Count To Ten with Nobody (Vintage Sesame Street)

[caspianb132]

who was the voice of this guy? He sounds creepy

[peeweesherman]

May God have mercy on anyone who stumbles upon this on acid.

[minespatch]

This screams to me the scene in Labyrinth with the "helping hands", but this is way creepier. Thanks Tvtropes, you managed to give me goosebumps once more.

[jasonese1]

See why can't shows teach kids like this? It's the scary fucked up shit that sticks.

[facelessred]

This is why we had the freakin' count. A pimp is better than this nightmarish weirdo.

[ken131]

scanimate animation came and went. Why? Because it always looked freaky.

[iwantoldschool]

I'm Raposofan and I posted the "I Beam" clip a lot of people find scary on YT. Welcome above to the one Sesame Street clip *I* thought was scary.

It's the part at the end where there is that last moog twinkle sound, Nobody says deeply, "That's 10", and the huge haloed 10 appears with that final booming note.

Sent me into convulsions.

[texasghost]

I guess...it was just the fact Henson spent so much imagination and idealism into a 1 minute spot on Sesame Street just to show kids how to count to 10....was in itself a little nutty.

But like Jim Henson along with other geniuses...you have to be a little on the nutty side to be creative.

[Jwend392]

@texasghost Did Henson ever drop acid in the 60s? Maybe he was on a flashback when he came up with this.

[CorvoSol]

Dude, this is like freaking Giygas on Sesame Street. Sweet!

[Scythemantis]

This guy was both cool and frightening to me as a kid, though for some reason I thought for sure his name was "rubber band man," and have an extremely vivid memory of him introducing himself as such ...did he ever?

[critterfreek82]

My God, the speaker sounds like a child molester.

[PogieJoe]

This features some ridiculously early computer animation from the 70s!

[theeFri]

What is scary is that it makes a Kyuubey face D:

Pause at 1:03

[jpeavler1975]

Is it me, or was that totally weird?

[kitfaaace]

I pressed dislike but only because I'm so freaking creeped out by it ;A;

[xxZeroZonexx]

"Rubber band animation (almost creepy)" No, no I'm pretty sure this is just creepy.

Though, I find it more cool than creepy.

[endimion17]

Sorcery!

[Apocol0id]

Its like Sesame Street Giygas. One...Two...Three...NES NES NES NES NES NES NES NES-

[Xineohp37]

@loveforlogos - I think you might be right. It was hard to tell what was going on cuz of the black background but if u look closer u can see 'jaggies' around the rubber bands. Either way Jim Henson was a genius and this scared the crap out of me when I was little lol

[loveforlogos]

@Xineohp37 Well puppets don't fly.

[TheBrainFromArous]

Demons... All demons. Must kill them all. Counting Face says so. Counting Face is my friend. Counting Face... Must obey Counting Face. So tired...

[loveforlogos]

@uselesskgm

I don't think this is rubber band animation. This is ULTRA early CGI animation.

[Xineohp37]

@loveforlogos -I think It might be a little of both. Look up 'Limbo, The organized mind' on youtube where at the end u kind of get a glimpse at the set up they used. It looks like a combination of puppetry, green screen and all the background colors and patterns on this one are, like u said, very early CGI.

[endimion17]

@loveforlogos The face is clearly rubber against a green screen, but the animations are CGI. Very early CGI, similar to stuff in original Tron.

[CelesteK]

@loveforlogos It's actually stop motion animation. CG! animation didn't exist back when this particular segment was created.

[kitfaaace]

@CelesteK it's early CGI - it used the Scanimate system which uses an analogue computer and allows the operator to bend objects in real time.

[Mrtrainfreak12]

@kitfaaace close, according to Jim Henson himself, the parts where nobody (in reality his name was the floating face) appeared was actually a puppet made out of foam string worked by invisible rods attached to gloves look limbo on Muppets wiki and it says so. though the parts like the opening was indeed made by scanimate.

[Xineohp37]

This scared the living shit out of me when I was a kid...whenever it came on I would just get up and leave the room.

[RaineSageRocks]

This thing belongs in the deepest part of the Uncanny Valley, right next to the Mysterious Stranger and the Perfect Trumpet Thingy.

