Sesame Street - Telly, the Television Monster

The very first appearance of Telly Monster, originally portrayed by Bob Payne as a warning to children of the dangers of watching too much television.

I don't know how many times he appeared in this form, but this is the only one I saw as a kid. I remember he started appearing frequently a few months later, having kicked his television addiction and becoming a lovable neurotic performed by Brian Muehl.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Sesame
• Street
• Will
• Lee
• Northern
• Calloway
• Muppets
• Bob
• Payne
• 1970s
• 70s
• PBS
• CTW
• classic
• vintage

[austin5341837]

Its good that telly has a sensible and good voice now these days and that voice is marty p robinson. He is a soooooooo much better voice for telly than brian muehl and bob payne.

[NantoVision1]

@austin5341837 Personally Brian Meuhl's version of Telly was my favorite. He did this thing where Telly would be getting confident and excited about something, then let out a really funny groan when he realized the flaw in his plan.

But since most people younger than me grew up with Marty Robinson's version, it makes sense that those people prefer his take on the character.

[UberUberLeet91]

Wasn't he on Intervention for his television addiction?

[1RichardHunt]

Personally, I like this scene with him. It seems to be a wonderful way to introduce him, and it shows what his name originally came from. And, I like this early voice he had, it's a very rare sort of voice to be heard on Sesame Street.

[Blondiechickie1972]

he looks psychotic 

[Blondiechickie1972]

@lainybabyg2006  omg i know, that was scary!

[Blondiechickie1972]

wow and i thought Snuffy looked scary in his first appearance, ahhhh nightmare fuel 2:28

[clinch44]

heard about this now i've finally seen it

[ExplorerDS6789]

@musicbox193 Yep, and obviously they changed that because then kids would be turned off of watching it, and that means they couldn't watch Sesame Street.

[Moreau105]

Hooper Hooper Yeah Hooper



[sanvirel]

imagine if he said boobtube monster

[Boudiga]

lol so thats how he got the name Telly! He wasn't a TV addict when I started watching this in the 1980s!

[muppetlover16]

@Cuteblondie1972  That's 'cause it's Bob Payne

[SpukiTheLoveKitten75]

I love Mr. Hooper's expressive "He-he-he-he-he-He was ROUUUNDD......"

[electricalparade]

There was at least one more sketch in which Telly was this way. The gang asked him if he would like to go watch a baseball game with them. He asked them what channel it would be on!

[quirpco]

Ah, Will Lee & Northern Calloway...two original, hilarious Sesame Street legends! We love & miss you guys, God bless and rest in peace.

[OnlineLamb]

He's certainly not much of a character, wasn't he? Then again I reckon most Sesame Street muppets weren't much of characters when they first appeared back in those days. Just at how Big Bird, Oscar, and Snuffy looked when they first appeared.

[musicbox193]

Did they eventually rehabiltate him from his TV addiction or something?

[musicbox193]

so Telly was originally intended to be a warning against watching too much TV?

[athull08]

@moxie96 This was 1979. The deaf lady was Linda.

p.s. You say you never knew why he was called Telly - well, similarly, I never knew why it was called Hooper's Store! This video solves so many mysteries!

[WildHamster321]

I played the "Young Frankenstein" bit used in "Dramatic Prairie Dog" when Telly turned to the screen. It fits perfectly! xD

[moxie96]

I never know why he was called Telly! By the time I've seen him on the show he was a regular muppet member of the show and had no wires on him. What year was this? I forgot about david too. Who was the deaf lady again (not in this clip, just asking)

[doctorwho00772]

should have kept him just like that...a spaced out, psycotic muppet is beyond cool.....

[mrhilly666]

@Smartboy8877 your very welcome

[Smartboy8877]

@mrhilly666

Thank you for enlightening me!

[mrhilly666]

@Smartboy8877 actually David died on the 9th of Januray 1990 at the age of 41 but i agree very sad