Norman Stiles

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Norman Stiles (b. December 4, 1942) is a writer who worked on Sesame Street and its related productions for over twenty years. His concepts include the Muppet characters Harvey Kneeslapper, Count von Count, and Forgetful Jones.
Stiles initially studied zoology and chemistry at Hunter College, and became a social worker for the New York City Welfare Department. During that period, he began writing comedy material for such performers as Ron Carey (later a regular on Barney Miller) and Marty Brill, and wrote for Merv Griffin.Season 4 Press Kit. 1971
Stiles joined the Sesame Street writing staff in 1971, hired by head writer Jeff Moss as the show was entering its third season. He competed for the job with then intern Lois Fortune.We’re All Norman’s Kids: The Norman Stiles Interview Stiles became head writer of Sesame Street in season 6, but left after that season to pursue a career in Hollywood. Stiles returned to Sesame Street in season 11, where he eventually resumed his role as head writer until season 28. In later years, his work would often touch upon sensitive topics, such as the death of Mr. Hooper in Episode 1839, or the effects of divorce on children in the unaired "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce." In 1990, as part of the Season 22 curriculum mandate to examine race relations, Stiles wrote an episode in which a blue monster named Greta refuses to let Elmo play wubbaball because of his different fur color, only to find herself excluded.Johnson, Peter. "Taking Race Relations to the Street." USA Today. November 12, 1990
Stiles has also written for appearances by the Muppets, such as an Ad Council nutrition spot with Cookie Monster, and authored a variety of Sesame Street books (including The Perils of Penelope), wrote lyrics for such songs as "Put Down the Duckie," and helped script Jim Henson's pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence.
Stiles discussed his philosophy of writing in 1988: 
Outside of the Muppets and Sesame Street, Stiles has written for America 2-Night (starring Martin Mull and Fred Willard) and Mel Brooks' 1975 sitcom spoof of Robin Hood, When Things Were Rotten.
In 1996, Stiles co-founded Sirius Thinking Ltd, an independent children's television production company, with fellow Sesame alumni Michael K. Frith and Christopher Cerf. At Sirius Thinking, Stiles wrote and produced the PBS children's show Between the Lions which premiered in 2000. The show has won six Daytime Emmy Awards, including a 2004 Emmy for best writing.
In April 2014, Stiles launched a crowdfunding campaign for an online video series Baby & Toddler Parenthood News Network with his wife Ellen Dillon and child development expert Amy Hatkoff.
==Television credits==
*Sesame Street (seasons 3-6, 11-28) - head writer seasons 6, 12-28; script consultant in season 11
*Out to Lunch
*The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
*The Grover Monster - Jean Marsh Cartoon Special
*Sesame Street, Special
*Free to Be... a Family
*Natalie Cole's Untraditional Traditional Christmas (Elmo scenes)
===Episodes===
Sesame Street episodes written by Stiles include:episode scripts
* Episode 1595
* Episode 1605
* Episode 1619
* Episode 1706
* Episode 1742
* Episode 1815
* Episode 1839
* Episode 1880
* Episode 1917
* Episode 1932
* Episode 1966
* Episode 1985 (R)
* Episode 2004
* Episode 2045	
* Episode 2094
* Episode 2095
* Episode 2096
* Episode 2115 (R)
* Episode 2146
* Episode 2227
* Episode 2303
* Episode 2355
* Episode 2398
* Episode 2404
* Episode 2440
* Episode 2477
* Episode 2544
* Episode 2556	
* Episode 2586
* Episode 2616
* Episode 2632 (R)
* Episode 2674 (R)
* Episode 2681
* Episode 2709
* Episode 2717
* Episode 2764 (R)
* Episode 2848
* Episode 2861
* Episode 2863
* Episode 2868
* Episode 2874
* Episode 2939	
* Episode 3038
* Episode 3078
* Episode 3091
* Episode 3131
* Episode 3138
* Episode 3205
* Episode 3230
* Episode 3247
* Episode 3254 (R)
* Episode 3336
* Episode 3371
* Episode 3391
* Episode 3440 (R)
* Episode 3654
===Segments===
Sesame Street segments written by Stiles include:
* Cookies in BedToughPigs.com Livestream with Norman Stiles at 7:35 May 20, 2020 
* Grover: HELPToughPigs.com Livestream with Norman Stiles at 13:08 May 20, 2020 
* A Fish in a Cowboy Hat 
* The Count hires Ernie to answer the phone 
* Billy Crystal as Ricky 
* Ed Grimley (Martin Short) and Henry (Billy Crystal) 
* Bobby McFerrin's version of "The Alphabet Song" 
* Jay Leno rides 
* Elmo scares Julia Roberts 
* Blair Underwood swings Elmo 
* The Count jumps over the table 
* Danny Glover reads a story 
