Beautiful Day Monster

Early version of Beautiful Day Monster.

File:Beautifuldaymonster cheaper.jpg

A flattened version of Beautiful Day Monster gets mailed to Pittsburgh cheaper.

Beautiful Day Monster is a blue Muppet monster best remembered from his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969, ruining a girl's beautiful day. Three years before, he began life as The Crown-Grabber in an unaired commercial for Wheels, Crowns and Flutes. He has made several appearances in the early years of Sesame Street, on The Muppet Show, and several other Muppet projects. Wherever the Beautiful Day Monster goes, destruction and mayhem soon follows.

Although the monster was known as "Beautiful Day Monster" behind the scenes , he has had many names on Sesame Street, such as "Fred" (in an early Sesame Street skit), "Harold", "Snookie", "Lulu", and "Windy". He was also a contestant on a 1969 Sesame Street game show, "The Mr. and Mrs. Game," where he was named "Ralph" and had a wife, also a contestant. For a few scenes, the monster was turned into a female character with a dark black wig, a necklace and a pink ribbon. After the first season, Beautiful Day Monster and most of the other early Sesame monsters were replaced by friendlier looking monsters with brighter colors.

A small Beautiful Day Monster (used in the original Ed Sullivan sketch when the monster has shrunk) was used alongside the regular-sized monster to demonstrate the difference between 'little' and 'big', where he was known as "Frank".

For The Muppet Show, the Beautiful Day Monster puppet was reconstructed and his teeth removed to give him a less frightening appearance. In one memorable sketch in episode 108, he asked a travel agent (Paul Williams) about the cost of a trip to Pittsburgh. No matter what the travel agent offered, Beautiful Day Monster asked "You got anything cheaper?" until the agent dropped a weight on him, flattening him enough to send him by mail. This was his only major appearance in a Muppet Show sketch, although he appeared several times behind Gonzo during the final moment of "The Muppet Show Theme." The flattened version of the puppet would appear in the At the Dance sketch in the next episode, wearing a wig and dancing with Rowlf.

Filmography

• The Ed Sullivan Show ("Happy Girl Meets a Monster," voiced by Jim Henson)
• Sesame Street Pitch Reel
• The Muppets on Puppets
• Sesame Street (Frank Oz, Jim Henson, Caroll Spinney)
• Pure Goldie
• Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (voiced by Jerry Nelson and puppeteered by Frank Oz)
• The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
• The Muppet Show
  • "The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 2-5)
  • Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Comedy Tonight")
  • Episode 108: Paul Williams (Travel Agency sketch, performed by Richard Hunt)
  • Episode 109: Charles Aznavour ("I Feel Pretty", At the Dance)
  • Episode 113: Bruce Forsyth (At the Dance)
  • Episode 114: Sandy Duncan ("A Nice Girl Like Me")
  • Episode 116: Avery Schreiber (Gonzo's Opening Gong only)
  • Episode 119: Vincent Price (At the Dance, Audience)
  • Episode 121: Twiggy (Gonzo's Opening Gong only)
  • Episode 122: Ethel Merman
  • Episode 201: Don Knotts (Audience)
  • Episode 202: Zero Mostel (UK Spot, with Kermit and Sam in the Prop Room)
  • Episode 203: Milton Berle
  • Episode 204: Rich Little
  • Episode 208: Steve Martin
  • Episode 211: Dom DeLuise
  • Episode 214: Elton John (Audience)
  • Episode 219: Peter Sellers (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
  • Episode 222: Teresa Brewer ("Cheesecake")
  • Episode 303: Roy Clark (Audience)
  • Episode 317: Spike Milligan (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
  • Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
  • Episode 424: Diana Ross (Audience)
• The Muppet Movie ("Rainbow Connection" Finale)
• The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
• Muppet Meeting Films
• The Jim Henson Hour (Dan Redican)
• The Cosby Show (Kevin Clash)
• The Muppets

