Count von Count

"The Count" redirects here; for the nobility title, see Count. For other uses, see Count (disambiguation).

Count von Count, often known as The Count, is one of the Muppet characters on Sesame Street, performed by Jerry Nelson. The Count is a vampire modeled after Béla Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula.

The Count's main purpose is educating children on simple mathematical concepts, most notably counting. The Count has an obsessive love of counting (arithmomania); he will count anything and everything, regardless of size, amount, or how much annoyance he is causing the other Muppets or human cast.

Some traditional vampire myths depict vampires as having a similar obsession with counting small objects, providing a means of distracting them by tossing a handful of seeds or salt on the ground. This is seen as a protection from the vampire, similar to the use of garlic. The Count's own arithmomania may simply be a coincidence, however, inspired by the pun on his title of nobility. According to his theme song, "The Song of the Count": "When I'm alone, I count myself. One count!"

In the early 1970s, following a counting session, the Count would laugh maniacally, "AH AH AH AH AH!" as thunder roared overhead and lightning flashed, and as the total of the number appeared on screen. He also possessed hypnotic powers and could stun people, and he wouldn't let anything get in the way of his counting. This practice, however, was discontinued in the mid-1970s because children watching the show might be frightened by it. From the mid-70s to the present, the Count became friendlier, did not have hypnotic powers, and interacted more with the characters (both live actors and Muppets), and appeared in at least one Muppet-Kid moment. His laugh was also changed from maniacal laughter to a more triumphant, stereotypical Dracula-style laugh, but the thunder and lightning stayed until the early 2000s, and from then on was only used for special sequences.

When the Count sings, the background music resembles Roma music, no matter what the song.

The Count bears a noticeable resemblance to Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, including a similar accent and oversized, pointed canine teeth (better known as fangs, although Lugosi himself did not bear fangs in the 1931 film), but it would appear that he is different from other vampires, besides sporting a goatee and monocle. For example, most vampires wither in direct sunlight; the Count does not and in fact enjoys being outside. Additionally, the Count does not suck blood, sleep in a coffin, or change into a bat. He also sleeps at night. In many ways, he is more like a regular human than a vampire. However, the Count still has one vampiric trait: he has no reflection in mirrors.

The Count lives in an old, cobweb-infested castle which he shares with many bats. Sometimes he counts them. Some of the pet bats are named, including Grisha, Misha, Sasha, and Tatiana. He has a cat, Fatatita, as well. Sometimes he counts him.

The Count's former girlfriend, Countess von Backwards, was known for counting backwards. More recently he has been seen with a new girlfriend, Countess Dahling von Dahling. His brother and mother have made appearances on the show. His grandparents also made an appearance. When Grandma Count laughs, it rains. When Grandpa Count laughs, it snows.

History of the character on Sesame Street

The Count debuted on Sesame Street in Season 4 (1972–73), and was conceived by Norman Stiles, who wrote the first script. The Count was performed by Jerry Nelson, who brought the character to life.

The Count was originally made out of the Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet pattern.

He made an appearance in The Muppets Take Manhattan, then in the Sesame Street movies Follow That Bird and Elmo in Grouchland.

In Season 33, the Count got a daily segment on Sesame Street, simply called The Number of the Day.

Internationally

• In the Dutch version of the series, Sesamstraat, the Count's name is Graaf Tel.
• In the French series 5, Rue Sésame, his name is Comte von Compte.
• In the German series Sesamstraße, his name is Graf Zahl (literally, "Count Number").
• In the Hebrew series רחוב סומסום, his name is 'מר סופר', phonetically pronounced 'Mar Soper', which literally means "Mr. Counter".
• In the Mexican series Plaza Sésamo, his name is El Conde Contar.
• In the Polish series Ulica Sezamkowa, his name is Liczyhrabia.
• In the Portuguese series Rua Sésamo, his name is Conde de Contar.
• In the Russian series Ulitsa Sezam, his name is Znak (Знак).
• In the Spanish series, Barrio Sésamo, his name is Conde Draco.
• In the Turkish series Susam Sokağı, his name is Sayıların Kontu (literally, "The Count of Numbers")

Appearances in other media

• The Count appeared on a video package aired on the first episode of The Late Show with David Letterman that was shown after Letterman's emergency quintuple bypass operation. He appeared as a surgeon in an operating theatre, counting "One bypass... AH AH AH! Two bypass..."
• In a Dancing with the Stars results show that aired on October 2, 2007, a fake backstage sequence with Jimmy Kimmel claimed that votes for the show are tabulated by The Count, who was depicted as being thrown into a panic by the discovery that "Mel B" and "Scary Spice" are in fact the same person.
• In Act 2 of the Broadway musical Avenue Q two screens show the audience six cartoon nightstands while at the same time a voice sounding like The Count comes over the speaker system and counts down from six nightstands to 'one night stand.'

References in popular culture

Because of his friendly personality, iconic laugh, and Dracula like appearance, The Count is one of the most recognizable characters from Sesame Street, and has been referenced numerous times in popular culture. For example:

• In his HBO stand up special "Killing Them Softly", comedian Dave Chappelle does a routine in which he says several shows for kids send them subliminal messages. He says Sesame Street teaches kids how to judge people (he uses Oscar for his example), describes "Snuffie" as addicted to drugs, Cookie Monster as a junkie, and explains that The Count is a pimp because of his style of dress and obsession with numbers. Chappelle then goes on to impersonate The Count, complain to one of his hookers that she is late paying him, proceeds to pretend to smack her twice, and count the smacks.
• In an episode of Family Guy, Brian and Peter are shown watching an episode of Sesame Street featuring The Count counting bats. Peter turns to Brian and asks if The Count is a vampire, and whether The Count has ever killed anyone on the show. Brian then asks Peter to confirm that he is asking "if they have done a Sesame Street where they showed The Count killing someone, and then draining their blood for sustenance" which Peter does. Brian then instantly replies "no".
• In the film The Descent, early in the film the main characters encounter a swarm of bats as they enter a cave. In response, Holly (Nora Jane Noone) impersonates the Count, chanting, "One bat. Two bats. Fifty bats. Ah ah ah ah ah."
• A video of the Count singing "The Song of the Count" was reedited by American comedian Neil Cicierega, censoring every time the Count says "count" or "counting"(except for the first and last time he says it), making it appear as if the count is saying fuck. The video has become a huge hit on YouTube.

External links

Count von Count on Muppet Wiki