* Hillary Clinton discusses healthy eating 
* Elmo and Rosie O'Donnell rap the alphabet 
* Ernie practices saying hola
* Marisa Tomei and Big Bird 
* Big Bird knocks over blocks 
* Susan Sarandon and Cookie Monster 
* Big Bird gives Telly Monster a balloon 
* Big Bird's foot poem 
* Big Bird's door poem 
* Ernie's drum experiment
* Big Bird's tennis balls 
* Awadagin Pratt plays the piano 
* Ernie counts backwards
* Big Bird and Baby Bear visit the Museum of Modern Art 
* Big Bird's Video Postcards: Phoenix, Arizona 
==Book credits==
*The Sesame Street Storybook
*The Amazing Mumford and His Amazing Subtracting Trick
*The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook
*The Perils of Penelope
*The Sesame Street ABC Storybook
*Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum
*Grover's Little Red Riding Hood
*The Ernie & Bert Book
*The Count's Number Parade
*The Sesame Street Library volumes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12
*The Sesame Street Treasury volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5
*I'll Miss You, Mr. Hooper
*Around the Corner on Sesame Street
==Song writing credits==
File:Aboveitall.jpg|"Above it All"
File:AlphabetPolka.jpg|"Alphabet Polka"
File:AlphabetTimeSong.jpg|"Alphabet Time (The Surgeon's Song)"
File:BigWolfFamily.jpg|"Bad Wolf"
File:1706b.jpg|"Big Bird's Going to Camp"
File:2365h.jpg|"The Birdketeer Song"
File:Song.birdlandjump.jpg|"The Birdland Jump"
File:2004e.jpeg|"Broken Arm Guitar"
File:CloudNine.jpg|"Cloud Nine"
File:CountKidPlay.jpeg|"Counting Rap"
File:Song.countingrobins.jpg|"Counting Robins"
File:CrossItOut.jpg|"Cross It Out"
3430c.jpg|"Crying Game"
2016b.jpg|"The Cuckoo Clock Song"
File:2096w.jpg|"Dance Myself to Sleep"
File:LittleJerryDanger.jpg|"Danger"
File:DoDeRubberDuck.jpg|"Do De Rubber Duck"
File:2482a.jpg|"Don't Sing This Song"
File:DontTouchMe.jpg|"Don't Touch Me"
File:Doo_Wop_Hop.jpg|"Do-Op Hop"
File:Elephantelevator.jpg|"The Elephant Elevator Operator"
File:Song.fivejive.jpg|"Elmo's Jive Five"
File:Song-exit.jpg|"Exit"
File:2544g.jpg|"Gonna Be a Dad/Mom"
File:Googlebugle.jpg|"Google Bugle"
File:GrouchesSF.jpg|"Grouches in the South of France"
File:1742b.jpg|"Grouchy Book"
File:HandfulOCrumbs.jpg|"Handful of Crumbs"
File:ErnieJoseCarreras.jpg|"He Lost His Duckie"
File:HeyFood.jpg|"Hey Food"
File:HonkerDuckieDingerJamboree.jpg|"The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree"
File:Song.IAmChicken.jpg|"I Am Chicken"
File:1619e.jpg|"I Love to Eat"
File:Vlcsnap-2018-03-02-16h33m01s508.png|"I See a Garden"
File:Song.sadhappy.jpg|"I'm Sad Because I'm Happy"
File:2404j.jpg|"The Like Changed Into Love"
File:BBGrouch-2.jpg|"The Loudest Lullaby (You've Ever Heard)"
File:3763f.jpg|"Love in the Junkyard"
File:0708g.jpg|"Lullaby of Machine Land"
File:Megottabeblue.jpg|"Me Gotta Be Blue"
File:Monsterinthemirror.jpg|"Monster in the Mirror"
File:noimage-landscape.png|"Oops"
2321a.jpg|"Playing Pirates"
File:PutDowntheDuckie.jpg|"Put Down the Duckie"
File:2616streetstory5.jpg|"Seventeen Ice Cream Cones"
2586g.jpg|"Silly Dancing"
SmallPeople.jpg|"Small People"
3457birdland2.jpg|"Sometimes I Sing"
File:3318e.jpg|"Stinky Family Song"
File:Mushymuddy.jpg|"Swamp Mushy Muddy"
File:Littlejerryandthemonotones.jpg|"Telephone Rock"
File:2874d.jpg|"This Song Is for the Birds"
File:2616streetstory2.jpg|"Trouble"
File:001.JPG|"Up and Down Opera"
File:EB.WakeUp.jpg|"Wake Up!"
File:WashYourHands01.jpg|"Wash Your Hands"
3831oinkerBsong.jpg|"Where Can You Be, B?"
File:GrannyVisits.jpg|"With You"
File:BBWaylon1.jpg|"Wrong"
File:BeABirdketeer.jpg|"You Can Be a Birdketeer"
File:2155a.jpg|"You Can Be a Grouchketeer"
3230c.jpg|"You Can Learn to Sing a Song"
0708h.jpg|"You Can Remember"
File:1815h.jpg|"You Got a Nose"
File:Little_chrissy_you%27re_alive.jpg|"You're Alive"
==Home video==
*Learning About Numbers
*I'm Glad I'm Me
*Play-Along Games and Songs
==Miscellaneous writing credits==
*¡Sesame Mucho!, album
*Dinah! I've Got a Song, album
*Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra, album
*Getting Ready for School, album
*Sesame Country, album
*Silly Dancing, Sesame Street Live stage show
*Sleeping Birdie, stage show
*Elmo and the Earthquake, audio story
*The Great Flood on Sesame Street, audio story
==External links==
* Sirius Thinking page on Stiles (archived)
* Old Jews Telling Jokes
* ToughPigs.com interview: "We're All Norman's Kids"
* Graphic Policy interview: Muppets Gone Missing: Norman Stiles
* The Atlantic interview: "The Songsmiths of Sesame Street" by Julie Beck, March 29, 2019
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Writers
Category:Authors
Category:Lyricists