Just... holy fuck.

[thapoint09]

...you know, for kids!

[insightfulxdumbass]

so am i the only one who thought this guy's voice sounded like a stereotypical child predator?

[xxPunkoftheUSAxx]

1:12 to 1:19

You can hear a little girl crying in fear O.e

[shine01120]

me too, used to be so scared of this guy

[RaverDeity]

This is trippy.

[moodybluesgurl]

this never scared me, I remember laughing.

[blueneon]

yeah this made me run out the room screaming out the room as a child.

[ksDeathPaladin]

after i count to 10, you will DIE

[TimoteiLSD]

...And our next step will be dividing by zero.

[funkmike]

@TimoteiLSD If anyone can divide by zero, Nobody can.

[RCast]

@TimoteiLSD You cannot divide by zero because it would make zero sense.

[Locadelly]

I laughed during this video. I clicked the link from "Nightmare Fuel," and I was all cringy- waiting for something horrible to pop up.... and it was this. I sat through the whole video smiling, and honestly, I like the man's voice, and I think the whole "Nobody" thing is cool looking.

[PrettyDamnedBored]

..Why the fuck is this so creepy?

[funkmike]

This dude has no hands and no body, but he'll still molest you.

[JeffK1980]

Yo... I love this clip. Especially the ending when you hear him say, "That's ten". And the big "10" pops up. I don't find this clip scary at all. The first time this aired on Sesame Street was back in 1971 (Episode #261).

There are 55 dots on the "10" clip.

[chervacho]

This always scared the crap out of me as a child.

[TrueMefista2]

ohshi,it's the brother of VID !

[Deanmo23]

From 1970.

[atarian2049]

Perfect for 10/10/10 :)

[blewvelvet]

I'm pretty sure that's Rosko Mercer narration. He was a popular DJ back in the 70s and 80...did a lot of voice over work for television, radio and commercials. I met him just before he died.

[Akira625]

@blewvelvet It is him, he also did the narration for "The Queen of Six" and "The King of Eight".

[Akira625]

If this were made today, Nobody would be replaced by Shoop Da Whoop, "Imma firin' ma numbah!"

[lynnk78]

Looks like the creators of this were very creative and having fun experimenting with new video and sound machine technology from the time. Psychedelic influence was everywhere in the 70s so why all the tired comments about creepiness, pedophiles and acid?

[humildemarcelo]

this is so fucking creepy o.O

[ThoughtTraveler]

Yeah....everybody was dropping Acid in the 70s as you can tell.

The Animators here did a few hits when they did this skit.

[Pikachu4352]

Jerry Nelson really has that "Groovy Deep Voice" Down.

[MisterVercetti]

Makes you wonder what the hell kind of drugs the early Sesame Street creators were on.

[i7Gam3r]

Holy Fuck! This Creepes me out totaly!! :o

W...T...F??? The show this to kids?

Must be some Alien message in it or something.. I wont be able to sleep tonigt!

[Jewelrylover111]

That was extremely weird. I think I saw this on TV when I was young, and it creeped the heck out of me.

[stevemokris]

See also:  Raymond Scott.

[wsbtam]

This one always creeped me out as a kid; glad to see I wasn't the only one. Still creepy as hell!!

[Auggiekins]

Scary. As. Shit.

[oiramapap]

The "almost creepy" part of the description has an "almost" too many.

[kyarimaresuki]

I am happy to find this video, but I am still just as freaked out by it. I watched horror films that scared me less than this as a child.  I can't imagine it entertaining children. Maybe this is why I have a math disability! Just kidding, of course. Maybe.

[fennecfoxen]

privateryanify - Eh? The guy who made this video? Actually, Jim Henson is dead.

[LuminarNightblade]

Why the hell does the rubber band face sound vaguely like a stereotypical beatnik?

[privateryanify]

im suspect who ever made this video molests children for a living :(

[zach22616]

This has been brought to you by the letters L,S, and D

[LiteracyLabyrinth]

I have to say this was one of the weirdest SS clips ever. The tripped out voice was calming and put to the spacey music sent shivers down the spine. The visuals are curiously spiritually off beat. Theres something about it that is disquietening, unnerving but its innocence shines through. One of the methods of counting I remember. Once seen, never forgotten.

