Painting Guy
PznIvy
I would love to see that guy(ended up playing the upstairs neighbor, named
Bently I think), who used to go around painting the number of the day all
over things, like back of a jacket someone was wearing, a door, and other
things I cant remember.
Does anyone remember this?? I watch it every day with my 2 year old, and
I never see it.
Lisa
Jill M. Sheehan
I *totally* remember that! And, didn't he paint on that jacket while in an
elevator? (Or something like that.) It's been sooo long since I was a
little kid (Eh, whatcha say, Sonny?), and that's the last time I remember
seeing it.
This has been quite the week for memories! (Without all that TME...(gasp)
stuff like in past weeks!) Welcome back, good ol' alt.tv.sesame-street!
-Jill ;@ )
Michael Kotler
Last May I posted a list of most of these routines. Here it is again
with some minor editing.
---------------------------------------------
Here is a partial list and description of the "Number Painter"
routines on Sesame Street. But first, who was the number painter?
He was a man in a white painter's jacket and a hat who appeared on a
scene with a single goal: to paint a number. Some facts:
-- The painter was played by Paul Benedict, who played Mr. Bentley on
"The Jeffersons".
-- The only audio was a piano solo, modified to different events in
the scene. The painter's voice was also heard occasionally, but with a
voice-over, not matching his lip movements.
-- His dialog was little more than the name of the number and points
regarding it's painting, e.g.:" where's my 7?"
-- He always appeared with a "prototype" number to compare to his
finished product, and paint brushes and cans (though he didn't always
use them, as described below for 3 and 6)
-- He seemed to have a one-track mind, concerned only with painting
his number, regardless of whose property he might have been defacing
in the process.
The Painter's routines. (My comments = [] )
Eleven (11)
Setting: a waiting area for some kind of doctor's office.
The painter decides to paint an 11 on the window on the door that
leads to the office. [Room 11?] Just as he was about to paint, a
burly-looking nurse opens the door and firmly but nonchalantly grabs
the next patient. After this happened twice, the painter (who emerged
from hiding behind a magazine while sitting on a couch) walked up and
painted the digits. Shortly after, a janitor sees the paint job and
happily proceeds to remove it. The painter watches the janitor's
every single move from the other side of the glass: spraying it with a
Windex-type product, wiping it with a rag, and squeegeeing it
down. While the painter looks in mild disappointment at the loss of
his number ("My 11's gone") the nurse opens the door yet again and
grabs _him_ while calling "Next". His final word: "Yipes!!"
Note: several replies have stated that the nurse was played by
Stockard Channing.
Ten (10)
[Help me out. No recall of this one.)
Nine (9)
Setting: an intersection in a large city
The painter decides to paint a 9 right on the surface of the street.
[Ninth Avenue?] But shortly after painting it, a team of street
sweeper/washer vehicles approach. We see the painter pleading a
desparate "No" as the attendant on the street cleaner motions him to
get out of the way. After the vehicles pass (along with their water
jets and brushes) the painter inspects the damage. In a manner as
dismal as farmer observing his crops after a hailstorm, the painter
looks at his smeared up (but still recognizable) digit and throws his
arms apart and utters a _very_ diasappointed "Nine."
Eight (8)
Setting: a backyard or motel swimming pool
A bald-headed man is relaxing in a raft in the pool, and is reading a
newspaper with the bold headline "PAINTER STRIKES AGAIN" Seeking a
suitable spot for a number eight, the painter innocently paints the
digit on the bald man's shiny dome. Just as the painter compares the
protoype number to the cranial one, the man in the raft suddenly
realizes he's been involuntarily body-painted (putting his hand on his
head and finding the still-wet 8 on his palm.) The painter utters a
desperate "uh-oh!" as the visibly angry bather turns over his raft and
chases the painter around and through the swimming pool. The painter
eventually gets away, and the man gives up and starts doing some laps.
Seven (7)
Setting: in front of an elevator in an unidentifiable building.
The painter decides to paint a seven on the elevator doors. [Seventh
floor?] (This is actually a very unusual elevator, in which only one
of the two doors slide open) However, every time he makes a move to
paint, the elevator door suddenly opens, and he ends up painting a 7
on someone's briefcase or handbag, (the owner of which notices the
unpleasant surprise just as the door closes.) The painter, of course,
is oblivious to that fact, and is confused how his number keeps
disappearing. ("Now wait a minute...where's my 7?") Finally, the door
opens once again, and a uniformed football player is standing there --
a player whose number is 7. The painter is pleased, and gets on board
the elevator and puts one arm around the player [hmmm, is it
possible..., do you suppose...?] and the other hand holding the seven
over his own abdomen. The elevator door then closes.
