Telly Monster

Telly Monster is a slightly neurotic young monster who lives at 1304 Sesame Street.
Early on, Telly was often paired with Oscar the Grouch, whom he tried to befriend against tremendous odds. The two were traveling companions in Follow That Bird, and Telly is a member of Oscar's fan club, the Grouchketeers. The two starred in two recurring sketches together: "Ask Oscar," which Telly introduced, and "Sneak Peek Previews." They were paired again in 2010 in a sketch demonstrating words that begin with the letter B. 
Since the early 1990s, Telly has often been seen in the company of his good friend Baby Bear. Telly has a great love of triangles and owns a pet hamster named Chuckie Sue. Telly has a favorite toy doll, which he named "Freddy." When Telly was a baby monster, his favorite toy was a stuffed animal horse, which he named "Clark" before he got "Freddy." In the video Bedtime Stories & Songs, when Telly comes to Big Bird's nest for a sleepover, he brings a menagerie of different stuffed animals that almost overflow the entire nest. He also plays the bassoon, the tuba, and, of course, the triangle. He also occasionally appears as a Monster on the Spot reporter. He also often jumps on a pogo stick, which he learned from Mr. Handford in Episode 3115.
Telly's family has been represented most prominently by his older sister Mona Monster. His mother has also made a few appearances, he has a younger sibling mentioned in Episode 1870, and various other members of his extended family. According to Episode 2278, his father is an insurance salesman.
Modern versions of the Telly puppet have movable eyelids to let his eyes widen, a handy technique when the monster is in panic mode. There are also two Telly puppets that have been interchangeably used throughout the show.Martin P. Robinson. "Telly Monster Trivia," Sesame Family Robinson, 14 August 2011. (archive) The more frequently used version is a "sack puppet," similar in design to Cookie Monster or Rowlf the Dog, where the arm sleeves are directly attached to the base of the puppet. The second version is a full-body version of the character, with legs and feet attached. The puppet's arms are stuffed, with visible arm sleeves similar in design to the arms of Ernie or Fozzie Bear.
==Origins==
Telly was initially conceived as a monster obsessed with watching television; his name is short for Television Monster. The character was first seen in Episode 1257, during the tenth season, performed here by Bob Payne. This particular build of the puppet had antennas coming out of the top of his head, and his eyes would whirl around as he endlessly watched TV. An idea of making him a cyclops was dismissed early on.CTW memo, January 1979
However, producers felt the character would serve as a negative role model for children by encouraging them to sit just as close to their own television screens, and no new material was produced for the characterSesame Street Unpaved, page 78. with some scenes featuring Telly even being removed from his origin episode before taping began.CTW memo, January 1979
The following season, the Telly puppet was stripped of the antenna and whirling eyes and became a generic monster.Brian Muehl on Getting Felt Up episode 67 (26:53) He appears in Episode 1343 as Big Bird's "new little monster pal," performed by Michael Earl. A unique feature of this early appearance was that the puppet had an opening in the mouth, allowing the character to eat up the fruit given to him by Big Bird. Michael Earl also performs him in the following episode; in both cases, the character would speak in a mutter of grumbly noises and words. As performed by Brian Muehl, his first aired appearance with coherent dialogue was an insert with Suzanne Farrell, practicing on the barre with Herry and an AM Monster. 
Later in production for that season, Caroll Spinney fell off his bicycle while riding to the studio, and his swollen ankle prevented him from performing Big Bird for some shows. Jon Stone quickly refitted the episodes (including Episodes 1411 and 1412) to instead feature Telly. The character was given to Muehl full-time, who developed a low, gruff-sounding voice for Telly. For the twelfth season, Telly became a more prominent character, and Muehl developed Telly's worrywart personality, making him a character who always needed reassurance in order to be confident.
When Martin P. Robinson took over in 1984, he originally began with the personality Muehl already established for the character, using a voice similar to Muehl’s Telly voice. However, Telly evolved over time, gaining a much stronger emotional range:
Another of Telly's more definable traits, his affinity for triangles, was developed by writer Lou Berger in Episode 2780 (1990). Berger noted that he wished to give Telly a passion for something outside of being neurotic, and he became inspired when he saw his son playing with some triangles at home.Sesame Street Unpaved, page 79.
