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{{character|image=Biff-Photo.jpg|performer=[[Jerry Nelson]]|debut=1973|pattern=[[Large Lavender Live Hand]]}}
{{performer|Jerry Nelson}}
 
[[Image:BiffPortrait2.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
{{am|Large Lavender Live Hand}}
 
 
[[Image:Biff-Sully.jpg|300px|thumb]]
 
[[Image:Biff-Sully.jpg|300px|thumb]]
  +
[[Image:BiffDebut.jpg|thumb|300px|In his debut appearances in Season 4, Biff sports a wool cap rather than his usual hardhat.]]
 
[[Image:BiffSully.jpg|300px|thumb]]
 
[[Image:BiffSully.jpg|300px|thumb]]
 
[[Image:BiffPortrait.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:BiffPortrait.jpg|thumb|300px]]
  +
[[Image:BiffandRoxie.jpg|thumb|300px|Biff and his niece, Roxie Marie.]]
'''Biff''' is a construction worker on ''[[Sesame Street]]'' who speaks with a gruff [[New York]] accent. His partner is [[Sully]]. Biff first appeared in [[Season 5]],<ref name="The Deseret News">The Deseret News: [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EMsoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5X0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1539,2409525&dq=sesame+street+season&hl=en 1...2...3...4...5 for Sesame St.]</ref> and made periodic appearances through [[Season 25]]. He is married to a woman named Ethyl.<ref>"[[Five Feet High and Rising]]"</ref>
 
   
  +
'''Biff''' is a construction worker on ''[[Sesame Street]]'' who speaks with a gruff [[New York]] accent. His partner is [[Sully]]. Biff first appeared in [[Season 4 (1972-1973)|Season 4]].
Biff often asks for Sully's opinion, but interrupts him before Sully gets a chance to even make a sound. He also tends to ask him questions and then eggs Sully on by repeating, "Huh? Huh? ''Huh?''", a reference to a routine by comedy duo [[Jack Burns|Burns]] and [[Avery Schreiber|Schreiber]]. As performer [[Jerry Nelson]] said in an interview, "Sully wasn't so much Schreiber, but Biff was the Jack Burns character."<ref>Nelson, Jerry [http://www.toughpigs.com/a-chat-with-jerry-nelson-part-3/ Tough Pigs interview]</ref>Biff often has trouble figuring out how to perform various tasks, and by the time he's figured it out, Sully has already finished it.
 
   
 
Biff often asks for Sully's opinion, but interrupts him before Sully gets a chance to even make a sound. He also tends to ask him questions and then eggs Sully on by repeating, "Huh? Huh? ''Huh?''," a reference to the taxicab routine by comedy duo [[Jack Burns|Burns]] and [[Avery Schreiber|Schreiber]]. As performer [[Jerry Nelson]] said in an interview, "Sully wasn't so much Schreiber, but Biff was the Jack Burns character."<ref>Nelson, Jerry [http://www.toughpigs.com/a-chat-with-jerry-nelson-part-3/ Tough Pigs interview]</ref> Biff often has trouble figuring out how to perform various tasks, and by the time he's figured it out, Sully has already finished it. Biff would then take the credit. While Biff normally interrupts Sully, on occasion (such as [[Episode 3333|episodes 3333]] and [[Episode 3387|3387]]) he also interrupts his niece, [[Roxie Marie]], though she's at least able to get out some words when he does.
Biff has a niece named [[Roxy Marie]]. According to [[Episode 2608|a 1989 episode]], he also has four kids, one of whom is the infant [[Mary-Biff]].
 
