Grover
Encyclopedia
Grover is a Muppet character on the popular television show Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

. Self-described as lovable, cute and furry, he is a monster who almost never uses contractions
Contraction (grammar)
A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters....

 when speaking or singing.

Grover was originally performed by Frank Oz
Frank Oz
Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...

, who provided the character's voice regularly from his earliest appearances until 2001. Eric Jacobson
Eric Jacobson
Eric Jacobson is a puppeteer and Muppet performer, who has been the primary replacement puppeteer for Frank Oz's characters since 2001.-Career:...

 began performing Grover in 1998; he has performed the character regularly since 2002, although Oz still performs him occasionally.

Grover's birthday is October 14.

Origins

A prototype version of Grover appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....

in a Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...

 appearance in 1967. This puppet had greenish-brown fur and a red nose. He also had a raspier voice, and was played a bit more unkempt than Grover would later behave. The monster was referred to as "Gleep", a monster in Santa's workshop. He later made a cameo appearance in The Muppets On Puppets in 1968 with the Rock and Roll Monster. In 1969, clad in a necktie, he appeared in the Sesame Street Pitch Reel in the board room sequences. During the first season of Sesame Street, the character was nicknamed "Fuzzyface" or "The Hairy One", though neither would be used for his actual name.

In an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 31, 1970, the character acquired his present name and his appearance was changed to the more familiar puppet with blue fur and a pink nose. In this appearance, Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...

 tried to sing "What Kind of Fool Am I?
What Kind of Fool Am I?
"What Kind of Fool Am I?" is a popular song written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and published in 1962. It was introduced by Anthony Newley in the musical Stop The World - I Want To Get Off...

" (accompanying himself on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

), but Grover repeatedly interrupted him. The true Grover "officially" debuted in the second season of Sesame Street.

Charlie's Restaurant

Another of the more frequent skit segments featuring Grover involves him taking a series of customer service jobs. One of his customers is always Mr. Johnson, a balding, mustachioed customer who invariably becomes frustrated at Grover's poor service and/or his (Grover's) insistence that he is serving him properly.

The first Grover-Mr. Johnson series of skits, set at "Charlie's Restaurant," aired in the early 1970s; here, Grover is employed as a waiter and Mr. Johnson is his customer. The skits followed the same basic premise: Mr. Johnson would order a menu item, Grover would serve the customer, a disagreement results (usually) as a result of Grover's mistakes, and Grover attempting (often, more than once) to correct the mistake with varying degrees of success. Under this backdrop, the skits served to teach the childhood audience basic concepts such as same and different, big and little, hot and cold, the alphabet, following directions and patience, among other things.

Repeats of the "Charlie's Restaurant" series of skits aired for many years on Sesame Street. In the years since, new Grover-Mr. Johnson skits have been produced, with Grover taking other customer service jobs and Mr. Johnson as his hapless customer. Every time, Mr. Johnson recognizes Grover as "that waiter from Charlie's." Grover's jobs have ranged from that of a taxi driver and a photographer to a flight attendant and singing telegram
Singing telegram
A singing telegram is a message that is delivered by an artist in a musical form. Singing telegrams are historically linked to normal telegrams, but tend to be humorous. Sometimes the artist is in costume or formal clothing. Singing telegrams are often given as a gift.Western Union, the American...

 artist. One skit parodied the ABC television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a reality television series providing home renovations for less fortunate families and community schools etc...

in a segment where Grover began remodeling Mr. Johnson's home against his express wishes.

Other segments

Grover also has an instructional persona who wears a cap and gown
Academic dress
Academic dress or academical dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, primarily tertiary education, worn mainly by those that have been admitted to a university degree or hold a status that entitles them to assume them...

 to provide educational context for simple, everyday things. His lessons are often wrong, leaving himself open to correction by a group of kids or Muppets. This, combined with the failings of the Super Grover character, means that Grover is very self-conscious and timid. He is often a source of slapstick humor and often accidentally injures himself.

Early in the series, Grover would often greet Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...

 by running up to him and yelling, "Hey, froggy babeee!" and then giving him a hard slap on the back, which knocked him over.

Global Grover is a more recent series of segments in which Grover hosts a trip to a foreign country to learn about their culture and customs.