Sesame Street sketches

Picture	Summary	Earliest Known Appearance	Description
	Full and Empty	Episode 0004	Cookie Monster drinks Kermit's glass of milk, which he was going to use to explain "empty" and "full." When Kermit insults Cookie Monster, several of Cookie Monster's monster pals gang up on Kermit. Some of the monsters besides Cookie were Beautiful Day Monster, Snerk, and an unnamed Splurge-like monster.
	Kiss From A Monster	Episode 0005	Ernie laughs when Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes says "Bleah!" after getting kissed by a monster. Bert says that Ernie would react the same way if he got kissed by a monster. "No, I wouldn't. I'd think it was funny!" says Ernie. Then the Beautiful Day Monster shows up and kisses Ernie, who says, "Bleah!" Bert laughs.
	Song of 5	Episode 0006	Beautiful Day Monster, Thudge, an early Grover, Flute-Snatcher, and Snork make a cameo in the Song of 5.
	How many?	Episode 0009	Ernie shows Bert how many legs a dog has, how many legs a table has, and how many eyes a monster has, but Bert denies that the monster has four eyes. Apparently, the four-eyed monster (Beautiful Day Monster, with two extra eyes) shows up proving he indeed has four eyes. (YouTube)
	Everybody Scratch	Episode 0012	Ernie and Bert have difficulty scratching their backs, so both help each other scratch their back. While Ernie's itch takes a little too long to scratch, he introduces a film called "Everybody Scratch". After the film, Ernie notices that Bert has stopped scratching his back; Beautiful Day Monster is.
	Big and Small	Episode 0015	Kermit presents a lecture on big and small with the Beautiful Day Monster and a small monster. Splurge comes in at the end to show what a really big monster looks like.
	Lulu's Back in Town	Episode 0018	Anything Muppets sing "Lulu's Back in Town". Lulu turns out to be the Beautiful Day Monster, with a wig and necklace.
	Through The Hoop	Episode 0023	Ernie demonstrates the word "through" with the help of Beautiful Day Monster and Bert, who holds a hoop.
	Kermit on Hair	Episode 0028	Kermit talks about hair. According to Kermit, "Hair is a part of you. It is not a part of me, because I am a frog." He points out that some people have hair on their heads, while others have it on their faces. But if you have hair all over your body (like Beautiful Day Monster, who emerges brushing himself and singing "A pretty girl is like a melody ...") then you're a monster!
	Subtracting Cookies	Episode 0041	Ernie struggles to save a plate of cookies for Bert. Beautiful Day Monster disguises himself as a baker and a little girl to trick Ernie out of four of the five cookies, but Bert blames Ernie.
	Pick Your Pet	Episode 0067	Lucy Jones asks a series of questions to the animals, asking them questions that would relate to a cat. Her time runs up before she can ask Beautiful Day Monster any questions, and she has to choose, so she chooses Beautiful Day Monster, who acts like a cat when she finds out what she got, and she is happy with her pet.
	Kermit's B Sound Lecture	Episode 0068	Kermit presents a highly-descriptive lecture about making a B sound, complete with providing us a demonstration, and teaches the Beautiful Day Monster how to make a B sound. Turns out, the monster's B sound results as a "BAAAAAAAH!" which scares off Kermit and fogs up the screen.
	The Mr. and Mrs. Game	Episode 0072	Beautiful Day (as "Mr. Monster") has to match up his answers with that of his wife.
	Windy	Episode 0074	An Anything Muppet sings about his girlfriend Windy. Windy is Beautiful Day Monster dressed up in a wig.
	Broken ukelele	Episode 0080	Part 1: Ernie encounters a sobbing Beautiful Day Monster, who is crying because his ukelele is broken. Ernie shows him a few things one can do with a broken ukelele, but that doesn't stop the monster from crying. Ernie then offers to fix the ukelele. Part 2: Ernie brings back the ukelele, all fixed. And what does the monster do? He eats it! (YouTube)
	Monsters Look at "A"	Episode 0083	Monsters, including an early Grover, Flute-Snatcher, Cookie Monster, Beautiful Day Monster, and Scudge, are looking at something. Baby Monster appears, and is reprimanded with "Eyy!" After a few times, Baby Monster turns toward the viewer and yells "A!", revealing that the group is staring at the letter A.
	F Cheer #5	Episode 0094	Beautiful Day Monster is part of a group of cheerleaders who cheer up to the letter F. When the leader asks what "ABCDEF" spells, they are all stumped, and Beautiful Day Monster comments on how weird that is.
	Professor Hastings' feelings lecture	Episode 0106	Professor Hastings conducts a lecture about the ways people feel, but keeps drifting off. Meanwhile, two groups of Muppets behind him pass by; one cheering for their winning team, and the others crying for the losing team. Beautiful Day Monster is among those in the sad team.
	Here and There	Episode 0111	Baby Monster wants to learn about "here" and "there," so the Beautiful Day Monster and Cookie Monster show him by spreading apart, each calling Baby Monster over to their side. However, whenever Baby gets to "there," he always finds himself "here."
	First and Last	Episode 0116	A group of Monsters, led by a hippie, play a game where they march in a line and then switch directions. Grover wants to be first and not last, but can't keep up with the ever-switching directions. This sketch was later remade, with the blue version of Grover and with the monsters being replaced.
	Clues	Episode 0118	Kermit talks about clues. He shows that a boy has grown some carrots because he has a hoe, a watering can, and a bunch of carrots. Next, he confirms that a man has built a birdhouse because of his wood, paint, and carpenter's tools. When he notices Beautiful Day Monster with a suitcase and an umbrella, Kermit assumes that the monster is going on a trip. The monster corrects him; he's planning to eat his umbrella, and uses the suitcase to carry the ketchup he'll use to eat it with.
	Ernie eats Bert's cake	Episode 0119	Ernie eats the chocolate cake that Bert was planning on eating. Bert sees some icing on Ernie's mouth, a bib around his neck, and a fork and knife in Ernie's hand, and Ernie tells Bert that a monster came in, ate Bert's cake, and put the evidence on Ernie. Bert doesn't believe Ernie's lie and gets another piece of cake, but when he leaves the room, Beautiful Day Monster comes in and does exactly what Ernie told Bert happened to the first cake, but when Bert comes back and sees the other cake eaten and Ernie says that the monster ate it, Bert doesn't believe him.

Book appearances

• The Muppet Show Book
• The Muppet Show Comic Book issue #3 - Gonzo's Story (Cover A)

See also

• Sesame Street Monsters