Classic Sesame Street: Visual Thinking (Imagining Shapes)

[dready187]

he sounds high when he did the circles..lol

[sha11235]

When the cool Muppet laughs as he's decorating the rectangle, he reminds me of Ernie laughing. Also, when he does his circles, it looks like he is rubber stamping them.

[sha11235]

I love the teacher's big nose.

[Blondiechickie1972]

OOO- OWW!  i love when he says that

[sha11235]

They could've done more shapes, like a rhombus and a trapezoid.

[sha11235]

Thoughts:

1. The teacher imagines the first three shapes, but not the fourth?

2. The student tells the teacher to erase the circle and rectangle, but not the triangle?

[38Squid]

I remember laughing my butt off watching this as a kid, and I STILL do! Love it!

[aramanth]

@38Squid Me too I was rolling on the floor when he drew the crazy decorations in the shapes!

[timepoet77]

I almost forgot how funny this skit was. I also didn't know that was Northern Calloway, aka "David" that did the young Muppet in this, but I did know that the older guy is Frank Oz. Thanks for the video.

[MasterEiji]

I remember seeing something like this from "Sam and Friends" (a late-night show where the muppets got started)... where Kermit was taking a course in "visual thinking"... I wonder if anyone has that clip...

[MrMetalmanRock]

Man I sure could imagine Floyd and Sam the Eagle doing a remake of this skit on The Muppet Show. Floyd is all hipster and Sam would have to get annoyed with all the scatting and guitar playing.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Or how an Avenue Q version with Princeton as the Hipster and Rod as the Square? I think that'd be cool to see because...

a. Rod is stiff and boring like Bert and you can't get any more square than that

b. Princeton is a young,energetic college kid (well post-college anyway)and he has a big imagination

BTW The Hipster (Northern Calloway) sounds like J.J. from Good Times,in fact I was waiting for him to say "dy-no-mite!"

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I thought you mentioned an Avenue Q version of this sketch already.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRockTo cstoczyn, but in case you wanted to hear it here's the plot

Rod and Princeton practice visual thinking by imagining shapes, a running gag in this skit is Rod's constant annoyance by Princeton

and here's the square part

Rod: Do you know what a square is?

Princeton: I know WHO a square is! *laughs*

Rod: Let's see you imagine a square

*Princeton imagines an enormous square which traps Rod inside*

Princeton: Ya know what, I need my guitar back!

Rod: Hey, let me out!

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

That's a very cool plot. Especially when Rod is trapped inside the square. :D

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Yeah so now not is he only trapped in the closet, he's trapped inside a square! lol but since John Tartaglia played both of them on Avenue Q and he's no longer on Sesame Street so that would mean that David Rudman would have to play Rod whilst Mathew Vogel played Princeton,right?

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Wow! I had no idea that John Tartaglia left Sesame Street. What does he do now? I mean he still works with Avenue Q, right?

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Unfortunately he left Ave. Q too, and his characters are currently being played by various others including Robert McClure, Seth Rettberg, Howie Michael Smith, and most recently Jonathan Root as for JT he is currently producing a show called ImagineOcean

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Aw, that's too bad. But I've never heard of the show ImagineOcean. Must be new, huh?

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Yeah it's this cool new musical that JT produced about what else...fish...and unlike Avenue Q the puppeteers are hidden so you only see the puppet, however I personally prefer Avenue Q, because then you see who's performing what character, and how's this for a new musical? A musical that's actually based on Sesame Street (not a parody like Avenue Q)

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I guess in this new musical, they must use something to hide the puppeteers, like they have for some Sesame Street segments and other Muppet productions.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock No it's actually going to be done more like Avenue Q, where you see the Muppeteer, besides when they originally did Avenue Q they didn't have anything to hide the puppeteer, so they just kept them unconcealed while they were dressed in black, besides they didn't have a brick wall there so the new musical wouldn't need one either, 'cause that just takes the fun out of it

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Are the puppeteers for this musical dressed in black, too?

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock  Of course

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Why do they wear black?

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock So that they can be seen onstage yet still remain invisible to the audience rather than having them wear those black hoods/masks like they do with other Bunraku puppet shows

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I kinda knew that. I just wondered why the puppeteers from Avenue Q wear black if they can still be seen anyway.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock 'Cause bright colors would be distracting, and Muppets usually are really bright colors, so the Avenue Q crew wears black so as not to clash with the puppet's color

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Oh. That's interesting to know.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Thanks

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I mean don't they sometimes wear brighter colors, or not ever?

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Depends on the production, in Mexico the puppeteers wear brightly colored clothing

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

You mean the puppeteers who work on the their version of Sesame Street?

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Yes, on Plaza Sesamo (the Mexican Sesame Street) they do, and in the Mexican production of Avenue Q they wear bright clothing, and don't even bother answering because I can predict what you are going to say, Also another Avenue Q related query

a. Does Trekkie Monster like cookies too?

b. If Rod is related to Bert why doesn't he have a unibrow?

c. What kind of person has a monster for a girlfriend, meaning does Princeton have some sort of fur fetish?

