Prairie Dawn

Prairie Dawn is a level-headed, six-year-old Muppet girl on Sesame Street. She is known for writing and directing school pageants featuring her friends, mostly Ernie, Bert, Herry, Grover, and Cookie Monster, for which she also plays the piano.
Detail-oriented and efficient, Prairie often aspires to work in broadcasting or journalism, presenting "Fairy Tales Today" on Sesame Street itself, serving as a correspondent for the Monster News Network in Sesame Street Stays Up Late ("I'm not really a monster, but it is a job in communications."), and directing the broadcast of Elmopalooza prior to being trapped with Jon Stewart and the rest of the crew.
In addition to her pageants, she has been seen in her own segments, chronicling "The Adventures of Prairie Dawn." From Season 35 to Season 37, she frequently tried to keep Cookie Monster from eating the Letter of the Day. She was also one of the hosts of the TV series Play with Me Sesame, initially presenting artwork submitted by viewers and later a segment centered on music.
Prairie Dawn has appeared in a number of game show sketches. She has been a contestant on at least two of Guy Smiley's game shows -- "The Triangle Is Right" and "What's My Letter?" -- and was also the subject of another Guy Smiley game show, "What's Prairie's Problem?" She has also been a contestant on "Squeal of Fortune", and has appeared in "The New Here is Your Life" sketch about a Glass of Milk, and made appearances in "The Letter of the Day Games."
Prairie Dawn is sometimes confused with the blonde, pigtailed Betty Lou, because both are based on the Hot Pink Little Anything Muppet. Although the two were rarely seen together on screen, they were often paired in book appearances, such as The Sesame Street Sun.
Baby Prairie Dawn and her mom are two of the main characters in Sesame Beginnings. Her dad appears in a 1980 story book, she has an Aunt Dusk, and another aunt named Matty seen in Sesame Stories. According to the game show "What's Prairie's Problem?", she has a baby brother named Attila. Her autobiographical song "All By Myself" meanwhile mentions a "yucky big brother."
==History==
Prairie first appeared on the show in season 2 as a utility Anything Muppet before gradually developing first a personality and then a name. Her earliest known appearance was during the song "Surprise!" as part of a crowd that surprises Herbert Birdsfoot in a cutaway scene. She's called Penelope in a sketch with Sherlock Hemlock and appears unnamed in a sketch about DANGER with Gordon , preparing to play baseball , sorting shoes with Herry Monster , and inviting monsters to dinner . A penchant for speaking elaborately emerged in these sketches and was present in her earliest named appearances, both in Street scenes in Episode 0252 and Episode 0260.
Performer Fran Brill reflected on how Prairie got her name in the book Sesame Street Unpaved:
Before Fran Brill's retirement in September 2014, her final onscreen performances as Prairie included the framing scenes for the video Monster Manners, a Season 45 sketch, and the special The Cookie Thief. In the latter, Prairie's last spoken line is "I think it may be time for me to retire!" Stephanie D'Abruzzo took over the character starting with Season 46, with her first aired Prairie performances being a central role in the Orange is the New Black parody , as well as a promo promoting the show's move to HBO. D'Abruzzo previously voiced Prairie for her first two lines in Jerry Nelson: A 65th Birthday Celebration.
==Notes==
* Prairie Dawn's birthday is August 3.
* In the Sesame Street Skills for Growing filmstrip "Sesame Street 4th of July," she was voiced by Marilyn Sokol, erroneously with a Spanish accent.
* According to The Sesame Street Dictionary, Sammy the Snake is Prairie Dawn's pet.
* Prairie apparently wears "Days of the Week" underwear; when Joey Mazzarino checked under her dress for the Henson stitch at The Paley Center for Media (for a screening of Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey), he was asked by Tau Bennett why. Prairie replied, "He was just checking to see what day of the week it was!" This was a gag first done by Frank Oz in between taping.Brill, Fran. The Muppet Mindset interview. November 17, 2010.
* Although Prairie is usually said to be six-years-old (as mentioned in the song "All By Myself"), at an appearance at New York Comic Con in 2013, she said that she's seven. Although her age isn't stated, in Episode 2940, she blows out seven candles on her birthday cake.
* Upon Fran Brill's retirement, she received an authentic Prairie Dawn puppet as a gift from the show's producers.Muppet Guys Talking "Show & Tell" promotional video
* Prairie made a special appearance in the second episode of "Below the Frame" in November 2016, where she gave a report from the show's float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
* In Episode 5435, Prairie is shown to be living in one of the apartments of 129 Sesame Street; her bedroom is shown located directly above Hooper's Store.
==Appearances==
*Sesame Street (1971-present)
*The Muppet Movie
*Follow That Bird
*The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
*A Muppet Family Christmas
*Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
*Jim Henson's Memorial
*The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
*Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake
*Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration
*Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years
*Sesame Street Stays Up Late
*Stars and Street Forever
*Don't Forget to Watch the Movie
*Elmo Saves Christmas
*Elmopalooza
*Kids' Favorite Songs
*A Brief History of Motion Pictures
*The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
*CinderElmo
*Kids' Favorite Songs 2
*Play with Me Sesame
*Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
*Bert and Ernie's Word Play
*Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!
*Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
*Beginning Together
*Elmo's Potty Time
*Clips & Quips
*Moving Together
*Elmo's Christmas Countdown
*The Sunny Side Up Show
*Count on Sports
*The Creative Coalition
*Sesame Street's 40th Birthday Party
*The Doctors
*Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
*Kinect Sesame Street TV
*Monster Manners
*The Cookie Thief
*When You Wish Upon a Pickle
*Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
*Elmo's Playdate
*The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo
**Episode 101: Jimmy Fallon / Kacey Musgraves
**Episode 107: Blake Lively / Dan + Shay
===Episodic appearances===
*Season 2 - Season 4:
**0190, 0213, 0252, 0257, 0260, 0267, 0327, 0401, 0406
*Season 21 - Season 25:
**2618, 2817, 2839, 2846, 2847, 2855, 2863, 2922, 2924, 2932, 2933, 2938, 2940, 2941, 2946, 2958, 2967, 2968, 2979, 2983, 3038, 3064, 3067, 3069, 3072, 3074, 3078, 3079, 3087, 3088, 3091, 3129, 3136, 3154, 3169, 3202, 3236, 3241, 3244, 3249
*Season 26 - Season 30:
**3311, 3313, 3329, 3341, 3374, 3462, 3470, 3475, 3537, 3560, 3583 (VO), 3584, 3595, 3725, 3728, 3783, 3810, 3812, 3819, 3826, 3827, 3832, 3837
*Season 31 - Season 35:
**3898, 3911, 3964, 3967, 3989, 4040, 4063, 4067
*Season 36 - Season 40:
**4098, 4122, 4145, 4164
*Season 41 - Season 45:
**4281, 4411, 4513
*Season 46 - Season 50:
**4608, 4621, 4629, 4635, 4724, 4801, 4812, 4832, 4835, 4904, 4905, 4907, 4911, 4935, 5029
*Season 51 - present
**5214, 5307, 5435, 5517, 5528
==Book appearances==
* Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum (1974)
* Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1976)
* Paper Doll Players (1976)
* The Sesame Street Mix or Match Storybook (1977)
* The Sesame Street Cookbook (1978)
* The Exciting Adventures of Super Grover (1978)
* Grover's Super Surprise Book (1978)
* The Sesame Street Library (1978)
** The Sesame Street Library Volume 4
** The Sesame Street Library Volume 13
** The Sesame Street Library Volume 14
** The Sesame Street Library Volume 15
* Ernie's Work of Art (1979)
* A Day on Sesame Street (1979)
* Cookie Monster's Storybook (1979)
* Sesame Stories (1979)
* My Favorite Things (1979)
* Anybody Can Play (1980)
* Down on the Farm with Grover (1980)
* Fix It, Please (1980)
* Frazzle's Fantastic Day (1980)
* Going Up! (1980)
* I Can Do It Myself (1980)
* I Like School (1980)
* The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
* Show and Tell (1980)
* Special Delivery (1980)
* The Tool Box Book (1980)
* A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch (1981)
* Prairie Dawn, Reporter (1981)
* Prairie Dawn's Upside-Down Poem (1981)
* Put & Play Inside Outside (1981)
* Put & Play Space Puppets (1981)
* Put & Play Yucchy Book (1981)
* The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
* What Do You Do? (1981)
* When Is Saturday? (1981)
* Which One Doesn't Belong? (1981)
* City (1982)
* A Day at School (1982)
* First Day of School (1982)
* One Rubber Duckie (1982)
* Seasons of the Year (1982)
* Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 9: The NO Book (1982)
* Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 10: The PQ Book (1982)
* Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 11: The R Book (1982)
* Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 14: The UV Book (1982)
* A Sesame Street Christmas (1982)
* The Little Red Hen (1983)
* People in Your Neighborhood (1983)
* The Sesame Street Word Book (1983)
* The Sesame Street Treasury (1983)
* Big Bird's Alphabet Book (1984)
* Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? (1984)
* I Think That It Is Wonderful (1984)
* Lovable, Furry Old Grover in Please Don't Push the Red Button (1984)
* A Silly Sesame Street Story: The Three Little Pigs (1984)
* Trace & Color Alphabet (1984)
* Big Bird Can Share (1985)
* Big Bird Says... A Game to Read and Play (1985)
* Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985)
* Ernie's Finish the Picture (1985)
* Grover's Book of Colors (1985)
* I Can Count to Ten and Back Again (1985)
* My Sesame Street Yearbook 1985
* Look What I Can Do (1985)
* Sign Language ABC (1985)
* ABC (1986)
* A Bird's Best Friend (1986)
* A My Name Is Annabel (1986)
* Baby Animals on the Farm (1986)
* Big Bird Goes to the Doctor (1986)
* Find the Shapes (1986)
