), but it would've been great if they did.
What do you think?
2 comments:
Hi, I'm gonna be a PBS nerd for a minute :)
Yes, some Sesame Street characters made their way over to Electric Company now and then in the first years: Grover and Big Bird for starters. Much of EC's reruns in the 80s were from the final years, so it would not have been seen by the younger set -- I only noticed it when they put out EC on DVD.
Also: Big Bird made his way to Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, but not without some controversy: Fred wanted Carol Spinney to walk into his house and take off his costume to show how it worked. Spinney refused, saying that he didn't want Big Bird dismantled in front of children. The two pointedly yet kindly disagreed over the phone before compromising that Bird would show up in the Neighborhood of Make Believe.
I can understand where Carroll, who just retired, was coming from. Today, something like that would've been blown out of proportion and viral.
I'll see if I can find the x-overs you referenced, Justin. Thank you.
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