Six (6)
Setting: in a baker's kitchen
The painter hides behind the baker's wooden counter until the baker
leaves the room (blowing some flour away) He finds an ideal surface
on which to paint a six: a round cake with white frosting. Using a
funnel of cake-decorating gel, the painter draws a large digit on the
cake while uttering "siiiiiiiiixxxxxxxxxxx" [Happy Sixth Birthday?]
When the baker returns, the painter proudly shows the baker his
handiwork (as usual, saying only "Six.") The baker, appearing to be
mildly amused, pulls out _another_ cake and gives the painter a slice.
But just as he enjoys eating, the baker reveals his true feelings and
calmly picks up the defaced cake and throws it square in the painter's
face. A (backwards?) six can be seen on the painter's frosting-covered
face.
Five (5)
[Help me out. My only recall of this one is that there was an ape
present, and that after showing the 5 to the gorilla, (painted on a
piece of cardboard, I think) and saying the word, the ape responds to
"five" by slapping his hand (ie: "give me five.")
Four (4)
I am not sure of this one, but CRIT posted this:
I can remember bits of one you haven't got here, I think. He paints a
number (can't remember which) on a woman's umbrella, and then tries
to show it to her and she keeps turning around. I think at the end
everyone gets wet.
Three (3)
Setting: A picnic table in a park on a summer's day.
At a picnic table, a young woman is preparing a lunch for herself.
For one person, however, she seems to have laid out quite a spread,
ie: several loaves of bread, lots of different sliced luncheon meats,
etc.) Meanwhile, the painter, determined to paint a 3, approaches
this woman, and instead of flirting with her like a normal fella, is
attracted to the food -- and only inasmuch as it is a convenient
medium for painting numbers. On three slices of bread, he paints a 3
with a condiment: A mustard 3, a ketchup 3, and a mayonaise 3. (The
mayo was on pumpernickel so it could be seen clearly). However,
immediately after "painting" each of these slices, the woman grabbed
it and put it on her sandwich. The painter protested "Hey, _Three_",
but this woman was apparently just as oblivious to everything but her
food as the painter was in his quest to paint numbers. [a perfect
couple?] Finally, after assembling a gargantuan sandwich that would
do Dagwood proud, we see her scarfing it down in a fast-motion
sequence. Afterwards, as the woman is wiping her chops with a napkin,
the frustrated painter puts his prototype 3 between his lips and
utters "3,3,3,3,3,3,3...."
Two (2)
Setting: a marina with lots of boats
The painter finds a perfect piece of stretch canvas to paint a number
two: the sail on someone's sailboat. But when the skipper emerges
from the hole to adjust the sail, he turns it around to the side with
the number on it. The painter, realizing he is in deep "number two"
with the boat's owner, hops aboard a rowboat and quickly rows away as
the angry man pursues him (fast-motion sequence). The segment ends
with the painter at a distance, rowing out to sea yelling
"Twoooooooooooooooo.."
One (1)
[Help me out. No recall of this one, or if there was one with one.)
----------------------------------------------------
Michael E. Kotler
mek...@radix.net
PznIvy
Michael.
THANK YOU!! As I read your posting, I could see all of those painting
guy scenes in my head like it was yesterday, especially the bald head and
the sandwich!!! You made my day!!
Joe Bowman
I'm brand new to the internet and newsgroups. When I stumbled across
this newsgroup and read though, the memories that flooded
back....Thanks!!
Sesame Street started in 1969, a year after I was born, so I've seen it
from the beginning. One of my favourite characters was Mr. Macintosh
who sold fruits and vegetables. I suppose he's dead by now. When was
he on??
And one other question...
I had a hard time trying to make people belive me when I told them that
Mr. Snuffleupagus used to be "Big Bird's imaginary friend" that no one
else ever saw him.
When did he "go public"?
Hope every day is a "sunny day sweeping clouds away" for all of you.
Joe
Chucklehead
Joe Bowman <jwbo...@ican.net> wrote:
>I'm brand new to the internet and newsgroups. When I stumbled across
>this newsgroup and read though, the memories that flooded
>back....Thanks!!
>Sesame Street started in 1969, a year after I was born, so I've seen it
>from the beginning. One of my favourite characters was Mr. Macintosh
>who sold fruits and vegetables. I suppose he's dead by now. When was
>he on??
Well, I'd say mid 70s, I think going to the early 80s because I
remember an episode where the character Tough Eddie told Telly he
would be cool if he stole something from Mr. Macintosh's cart. He
did, but then felt guilty, gave it back, and apologized.
Michael Kotler
On Sat, 18 Jan 1997 01:30:23 +0000, Joe Bowman <jwbo...@ican.net>
wrote:
>I'm brand new to the internet and newsgroups. When I stumbled across
>this newsgroup and read though, the memories that flooded
>back....Thanks!!
