If you catch this week's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, you'll see a very scary segment about the prevalence of lead (aka poison) not only in so many water supplies but in paint and other places where it's hard to avoid. It includes a nice cameo by three Muppets from Sesame Street — Elmo, Rosita and Oscar the Grouch. The credits on the program list five Muppet performers: Ryan Dillon, Eric Jacobson, Lara Maclean, Carmen Osbahr and Matt Vogel.
Okay, let's see if we can figure this out: Elmo is a one-person Muppet and he's been performed by Ryan Dillon since 2013 when Kevin Clash got in trouble and had to resign. So that's him. The other two Muppets require two operators — one to do the voice, mouth and one hand; the other to do the other hand.
Carmen Osbahr originated Rosita so she's obviously the primary performer there with Lara Maclean doing hand duty. That means Oscar was performed by —
Wait a minute. Not Caroll Spinney?
Right. And it was a good replica but it ain't him. I'm guessing it was Eric Jacobson with Matt Vogel assisting, though it could be the other way around. Eric is a terrific mimic who has taken over most of the Frank Oz roles like Miss Piggy, Grover, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle and Animal. He's also done Cookie Monster occasionally, though David Rudman has been the main Cookie Monster performer for more than a decade. (You can see a photo of me with Eric and David over in this post.) Matt Vogel has taken over most of the Jerry Nelson roles and occasionally worn the Big Bird suit when Mr. Spinney was unavailable, unwell or busy playing Oscar in the same scene.
Is this a passing of the torch moment? Spinney is 82 and has been Oscaring since 1969. Eventually, he has to hand his two signature roles off to others. Has it just happened? One would like to think he's just on vacation or maybe busy filing his taxes…but this is a pretty high-profile appearance. You'd think they'd arrange for him to do it if he could. Anyone know?
And, letting my imagination run away with me: If they had Eric Jacobson available but not Caroll Spinney, why didn't the writers of Last Week Tonight use Cookie Monster or Grover instead of Oscar? Since the subject was lead poisoning, wouldn't there be possibilities there for Cookie Monster to explain he'll eat anything except paint chips or drink the water in Flint, Michigan? Hmmm…