Sesame Street - The Umbrella Man
Pretty much all of you have heard of Sesame Street, so it needs no introduction. It's the longest running kids show in America, based around the titular denizens of Sesame Street, with some human, some Muppets. When I was a kid I would almost constantly watch it. It was one of, if not my favorite show for quite a while. Of course, I've moved on to other shows, but it's always held a special place in my heart. I loved the characters, the music, the stories; everything felt perfect to my childhood self.
Recently, my kid, Millie, just turned 4 and I wanted to give her some of my old Sesame Street tapes as a birthday present. She was so excited, as it was one of her favorite shows too. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree then, eh? Well, immediately after getting them, she zipped to the TV and started to watch them. I, of course, joined in for a little blast from the past, and boy, was it a blast! It was so nice spending time with her; I wanted it to last forever. But eventually, day turned to night, and Millie fell asleep. I took her to bed, and let her doze the night away. I returned to the living room shortly after and continued my Sesame Street binge. I was on the last disc and the last episode began to play. There was no intro, so I couldn't tell which episode it was, but I was ready to relive childhood memories, though I did know it was sometime in the 90's.
The episode started with Gordon introducing the episode. He was standing next to the big pole where the iconic Sesame Street sign laid when Mr. Snuffleupagus came by. He was there waiting for Big Bird for a day of fun, and was telling Gordon about what fun things they had planned. Gordon later departed, saying goodbye to Snuffy and leaving him alone. Where Gordon once stood was a man that appeared out of nowhere. He was a tall, skinny white man, wearing a black trench coat, pants, shoes and fedora. He also had with him a black umbrella, which he held high into the air, even though there was no rain or wind. Eerie, low-pitched music started to play, and then the scene faded out. The scene transitioned to Big Bird walking down the street, finding himself at the titular pole, but finding no sign of Snuffy. Gordon came by and asked Big Bird what he was doing; to which he said he was waiting for Snuffy. He started saying what they fun things they had planned that day, which was quoting Snuffy verbatim until Gordon interrupted him. Gordon told Big Bird that he saw Snuffy just minutes earlier, and they both got a concerned look. They then searched out looking for Snuffy, and the scene ended. After that scene a quick cartoon played.
I didn't remember this episode, but I chalked it up to being bad memory, but I was interested to see where it was going.
The next scene showed Elmo and Zoe playing in the park together. They were playing with blocks and balls and playing a counting game with them. After a minute of playing the game, Elmo excused himself and left, and just behind where Elmo stood, the Umbrella Man was there, just in front of the bushes. The same music played, and the scene faded to when Elmo was just coming back. Elmo found that Zoe was gone, and he became worried. He found Gordon and Big Bird looking for Snuffy and told them about Zoe, to which they took to finding both Snuffy and Zoe.
Later, a scene showed the search party becoming bigger, with more people coming to aid in the search. Gordon stopped by a tree to relax for a minute, and Big Bird was getting worried and repeatedly asking Gordon to get up. Gordon calmly told Big Bird not to worry, and that he'd catch up in a minute. Big Bird left, and the Umbrella Man was right where he stood. The man started walking towards Gordon, but just before he got to him, the scene ended.
The next scene showed Big Bird worrying about Gordon and his friends, when Ruthie came up and told everyone that Gordon, Grover, and Cookie Monster were missing. This caused a bit of a commotion until Mr. Handford settled the tension with a positive and persuasive speech. The crowd's noise died down, and everyone went in different directions to search more effectively.
After that scene ended, the next scene showed that it had been three days and no one was found. Telly was sitting on a bench, talking to himself, worrying about his fellow citizens of Sesame Street. Elmo then came up and tried to comfort him, also learning that Susan, Herry, Bert and Ernie were missing too. Elmo was just on the brink of relaxing him, when the camera zoomed out to show that the Umbrella Man was standing right next to them. They looked over at him in fear, and the scene ended.
After this, a scene showed a random Muppet running in the streets, yelling, "Beware the Umbrella Man!" After running into Hooper's Store, Mr. Handford and some others calmed him down and got him to explain. The Muppet explained that he saw the Umbrella Man take Telly and Elmo, and knew he was responsible for the others disappearing. Big Bird was among the crowd and looked towards the viewer, pondering if this supposed Umbrella Man was behind his friends disappearing. Just when he was about to ask the Muppet a question, the Muppet was gone, and a silhouette of a tall man holding an umbrella passed by the window. Big Bird ran outside to find no one, and he went to his nest in a slump. Mr. Handford told the other patrons of the store to relax and that this whole thing would be sorted out. The camera angle changed to show the umbrella man standing just outside the shop, but they were all oblivious to his presence. The scene ended with a slight zoom in onto the man's face, a very smooth face, with no signs of hair or expression.
The next scene showed Big Bird sitting on the steps of the 123 Sesame Street building, alone. He sat sighing and wondering where everyone went. He told the viewer that nearly everyone was gone, and he was scared. Oscar came out of his trashcan, wondering what the noise was. Big Bird was relieved to know he wasn't alone, but Oscar wasn't so happy. Oscar explained he was enjoying the peace and quiet, when Big Bird woke him up from his nap. Big Bird apologized, but started going on rambling about how his week was awful. One camera shot was of Big Bird's face, then it went to a shot of both of them, with a small part of the Umbrella Man being visible, but both were oblivious. Big Bird then said this was the best day of his week (since he found Oscar), with the camera focused in on his face, but just after he said that, the shot zoomed out to show that Oscar and his trashcan vanished. Big Bird went quiet, and solemnly walked towards the pole where the episode began. He looked around a bit, then looked down to his feet, looking more miserable than ever. The last shot of the episode showed him looking down, the Umbrella Man walking up behind him.
I was a little shocked by what I saw. I didn't know what moral purpose this episode gave, if any. Maybe stranger danger? I don't know. This was a pretty creepy episode, not just by Sesame Street standards either. I mean, everyone you love going missing? That's quite horrible for kids, nay even adults to watch or comprehend. I haven't let Millie watch this episode for obvious reasons, but I still have the disc. I don't know if I'm the only one who has this episode or if it was aired at all. I know this is real, if this isn't legit; it's quite the high scale ripoff. I've looked on the Internet for details, but nothing informative has come up. Just stuff about canceled episodes and banned episodes (like the one with the Wicked Witch) came up. But, for know I'll have to settle with the knowledge that this exists, whether I like it or not.
Originally on Geoshea's Lost Episodes Wiki
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