There are over 4,500 episodes of Sesame Street, many of which are primarily lost to the fans. We’re reviewing some of the best, strangest, and rarest episodes out there in our series Sesame Rewind!
In case we have to remind you again, it’s Pride Month! Hooray!
How did the folks at Sesame Street celebrate the occasion? Why, like all strong allies, they posted a thing on Instagram!
The official Sesame Street account shared the above illustration of colorful Muppets holding hands, arranged in a rainbow-like orientation, showing how we can all support and love each other. But, because it was a day that ended with Y, conservatives were mad, but this post made them even more mad. For several days after, my “Sesame Street” searches on YouTube would show me several videos with thumbnails of angry, ignorant people whining about Sesame Street “going woke” or “indoctrinating and grooming kids.”
And this is interesting to me because…
- A. the show’s target audience doesn’t use Instagram (or, shouldn’t be using it hopefully) so the that post was targeted directly at teenage-to-adult followers and kids probably did not see it at all
- B. they shared this exact same image five years ago for the same occasion, and I don’t recall it getting the same amount of hoopla
- C. there is nothing especially “indoctrinating” about it at all. It’s a bunch of hands in a rainbow spectrum with the hashtag “HappyPride”
- D. the show has always been “woke.” That’s like it’s whole thing.
Case and point: the image reminded me of a 1991 episode of Sesame Street, Episode 2805 to be exact, which gives the same kind of presentation and a similar message. Let’s take a look at it!
As the show opens, Big Bird, Telly, the kids, and a green monster named Anna (who never existed before this moment and will never be seen again after these first three minutes) are all amazed to discover they’re each a different color. They excitedly tell Lillian (the then-day care matron played by Lillias White), who states that Sesame Street has enough colorful people to make up a beautiful garden or even a rainbow – “A little heavy on the flesh tones, but a rainbow!” She proceeds to sing a catchy tune called “Fabulous Rainbow.”
Inspired, Big Bird and friends decide to make her song a reality by drawing their own rainbow using everyone on Sesame Street. Unfortunately, they’ve only got one yellow crayon to work with and need to purchase more. In order to make sure they know what crayons to get, Big Bird, Telly, and Kaitlyn wander the street observing their neighbors and jotting down pretty interesting color descriptions for everybody. For instance, Maria is a “beautiful tan red,” Bob is a “nice pinky white,” and Wolfgang the Seal is “taupe.” It’s good to have these on the record for when I make my Mr. Macintosh fan art.
Telly and Big Bird have also been debating whether Oscar the Grouch is “light green” or “dark green,” and naturally, he refuses to show his face to provide them with a visual reference. But, they manage to trick him into showing his face and Telly concludes that he’s “dirty green.” Oscar snaps back that he’s actually “slime green,” and groans, “Huh, the media!” He’s as timeless as ever.
Since Hooper’s doesn’t carry the colors they’re looking for, Mr. Hanford directs them to Crayon City, a store with every crayon imaginable. Thus comes the part that conservatives actually would enjoy – Victoria Jackson shows up as Sid, the shop’s clerk. “Gimmie the facts and I’ll give you the wax,” she declares to her new customers. She manages to find every color on their list, even Snuffleupagus Sepia (which is huge!). All 22 crayons cost a total of one dollar, which the CPI Inflation Calculator tells me is about $2.50 today. Gosh, I’d need the deep pockets of a Rockefeller to afford that!
Back on the street, everybody is assembled in a line for Big Bird and co. to draw. Notably absent are Ernie, Bert, Grover or pretty much any other characters more popular than Wolfgang or the Honkers. But, I suppose having more cartoonishly-colored skin tones might conflate the message of the episode, and they weren’t willing to put them silently in a crowd without it being too distracting. Or they were probably busy playing shuffleboard! That’s a logical explanation!
But, the moment has arrived, and they reveal their drawing, showing everybody gathered under a big rainbow with Oscar at the rainbow’s end (Is his trash can a pot of gold? Is Oscar Irish?! Fan theories have begun!) Everybody sings a reprise of “Fabulous Rainbow,” celebrating their wonderful diversity before heading off for lunch; Mike orders 20 hamburgers for himself. Classic Mike!
In the end, Big Bird’s drawing is not entirely different from what Sesame posted on Instagram for Pride. While the main objectives are different (this episode is clearly about race, and the social media thing was for LGBT+ people), the theme is still the same – we’re all beautiful, colorful, and unique individuals who can celebrate our contributions to the world. Sesame Street had the same mentality in 1991, and even earlier, as it does today. People complaining about the show going “woke” have either not been paying attention at all, or they’re just bigoted fools who should be ignored. And I’m sure Uncle Wally would agree with me.
Click here to buy some cheap crayons on the Tough Pigs Discord!
By Shane Keating
