Top 20 Savage Sesame Street Moments

As Luis and Maria finally tie the knot, guests begin to celebrate. That includes Big Bird. However, his cheering is a bit loud, so Gina forcibly clamps his beak shut. It doesn’t help Big Bird that everyone else in the room is quiet! Weddings are a place for love and celebration, not unruly interruptions! Though it’s a short scene, it quickly establishes how much of a boss Gina can be. In the end, nothing is going to stop her from making sure that Luis and Maria have the perfect wedding. Hopefully Big Bird learned his lesson!

Preparing for an important gathering of cookie connoisseurs, things take a turn for Alan and Chris when Cookie Monster comes by. Alan jokingly suggests that Chris should take Cookie Monster to Canada to keep him occupied. It would be understandable that he’d want to make sure he stays far away from his event, but that joke is still a bit extreme, don’t you think? Of course Cookie Monster doesn’t actually get boarded off to Canada, but just imagine if he did. Suffice to say it's a long way from Sesame Street.

Kermit’s various attempts at providing an educational lesson prove to be a disaster in this scene. When talking about the letter W, Cookie Monster starts eating the prop. While that’s a savage moment on its own, that’s not the real kicker. The even crazier thing is that afterwards the letter comes to life and begins to attack Kermit. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve seen a letter of the alphabet pick a fight with one of the Muppets and win. It’s just so utterly bizarre yet equally epic that we can’t look away. Though this is ultimately about the letter W, it’s also about L, because that’s what Kermit takes with this beating!

Big Bird might be a pretty popular “Sesame Street” character, but you wouldn’t know it just from this scene. He tries to make conversation with several people, but they all end up having to leave for various reasons. Repeatedly being left high and dry quickly starts to piss him off, so he begins to comedically rant. Big Bird, we hate to break it to you, but you can’t always be the center of attention! Maybe they should call Big Bird “Big Diva” instead! Regardless, it’s definitely hilarious to watch his whining unfold. Let this be a lesson to always be patient and not overbearing.

Remember kids, you’re never too young to take legal action against someone! This won’t be the first time we mention Elmo’s 2008 appearance on Australian talk show “Rove”, since it really was that memorable! In the moment we’ve picked for this spot, he accidentally gets punched in the arm. Pretending to be severely hurt, Elmo then makes a pretty serious threat. Well, perhaps it wasn’t serious. All kinds of shenanigans occur throughout the interview, but few are topping this one. He might be the childlike and innocent posterboy for “Sesame Street”, but he can also be a ruthless manipulator out to make a quick buck and destroy lives. Ok, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration but still, don’t mess with Elmo!

While hanging out on the beach, Ernie tries to show Bert the impressive hole he’s dug in the sand, but to his shock, Bert’s nowhere to be seen! With the help of Sherlock Hemlock, he learns that his digging accidentally caused Bert to get buried alive underneath a pile of sand. Though he rescues him, he inadvertently buries Sherlock in sand too. Like, seriously, this is reckless behavior. Maybe burying Bert was a mistake, but also burying Sherlock? Come on, Ernie, you've got to be more mindful of your surroundings!

In this unaired “Hot N Cold” parody, Elmo plays fast and loose with Katy Perry’s heart. Well, at least that’s how it looks. Perry thinks that Elmo has bailed on their playdate. The famous pop singer begins to chase Elmo down frantically while singing. Even though it’s revealed that he was just trying to play tag, his seemingly ditching the clingy singer like she’s a scorned ex-girlfriend is hilarious. How many other “Sesame Street” characters can say that they had a celebrity fawning over them? Even if there are a few others, none are as entertaining as this. Perry is downright obsessed with finding Elmo, and it makes the entire parody instantly iconic, and perhaps even a little bit creepy too. Boundaries, Katy Perry, boundaries.

When you see someone struggling to carry their groceries, it makes sense to try to help them out. But it seems like basic social etiquette is a foreign concept to Ernie. After Bert asks him for help with the groceries, Ernie shrugs him off. He claims to be doing other stuff, but we have trouble seeing the validity of those excuses. This behavior isn’t just savage, it’s downright mean! It’s moments like these where Ernie’s condescending nature comes into play that we wonder why Bert puts up with him. You can do better, dude!

While simply minding his own business on “The Today Show,” fellow guest Larry David makes the bold decision to attack the Muppet. It doesn’t just shock Elmo, the various hosts, and all of America, but also Elmo’s own father. It’s quite the moment of savagery and a terrifying experience that will probably take years for Elmo to recover from. It’s also like a bizarre plot from Larry David’s show “Curb Your Enthusiasm” playing out in real life. Look, maybe Elmo’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but the moral of this story is that violence is not the answer!

If you ever want to completely derail someone’s life, just do what Oscar did in this sketch. As part of the Department of Grouch Transportation, he takes his job pretty seriously. As such, he gets a bus stop sign placed inside Kermit’s living room. It goes about as well as you’d expect, with multiple other grouches finding themselves in Kermit’s home. Don’t get us wrong, the scene is pretty freaking funny, but also, totally deranged. Public transportation is definitely important, but in what way is this a convenient place for a bus stop for anyone? Plus, do they even know how hard it’s going to be for Kermit to get tire marks out of his rug? This is just a disaster waiting to happen!

