Beautiful Day Monster

Early version of Beautiful Day Monster.

The Beautiful Day Monster's B-sound technique.

The Beautiful Day Monster wants a cheap ticket to Pittsburgh.

Beautiful Day Monster got his name from his first appearance, on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he tried to ruin a girl's beautiful day. He made several appearances in the early years of Sesame Street (including one sketch in which he had four eyes) and other Muppet projects. As the top picture shows, wherever he went, destruction and mayhem soon followed. After 1969, Beautiful Day Monster and most of the other monsters were replaced by friendlier looking monsters with brighter colors.

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, 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.

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' (as seen in Adventure in the Arts: The Muppets on Puppets and Sesame Street, 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," voice by Jim Henson)
• Sesame Street Pitch Reel
• The Muppets on Puppets
• Sesame Street (Frank Oz) (Jim Henson)
• 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
  • Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Comedy Tonight")
  • Episode 108: Paul Williams (Travel Agency sketch)
  • 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 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 219: Peter Sellers (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
  • Episode 222: Teresa Brewer ("Cheesecake")
  • Episode 317: Spike Milligan (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
  • Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone (Gonzo's Opening Horn only)
• 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)

Book Appearances

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

See also

• Beautiful Day Monster Sketches
• Sesame Street Monsters