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I've seen Plaza Sesamo, and I didn't see any puppeteers. Just the puppets themselves.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Oh, that's only behind the scenes

by the way you did not answer my questions, so allow me to reitterate

a. Does Trekkie Monster like cookies too?

b. If Rod is related to Bert why doesn't he have a unibrow?

c. What kind of person has a monster for a girlfriend, meaning does Princeton have some sort of fur fetish?

this time please answer me,thanks

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I'm sorry. I thought you didn't want me to say anything, but I thought it was those questions.

Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure about any of these.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock I can answer those for you MrMetalmanRock

a. Trekkie likes "computer cookies"

b. The unibrow in Bert's family is a recessive trait

c. Princeton must have a fur fetish considering he and Kate ended up doing the nasty wink-wink nudge-nudge

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Thanks for answering. BTW, I bet Trekkie likes computer cookies because he likes "you know what". The other thing is I have just 2 questions.

1. What does recessive mean?

2. I don't understand the answer to C.

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Then again, I might understand the answer to C Never mind!

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock What are you embarassed about? everybody does "it" at one point or another, allow me to clarify you see, in genetics recessive means a trait that isn't present in a species of animal or a human (in this case the ubiquitous unibrow) and as for C, it's like this the Bad Idea Bears somehow managed to persuade Princeton and Kate to get wasted and of course they ended up doing "it" and what did you mean by "you know what?"

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I seem to understand, and when I said "you know what" I meant computer cookies made me think of the p word. What the real Trekkie Monster likes.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock Oh you mean that...well just be lucky that it's not Cookie Monster who does that or the PC police will be all over it like flies on rotten meat, I mean what is Trekkie Monster's deal? all he ever talks about is "you know what" I wouldn't be surprised if his cousin Cookie Monster came up to him and clobbered him...imagine

*CM hits Trekkie with a baseball bat*

Trekkie: Why'd you do that?

CM: Because you watch too much "you know what" on the internet!

Trekkie: OK, I'll stop

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

Haha! That would be funny! And are Cookie Monster and Trekkie Monster really cousins?

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock According to my friend Angie2343 they are!!! they just never met is all

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

What do you think it'd be like if they did? Met that is.

[muppetlover16]

@MrMetalmanRock It'd be great to see those two meet face to face I mean can you imagine Trekkie (gasps): Cousin Cookie, long time no see Cookie: Same here Trekkie, sorry me couldn't make it to the family reunion Trekkie: There's always next year and of course *Trekkie sees plate of cookies* Trekkie: Cookies! Cookie: Hey those are my cookies Trekkie: Are not! Cookie: Are too! I bet Rick and David would have fun going back and forth and improvising

[MrMetalmanRock]

@muppetlover16

I'm sure they would. Sounds like a great story.

[aerokorngal]

Music sure does sound like either Stevie Wonder or Sly and the Family Stone. Every time I see this, I feel the urge to start dancing. Nice funk feeling, boogie down!

[allsportsbandfan]

Back in the day when Sesame Street was Funky!!!!

[cavalierfan1995]

REMINDS ME OF SLY STONE

[YodaBannon]

Jim Henson created amazing muppets!

[2071Johnny]

He should be in the 2011 Muppet Movie!

[Smartboy8877]

@2071Johnny

That is an interesting thought!

[MrMetalmanRock]

@2071Johnny

Who do you think should be in it?

[2071Johnny]

The muppet who Northern Calloway plays in this video.

[TnseWlms]

He drew himself a balalaika.

[delideliver]

I remember when they wrote him out,I think the story line was he was going to live with his grandmother who had a farm

[delideliver]

does anyone know how Northern Calloway AKA David,passed away and when?

[hoopersghost]

@delideliver: Northern Calloway died in 1989, after he had already decided to leave Sesame Street due to health problems. Since Calloway died *after* leaving the show, his character was never declared dead; the producers had already moved David out of town two years earlier.

[WWEChampion16]

@hoopersghost Actually he passed away the next year.

[WWEChampion16]

@hoopersghost He actually died in 1990 in a mental hospital after having another nervous breakdown.

[cstoczyn]

Long Live Northern Calloway!

[muppetlover16]

@cstoczyn The Hipster sounds like J.J. from Good Times, that's just "dy-no-mite!" Long Live Jimmie Walker!!!

[cstoczyn]

@muppetlover16 HUZZAH!!!!

[muppetlover16]

@cstoczyn Good Times was made in 1974 and ran for five seasons from that time 'til 1979

[cstoczyn]

@muppetlover16 I Know

[cstoczyn]

RIP Northern Calloway

[nepomusik]

Was this made back when Jim had a hand in Sesame Street? Because this was probably inspired by that Sam & Friends sketch.

[soilsminor]

Damn, how cool is that guitar groove?

[MuzikJunkyAES]

After all these years, I'd hear Northern Calloway's verbal gymnastics and crack up every single time!

[luengaga1978]

That "Big Nose" reminds me of someone who appears on a sitcom but I don't remember either the name of the actor or name of sitcom

[delideliver]

@luengaga1978 an actor famous for his BIG nose was Jimmy Durante,another one was Jamie Farr,he was on a show called M*A*S*H

[hoopersghost]

@delideliver : Does the big-nosed Muppet in this skit act or sound like one of those two? Not criticizing, just curious about who inspired the "straight man" in this sketch.

