Monsterpiece Theater - Me Claudius

[casusbelli15]

Next week on Monsterpeice theatre;

Me Spartacus!

[rtuckerivey]

brian muehl elmo

[Jac2Mac]

What would have happened if they STILL used the same voice actor for Elmo from the Me Claudius skit in the late 80's to the early to late 90's?

[Yuanchosaan]

Given how many people named Claudius there were in Emperor Claudius' family, this is oddly fitting.

"'I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus' son of Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, whose brother was Tiberius Claudius Nero. My grandfather's name was also Tiberius Claudius Nero, and my brother who was usually known as Germanicus also had a Claudius there somewhere... Welcome to the noble Claudian family!"

[POTRADS]

Cookie Monster always had issues with possessive pronouns, but certainly made up for it with his voracious, unfathomable appetite for cookies.

[alphanum001]

Is this the reason why it's okay to say, "Me and this other guy are going somewhere, or doing stuff"?

[roliboom]

The inchworm at the beginning is the best part Lol :)

[cavalierfan1995]

bad grammar ?its sesame street grow up

[zacandtaylorrule]

Did Elmo go through puberty?

[quizmaster85]

@zacandtaylorrule Reversed puberty perhaps :D

[Melcat96]

@zacandtaylorrule This was before Elmo was performed by Kevin Clash

[muppetlover16]

@zacandtaylorrule Yeah, so the next step is to teach Elmo how to speak in first-person like he did in the 80's

[CristinaFernandez]

@zacandtaylorrule For many, many years Elmo was just a background puppet used in scenes that require monsters, played by a whole bunch of performers. Nobody really knew what to do with him.

[ssvocals]

Too cute!

[Ganondorfdude11]

This segment was made for parents watching with their kids. What kid honestly knows about I,Claudius? Sometimes SS feels like the Muppet Show with some educational bits thrown in. Funny stuff.

[quesondriac]

@Ganondorfdude11 Indeed. Give the parents something now and then.

Lord knows they deserve it.

[geico105]

HE JUST EATS THE PIPE!?

[tiffwilso16]

elmo has taken an interesting turn over the past 30 years

[jsusax03]

me claudius

[Rodshark75]

Elmo's great, great, great, great, great, grandfather was a heavy smoker from the sound of his voice *lol*

[SuperSpaceGirlTV]

1979, right?

[Oldiesmann]

According to the Muppet Wiki, the earliest known appearance (EKA) of this segment is Episode 1576 from 1981, while the EKA for "Upstairs, Downstairs" is Episode 2558 from 1989.

[astridkitty1212]

I enjoy smoking a good pipe once in a while - tobacco, NOT the other stuff. I don't see why they now want to give any show with a smoking scene an R rating. A little smoking in moderation is okay in my opinion, and moderate use of tobacco isn't that bad for your health; it's only bad if you're addicted, which I'm not.

[girlygirl850]

was this in the early 80s does anybody know

[ZNKChannel]

Elmo hits puperty!

[athull08]

0:41 Me Slimius

[PrimeroseRomania]

SLIMY!!!!!!!

[SnugglySara]

He wasn't called Elmo at the time, and he had a different voice!

[spiderlime]

is this an original classic tune adapted, or one composed for sesame street

[athull08]

@spiderlime

Wikipedia says:

"the theme tune is a modified version of the Masterpiece Theatre theme song, only with trumpets and a much more upbeat tempo".

The original is on youtube, and you can hear the similarity.

[spiderlime]

@athull08

well, i'll take your word for it. if the original (rondeau by mouret) is modified, it is different indeed.

my thanks

[athull08]

I've got Jim Henson, Richard Hunt and Brian Muehl as three of the monsters (and obviously Frank Oz as Cookie), but who played the monster who spoke first?

[fanofangela89]

1:28 "Me still NOT know who Claudius... but this ME Alistair Cookie saying Good Night for Monsterpiece Theater." small lol

[uselessman73]

Home of Classy drama. lo

[redfox409]

What does claudius mean?

[ffpanda]

I've been watching these since i was 3 years old, many many moons ago, and to this day, THIS is my favorite Monsterpiece Theatre. So wonderful lol!!!

