The Mad Painter

Template:Performer

"I'm going to paint a seven!"

The Mad Painter was the title character in a series of live-action films on Sesame Street. Produced for the program's third season, the film inserts used comedic slapstick to teach number recognition, emphasizing the symbolic representation of the numeral, and how it is drawn, in contrast to The Baker Films, which stressed counting and quantity.

The painter character is an eccentric whose hobby is painting numbers (between 2 and 11) in various public and private places. Armed with a set of number stencils, he would begin each skit by announcing the number he intended to paint, but often missed his targets. Property, buildings, clothing, and bald heads were all grist for the painter's mill.

Occasionally, the numerical graffiti artist would suffer the consequences of his peculiar obsession, and elude irate citizenry in a comic chase. Still, he continued his campaign, gaining notoriety in newspapers (the film for 8 includes the blaring headline "PAINTER STRIKES AGAIN!")

Two recurring targets were a bald, moustachioed man and a young woman, portrayed by Stockard Channing. The segments punctuated the action through a jaunty piano score, reminiscent of silent film accompaniments, as composed by Robert Dennis.

Sketches

Picture	Summary	Appearance	Description
	Number 2		The painter paints a number 2 on a sailboat, enraging the owner.
	Number 3	Episode 2208	The painter uses condiments to paint a 3 on Channing's sandwich bread. Released as a bonus segment on Sesame Street: Old School, Volume 1.
	Number 4	Episode 0355	The painter paints a number 4 on Channing's umbrella.
	Number 5		The painter's quest to paint a 5 leads to the zoo, and a gorilla. He finds something to paint his 5 on, and it's a big yellow ball. Even the gorilla helps him out, and they give each other a "5".
	Number 6		The painter paints a 6, with icing, on a birthday cake.
	Number 7	Episode 1090	The painter keeps attempting to paint a 7 on an elevator door, but it winds up on items belonging to the passengers. Channing also appears in this episode.
	Number 8	Episode 1446	The painter dives into a pool, in scuba suit, to render an 8 on the bald pool owner's head.
	Number 9	Episode 2073	The painter paints a 9 on a road, where his precious number falls prey to an industrious street cleaner.
	Number 10	Episode 2341	The painter paints a 10 on a stool, which the bald man then sits on.
	Number 11	Episode 2483	The painter gets his comeuppance again. He attempts to paint an 11 in a doctor's office, but is unable to act in front of the waiting patients. Though he paints an eleven on the door, a janitor washes it off, and the nurse (Channing again) yanks the painter into the office.