The Eminent Grownups of Sesame Street

by Alexandra Molotkow

Sometimes when I’m counting change, or receipt totals, or ranked items, my inner monologue starts to gallop and “one, two, three,” snaps into “FOUR FIVE, sixseveneight NINE TEN, eleventwelve.”

I’m thinking of Sesame Street’s Pinball Number Count:

…which will be my mental screensaver for as long as I live, just as a part of me is stuck forever in a dark room with an insatiable letter.

It turns out “Pinball Number Count” features vocals by none other than the Pointer Sisters, which surprised me, though it shouldn’t, since Sesame Street has always featured the best guest appearances by the coolest adults:

…as well as the least-cool-but-surprisingly-redeemable adults:

You can learn a lot about someone by how they interact with muppets or kids. And it’s particularly touching to watch the kids of Sesame Street interact with the celebrity guests. They behave like kids: excited, confused, unsure of what’s expected of them, which ranges from adorable to really moving.

Smokey Robinson and the Pointer Sisters, as well as Rick Moranis and “Two Princes,” are part of the fabric of my childhood. It’s funny to compare a kid’s relationship to culture and celebrity with an adult’s. Sesame Street guests might as well be aunts and uncles to the kids at home; they are grownups among grownups in the grownup world. Adults have to scramble to figure out who matters, then think really hard about why. Grownups read hot takes on Beyoncé, but your teenage niece grew up with the idea that Destiny’s Child could appear spontaneously and tell her to be herself.

If you really want to know what Soandso means in the culture, watch their appearance on a kid’s show. And if you ever want further confirmation that zoomin’s the best, take it from Usher.