[loveisyou18]

Oh goody, the kids can learn to count while the parents get high. Lets see who can count to ten first: sky-high mom and dad or little Jimmy.

LOL

I'm just kidding. But IT IS very trippy :P haha

[StefanoFan27]

ohhhh, trippy.

[Cats29]

Be glad he didn't shout 40

[Rimpala]

O n O

[landsknechte]

Thirty years later, it still gives me the creeps...

[Jewelrylover111]

@landsknechte Yeah.

[Agnostic72]

This was trippy. And it's true, the voice sounds a little bit like Solid Snake. The sounds are reminiscent of Atari 2600, and a little bit of Tron...

[VideyoJunkei]

I would love to see this in HD, there is a lot of fine detail lost here due to VHS copy...

[mrrusss]

OK, you didn't listen to the baker, you ignored the Count, and you just spaced out during the pinball game. No more fing around, you're going to count.

[YellowYoshi398]

He sounds like some kind of abominable cross between the HAL 2001 and Solid Snake.

[kukusasuke76]

count or die!

[MoonCrashed]

I used to love the sound effects to this when I was a kid. I always wondered how they did this.

[glenfenderman]

I thought this was funny when I was 10 years old. This thing reminded me of my math teacher at the time.

[guysmileyiv]

The sounds reminds me of Atari.

[sirdavethewave71]

This clip has been broght to you today by the letters W, T and F.

[happenstanceman]

Thanks for the laugh buddy. Totally brilliant assessment. :D

[d72jjpilc]

@sirdavethewave71 And, of course, by the number 10 as well!

[MooBoo1979]

Funny, as a kid, this didn't bother me, but now, as an adult... Brings back wonderful memories though, so thank you for posting!

[KatCassidy]

This is the freakiest thing on television - I used to wonder why it exploded every time he got to 10 - but I loved it as a kid and I love it still now.

Yay! I was the 100th person to rate this clip!

[DELTA104X]

nice thing-ee

[AgaMbadi]

You can't tell me that they didn't test this on kids to see just how badly it would scare the shit out of them before they released it. I mean, Christ Almighty, listen to the music alone! It scares me now and I'm in my thirties.  No wonder I would run to my parents bedroom as a child when this shit came on. Class-action lawsuit anyone?

[gopconservative78]

an acid trip

[drumlord420]

salvia!

[mbrooks972]

Who does the voice here? The voice is sooo familiar...

[cgsilverscreen2020]

HOLY CRAP

[travelsonic]

Dang, if anything would absolutely scare the shit out of kids, this'd be it.

[crodgers100]

agreed, i remember this scaring me when I was little

[toadian21]

I am 27 and this scares me.

[gala666999]

@travelsonic oh you haven't seen Frazzle? That thing is fucking scary!

[Applemask]

This guy unsettled me. I saw it on a rainy lunchtime at school, which made it even more surreal.

[dhiatensor]

This sort of program inspires imagination, mystery and an appreciation for what lies beneath the typical.

What's truly scary are the little drones being raised on sanitized drivel like Barney and the like.

[mightyfilm]

Amen to that. Barney scares me. All those kids staying after school to run around worshiping him like they're in a cult? All that hugging by a grown man in a dinosaur costume? That's some scary stuff right there.

[DragonLord1975]

Scanimation was a big thing back then.

[iluvpepi]

This kind of sketch is perfect for those who are inclined towards art. All the weird scary sketches inspired me because of their imaginative visuals.

[g1Chase357]

I can't believe I found this on YouTube!

This guy freaks me out, especially as a kid.

Not recommended viewing for stoners.

It causes heartattacks.

[firestepher72]

OMG!!! It's the boogie man coming to get me again!!! This thing gave me nightmares as a kid.

[beigebabe]

Ok, now I remember why I suffered from anxiety as a child...because of this crap...WTF?

[tod4533]

JOIN THE CLUB

ITS OKAY. WERE OKAY...