>
>Sesame Street started in 1969, a year after I was born, so I've seen it
>from the beginning. One of my favourite characters was Mr. Macintosh
>who sold fruits and vegetables. I suppose he's dead by now. When was
>he on??
>
>And one other question...
>
>I had a hard time trying to make people belive me when I told them that
>Mr. Snuffleupagus used to be "Big Bird's imaginary friend" that no one
>else ever saw him.
>
>When did he "go public"?
>
You are correct. Ever since Mr. Snuffleupagas debuted in the 1971-72
season, he was only "seen" by Big Bird and the children. I remember
back when Snuffy was introduced. Big Bird kept trying to show the
adults his new friend, but Snuffy kept vanishing. After this happened
a few times, I think it was Bob who first posulated "You know what I
think? I think he's only an imaginary friend." and the rest of the
adults quickly agreed.
Snuffy was finally introduced to the adults in the mid-1980s (1986?)
There were two reasons for doing so: (1) The cast and crew were sick
of the gag. (2) Children might end up being reluctant to report sexual
abuse fo fear that their parents wouldn't believe them.
The episode in which Mr. Snuffleuppagus was introduced was cool
indeed. You see, every time Big Bird would try to bring the adults
around, Snuffy would walk away for some lame spontaneous reason. (e.g.
I gotta go tell my mommy). The plan was to have Elmo grab on to
snuffy's trunk o prevent him from walking away. When they carried
this plan out, the adults disappeared behind the playground door. Big
Bird stood outside the door debating if he could bear to go in. Just
before he did walk in, he softly uttered "..but I think I just lost my
best friend." The next scene showed the adults lined up, stunned (to
the sounds of some violin music), at finally seeing this creature. I
must confess I was quite stunned as well, since Snuffy first debuted
when I was in kindergarten, and was finally revealed to the adults
when I was a Sophomore at Ohio State (this episode was announced in
the papers, and I must say I had a devil of a time explaining to my
fellow students why I wanted to watch Sesame street that day)
BTW, none other than Phil Donahue guest-starred on that episode -- he
was picking up his toaster from the fix-it shop, and sang a song
titled "Food". He, like the rest of the adults, gave Mr.
Snuffleuppagus a big hug at the end of the show.
Michael Kotler
mek...@radix.net
"You wanna know what unfair is? Whenever a railroad is shown on a map as a dotted line,
it means it's _abandoned_. But when a highway is depicted as a dotted line, it means it
is _under construction_."
jeff woosnam
The actor was Paul Benedict. (Susan) Stockard Channing showed up in several
of the bits. I don't know the name of the bald guy, but he was a sign
painter on a door, relaxin' in the pool and several other setups. The early
gags remain some of the best.
Jeff--a W lover from wwwway back--Woosnam
Stanhope NJ
Nicola Narciso
PznIvy wrote:
>
> I would love to see that guy(ended up playing the upstairs neighbor, named
> Bently I think), who used to go around painting the number of the day all
> over things, like back of a jacket someone was wearing, a door, and other
> things I cant remember.
>
> Does anyone remember this?? I watch it every day with my 2 year old, and
> I never see it.
>
I remember that guy from many, many years ago. My daughter is 25 now
and he was doing it back then. In fact now that I think about it all my
kids watched Sesame street and my oldest is 40 now. Jean
@ftr.mv.com ftr-ta
I remember that guy! He was kind of like kramer from seinfeld.
@ftr.mv.com ftr-ta
I remember that guy! He wore white or grey overalls and was kind of like
kramer from seinfeld.
David Kleeman
In alt.tv.sesame-street Michael Kotler <mek...@radix.net> wrote:
major snip
:>when I was a Sophomore at Ohio State (this episode was announced in
:>the papers, and I must say I had a devil of a time explaining to my
:>fellow students why I wanted to watch Sesame street that day)
When I was a freshman at Harvard, I was planning to become a teacher of
young children. One day, as part of an education survey course, I heard a
lecture by Dr. Gerald Lesser, one of the creators of SESAME STREET (and
still Chair of the CTW Board of Advisors). That lecture was responsible for
me pursuing a career in children's TV!
For that survey course, I wrote a paper on use of music by CTW in SESAME
STREET and THE ELECTRIC COMPANY. Imagine my need to explain to my roommates
that I had to watch those shows -- not just for fun, but for a class!
Surprise ending...
Last year, Gerry Lesser asked me to come back to Harvard to address his
course on children's television at the Ed School. He introduced my by
holding up that paper I wrote as a freshman -- in 1976!
David Kleeman
Executive Director
American Center for Children's Television
--
David W. Kleeman, Executive Director
American Center for Children's Television
1400 East Touhy, Suite 260, Des Plaines, IL 60018-3305
847-390-6499 (phone) 847-390-9435 (fax) dkle...@mcs.net