[NekoKiku]

O.O oh look...its Elmo...before he was cute and squeaky he was obnoxious and nasal sounding? It's amazing that we so register the voices we know with the puppets and yet so interesting to see them in something different. Seems Elmo started out as nothing more than an extra that was laying around?

[gregwilliamsviola]

@NekoKiku Read "Street Gang," they talk about how Elmo was pulled out of an archival "box" of sorts when Kevin Clash auditioned for Jim Henson.

[JasonMC72]

The third monster who uttered, "Me, Claudius, made "Me, Claudius" sound like a question.

3RD MONSTER: "Me, Claudius?"

The Old Elmo answered his question with, "No, no, no, no! Me, Claudius!"

[mcht50202]

elmo sounded different.. his voice sounded abit pervert

[zangazoo2007]

"No! No! No! No! No! Me Claudius! I swear that was an Elmo clone! Or the Muppet that became rather

[Abuamina001]

Hahahahahahahahaha. That's hysterical and genuinely witty ! Mashallah.

[klausekilgore]

I think these are early. Only because elmo doesn't have a small shreiking voice.

[gearshift35]

I think the ones when he didn't have the neckcloth/ascott came first. They once had different sets and then settled on the study room/library scene for a long time.

[MrAaronLadner]

Sesame Street must bring back Monsterpiece Theater at Once!!!

[bpabustan]

Man! In this day and age where everything had to be politically correct and everyone is easily offended, it is refreshing to know that for once in our lifetime, a supposedly KIDS show called Sesame Street made stuff that it educational for the kids and entertaining for the adults. Sesame Street today is SOOOO BLAND because it just lost its wit and humour. So thanks for posting this one.

And just so the public may know..........................­.

ME CLAUDIUS!!!!!

[Marbles471]

I agree that Sesame Street is much more generic than it used to be, but people are too quick to blame "political correctness" for everything. It's not so much PC as it is a different media environment and changing educational research. From day one, they've always based everything they do on the research, and it was telling them that their old approach simply wasn't working anymore. It bites, but that's just the way it is.

[g1a1r1y3]

I miss the Sesame Street (and the Muppets) so much. Thanks for posting this. As a kid I could not grasp the allusions and subtleties of the sketches. Just pure cultural brilliance!

[redfox409]

Where is slimey trying to get to crawling all over the floor?

[casusbelli15]

@redfox409 "I Cladius" was a British television programme from the mid 1970's.

It was a dramatisation of the books by Robert Graves, I Claudius and Claudius the God. (Claudius was a Roman Emperor.)

It was grounbreaking when first broadcast by the BBC.

This is a parody of its iconic title sequence where a snake slithers across a roman style mosaic symbolising the machinations and intrigue of the story. Hope this helps! Well worth checking out.

[Gnickk]

The worm on the mosaic is epic. How can you pretend that this is a kids's how? :D

[ErnieandBert1]

I got "40 Years of Sunny Days" for my birthday and this was on there. My mom and sister were watching with me. When my sister heard the old Elmo, she looked horrified and thought he sounded like a smoker. My mom agrees.

[ErnieandBert1]

You know, an old lady smoker. A more-strained Phyllis Diller.

[1971TDA]

kids learn the language, not the grammar mistakes

it must be early cookie - still has a pipe

and pre elmo - that was one of the red fuzzy monsters = elmo developed later

[WhatsAYak]

Did Elmo have a cold? LOL...but seriously, as I understand it, Richard Hunt was originally Elmo, but was doing another character in this skit, so Brian Muehl played him instead, correct?

[frenchtoast19]

no--this was a long time ago before the character of Elmo was even established. It's just a generic muppet puppet that happens to look like today's little red monster.

[Marbles471]

That's why they were still running "Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco" as late as 1997 (welcome to Sesame Street, the only place where the 70s took twenty years to end

!). The red monster puppet appears as a background extra, but since he doesn't say anything, he could "retroactively" be considered Elmo. If he'd had even one throwaway line in that song, they probably would have scrapped the sketch long before they did.

[ErnieandBert1]

It says on the Monsterpiece Theater page on Muppet Wiki that Brian Muehl performed Elmo here, so you're right WhatsAYak.

