I don’t know if it was ever on Sesame Street proper, but my all-time favorite is “Put Down the Duckie (if you want to play the saxophone).” I’m also fond of “It’s the Shpritzer Honker Splasher Sprinkler Tweeter Squirt.” I want one of those in my back yard.

I haven’t watched Sesame Street for about ten years, but I really wish they hadn’t standardized it with the same. predictable. bits. every. single. day. Yeah, I know the received child-psych wisdom is that little kids feel comfortable and happy with that, but for me (admittedly too old ever to have watched it as a little kid) a great part of SS’s charm was that all kinds of random bits could pop up at any time (“ABCD Blue,” “One of These Things Is Not Like the Others,” “Eight Balls of Fur”). Dating myself here, but I also loved the early pieces on the postal service and the fire department, and one about a little city girl who visited a family friend’s country garden and learned how broccoli and tomatoes and carrots grow.

Oh, and banish Elmo, bring back Bert! I loved Bert. Elmo and his everlastingly whiny-chirpy voice always made me want to reach for the duct tape.

@Lucia — I can live with Elmo, but not as the “star” of the show! And I agree with you about the standardization of the show. I think unpredictability can be a good thing.

@Lucia: I liked the bits on day-to-day life quite a bit. I also like Robert Smigel’s tongue-in-cheek homage to them from his short-lived TV Funhouse series, like this one on policemen:

Tv Funhouse What A Police Man DoesE. Brady | MySpace Video