[andyjay729]

I'm okay, you're okay, the kids are all right.

[stegaflaps]

This was too creepy for me.............I hid behind the sofa when this was on!

[MuppetPro]

Jim Henson created this short himself. The character's name is Lupo and he was on Johnny Carson. Jim and Dave Golez performed him. Unfortunatly Johnny Carson called Jim "Jim Jetson" LOL

[muppetfan33]

Is it me, or was this totally weird?

[jtomally9681]

I always liked this.

[BishopTJH]

I'm sure this was done with that Scanimation technology that was featured frequently on this show.

[Amitlu]

this is like the sesame version of Giygas

[TellKenzine]

Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo

Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo Elmo

iiiiiii'mmmmm hhhhaaaaaaaappppppyyyy

[Mattyew]

I have been explaining this clip to people for 20+ years and nobody knew what I was talking about when I described the creepiness, now I can just forward them this youtube clip! haha

[teawithoptimus]

D: creepy!

[sarniatownreggae]

I forgot how scary this bit was!

[dynasue77]

I recall seeing this on Sesame Street about 1980 when I was five. I havn't seen this in more than 25 years. Looking at it now, it looks rather bizarre, and sounds like an old arcade game.

[GummyHusky]

Creepy. O.O

[tigercubgurlie]

thats what i told my sister! whoever thumbs downed u should've thought twice

[Pikachuiscool]

Though all things considered, like I said before, I thought this was a cool skit when I was a kid and it didn't scare me. But it's still looks like someone was smoking something. :O

[RabidHappy]

Jim Henson and Frank Oz really were geniuses, but you can't tell me they weren't smoking SOMETHING back then...this is proof.

[Pikachuiscool]

I know what you mean. What scared me SS-wise is when they had those parodies of the Sesame Street characters doing drugs and swearing. However, I look at skits like this now and I think the REAL Sesame Street is drug influenced. So perhaps my being scared of those parodies was a bit premature. :/

[zeldalink78]

SUBLIMINAL LEARNING

GENUS

[ezziboo]

this clip terrified me when I was little!!

[timmynjaime]

It still does me and I'm 37! LOL!

[sandmdz]

me too! I remember running screaming away from the television every time it came on.

[okkiejam]

cool synth sounds

[wickedfeylady]

This is like "Count to Ten or this face will eat you. Count to ten, little children...COUNT DAMMIT..." j/k this would have scared me though

[SethBlizzard]

Hypnotic, very compelling and mysterious. Really creative. Whoever's speaking, his voice alone is very moving.

[Leecogic]

Psychedelic like Woodstock man! I loved da sound effects for the dots. 4 sounded scared to be there, 5 and 10 sounded like they were DUI and 7 was on the run from 8 when you heard the police siren go off. that was tight. Old school ss rocks!

[barnstormer4]

WOWWEE! A blast from the '70s!!

There were certain things that terrified me as a kid, but oddly enough this didn't. Instead, I was very entranced, almost hypnotized, by the visuals and sounds. Although I abhor drug use, this was probably the closest way a minor could make a "trip" without actually touching the stuff. Kudos to Jim Henson and company for their inventiveness and imagination, and thank you VERY MUCH for posting this "oldie but goodie"!

[JGMurakami]

This is really good for visual analysis though.  I can see why they put something like this together for young kids.

[menorche]

Yikes - I just typed this thing up in Youtube, and there it was....

... I'm 33 now, and this thing.. SCARED.. the %$#%#$ out of me when I was 4. I remmeber having nightmares, waking up sweating and screaming that this guy was going to get me...

I deal in law enforcement now, and I'll be honest, I hesitated when I first loaded up this video. Something deep inside me stirred. Well, I'm gonna watch it now - here we go!

[menorche]

... well, I watched it.  Call me a wuss, but I nearly stopped it midway. What the heck were they thinking back then!?! :)

[smjjohnson]

Wow....one of those sesame street shorts that I haven't even thought of since I saw it 35 years ago...and now I remember it perfectly. Weird..

[Eddie62070]

wow....one of those sesame street shorts that I haven't even thought of since I saw it 30 years ago...and now I remember it perfectly....yeah it must've scared me too...though not as much as Sam the Robot did!

