Grover's nose ground into powder ('Sesame Street' Wednesday)

Not one person who has ever seen a television screen doesn't think it's uproarious when something gets ruined on TV. Americans familiar with the medium love to cite the 'Seinfeld' episode in which Poppy pees on Jerry's sofa, or the 'Simpsons' installment in which a rare comic book gets utterly destructimated.

But when something gets ruined on 'Sesame Street', it's 100 times as funny.

And that's why you'll laugh at this 'Sesame Street' sketch that was probably made around 1973:



The Frank Oz-directed segment features a red ball rolling down an elaborate roller coaster-like track, as a voice repeatedly counts sets of 3 items over a Lawrence Welk-style music bed. Oz spent months building the track. It is believed by many that the ball is the nose of a Muppet - most likely Grover. The setup is similar to something I remember seeing outside a museum on an out-of-town vacation once or twice. (I think it was either COSI in Columbus or that science museum in Chicago, but I'm not sure.)

The first minute of the piece is mesmerizing, educational, and clever - but not laugh-out-loud humorous. The real amusement comes at the end, when Grover's nose falls into a metal box where it is ground into useless red powder.

Unfortunately, many believe this ending was phased out because the sight of grinding up the detached nose of a lovable, furry Muppet scared many of the show's young viewers. It was replaced by an ending in which the nose becomes a cherry on top of a sundae. The dessert is promptly devoured by a little girl.

One envisions the manager of a Friendly's stalking Sesame Street with a butcher knife.

I personally feel more uncomfortable about the replacement ending, because of the idea of eating something coated with grime from rolling down a roller coaster track.

Original ending or not, this sketch was far more creative than what appears on 'Sesame Street' these days.