In 2010, Grover starred in a parody of an Old Spice
Old Spice
Old Spice is a prominent American brand of male grooming products. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble, which acquired the brand in 1990 from the Shulton Company.-History:...

 Commercial called "Smell Like a Monster", where a clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...

 with "two tickets to the thing you love" bit his nose and he rode a cow rather than a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

.

SuperGrover

Grover has a semi-secret superhero identity as the well-meaning but inept SuperGrover. Originally he wore a pink cape and medieval knight's helmet, with a Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

-esque crest on both the cape and his T-shirt, bearing a letter "G" instead of "S". During the 1970's and 1980's, Sesame Street ran a series of SuperGrover skits parodying the old Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

 series. The announcer introduced each episode with the lines:

"Presenting the further adventures of everybody's favorite hero. A man who is faster than lightning, stronger than steel, smarter than a speeding bullet. It's... SUPERGROVER!"

With that, a fanfare sounds, SuperGrover bursts through a paper wall bearing his crest, fruitlessly tries to move his helmet up off his eyes, and adds, "And I am cute, too!"

Announcer: And now, on to our story.

SuperGrover: Yes, on to our story!

SuperGrover is first flying somewhere over Metro City to find a (Muppet) child in trouble. Common to many wannabe superheroes, Grover can fly, but he can't land without crashing. Grover is usually no help, and whatever he's doing as a feat of strength or speed only kills time while the child solves the problem on their own, so Grover often winds up in comical trouble himself.
Supergrover has appeared in both theatrical films: Follow that Bird (1985) and Elmo in Grouchland (1999).

For Sesame Street's 41st season in 2010, the character was revamped as SuperGrover 2.0, who debuted on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....

, and crash-landed behind the chair where he was meant to sit in. His new costume consists of a helmet reminiscent of a Spartan or Centurion, a red cape and a black rubber vest resembling bike racing gear. Both the cape and the vest are adorned with his crest, now with a lightning bolt added behind the "G". Of course, the helmet has a hinged visor which still tends to fall over Grover's eyes.

In November 2003, SuperGrover received the honor of Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

 creating a balloon in his likeness for their annual Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...

. Wearing his original costume, he became the fourth Muppet to have this honor, after Kermit The Frog
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...

, Big Bird
Big Bird
Big Bird is a protagonist of the children's television show Sesame Street. Big Bird, like many of the other Sesame Street characters, is a Muppet character. He is sometimes referred to simply as "Bird" by his friends....

, and Elmo
Elmo
Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster and currently hosts the last full 15 minute segment on Sesame Street, Elmo's World, which is aimed at toddlers. His puppeteer, Kevin Clash, uses falsetto to produce his voice...

. To date, only Abby Cadabby
Abby Cadabby
Abby Cadabby is a fictional three-year-old fairy-in-training who lives on Sesame Street. She made her debut in the first episode of Sesame Street’s 37th season, when she moved into the neighborhood and met some of the Street's residents. On the day of her debut, her wand broke; Big Bird told her to...

 has come after him.

Mother

"Grover's Mommy" plays an integral but often unrecognized role on Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

. She has been seen almost exclusively in print, including the many illustrated books starring Grover. She was also occasionally seen in photographs, as a photo puppet, such as on the cover of Volume 4 of The Sesame Street Treasury. Over the course of time, her appearance has fluctuated greatly.

Her earliest known appearance as a Muppet
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...

 is a 1970s sketch in which Grover speaks to the audience about being afraid of the dark. At the end of the sketch, his mom (Frank Oz
Frank Oz
Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...

) enters his room to kiss him goodnight. Another early appearance (circa 1981) involves his mother (Kathy Mullen) coming into the bathroom while Grover is telling the audience about how to take a bath.

She has recently appeared (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo
Stephanie D'Abruzzo
Stephanie D'Abruzzo is an American actress and puppeteer.-Early life:D'Abruzzo grew up in McMurray, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb she has described as a "plastic bubble kind of town." She graduated from Peters Township High School, where she was active in the theater program, and attended the...

