The Original Telly

ISNorden · Mar 22, 2008

NantoSeiken said:
I remember watching Telly Monster's first appearance in a street scene. One or two of the human characters (possibly Maria?) came across him watching a television set, and he was unable to turn away from it to fully interact with them, offering the explanation "I'm GLUED". I don't remember him having antennae on his head, but I do remember the very final shot of the scene, where the camera zoomed in on a closeup of his face, and his eyes had been replaced with rotating spirals. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time and found this hilarious, but I wouldn't be surprised if it scared the shinola out of younger kids.

Unfortunately the Old School box sets only include the season premieres, and this definitely wasn't in one of them. Here's hoping that this scene gets included in the Season 11 Classic Cuts section of Old School Volume 3, it would be great to see it again after all these years.

Holy smoke, I can imagine how my kindergarten-age self would have reacted to that final close-up--by scuttling out of the living room or asking Mom to change the channel. :eek:

I'd still be interested in seeing it now, though; that old Telly may have looked as evil as Snuffy did in his debut scene, but it's as much a part of Sesame Street history as Oscar's orange fur or Rosita's lost bat wings.

ploobis · Mar 23, 2008

ISNorden said:
Holy smoke, I can imagine how my kindergarten-age self would have reacted to that final close-up--by scuttling out of the living room or asking Mom to change the channel. I'd still be interested in seeing it now, though; that old Telly may have looked as evil as Snuffy did in his debut scene, but it's as much a part of Sesame Street history as Oscar's orange fur or Rosita's lost bat wings.

Don't forget Herry Monster's furry blue nose, Green Grover (A.K.A. Fuzzy Face) and Ernie's orange & purple striped shirt.

minor muppetz · Mar 23, 2008

Even if Old School Vol. 3 doesn't have any footage of original Telly, maybe the booklet, packaging, or menus will include an image.

PiLfan · Mar 24, 2008

mikebennidict said:
I'm not sure if I recall him as 1 being obsessed with watching TV then again I may.

I vividly remember a later 70's episode where Maria and David were in Hooper's store and this monster who had to have been telly rushes in to get or ask for something and quickly runs out and later here he is watching TV.

Can't seem to remember much else about it.

My understanding (heard from others, because i have no memory of the episode in question) is that his first ever apperance had him entering Hooper's store asking for an extension cord or some other device to help him watch a televsion set. The episode was from either the 1977/78 season or (more likely) the 1978/79 season.

maniacal muppet · Mar 24, 2008

ploobis said:
I hope so too! I would also love to see Elmo with his original voice (before Kevin Clash) from the "Me Claudius" sketch!

Haha, me too. I think It might be on Youtube....

PiLfan said:
My understanding (heard from others, because i have no memory of the episode in question) is that his first ever apperance had him entering Hooper's store asking for an extension cord or some other device to help him watch a televsion set. The episode was from either the 1977/78 season or (more likely) the 1978/79 season.

Kewl, thanks! I'll look on Muppet Wiki. Maybe I can find some more info. :wisdom:

EDIT: I just checked my e-mails. I had e-mailed Marty Robinson, Telly's performer, with the same question. He said that when he began as Telly, he started with his right hand and then moved on to full performance of him in "Follow That Bird". When he started performing his hand, Telly's head still had the mechanism in it for the eyeball function. He also stated that Telly's first performer was Bob Payne, not Brian Meuhl. Though, Marty was unsure of which character phase Telly was in during the switch of performers. He said that everything on Muppet Wiki (Aside from the performers) is correct and that is the best place to go for info like that.

Daffyfan4ever · Apr 1, 2008

Yeah, I got to know Brian's Telly from clips on You Tube, but I still haven't seen the original television monster. So why isn't anybody posting scenes from that ep? Come on, you lazy bums! Get with the program!

APRIL FOOL! I'm not really angry. It would be cool to see that though. I have found "Me! Cladius" though. So let's see what Elmo was like before he was Elmo.

minor muppetz · Apr 1, 2008

You know, scans froma draft of the script for Telly's first appearance can be found on Telly Monster's talk page at Muppet Wiki. So that gives a good idea as to what his first appearance was like, though it was noted that some bits weren't taped.

maniacal muppet · Apr 1, 2008

minor muppetz said:
You know, scans froma draft of the script for Telly's first appearance can be found on Telly Monster's talk page at Muppet Wiki. So that gives a good idea as to what his first appearance was like, though it was noted that some bits weren't taped.

Nice find

Here's a link for those of you who don't wanna use the address bar lol

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Telly_Monster#debut

ISNorden · Apr 1, 2008

I went over there earlier and was pretty impressed: as much as Telly has changed over twenty-nine years, it's hard to believe the writers originally created him as a one-shot character in a cautionary episode about the evils of being a couch potato. (Even Cookie Monster wasn't that dangerously obsessive in the beginning...) It's a shame the producers dropped that "TV dinner" street scene, too; I can understand them not wanting kids to imitate Telly's way of eating frozen food, but the dialogue was hilarious. If anyone out there can find a recording of the finished Episode 1257, I'd love to catch the story scenes on YouTube someday and see how it actually went.

Daffyfan4ever · Apr 2, 2008

Well, it's not too unoriginal. If you recall in Pepe le Pew's first appearance, his accent was fake and he was really an American skunk because Chuck Jones hadn't planned on using him as more than just a one-shot character. I know I relate Looney Tunes to Muppets quite often, but I thought I'd bring that up. Sometimes the greatest discoveries happen by accident.

Okay. I checked out the transcript. Very interesting. Plus, I can picture Brian's Telly saying a lot of those lines. Kind of disappointing ending though. Nobody ever did get Telly away from the TV set. Makes one wonder at what point did Telly ever become the loveable, friendly monster we all know today. It would be good to at least see a pic of the original television monster. Nobody here has access to anything like that? Just thought I'd ask.

The Original Telly

ISNorden

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ploobis

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minor muppetz

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PiLfan

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maniacal muppet

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Daffyfan4ever

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minor muppetz

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maniacal muppet

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ISNorden

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Daffyfan4ever

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