[buttholebzerker]

heavy...cool, but It honestly makes you ask, "just what trhe HELL were they thinking?!?!" At least you fucking KNEW how to count to ten. the guy who voiced it drinks lots of coffee and smokes. Probably raped someone without saying a word once too.

[MaureenJ0812]

I remember when I saw this on TV, I actually ran to the bedroom until I could tell it was over. Then of course, some other weird Sesame Street segment would come on which was equally bizarre. They just don't make them like this anymore :)

[AngryFaces]

He is a DEMON.

[ThePhantomSafetyPin]

What the Hell? O.o

[tod4533]

i love this

[Moggybabe]

This segment used to freak me out when I was little. I am now 34 and it STILL freaks me out! Although I don't cover my ears and close my eyes like I did when I was little. LOL Also that one with the Yoyo man and the lost boy is creepy!

[vivaladiva2001]

We're the same age moggybabe. I think we were separated at birth. The rubber band man still bugs me out too. I TOTALLY forgot about Yoyo man until I read your post, even though it scared the crap out of me as a kid. I figured I'd youtube it to "see how my perspective has changed now that I'm an adult." I now realize memory loss because of trauma happen for a reason. I came back to report it's STILL as scary as it was in '79!

[anomalocarlos]

This is like "Counting to Ten with Giygas". Trippy and weird.

[mistersantosnyc]

OH MAN! Its been forever since I've even thought of this. I used to love it, but when I was a little kid, it made me feel spacey in a weird way that made my teeth hurt. Watching it now, as an adult, I can understand that it just reminded me of being high on nitrous oxide @ the dentist!

[Ntropy22]

@mistersantosnyc just like n oxide from crash bandicoot!

[nessamaine]

LOVE IT!

[dgwaters]

This one scared me too when I was young! But for some reason the other one (A Count Of Four) didn't. Maybe because he sounded cool in the other one. ("4" "That's the score!")

[d00dwheresmyhead]

It's not scary... but the rubber band man's voice sounds like a pedo...

[DKN117]

NIGHTMARE FUEL!! RUN!!!!!

[themustardrebellion]

You ain't kidding. As I get older and go back and watch these things, I become more and more convinced that this show was the source of so many of my childhood nightmares.

[mariechaton]

yeah, but we're tougher b/c of it. Kids today r all wimps.

[buttholebzerker]

here, HERE!

[Mattyew]

THIS WAS MY FAVOURITE AND IT ALSO SCRARED THE SHIT OUTTA ME. gave me soo many nightmares...but it stuck in my head the most

[Thundershower77]

FAROUT!!!!

[KarNYCLoAMR]

I used to leave the room when this segment came on.

The 10 at the end was particularly jarring, didn't go with the rest of it.

[Akira625]

I strongly suspect Raymond Scott did the music for this clip.

[GSTcheque]

Welcome to Frank Zappa's Sesame Street.

[imadaytripper21]

speaking of scary sesame Street, when i was a kid i rememeber one counting segment that freaked me out.... i don't know if it's a figment of my imagination but my sisters remember it too... it was this man's voice counting to like 50 or 60, and he got faster andfaster and more breathless as he went on, and at the end, he ended up screaming the last number.... scared the heck out of me... anyone remember or am i just confused? haha

[theproplady]

I think that's the one with 40 dots. I remember that being a bit unnerving myself.

[MasterNyte]

:whimpers: MOMMY! MAKE IT STOP!!!!!

[imSOridiculous]

"almost" creepy? holy shit i can remember days when this would freak me out but i like this nowadays. mr. rubber bands is a creeperrrrrrrr lol

[Mannex17]

are there any more creepy vignettes like this?

[Akira625]

There were quite a few made during the 70's.

[conradragzoff]

Oh yeah, I remember this... definitely not something to watch while drinking or smoking ANYTHING!!!

[sh0kr0k]

No wonder I'm messed up as an adult - I was watching this stuff at 4! hahaha! Yes, I love the creepy Sesame Street clips too! They still unnerve me today!

[audgeyp]

Yeah, I remember not particularly caring for this one too much.