This wasn’t a planned thing, but emergencies rarely ever are planned.
So, last night, Muppet Instagram user Muppet Stuff With Jake made a story about how his girlfriend had never seen Sesame Street before and asked if anyone had good recommendations for episodes he should show her. Naturally, when I heard about this, I had SO many recommendations, I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to just one or two picks, so I decided to do something unique.
I think most of us know the biggest hits the street has given us (Mr. Hooper’s Death, Luis and Maria’s Love Story, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, The Two Movies, etc.), and I’m sure Jake will show those to his girlfriend at some point, so what I wanted to do here is not just highlight underrated episodes, but one for each of the central muppets in the cast, so his girlfriend can get a general idea of what each of them is like.
I guess I should also mention that for this list, I’m only focusing on seasons 1-50, because that’s where I feel the show was at its best, so keep that in mind as we continue. (And I will also provide links for each episode I talk about.)
Now, without further ado, let’s get right into it. A good introductory episode for each of the main cast of Sesame Street, starting with the giant canary himself.
Since Big Bird has literally been with us since the first episode, I had a ton of material to pick from, but this episode in particular is one of his funniest, liveliest, and earnest roles. Maria is trying to work up the nerve to ask Luis for a raise in the Fix-It shop, so Big Bird tries to help her out by coming up with the right way to do it. What follows next is Big Bird doing the same thing in different ways, which you’d think would get annoying, but Caroll Spinney manages to make every action Big Bird takes here funny in some way, and it’s especially fun to see how he and Maria play off each other.
Compared to Big Bird, this basement-dwelling duo has only had a few street stories to themselves, but luckily, I knew exactly which one I wanted to highlight here. I’ve talked about this episode a few times in the past, so I’ll keep it brief here. This episode showcases a much more nuanced look into Ernie & Bert’s friendship that isn’t just Ernie annoying Bert for five minutes straight. Neither character is treated as being 100% right or wrong, and both of them are still shown to truly care about each other, which is exactly what you should know about E&B before anything.
I also had a lot of episodes I could’ve chosen for Oscar, but I decided to go with another one of my favorites. All you need to know about this one is that Oscar’s brother comes to town, and Oscar wants to get under his skin by being as nice and un-grouchlike as possible. If you know Oscar at all, you’ll know that that premise will be just as hilarious as it sounds.
I knew which street story I wanted to use for Cookie from the start. This is my favorite Cookie Monster episode because it does a fantastic job of showing off his vices and his virtues, and he gets to do what he does best: Eat.
I wanted to pick a Grover appearance that was as versatile as he is, and I finally settled on Sesame Street’s 35th-anniversary special. Despite the focus mainly being on Elmo, Grover is actually a very frequent presence in this feature. He’s a mail carrier, a word traveler, a superhero, a taxi driver, and a time traveler. And he is cute, too.
Prairie Dawn is a character who’s defined by her ambitions, so what happens when she hits a roadblock by getting sick on the day of one of her pageants? You’ll have to watch the episode to find out. But spoiler alert: The end result has to do with Bob dressing up.
I was a little conflicted on whether or not I should include Herry on this list, but after thinking about it, he’s been on the show for a good long while, so I figured I’d give him an episode highlight. And this one is actually a perfect showcase of Herry’s purpose on the show and in the cast, to combat toxic masculinity. That’s right, you can be a strong, tough guy and still cry when you’re upset.
For Snuffy, I specifically wanted to pick an episode AFTER Big Bird (And Elmo) proved that he wasn’t imaginary. And I settled on this one, because it highlights Snuffy’s slow and gentle nature, and it pairs him up with his little sister, Alice, and they are SO adorable together.
The Count is another character who doesn’t have that many street stories compared to the likes of Big Bird, Elmo, and Oscar, but he does have a few standouts, and much like Cookie Monster’s pick, this one showcases what happens when he can’t do the thing that is probably more important to him than oxygen. The best way to know who The Count is find out what he’s like when he physically cannot count.
Telly’s best moments are whenever he’s allowed to really let loose and freak out, and this episode features one of his very best freakouts, because it’s a slow process that’s built up to. Telly is Martin P. Robinson’s best-performed character, and this episode is proof of that.
Obviously, Elmo has a lot of starring roles under his belt, but for this list, I wanted to highlight one that shows that he’s more than what his haters think he is. Elmo witnesses his first fire at Hooper’s Store, and it scares him really badly, and the whole episode is about him learning about firefighters and what they do. For an episode specifically created in response to 9/11, this is one of the most comforting and genuine episodes the show has ever produced, and Elmo is a significant reason why.
For Baby Bear, I wanted to choose one where he actually deviates from his usual portrayal in media, and what better showcase of that than when his fairytale literally changed with the introduction of a fourth bear. While the story itself isn’t anything groundbreaking, the fact that Sesame Street was willing to do all of this with a public domain fairytale character should show you how much he was valued as a character.
Rosita is a character who truly emphasizes Sesame Street’s cultural reach, and this episode is a perfect example of that. Unsatisfied with the stereotypical portrayal of Mexicans, Rosita decides to write her own story about her life and her personal experiences. I think that should tell you why it’s such a good introduction to her. Rosita pours her heart into this story, and what she comes up with is a treat to watch.
Out of all the main cast, Zoe is the one most people look the other way on, but trust me, this episode will show you why she’s just as great as they are. This episode is all about Zoe reading Gina her Zoe-ology book that she wrote herself, and she manages to carry the run time with her imagination that rivals Elmo’s and Fran Brill’s cute and enthusiastic response that pairs well with a character like Gina.
And lastly, we have Abby, who has quite a few appearances to pull from, but I decided to go with this one, where Abby has her first sleepover at Big Bird’s nest that Luis and Maria get roped into chaperoning. This one shows off Abby’s fairy lifestyle quite well for newcomers, and once again, she and Big Bird play off their human chaperones very well. One of the best episodes in this season.
And that’s an underrated introductory episode for every major muppet character on Sesame Street. Jake, I hope you and your girlfriend found this helpful, and if by some miracle I can make the meetup in November, I can’t wait to meet you in person there. Thanks for reading!
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