==Notes==
*Telly, along with Barkley, was one of Brian Muehl's favorite characters to perform. Muehl said of him: "Telly was a big chunk of my heart and soul. The fact that he came about because Caroll Spinney fell off his bike on the way to the studio, hurt his ankle, and someone had to fill in for Big Bird on the script/show - Telly was born! - he's got such a show biz cliche about it, it's always made him near and dear to me."Email communication from Brian Muehl. 2013
*According to an appearance at the Nebula Awards, Telly is five years old.2:00:33 mark of Nebula Awards video
*For Sesame Street's 40th season, Sesame Workshop featured a digital promotion called "Muppetbook," which featured profiles similar to those seen on Facebook. The profile listed squares, circles, and Woody Allen movies (too much anxiety) as Telly's pet peeves. Among his favorite songs are "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Don't Worry, Be Happy," and "Don't Cry Out Loud."
*A refitted version of the Telly Monster puppet was once used as the Two-Headed Monster's Mother.
==Filmography==
*Sesame Street
*Big Bird in China
*Don't Eat the Pictures
*The Muppets Take Manhattan
*Follow That Bird
*The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
*Learning About Letters
*Bedtime Stories & Songs
*Sesame Street, Special
*Big Bird's Favorite Party Games
*Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
*The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
*Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake
*We All Sing Together
*Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration
*Stars and Street Forever
*Sesame Street Stays Up Late
*Don't Forget to Watch the Movie
*Elmo Saves Christmas
*Get Set to Learn!
*Imagine That
*Telling the Truth
*Elmo Through the Looking-Glass
*The Rosie O'Donnell Show (guest appearance, November 11, 1998)
*Quiet Time
*Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies
*Elmo Says BOO!
*Elmopalooza
*Elmo's Reading Basics 
*The Three Grouchketeers 
*The Alphabet Jungle Game
*The Great Numbers Game
*Surprise Sounds Kitchen commercial
*Surprise Sounds Play Store commercial
*Elmo's Radio Control Roadway commercial
*A Brief History of Motion Pictures
*Kids' Favorite Songs
*The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
*CinderElmo
*Language to Literacy
*Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf
*Elmo's Magic Cookbook
*Let's Make Music
*Music Works Wonders
*"We Are Family" music video
*Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!
*Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
*Talk, Read, Write
*A Magical Halloween Adventure
*The Street We Live On
*Happy, Healthy, Ready for School!
*Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments
*Kids' Favorite Country Songs
*Elmo's Christmas Countdown
*The Get Healthy Now Show
*Dinosaurs!
*Being Green
*Math Is Everywhere
*Elmo's Alphabet Challenge
*Kinect Sesame Street TV
*Spaghetti Space Chase
*Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas
*Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
*Elmo's Playdate
*The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo
*Elmo's Mindfulness Spectacular
*Cookie Monster's Bake Sale
*Elmo and Tango Holiday Helpers
==Album appearances==
*Sesame Road
*We Are All Earthlings
*A Sesame Street Christmas
*Dreamytime Songs
*The Best of Elmo
*Kids' Favorite Songs
*Elmo Says BOO!
*Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites
*Kids' Favorite Songs 2
==Book appearances==
* The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
* City (1982)
* First Day of School (1982)
* More Who's Who on Sesame Street (1982)
* One Rubber Duckie (1982)
* Seasons of the Year (1982)
* Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1983 reprint)
* People in Your Neighborhood (1983)
* A Baby Sister for Herry (1984)
* Lovable, Furry Old Grover in Please Don't Push the Red Button (1984)
* A Silly Sesame Street Story: The Three Little Pigs (1984)
* Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985)
* Big Bird's Book About the Earth and Sky (1985)
* Big Bird Joins the Carnival (1985)
* Ernie's Finish the Picture (1985)
* Follow That Bird Activity Book (1985)
* Follow That Bird coloring book (1985)
* Look What I Can Do (1985)
* Sign Language ABC (1985)
* A Bird's Best Friend (1986)
* Find the Shapes (1986)
* Through the Year (1986)
* The Runaway Soup and Other Stories (1987)
* Colors (1987)
* Shape Up! (1987)
* Big Bird's Square Meal (1988)
* Going Places (1988)
* A New Playground on Sesame Street (1988)
* Oh, I Am So Embarrassed! (1988)
* The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words (1988)
* Come As You Are (1989)
* The New Who's Who on Sesame Street (1989)
* Things That Go (1989)
* Museum of Monster Art (1990)
* The Treasure Hunt (1990)
* How to Get to Sesame Street (1991)
* Sesame Street 123 (1991)
* We're Counting on You, Grover! (1991)
* What Do You Do? (1992 edition)
* Grover's 10 Terrific Ways to Help Our Wonderful World (1992)
* Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad (1992)
* The Sesame Street Book of Poetry (1992)
* We're Different, We're the Same (1992)
* Baby-Sitting with Big Bird (1993)
* I Spy: A Game to Read and Play (1993)
* Merry Christmas, Everybody! (1993)
* Sesame Street's Mother Goose Rhymes (1993)
* From Trash to Treasure (1993)
* Around the Corner on Sesame Street (1994)
* Bright and Early with Elmo (1994)
* Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book (1994)
* Grover's Mommy (1994)
* Ready, Set, Go! A Counting Book (1995)
* Sesame Street Stays Up Late (1995)
* B is for Books! (1996)
* Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
* Rise and Shine! (1996; reworked as Up, Up, Up! in 2011)
* Elmo's Christmas Colors (1997)
* Pumpkin Patch Party (1997)
* The Sesame Street Word Book (1998)
* Sesame Street Lift-and-Peek Party! (1998)
* Elmo Likes to Help (1999)
* Elmo's New Laugh (1999)
* Elmo's ABC Book (2000)
* Watch Out for Banana Peels (2000)
* A Very Grouchy Christmas! (2000)
* Elmo and the Monsters (2001)
* Clap Your Hands! (2002)
* Hooray for Our Heroes! (2002)
* Look and Find Elmo (2002)
* Get Up and Go Songs (2003)
* Cookie's Color Caper (2004)
* Elmo's World: Sports! (2004)
* Fun with Friends (2004)
* Boo! (2005)
* Red or Blue, I Like You! (2005)
* Be a Friend (2006)
* Be Polite (2006)
* Fly Away with Big Bird (2006)
* Name Those Shapes (2006)
* Please and Thank You (2006)
* S is for School! (2006)
* Abby Cadabby's Rhyme Time (2007)
* Friendly, Frosty Monsters (2007)
* Good Night, Tucked in Tight (2007)
* Have Yourself a Furry Little Christmas (2007)
* Music Player Storybook (2007)
* Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
* Sesame Street Super Sticker Book (2007)
* What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
* Color Carnival (2008)
* Storybook ABCs (2008)
* Count to 10 (2009)
* Love, Elmo (2009)
* My Big Book of Firsts (2009)
* Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? (2009)
* Healthy Monster Triathlon (2010)
* Plant a Tree for Me! (2010)
* Potty Time for Monsters (2011)
* Elmo and Ernie's Joke Book (2012)
* Elmo's Rockin' Rhyme Time! (2012)
* Over on Sesame Street (2012)
* All Tucked In on Sesame Street! (2014)
* Elmo's Super-Duper Birthday (2016)
* E is for Elmo (2017)
* Counta Block (2021)
* Home for the Holidays (2021)
* Elmo Gives Thanks (2024)
* Sesame Street 2024 comic book
** Issue 1: Grover Lends a Hand
** Issue 2: Bert & Ernie's Spring Cleaning
** Issue 4: The Amazing Mumford's Card Trick
==Character merchandise==
*Groiler Christmas ornament
*Beanbag toy
*Kellogg's mini bean
*13" plush
*1987 PVC figurine
*1998 PVC figurine
*2011 Hasbro figure
*Peter and the Wolf toys (Dairy Queen)
==Sources==
==See also==
* Telly Monster Through the Years
* Telly's Alternate Identities
* Telly songs
* Telly's family
* International Telly Monster
* Sesame Street monsters
* Tellyfish
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Muppet Characters
Category:Sesame Street Muppet Characters
Category:Sesame Street Characters
Category:Sesame Street Monsters