   
  +
Besides his niece Roxie Marie, Biff's [[Biff's family|family]] includes his wife, [[Celeste (Biff's wife)|Celeste]] (although in prior episodes, Biff says his wife's name is Ethel). According to [[Episode 2608]], he also has four kids - Timmy, Tommy, Tammy and infant [[Mary-Biff]]. In [[Episode 1737]], he mentions having a dog named Tuffy. In [[Episode 2870]] he works on the sink in [[Hooper's Store]], claiming his father was a plumber and that kind of work runs in the family.
He has sung songs such as "[[We Coulda]]", "[[Think of Your Fingers]]", "[[This Song is For the Birds]]", and appeared in "[[Do De Rubber Duck]]". He also appeared with [[Judy Collins]] in the song "[[One Thing Leads to Another]]", and with [[Johnny Cash]] in "[[Five Feet High and Rising]]".
 
   
  +
According to episodes [[Episode 1955|1955]] and [[Episode 2294|2294]], Biff grew up and lives in Canarsie (a neighborhood in Brooklyn). Biff mentions in [[Episode 3087]] that he attended P.S. 186, where he was the self-proclaimed counting ace. He is also a Republican, as mentioned in ''[[Sing Along]]''.
Two construction-worker [[Anything Muppets]] who looked similar to Biff and Sully made background appearances in the "[[Grover and Mr. Johnson|Outrageous Makeover: Home Addition]]" sketch. {{first|4132}}
 
   
  +
He has sung songs such as "[[We Coulda]]," "[[Think of Your Fingers]]," "[[This Song is For the Birds]]," and appeared in "[[Do De Rubber Duck]]." He also appeared with [[Judy Collins]] in the song "[[One Thing Leads to Another]]," and with [[Johnny Cash]] in "[[Five Feet High and Rising]]." Like Sully, Biff sometimes plays the piano, though he doesn't play it as well as Sully. In one segment, he recalls when he'd play piano scales as a kid and, as an adult, has difficulty playing the most basic of scales. {{first|0911}} In [[Episode 1736|another episode]], Biff and Sully go to [[Bob]] for piano lessons. When Biff plays, poorly, Bob assumes the lessons are for him, only for Biff to reveal that he wants Sully to play like him so he can keep up with Biff. In [[Episode 3217|another episode]], when Biff has his thumb stuck inside a bowling ball, he does his daily piano practice regardless, playing it along with a recording of himself playing the piano without the bowling ball. After asking Telly if his piano playing sounds different with the bowling ball, Telly confirms that it sounds the same.
The duo made [[Season 40 Hidden Gems|a background cameo]] in [[Episode 4204|a 2009 episode]].
 
   
  +
In ''[[Elmopalooza]]'', Biff uses a jackhammer to get [[Jon Stewart]] and [[Prairie Dawn]] out of the dressing room, but when he puts it on full throttle, it shakes him all the way to the stage. Later during "[[One Small Voice]]," he and Sully appear in the audience at the talent show.
A similarly named construction foreman, [[Bif]], exists off-screen.
 
  +
  +
The duo made background cameos in episodes [[Episode 4204|4204]] (performed by [[John Kennedy]]) and [[Episode 4712|4712]]. In [[Season 50 (2019-2020)|season 50]], he made his first new speaking appearances in [[Episode 5017]] and [[Episode 5033|5033]], now performed by [[Matt Vogel]].
  +
 
A similarly named construction foreman, [[Bif]], exists off-screen. Two construction worker [[Anything Muppets]] who looked similar to Biff and Sully made background appearances in the "[[Grover and Mr. Johnson|Outrageous Makeover: Home Addition]]" sketch. {{first|4132}}
   
 
==Filmography==
 
==Filmography==
  +
''See also [[Biff and Sully Sketches]]''
 
*''[[Sesame Street]]''
 
*''[[Sesame Street]]''
 
*''[[Julie on Sesame Street]]''
 
*''[[Julie on Sesame Street]]''
Line 26: Line 30:
 
*''[[Follow That Bird]]''
 
*''[[Follow That Bird]]''
 
*''[[The Muppets: A Celebration of Thirty Years]]''
 
*''[[The Muppets: A Celebration of Thirty Years]]''
*''[[Sing-Along]]''
+
*''[[Sing Along]]''
 
