Spaceship Surprise

Spaceship Surprise was a recurring sketch on Sesame Street that debuted in season 19.
Inspired by Star Trek, the segment was designed to teach consonant digraphs, the pairing of two consonants to create a new sound. The series focused on the crew of the titular ship, headed by an excitable captain (performed by Jim Henson) and his stoic assistant (Richard Hunt). In each segment, the ship would crash land on a different planet, whose populace demonstrated a specific sound. Alliteration was used heavily ("cheering chairs," "shouting shovel," etc.) The skit would generally end with the entire group performing a dance named after the digraph.
In season 25, a sequel series, Spaceship Surprise: The Next Generation, was launched. This time, the emphasis was on consonant sounds in general, and not digraphs. The new crew included:
* The Captain, a Purple AM parody of Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard (Martin P. Robinson)
* The Security Officer, a Pumpkin AM parody of Michael Dorn's Worf (Kevin Clash)
* The Science Officer, a Green AM parody of Brent Spiner's Data (David Rudman)
* The Doctor, a Lavender AM parody of Gates McFadden's Doctor Crusher (Camille Bonora)
The original segments featured sci-fi theme music similar to the original Star Trek theme with Martin P. Robinson as the narrator. The last segment featured new theme music parodying Star Trek: The Next Generation and Jerry Nelson narrating.
In an interview for Tough Pigs, Noel MacNeal explained that Patrick Stewart was meant to make a guest appearance in Spaceship Surprise, but refused, and a different segment featuring Stewart aired instead.A Chat with Noel MacNeal, part 1", ToughPigs.com. February 14, 2011.
The segments were preceded years prior by a Star Trek spoof entitled "Starship Surprise."
Image:SSoriginalcrew.jpg‎|Original crew.
Image:SSnewcrew.jpg‎|Next Generation crew.
Image:SpaceshipSurprise.jpg
Image:Nextgenerationlogo.jpg‎|
==Sketches==
===Original Series===
Picture	Theme / First Appearance 	Description
center 	Planet "CH" Episode 2414	The crew lands on the Planet CH, where they are greeted by Chunky Cheese.
center 	Planet "SH"Episode 2468 	The crew lands on the Planet SH, where they are greeted by Sheriff Shrimp, and meet a shouting shovel and shopping sheep.
 	Planet‎ "TR"Episode 2607 	The crew lands on the Planet TR, where they are greeted by Trevor Trout.
===Next Generation===
Picture	Theme /First Appearance	Description
center 	Planet "H" Episode 3195	The crew lands on Planet H. They are greeted by Hopalong Hamster, and see Happy Harry the Hopping Haystack and hula dancing hens.
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Sesame Street Recurring Sketches
Category:Space
Category:Fictional Shows