I MET OSCAR THE GROUCH!!!!

Oh yeah, and I went to the Emmys too.  I mean, that's where I met him, so that's where I was, and I was nominated and that's cool and all but…

I MET OSCAR THE GROUCH!!!!!

I actually have a history with Oscar… or more specifically, with Caroll Spinney, who plays both Oscar and Big Bird, and has done so since the very beginning of Sesame Street. Caroll is the guy in the tux next to Oscar… the only one of the three of us not in green.

Maybe fifteen years ago, I pitched a show to an exec at Jim Henson Productions.  She loved the idea so much that she developed it with me and another show runner, then flew us out to New York to pitch it to the Nickelodeon peeps there.

The exec — who had become a friend during this process — knew how obsessed I am with the Muppets, so she did me two major solids:

1) She got me a tour of the Muppet workshop, where I got to hold Ernie!

2) She invited me to the Henson New York Christmas Party.

I had only one question when I heard #2… would there be Sesame Street actors there?  Bob, maybe?  Gordon?  Or even… a Muppeteer????

My friend's answers were vague, but the minute I walked into the party I saw him.  He was tall, with white hair and a white beard… but to me he was all yellow and feathery.

He was Caroll Spinney, and I'm a big enough Muppet geek that I knew him by sight.

I orbited the edge of his conversation until I finally had a chance to jump in, then introduced myself with the very subtle, "Hi-my-name's-Elise-and-I've-wanted-to-meet-you-since-I-was-three!"

He backed away slightly, and asked me — in the friendliest way — what I was doing at the party.  He relaxed when I explained why I'd been "flown out," and even asked me what my show was about.  I gave Caroll Spinney my elevator pitch, at which point he said — in a speaking voice that sounds almost exactly like Big Bird's, "Wow, that sounds really great.  I bet that's going to be a huge success."

Tears filled my eyes, and in utter earnest I said, "Well, if Big Bird says it'll be a success… then I guess it really will!"

Mr. Spinney didn't know how to respond to that one, and when I realized I had actually regressed to preschool, I excused myself and left the party.  Instead I met my friend Debbie, and we retired to Sparks Steak House to take notes on mafia types for our mystery parties… but that's another story.  I will advise this though — mafia types do NOT like when you take notes on them.

So back to the Emmys Friday night.  We get there ("we" being myself, my co-nominee Joe Purdy, his fabulous wife Donna, and our super-amazing Dinosaur Train producer Sue Bea Montgomery), meet up with Dinosaur Train creator Craig Bartlett and his lovely wife Lisa, then mosey towards the red carpet (there really was an actual red carpet), when who do we see?

OSCAR THE GROUCH!!!!

He was just hanging out next to Caroll Spinney, chatting up some couple and getting his picture taken with them… so I naturally stood about two feet away from them and bounced up and down until the couple went away and I could jump in.  I did, and my wonderful friends took so many pictures they resembled the news corps more than nominees.  Mr. Spinney was very gracious — even the Grouch was gracious, which is unusual for him.

Not surprisingly, I was rendered a blithering idiot by standing within a two foot radius of a Muppet, but Joe stepped in to help legitimize my fangirl madness.  He told Mr. Spinney we were there as nominees with the Henson company, and we introduced him to Craig.  It was all lovely… then I piped up and told him a quick version of the Christmas party story.

His response?

He did his Big Bird voice and said, "Gee, I'm real sorry I made you cry."

This, of course, made me start to cry again.  And since I was wearing a considerable amount of eye makeup, I thought it best to excuse myself.

We didn't win.  The Penguins of Madagascar took the award for best writing.  But I'm exceedingly happy, because I may not have gotten an Emmy… but I did score the Oscar.

P.S. For those of you wondering, Sven Giersman did not win for his work on the Rally to Restore Fear/Sanity.  Highway robbery.