*''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]''
 
*''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]''
*''[[Elmopalooza]]''
 
 
*''[[Don't Forget to Watch the Movie]]''
 
*''[[Don't Forget to Watch the Movie]]''
 
*''[[Elmopalooza]]''
 
*''[[A Brief History of Motion Pictures]]''
 
*''[[A Brief History of Motion Pictures]]''
  +
*''[[Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration]]''
  +
*''[[The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo]]''
  +
** [[Episode 102: Jonas Brothers]]
  +
** [[Episode 111: Andy Cohen / Josh Groban]]
  +
** [[Episode 201: Drew Barrymore / Keedron Bryant]]
  +
** [[Episode 206: Ames McNamara / Leslie Odom Jr.]]
  +
** [[Episode 207: Dani & Dannah Lane / AJR]]
  +
  +
===Episodic appearances===
 
[[Image:0950-BiffSully.jpg|thumb|300px]]
  +
*'''[[Season 4 (1972-1973)|Season 4]]:''' [[Episode 0487|0487]], [[Episode 0532|0532]]
  +
*'''[[Season 5 (1973-1974)|Season 5]]:''' [[Episode 0543|0543]], [[Episode 0545|0545]], [[Episode 0553|0553]], [[Episode 0561|0561]], [[Episode 0562|0562]], [[Episode 0572|0572]], [[Episode 0580|0580]], [[Episode 0582|0582]], [[Episode 0599|0599]], [[Episode 0605|0605]], [[Episode 0606|0606]], [[Episode 0630|0630]], [[Episode 0638|0638]], [[Episode 0640|0640]], [[Episode 0646|0646]], [[Episode 0660|0660]], [[Episode 0663|0663]], [[Episode 0665|0665]]
  +
*'''[[Season 6 (1974-1975)|Season 6]]:''' [[Episode 0671|0671]], [[Episode 0674|0674]], [[Episode 0680|0680]], [[Episode 0689|0689]], [[Episode 0694|0694]], [[Episode 0695|0695]], [[Episode 0702|0702]], [[Episode 0718|0718]], [[Episode 0720|0720]], [[Episode 0735|0735]], [[Episode 0743|0743]], [[Episode 0744|0744]], [[Episode 0753|0753]]
  +
*'''[[Season 7 (1975-1976)|Season 7]]:''' [[Episode 0810|0810]], [[Episode 0816|0816]], [[Episode 0817|0817]], [[Episode 0821|0821]], [[Episode 0829|0829]], [[Episode 0837|0837]], [[Episode 0838|0838]], [[Episode 0839|0839]], [[Episode 0869|0869]], [[Episode 0872|0872]], [[Episode 0873|0873]], [[Episode 0909|0909]], [[Episode 0918|0918]], [[Episode 0925|0925]]
  +
*'''[[Season 8 (1976-1977)|Season 8]]:''' [[Episode 0942|0942]], [[Episode 0943|0943]], [[Episode 0950|0950]], [[Episode 0955|0955]], [[Episode 0961|0961]], [[Episode 1009|1009]], [[Episode 1015|1015]], [[Episode 1021|1021]], [[Episode 1045|1045]], [[Episode 1046|1046]]
  +
*'''[[Season 9 (1977-1978)|Season 9]]:''' [[Episode 1057|1057]], [[Episode 1130|1130]], [[Episode 1138|1138]], [[Episode 1145|1145]]
  +
*'''[[Season 10 (1978-1979)|Season 10]]:''' [[Episode 1190|1190]], [[Episode 1200|1200]], [[Episode 1201|1201]], [[Episode 1209|1209]], [[Episode 1213|1213]], [[Episode 1266|1266]], [[Episode 1287|1287]], [[Episode 1297|1297]]
  +