* Sesame Street ABC (1986)
* Through the Year (1986)
* Colors (1987)
* The Colors of Spring (1987)
* Ernie's Neighborhood (1987)
* I Want a Hat Like That (1987)
* A Rainy Day on Sesame Street (1987)
* A Day in the Country (1988)
* Big Bird's Square Meal (1988)
* Going Places (1988)
* A New Playground on Sesame Street (1988)
* The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words (1988)
* A My Name Is Alice (1989)
* Come As You Are (1989)
* ABC's (1989)
* Numbers (1989)
* Things That Go (1989)
* Ernie Follows His Nose (1990)
* Museum of Monster Art (1990)
* 1-2-3 (1991)
* Be My Friend (1991)
* Halloween Party (1991)
* Sesame Street 123 (1991)
* We're Counting on You, Grover! (1991)
* Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad (1992)
* Holidays Around the World (1992)
* A New Way to Get to Sesame Street (1992)
* Rain Forest Adventure (1992)
* The Sesame Street Book of Poetry (1992)
* Shapes: Stand-ups to Color & Share (1992)
* I Want to Be a Ballet Dancer (1993)
* Merry Christmas, Everybody! (1993)
* Sesame Street's Mother Goose Rhymes (1993)
* Jim Henson: The Works (1993)
* From Trash to Treasure (1993)
* Big Bird Meets the Orchestra (1993)
* Elmo's Christmas (1993)
* Bright and Early with Elmo (1994)
* Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book (1994)
* Grover's Mommy (1994)
* Elmo and the Baby Animals (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)
* The Bunny Hop (1997)
* Christmas Songs (1997)
* Elmo's Christmas Colors (1997)
* Pumpkin Patch Party (1997)
* Sesame Street Lift-and-Peek Party! (1998)
* Sesame Street Unpaved (1999)
* Elmo Says Achoo! (2000)
* Sounds of Sesame Street (2000)
* Watch Out for Banana Peels (2000)
* A Very Grouchy Christmas! (2000)
* Sesame Street Doctor's Office (2001)
* Clap Your Hands! (2002)
* Look and Find Elmo (2002)
* Listen to Your Fish (2003)
* Elmo's World: Sports! (2004)
* Fun with Friends (2004)
* Elmo's Easy As ABC (2005)
* Red or Blue, I Like You! (2005)
* Be a Friend (2006)
* Discovering Letter Sounds (2006)
* S is for School! (2006)
* Abby Cadabby's Rhyme Time (2007)
* Elmo & Friends Picture Stories (2007)
* Friendly, Frosty Monsters (2007)
* I'm a Helper (2007)
* Music Player Storybook (2007)
* Sesame Street Musical Pop-Up Treasury (2007)
* Sesame Street Super Sticker Book (2007)
* What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
* Elmo Animal Mix & Match (2008)
* I Can Do It! (2008)
* Our Kind of Bird (2008)
* Sing & Learn Counting (2008)
* Storybook ABCs (2008)
* Waiting for Cookie (2008)
* What Do You Hear, Dear? (2008)
* What's the Word on the Street? (2008)
* Count to 10 (2009)
* Love, Elmo (2009)
* Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street (2009)
* Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? (2009)
* Busy Friends (2010)
* Out & About (2010)
* Elmo's Merry Christmas (2011)
* E is for Elmo (2017)
* Elmo's Lift and Slide ABC (2019)
* Counta Block (2021)
* What If...? (2021)
* Meet Your Neighbors on Sesame Street (2022)
* Girl Power (2023)
* Sesame Street 2024 comic book
** Issue 4: The Amazing Mumford's Card Trick
==Album appearances==
*The Muppet Alphabet Album
*Havin' Fun with Ernie & Bert
*Bert & Ernie Sing-Along
*Merry Christmas from Sesame Street
*Signs!
*Happy Birthday from Sesame Street
*The Sesame Street Fairy Tale Album
*Fair is Fair
*The People in Your Neighborhood
*Big Bird's Birdtime Stories
*Sing: Songs of Joe Raposo
*Sesame Road
*We Are All Earthlings
*Sing Along Travel Songs
*Hot! Hot! Hot! Dance Songs
*Kids' Favorite Songs
*Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites
*Kids' Favorite Songs 2
;Book and audio
*Don't Cry, Big Bird (1981)
*Twiddlebugs at Work (1981)
*The Alphabet: The Great Alphabet Play (1986)
*Bert and the Broken Teapot (1987)
*A Bird's Best Friend (1987)
*Big Bird Presents the Nutcracker (1990)
*Grover's Overtures (1991)
*Big Bird Meets the Orchestra (1993)
==Character merchandise==
*Prairie Dawn puppet
*Prairie Dawn PVC
*Grolier monthly resin ornament
*plush doll from Applause
==See also==
* International Prairie Dawn
* Prairie Dawn Through the Years
* Prairie Dawn Sketches
* Prairie Dawn's Alternate Identities
* Prairie Dawn's books
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Muppet Characters
Category:Sesame Street Muppet Characters
Category:Sesame Street Characters