[WhatsAYak]

Thought so...glad we cleared that up. :-)

[Demoncurse123]

I keep forgetting about Slimey, and them Worm Dudes.

[docschneider61]

bravo

[verkaforever]

Cool parody! I love this and I love I, Claudius- I watched it on YouTube and enjoyed it so much I got the whole series on DVD for my birthday this year

[brianklick]

SS hated the idea of Cookie having a pipe

[Hondo20132]

Which is why they removed it in 1989.

[TeamEdward1976]

@brianklick I liked it better when he had the pipe.I thought it was funny when he ate it.

[SamIamb]

This is one of my favorite parodies, not just from Sesame Street but for all time. The only regret I have is that this is a very early version of Monsterpiece Theatre, and it would have been even better with the very long (like 30 secs.) introduction that was used later, the one where Cookie Monster is heard off-screen making all sorts of embarrassing sounds.

[Argonaut22j]

lol, ME Claudius!

[ScratStitch]

The bit with Slimey was brilliant.

[Jasonbobdude]

And now they would never air this, because:

1. "Me Claudius" teaches bad grammar.

2. Elmo's voice isn't annoying enough.

Why did Sesame Street ever change?

[EsmeAmelia]

You forgot that Cookie holds a pipe, which would get parents claiming that Sesame Street promotes smoking. (rolls eyes)

I really miss the old SS.

[rajuonline1980]

@EsmeAmelia Some parents are just wierd and paranoid! I watched this as a kid, and I wasn't thinking about the pipe or smoking. When I grew up, I didn't choose not to smoke because Cookie was or wasn't holding a pipe! Sheesh! Were parents kids at some point in their lives?! :O

[TheRadical42]

@EsmeAmelia Yeah, but then he eats it! Meaning that Sesame Street is actually against smoking! : P

[WKRPinCINN]

@EsmeAmelia - yea but he eats the pipe at the end, thus affirming his ability to overcome oral stage fixations by using the same personal limitation in order to do so.

[SamIamb]

I believe this is the debut of Elmo in his natural, uncastrated (and infinitely superior, if you ask me) state.

[Pooleman96]

"Me, Claudius" teaches bad grammar? I think it just teaches kids about the word "me", isn't that what their intentions are here? Gee, I guess some people just don't get the point...

[neddx]

It's wierd seeing the old set and Elmo before they established him as Elmo but never-the-less a satisfying experience indeed

[KatanaGeldar]

It looks like Augustus, Livia and Julia

[flowertrue]

I always just figured it was a pre-Elmo Elmo. They re-used monsters a lot, after all.

[MuppetPro]

They're all wrong! Me!!!!! Claudius!!!!!!!! LOL

I thought that would be very funny to post!

I Love this sketch! LOL ;)

[soylentgreen666]

The other monsters are Bruce, Harvey and Maurice

[bpabustan]

Maurice is one of my faves. He is as cute if not cuter than Grover....

[SamIamb]

Ohhhh. It all makes some terrible sense ((swooning)). OF COURSE the original Elmo was a badass before he got edited into being a nice monster.

Original Elmo. Badass.

Love it.

[mponekov]

elmos voice was done by jerry nelson

[soylentgreen666]

Actually according to the A&E Biography of Sesame Street, Richard Hunt performs Elmo in this sketch. Yet other sources say that Brian Muehl does his voice here.

[MuppetPro]

yep!

Then Richard Hunt toke over, then he got sick of him so he gave him to the new guy (a.k.a. Kevin Clash) and the rest is history. True Story! ;)

[Demoncurse123]

before Elmo sounded more Lovable, course it's interesting to see Him that way.

[SamIamb]

Thank you very much for posting one of my alltime fave Sesame Street skits!!!!!

No!!! ME Claudius!!

[zdog1994]

Elmo sounds wierd

[CDCB]

LOL Elmo's voice is exceedingly different. His voice doesn't even match what he looks like.

[girlsixdiva]

YES!!! finally I found the version where he eats the pipe! If only that part was added to the version where they have the library intro...it would have been perfect!