) in a brief Elmo's World
Elmo's World
"Elmo's World" is a segment of the children's television show Sesame Street featuring Elmo, a small, three and a half year old, bright red monster. It debuted on November 16, 1998. Since then, it has been regularly shown during the last fifteen minutes of every Sesame Street episode...

 sequence (from the "Families" episode), with her son as his alter-ego Super Grover, as her own alter-ego, "Super-Mommy". Grover crashlands, screaming "Moooommy!" and his mom follows yelling "Soooonny!" crashing on top of him. They recover, acknowledge each other, and both faint.

In A Celebration of Me, Grover (performed by Eric Jacobson
Eric Jacobson
Eric Jacobson is a puppeteer and Muppet performer, who has been the primary replacement puppeteer for Frank Oz's characters since 2001.-Career:...

), Mrs. Monster attends a benefit dinner in her son's honor.

In her first appearance in puppet form, she was gray-green in color; therefore, the prototype Grover puppet was used for her. Since her later appearances, she has become blue in color, like Grover himself.

Books

In the 1971 children's book The Monster at the End of This Book, Grover goes to great effort to keep the reader from turning the pages of the book, because there is a monster on the final page. Despite Grover nailing pages together and building a brick wall to block access, eventually the reader does reach the end, where it is discovered that the monster at the end of the book... is Grover himself. The late 90's saw a new edition of the book where Grover desperately tries to stop Elmo
Elmo
Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster and currently hosts the last full 15 minute segment on Sesame Street, Elmo's World, which is aimed at toddlers. His puppeteer, Kevin Clash, uses falsetto to produce his voice...

 from reaching the end of the book, eventually directing him to leave the book and enter from the back. Therefore, when both of them reach the end, they wind up scaring each other.

In 1974, Grover went on a learning expedition in Grover and The Everything In The Whole Wide World Museum. He tours rooms such as "The Long Thin Things You Can Write With Room", as well as "The Things That Make So Much Noise You Can't Think Room". Grover wanders through "The Things That are Light Room", returns a rock to "The Things That are Heavy Room", and just when he wonders whether it is possible to have a museum that holds everything in the whole wide world, he comes upon a door labeled "Everything Else", which opens to take him out into the world. As of 1996, Publishers Weekly ranked the book at seventy-nine on their list of best-selling children's paperbacks, and Lou Harry
Lou Harry
Lou Harry is an Indianapolis-based writer. His novel, The High-Impact Infidelity Diet, was released in 2005 by Random House/Three Rivers Press. His latest book, "Kid Culture" was released in October 2008 by Cider Mill Press...

 of Indianapolis Business Journal
Indianapolis Business Journal
Indianapolis Business Journal is a weekly newspaper published in Indianapolis which reports on Central Indiana business. It is the leading publication of IBJ Media. Its economic columnists include Morton Marcus and Michael J. Hicks.- External links :*...

 included the book on his list of twelve examples of how muppets have qualified as quality entertainment. It was written by Norman Stiles
Norman Stiles
Norman Stiles is a television writer, best known for his work on the show Sesame Street from 1971 until approximately 1995. As part of the Sesame Street writing team, he received eight Daytime Emmy Awards.-External links:*...

 and Daniel Wilcox, and illustrated by Joe Mathieu.

International

Sesame Street is modified for different national markets, and Grover is often renamed.
  • In Germany
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

     his name is Grobi, a diminutive
    Diminutive
    In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...

     of the German grob, meaning "rough" or "rude".
  • In Portugal
    Portugal
    Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

     he is Gualter (Walter).
  • In Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

     he is called Coco.
  • In Latin America
    Latin America
    Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

     and Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

    , he is known as Archivaldo.
  • In Brazil
    Brazil
    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

     he is known as Arquibaldo, although in the 2007 versions maintains the name Grover.
  • In Norway
    Norway
    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

    , he is known as Gunnar.
  • In Egypt
    Egypt
    Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

    , he is called Antar.
  • In Indonesia
    Indonesia
    Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

    , he is called Gatot.
  • In Israel
    Israel
    The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

    , he is called Kruvi, which is a play on the word kruv ("cabbage").
  • In Turkey
    Turkey
    Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

    , he is known as Açıkgöz, meaning "leery".
  • In Czech Republic
    Czech Republic
    The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

     he is called Bohouš.
  • In the Netherlands
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

     and Sweden
    Sweden
    Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

    , on the other hand, he remains Grover.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK