Telly is/was an actual muppet right? Did they retire him or does Sesame Street not really care if their characters go elsewhere? It'd make sense of it was like Elmo on the Ellen show or the Today Show, sometimes making a very veiled innuendo but a Cable Access show.. where Telly gets physically violent? I guess this is a follow-up to Sazuka's question from 2007. I too always thought there were very specific Henson-approved/not-approved actions for his different creations. Like Gonzo can explode but Grover can't, characters in Dark Crystal can die but the Muppets can't..

I dunno. Interesting.

Like that old Dave Chapelle skit with the fake muppets talking about drug addiction, homelessness and STDs would've been way funnier if it was actually Ernie, Oscar and the gang.. I guess that's more extreme than this..

I would imagine this (and the 1991 clip submitted here in 2007) were done with the full approval of Children's Television Workshop/Sesame Workshop. This clip has two SESAME STREET Muppet performers (Martin P. Robinson as Telly and off-camera Carrol Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar) and I'm sure they can't just take a Muppet out of the studio and do whatever they want with it in their off-hours. Like, they probably have clauses in their contract preventing non-approved public appearances in character.

I wasn't familiar with Rapid T. Rabbit until that one "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" clip submitted here recently, but, checking the clips on Youtube, it seems like a pretty safe venue for SESAME STREET characters who are playing a little more edgy than normal for an older audience but nothing salacious. Rapid T. Rabbit doesn't seem like it's as "adult" as AVENUE Q.

I don't think Telly tossing around a puppet as a joke is any more violent than Cookie Monster trying to eat Kermit in this early sketch: http://youtu.be/2MASUR7Oq7U

"and I'm sure they can't just take a Muppet out of the studio and do whatever they want with it in their off-hours."


ohhhhhh goooooooood...

Hehe.. hadn't seen that one. A cute idea goes into kinda creepy territory into really creepy territory very quickly. This would terrify me of cookie monster forever if I was a kid; I'm surprised they didn't cut it. If Kermit had just left at "some people will eat anything" and run off, good sight gag. Instead.. jeez.

Interesting. So call me out on my ignorance, and I don't spend time in the big cities that have them like NYC and LA, but I'm reminded of the antisemetic Elmo as well as other trademarked Superheroes who break character, get in fights do things in costumes that CTW's DC's, Marvel's and the rest wouldn't do, but can't get shut down (maybe thrown in jail if it gets physical) because of the first amendment.

Most of them I've seen on Sunset Strip or in Times Square are completely harmless, but once in a while you get a prick in a Batman costume telling passersby to go fuck themselves, or the above-mentioned Elmo. Does the right to free speech supersede slander? One or two kids seeing Junkie Batman pushing around Junkie Spiderman or a cursing Big Bird probably doesn't cross the minds of these large industries, but it makes an indelible impact on the kids. Because then it's not "heroin joe the junkie" it's their favorite hero or cartoon character or something.

They have specific legal arrangements, although they used to be a lot more liberal than they are now. I doubt this video would fly today. The impression I get is that Henson et al treat the puppets themselves as autonomous, existing characters that operate with the assistance, rather than volition, of the Muppeteers.

Karen Prell occasionally does talks as/with Red Fraggle, but apparently that has to be done by special arrangement.

This video is wonderful.

I like this video too, it's something different.

Here's Rapid T. Rabbit on a radio station we ran in a hotel room at Albany Anthrocon 1998, my first Furry con.

http://boomerthedog.com/wyif-albany-1998-rapid-t-rabbit.mp3

It's Gush Limbarge, Grizelda, and Rapid T., and I was running the control board.

(take out the spaces if the site puts them in)

Boomer