The Unsung Muppet

Last Sunday, we made the 30 minute trek to the "local" Civic Center to see the latest incarnation of Sesame Street Live in all its splendor. It was baby Lucy's first trip and my second - while Leslie, Grandma and Julia are the veterans of the circuit with this being their third trip to see these life-sized versions of the muppets we grew up with on television.

It was then that I remembered what annoyed me so much about our last trip to see them.

Think back to your childhood. Odds are you saw Sesame Street in some capacity while growing up - Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Bert & Ernie were giving you life lessons and the letter of the day. Sure, all of those were great, but they weren't my favorite. Nope, the Muppet I craved for each episode was everything I wanted in a monster.

He was sweet. He was furry. He was lovable.

He was super.


And it was for this reason that our last visit to the live version of Sesame Street left a very sour taste in my mouth. Sure you had all of your old-time cast of characters - Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Oscar - as well as some of the newer Muppets like Rosita, Zoe and of course that little red copycat Elmo, but no Grover. He is the godfather of the modern-day monsters and he's not even on their live show?!? Talk about you blatant atrocities!

So you can understand my apprehension going into this latest version. If I had to suffer through another 90 minutes of those silly psuedo-Grovers without getting the original and the best, I was going to me more than a little miffed. Call me sentimental if you want, but Grover was THE monster when I was a child and I hate to see him relegated to the storage trunk to this new generation.

We arrived early and I purchased a program as a keepsake for the little one and to my pleasant surprise - my blue, furry friend was on the cover. That growing knot in my stomach started to loosen. This was going to be a good show after all.

The first half of the show was great, as we had decent seats and the storyline wasn't all that bad. Sesame Street has a new music teacher in town, but unfortunately the truck with her equipment has not arrived yet. Never fear, let the Muppet crew come up with solution by creating their own ways to make music. Grover even had a duet with Rosita.


It was during this number that the two declared they needed to find a way to make music or they would not be able to perform in the surprise everyone had planned for their new teacher. They would soon discover making music with their feet and at this very moment, all was right with the world.

That would be until AFTER intermission when much to my dismay, Grover went AWOL - to be replaced by Baby Bear who finished out the show. Yes, you read that right, after stressing about what to do for his final performance - Grover STILL did not get to perform it for his new teacher.

Good grief. Cookie Monster was there the entire show. The Count was there the entire show. Freaking Prairie Dawn was there the entire show.

But Grover? No way. Because when a Muppet needs to be sacrificed - you know who the first to get the axe is - our blue, lovable buddy Grover. Total lack of disrespect I tell ya.

For someone who has been on Sesame Street since 1970 he is still as funny as ever. And while today's generation might think that Elmo is the greatest thing since chocolate ice cream, for my money nothing will ever top Grover on Sesame Street. So to all of the parents out there who have children who are Elmo-worshippers and have every kind of Elmo gizmo known to mankind do me this one favor. Tell your child the story of Grover and how that without Grover, there would be no Elmo.

And besides, how many monsters that you know have been on Jimmy Kimmel?

Not to mention him hating on Tim Daly who is one of the worst actors on television. Win/Win!