*'''[[Season 11 (1979-1980)|Season 11]]:''' [[Episode 1360|1360]], [[Episode 1361|1361]], [[Episode 1362|1362]], [[Episode 1371|1371]]
  +
*'''[[Season 13 (1981-1982)|Season 13]]:''' [[Episode 1610|1610]], [[Episode 1613|1613]], [[Episode 1667|1667]], [[Episode 1675|1675]], [[Episode 1677|1677]], [[Episode 1688|1688]]
  +
*'''[[Season 14 (1982-1983)|Season 14]]:''' [[Episode 1733|1733]], [[Episode 1736|1736]], [[Episode 1737|1737]], [[Episode 1743|1743]], [[Episode 1750|1750]], [[Episode 1773|1773]], [[Episode 1777|1777]], [[Episode 1782|1782]], [[Episode 1799|1799]], [[Episode 1831|1831]]
  +
*'''[[Season 15 (1983-1984)|Season 15]]:''' [[Episode 1863|1863]], [[Episode 1955|1955]]
  +
*'''[[Season 17 (1985-1986)|Season 17]]:''' [[Episode 2131|2131]], [[Episode 2148|2148]]
  +
*'''[[Season 18 (1986-1987)|Season 18]]:''' [[Episode 2289|2289]], [[Episode 2294|2294]], [[Episode 2320|2320]], [[Episode 2355|2355]]
  +
*'''[[Season 19 (1987-1988)|Season 19]]:''' [[Episode 2357|2357]]
  +
*'''[[Season 20 (1988-1989)|Season 20]]:''' [[Episode 2608|2608]]
  +
*'''[[Season 21 (1989-1990)|Season 21]]:''' [[Episode 2658|2658]], [[Episode 2706|2706]]
  +
*'''[[Season 22 (1990-1991)|Season 22]]:''' [[Episode 2791|2791]], [[Episode 2792|2792]], [[Episode 2793|2793]], [[Episode 2795|2795]], [[Episode 2802|2802]], [[Episode 2826|2826]], [[Episode 2870|2870]], [[Episode 2874|2874]]
  +
*'''[[Season 23 (1991-1992)|Season 23]]:''' [[Episode 2906|2906]], [[Episode 2928|2928]], [[Episode 2930|2930]], [[Episode 2984|2984]]
  +
*'''[[Season 24 (1992-1993)|Season 24]]:''' [[Episode 3013|3013]], [[Episode 3087|3087]]
  +
*'''[[Season 25 (1993-1994)|Season 25]]:''' [[Episode 3136|3136]], [[Episode 3154|3154]], [[Episode 3193|3193]], [[Episode 3217|3217]], [[Episode 3252|3252]], [[Episode 3260|3260]]
  +
*'''[[Season 26 (1994-1995)|Season 26]]:''' [[Episode 3333|3333]], [[Episode 3387|3387]]
  +
*'''[[Season 29 (1997-1998)|Season 29]]:''' [[Episode 3703|3703]]
  +
*'''[[Season 30 (1998-1999)|Season 30]]:''' [[Episode 3787|3787]], [[Episode 3845|3845]]
  +
*'''[[Season 40 (2009-2010)|Season 40]]:''' [[Episode 4204|4204]]
  +
*'''[[Season 47 (2017)|Season 47]]:''' [[Episode 4712|4712]]
  +
*'''[[Season 50 (2019-2020)|Season 50]]:''' [[Episode 5017|5017]], [[Episode 5033|5033]]
  +
*'''[[Season 51 (2020-2021)|Season 51]]:''' [[Episode 5115|5115]]
  +
  +
==Album appearances==
  +
*''[[Let Your Feelings Show! (album)|Let Your Feelings Show!]]''
  +
*''[[Numbers!]]''
  +
*''[[The People in Your Neighborhood (album)|The People in Your Neighborhood]]''
  +
*''[[Sing-Along Travel Songs]]''
   
 
==Book appearances==
 
==Book appearances==
  +
[[Image:BiffHouse.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[The House That Biff Built]]''.]]
  +
[[Image:Toolboxbook2.jpg|thumb|300px|Biff and Sully in ''[[The Tool Box Book]]''.]]
 