[delideliver]

@hoopersghost truthfully no,neither one of them act or sound like either of them actors,if you are not sure who Jimmi Durante is,look at the Christmas special Frosty the Snowman,the guy who narrats that show is Jimmy Durante,in animation form

[hoopersghost]

@delideliver: I know of Jimmy Durante (mostly through the cartoon you recommended)...but wasn't sure about that one character's origins, is all. Sorry to give you the wrong impression!

[delideliver]

@hoopersghost you did not give me the wrong impressions at all,I am curious about the muppets origin myself

[smacksam]

who is the muppet with the big nose?

[hoopersghost]

@smacksam: Neither of the characters in this sketch had an official name.

[muppetfan33]

@smacksam I don't know why, but the guy with the big nose reminds me of Shawn Hensley from The Jeffersons.

[zedtransform]

This was my favorite skit back in the days. I used to think when i grew up i'd be that funky man. Still workin on it.

[maidenrulz1]

A VERY funny, classic skit. I remember laughing my ass of at this as a kid and a young adult! These two remind me of me and my dad (my dad being a square stick in the mud, me being totally hyperactive and "hip") That made it even funnier! The muppet guy even looks a bit like my dad, LOL

[cmulwee001]

Older man: Do You know what a square is? Young Hippie: " I know "WHO" a square is!"

[hoffenpot]

Yes! One of my all time favorite SS skits. I always manage to laugh my ass off at this. For the longest time, I thought the cool guy's voice was supplied by some soul singer. It turns out it was the late Northern Calloway (who played David). This must have been a riot for him and Frank Oz to record. Long live Old School Sesame Street (when it was cool); to heck with that PC, squishy-soft, Elmo dominated crapfest that's a shell of its former self.

[moonfire41]

Funniest skit ever. I miss the old school Sesame Street!

[wonderboy44]

Lol

[deltalady72]

I know who a square is!!! Hahaha!

[dw235]

@deltalady72 best line in the skit.

[PandaMishima]

Wish they'd used these guys in more skits, they are just great together.

"Zap-zow-zee-dee--" ""Please STOP that!"

[dw235]

imagine on baby.

[dbethke1959]

"The Square" reminds me of Sam, the American Eagle.

[Johnny2071]

Back in the old days Sesame had some of the Muppet Show humor, instead of today's namby-pambiness

[murielsartre]

*DON'T* do that!

[bathory1943]

this has to be my fav skit ever on s st.the big nose guy and guitar man 1970s wow long time ago but the memories live on...i want my guitar back!!! as well

[bathory1943]

frank oz rules hahahah so many funny voices i miss the genius of jim henson

[jaokguy]

lmao , omg , bless u ! this is my absolute favorite sesame street scene . when i was a kid i literally couldn't stop laughing at this bit . i'm ecstatic to see this again , what memories . thanks so much for another great laugh again . i can't even pick a favorite line because they're all so unbelievably hilarious and perfect . i loved the 70's , what a great time .

[SnowbirdFlock]

I always wondered what that bumping sound was when the purple guy says "sideways & sideways" (at 1:33).

[treadley]

@SnowbirdFlock I remembered that too...although when I was a kid, I thought it was a drum and that it was SUPPOSED to be there! :P

[murielsartre]

"I need my guitar back..."

[JuanMamaril]

LOL!

I had trouble finding this video after I saw it once here on Youtube. I only found it again after I typed in "Sesame Street Drugged out Hippei" LOL!

[hoopersghost]

@JuanMamaril : "This is grade-school geometry on drugs...any questions?" ;-)

[jaokguy]

@JuanMamaril u had trouble finding this ? i found it immediately by putting in "sesame street shapes" . this is one of the funniest scenes ever .

[ellarz]

Me too I have been searching for this video after seeing it a while ago.

[IJustWatchEm71]

OW! Circles! XDDD

[CrazyGamerDragon64]

This is one of my favorite Sesame Street segments, epic!

[ghostinthemean]

Wooo! Man that guy has a big nose.

[wappennow]

Hey...hey...you know what that looks like...you can have...it looks like...yeah...zow...wooooooo..­..80's kind of music....

Hit the high notes brother...ROFLMAO...Classic...

[donmccullen]

@wappennow more 70's music but carried into the 80's

[d72jjpilc]

'Zap, zap, zoodoo!'

'PLEASE stop that!'

'Don't DO that!'

'I know WHO a square is!' I can go on and on, but those are just a few of the lines that stand out in my memory as I fondly remember this classic clip!  Thanks for posting!

[MIKECNW]

Don't know what he meant by hello there.

[inxia38]

Do you know what a square is?

I know WHO a square is!

Brilliant!!!

[Madhatter1903]

@inxia38 Yup, I saw the squar joke coming a mile away but I still like it

[sha11235]

@inxia38 Didn't get it when I was young but got it now. It was also a tribute to the 60's slang counterculture.

[acholl980]

Northern Hathaway(David)-the cool guy

Frank Oz-The Square