Cookie Monster has a hard time making friends sometimes, thanks to his addiction to cookies. In this Season 1 episode, Kermit’s lesson on happiness quickly takes a turn when Cookie Monster arrives and proceeds to eat his visual display (which unfortunately resembles a large cookie). Kermit then changes his topic to anger, and goes on a tirade of insults, calling him a “stupid, rotten monster,” among other things. The real sting comes when the frog says he’ll tell everyone how rotten Cookie is, and that no one will want to play with him. Ouch, Kermit.

In this episode, Oscar shows us his new device - a cellular phone. Remember, it’s the 90s, so don’t expect an iPhone. In the guise of “testing out the phone,” Oscar calls Hooper’s Store repeatedly, interrupting Gina’s work every time. On the third call, Gina tells him not to call, as she’s busy. The store’s owner Mr. Handford comes by and asks to use the phone to call his store. Oscar gladly hands it over, and Gina picks up the phone and is rude, thinking it’s Oscar again. Oscar is delighted at his mischief once again. Who hurt you, Oscar?

Elmo is a popular little red monster and has made quite a few appearances on talk shows. He appeared a couple of times on the Australian talk show “Rove,” and on these visits, Elmo was a little more candid. At one point in the previously mentioned 2008 interview, Elmo misunderstands a cue from a producer and thinks he had only 2 minutes left on the show. Now, Elmo knows how important he is, and calls out Rove for only granting him 2 minutes when he came so far. He asks Rove if he’s aware of the cost of travel, or the cost of fuel. Elmo turns on the ‘tude, and we’re behind him.

It doesn’t pay to throw a fit, and Big Bird finds out the hard way in this clip from “Sesame Street.” When Granny Bird cancels a visit, Big Bird goes from sad to angry and grumbles a bunch of nonsense in his frustration. Bob does his best to help, but nothing can console the bird. When Granny actually does show up, Big Bird is behind a wall, still grumbling. When informed that she has arrived, he refuses to come out, as he is still angry. So, Granny Bird just leaves. Big Bird finally emerges, only to get even angrier that she’s gone. Granny ain’t putting up with no sass, Big Bird. Don’t worry, it turns out well in the end, of course.

In recent years, parodies of Donald Trump have been a dime a dozen. However, did you know that “Sesame Street” was throwing shade in the business mogul’s direction long before anyone else? In 1988, the show aired an episode in which they introduced a crooked little muppet known as “Ronald Grump.” Grump convinces Oscar the Grouch to give up his area in order to build “Grump Tower,” a Grouch apartment building. Amid the protests of other inhabitants of the street, Ronald builds his tower. Oscar regrets his decision, and Grump tries to charge him an exorbitant sum for the return of his area. We see what you did there, Sesame Street.

Oscar isn’t the only Grouch on the block. In fact, he has a girlfriend named Grundgetta. She’s just as pleasant as he is, of course. In a 1984 episode, Grundgetta was invited to dinner at Gordon and Susan’s house. Following the meal, the couple gets into a bit of an argument over whose turn it is to do the dishes. Grundgetta loves negativity and actually cheers them on to continue the argument. She then imagines the fight carrying on for years, as the dishes pile up and the argument gets very heated. She’s… kind of a sadist. Luckily for the couple, her plans backfire. We get being friendly and all, but perhaps don’t invite her next time?

In honor of the show’s 40th anniversary, many guest stars appeared on “Sesame Street.” One seemingly unlikely guest star was comedian Ricky Gervais, who spent quite a bit of time with Elmo. In some of the outtakes from an Associated Press interview, Elmo got a little sassy. At one point, he asks the interviewer where the interview was lost, as the banter between Elmo and Gervais gets out of hand. Elmo also schools Gervais, when the latter asks why the little monster wears pajamas to bed, but is basically nude the rest of the time. Elmo responds with “it’s acting, Mr. Gervais. Acting.” He also warns Gervais not to touch him at one point. What a diva.

Anyone who has had to deal with customer service work is familiar with this particular kind of customer. In a series of skits, Grover works as a waiter, and always finds himself having to serve a blue guy who can only modernly be described as a “male Karen.” In one instance, the customer sits and almost immediately yells “waiter!”, then orders a sandwich and returns it multiple times, as it doesn’t exactly match the image on the menu. In another skit, the customer complains that there are certain letters missing from his alphabet soup. Grover knows this man is ridiculous and is all of us in his frustrations.

Johnny Cash appeared on “Sesame Street” a few times; his first appearance was in 1973. In the episode, he met a few friends and sang a couple of tunes, one of which was to Oscar the Grouch. Cash knocks on Oscar’s garbage can, and serenades him with a song called “Nasty Dan.” Oscar really enjoys the tune, as it’s about a pretty terrible man. But as expected, Oscar can’t stay nice for long, and when the song ends, he asks The Man in Black: “aren’t you Johnny Trash?” Cash corrects him, unenthused, and continues on his way, wishing Oscar a “rotten day”.

Sometimes, the muppets are a little too relatable. In 1975, a man by the name of Gary Dahl made millions selling “Pet Rocks,” which were exactly what you think - a rock in a box. However, some kids have a lot of imagination. One such “kid” is “Sesame Street”’s own Zoe, good friend to Elmo. She has a pet rock named Rocco, whom Elmo is not a fan of. As the day progresses, Elmo grows more and more frustrated with what he considers to be nonsense: Rocco can apparently talk, eat, etc. Elmo is having none of it, and not hiding his feelings at all. He finds the entire concept ridiculous, openly laughs at Zoe, and points out all the nonsense, and we love it.

Is there a moment of savagery we missed? Let us know in the comments!