*''[[Big Bird's Busy Book]]'' (1975)
 
*''[[Big Bird's Busy Book]]'' (1975)
  +
*''[[I'm My Mommy - I'm My Daddy]]'' (1975, with green skin)
 
*''[[The Sesame Street Book of Fairy Tales]]'' (1975)
 
*''[[The Sesame Street Book of Fairy Tales]]'' (1975)
 
*''[[How to Be a Grouch]]'' (1976)
 
*''[[How to Be a Grouch]]'' (1976)
  +
*''[[Una Sorpresa]]'' (1976)
 
*''[[Cookie Monster's Book of Cookie Shapes]]'' (1979)
 
*''[[Cookie Monster's Book of Cookie Shapes]]'' (1979)
 
*''[[The Count Counts a Party]]'' (1980)
 
*''[[The Count Counts a Party]]'' (1980)
Line 42: Line 93:
 
*''[[The Sesame Street Dictionary]]'' (1980)
 
*''[[The Sesame Street Dictionary]]'' (1980)
 
*''[[The Sesame Street Pet Show]]'' (1980)
 
*''[[The Sesame Street Pet Show]]'' (1980)
* ''[[The Tool Box Book]]'' (1980)
+
*''[[The Tool Box Book]]'' (1980)
 
*''[[What Did You Bring?]]'' (1980)
 
*''[[What Did You Bring?]]'' (1980)
 
*''[[The Amazing Mumford Presents the Magic Weather Show]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[The Amazing Mumford Presents the Magic Weather Show]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[I Have a Friend]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[I Have a Friend]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Put & Play Magic Show]]'' (1981)
+
*''[[Put & Play Magic Show]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[What Do You Do?]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[What Do You Do?]]'' (1981)
 
*''[[Sesame Street coloring books|City]]'' (1982)
 
*''[[Sesame Street coloring books|City]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Everyone Makes Mistakes (book)|Everyone Makes Mistakes]]'' (1983)
+
*''[[Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 5: The EF Book]]'' (1982)
  +
*''[[Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 9: The NO Book]]'' (1982)
  +
*''[[Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 13: The T Book]]'' (1982)
  +
*''[[Everyone Makes Mistakes (book)|Everyone Makes Mistakes]]'' (1983)
  +
*''[[Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? (Talk 'n Play)|Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?]]'' (1984)
  +
* ''[[A Silly Sesame Street Story: The Three Little Pigs]]'' (1984)
 
*''[[Sesame Street ABC]]'' (1986)
 
*''[[Sesame Street ABC]]'' (1986)
  +
*''[[The Alphabet: The Great Alphabet Play]]'' (1986)
 
*''[[A Birthday Surprise (Sesame Street)|A Birthday Surprise]]'' (1987)
 
*''[[A Birthday Surprise (Sesame Street)|A Birthday Surprise]]'' (1987)
 
* ''[[Sesame Street coloring books|A New Playground on Sesame Street]]'' (1988)
 
* ''[[Sesame Street coloring books|A New Playground on Sesame Street]]'' (1988)
 
*''[[Oscar's Grouchy Sounds]]'' (1990)
 
*''[[Oscar's Grouchy Sounds]]'' (1990)
 
*''[[Bright and Early with Elmo]]'' (1994)
 
*''[[Bright and Early with Elmo]]'' (1994)
  +
*''[[Elmo's Night Before Christmas (book and tape)|Elmo's Night Before Christmas]]'' (1996)
  +
  +
==See also==
  +
* [[Bif]]
   
 
==Sources==
 
==Sources==
 
<references />
 
<references />
  +
  +
__NOWYSIWYG__
 
[[Category:Sesame Street Characters]]
 
[[Category:Sesame Street Characters]]
 
[[Category:Muppet Characters]]
 
[[Category:Muppet Characters]]

Latest revision as of 18:58, 27 January 2024

Biff-Photo
PERFORMER Jerry Nelson
DEBUT 1973
PATTERN Large Lavender Live Hand
Biff-Sully
BiffDebut

In his debut appearances in Season 4, Biff sports a wool cap rather than his usual hardhat.