[wiley207]

I have noticed that this Monsterpiece Theater is different from the other ones because it's much shorter, does not have the opening title card, and just stars random monsters. However, "Upstairs Downstairs" is more like a traditional Monsterpiece Theater segment compared to this.

[sapphires1994]

what's up with elmos voice? :S

[fluffyqueer]

I think this was the first sketch with Elmo, but either Kevin Clash didn't do the voice or he hadn't gotten the idea for the voice we know today yet.

[Garrettk41]

It's not Kevin, it's Brian Muehl. Elmo's voice and character had not been firmly established yet. So there's no harm in doing and "Old School Volume 3" DVD. I haven't heard of one yet, and that could be because it was around this time that Elmo started appearing as a minor character. But this is the only time we'd have to see him, as it's part of the premiere of Season 13, and as a lot of us think Elmo used to be cool anyway, I say let's release it.

[Bdr213]

What the hell is Elmo doing in there?

He sounds lower pitched.

[Angie2343]

Actually, that's his Roman ancestor, Elmius.

[moogle301]

lmao!

[Angie2343]

It's true. That's his Roman ancestor!

[moogle301]

you know now that you've said that I think I remember covering him at Uni this year when I studied the Romans. He was a great warlord who gained control of his own army at age 17, achieved great military Gloria and became a consul.. how could I forget Elmius?!

[Angie2343]

I think that red monster might be Elmo's Ancient Roman ancestor, Elmus.

[sonicOneTwo]

OMG: Elmo sounds lower pitched in this one!

[1Mudkip88]

it looks like the big E puppet but I don't think it is Elmo probly other monster or elmo's ancient Roeme ansestor

[colleen4ever]

I don't think that IS elmo. He's using pronouns!

[CDCB]

It is, this is just his first appearance.

[moogle301]

haha, you mean how Elmo usually talks in the third person? .. I guess "Claudius Claudius" wouldn't make much sense, and neither would "Elmo Claudius"...

good point anyways

[Jac2Mac]

Elmo sounds more like Professor Ludwig von Drake than the current Elmo, doesn't he?

[maziebunny]

I'm pretty sure that Upstairs, Downstairs was the first, followed by Me Claudius and then The Sound of Music..I think.

and one other thing, ME, Claudius!

[jonnytbirdzback]

You're on the right track, my friend. Except I think that "Chariots of Fur" came in before "The Sound of Music."

[maziebunny]

ah, I think that could be possible. thank you my pal.

[dickclarkfan1]

@maziebunny According to the Muppet Wikki, Me Claudius was indeed the first Monsterpiece Theater skit. While you have to take the wiki at face value. The reason that this was most likely the first skit, is the fact that the skit did not have it's classic blue title card until AFTER Me Claudius.

[Johny881]

Pause at 15.00 under the influence...........

[Jamiepeavler]

Yeah, but what was Slimey the Worm doing in this one?

[WeirdBeard42]

It's a parody of the titles from I, Claudius, which had a snake crawling across the mosaic.

[datmancalledwhw]

(in a voice like Dr. Weird from ATHF) "Gentlemen, ..... BEHOLD!!!!! Elmo's best (and only worthwhile) moment."

[Jamiepeavler]

I've always liked the theme music.

[Marbles471]

I've always liked it better than the real "Masterpiece Theater" theme that it's modeled after.

[geor67]

I am surprised to see Elmo in this--even though this was in 1981.  He did sound different, but it really did look like Elmo.

[bennyraven]

This is, if not my absolute favorite MT sketch, definitely in the top 3. It didn't scare me like "Sound of Music" or "Gone with the Wind"... and I just really, really like it.

[MissIzzy]

It is so weird to see that old Elmo muppet before the invention of the character, especially with such a different-sounding voice!

[MarshalGrover]

Thanks for reposting!

[disneynut06]

I agree.

And, BTW... ME Claudius!!! :D

[dorourke105]

No no no,you got it all wrong ME claudius!!

[wiley207]

Noe how at the end of the clip, the Monsterpiece Theater theme starts up again instead of playing the final section like "Upstairs Downstairs" and the later ones do.

[ginaandsavionfan39]

I saw elmo!