BiffSully
BiffPortrait
BiffandRoxie

Biff and his niece, Roxie Marie.

Biff is a construction worker on Sesame Street who speaks with a gruff New York accent. His partner is Sully. Biff first appeared in Season 4.

Biff often asks for Sully's opinion, but interrupts him before Sully gets a chance to even make a sound. He also tends to ask him questions and then eggs Sully on by repeating, "Huh? Huh? Huh?," a reference to the taxicab routine by comedy duo Burns and Schreiber. As performer Jerry Nelson said in an interview, "Sully wasn't so much Schreiber, but Biff was the Jack Burns character."[1] Biff often has trouble figuring out how to perform various tasks, and by the time he's figured it out, Sully has already finished it. Biff would then take the credit. While Biff normally interrupts Sully, on occasion (such as episodes 3333 and 3387) he also interrupts his niece, Roxie Marie, though she's at least able to get out some words when he does.

Besides his niece Roxie Marie, Biff's family includes his wife, Celeste (although in prior episodes, Biff says his wife's name is Ethel). According to Episode 2608, he also has four kids - Timmy, Tommy, Tammy and infant Mary-Biff. In Episode 1737, he mentions having a dog named Tuffy. In Episode 2870 he works on the sink in Hooper's Store, claiming his father was a plumber and that kind of work runs in the family.

According to episodes 1955 and 2294, Biff grew up and lives in Canarsie (a neighborhood in Brooklyn). Biff mentions in Episode 3087 that he attended P.S. 186, where he was the self-proclaimed counting ace. He is also a Republican, as mentioned in Sing Along.

He has sung songs such as "We Coulda," "Think of Your Fingers," "This Song is For the Birds," and appeared in "Do De Rubber Duck." He also appeared with Judy Collins in the song "One Thing Leads to Another," and with Johnny Cash in "Five Feet High and Rising." Like Sully, Biff sometimes plays the piano, though he doesn't play it as well as Sully. In one segment, he recalls when he'd play piano scales as a kid and, as an adult, has difficulty playing the most basic of scales. (First: Episode 0911) In another episode, Biff and Sully go to Bob for piano lessons. When Biff plays, poorly, Bob assumes the lessons are for him, only for Biff to reveal that he wants Sully to play like him so he can keep up with Biff. In another episode, when Biff has his thumb stuck inside a bowling ball, he does his daily piano practice regardless, playing it along with a recording of himself playing the piano without the bowling ball. After asking Telly if his piano playing sounds different with the bowling ball, Telly confirms that it sounds the same.

In Elmopalooza, Biff uses a jackhammer to get Jon Stewart and Prairie Dawn out of the dressing room, but when he puts it on full throttle, it shakes him all the way to the stage. Later during "One Small Voice," he and Sully appear in the audience at the talent show.

The duo made background cameos in episodes 4204 (performed by John Kennedy) and 4712. In season 50, he made his first new speaking appearances in Episode 5017 and 5033, now performed by Matt Vogel.

A similarly named construction foreman, Bif, exists off-screen. Two construction worker Anything Muppets who looked similar to Biff and Sully made background appearances in the "Outrageous Makeover: Home Addition" sketch. (First: Episode 4132)

Filmography

See also Biff and Sully Sketches

Episodic appearances

0950-BiffSully

Album appearances

Book appearances

BiffHouse

The House That Biff Built.

Toolboxbook2

Biff and Sully in The Tool Box Book.

See also

Sources

  1. Nelson, Jerry Tough Pigs interview