Norman Stiles



 Norman Stiles  (b. December 4, 1942) is a writer who worked on SESAME STREET and its related products for over 20 years; his concepts include the Muppet characters Count von Count & Forgetful Jones.

Stiles initially studied zoology and chemistry at Hunter College, and became a social worker for the New York City Welfare Department. During that period, he began writing comedy material for such performers as Ron Carey (later a regular on Barney Miller) and Marty Brill, and wrote for Griffin Merv Griffin.

Stiles joined the Chil dren ' s Television Workshop in 1971, and became the head writer on SESAME STREET beginning with Sea son 4. In later years, his work would often touch upon sensitive topics, such as the death of [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Hooper Mr. Hooper ] in episode 1839, or the effects of divorce on children in the unaired " Snuffy  ' s Parents Get a Divorce". In 1990, as part of the Season 22 curriculum mandate to examine race relations, Stiles wrote a skit in which a blue monster named Britta refuses to let Elmo play wubbaball because of his different fur color, only to find herself excluded.

Stiles has also written for appearances by the Muppets, such as an Ad Council nutrition spot with Cookie Monster, and authored a variety of SESAME STREET books (including The Perils of  Penelope ), wrote lyrics for such songs as "Put Down the  Duckie '", and helped script Jim Henson 's pilot special The Muppet Show : Sex & Violence'.

Stiles discussed his philosophy of writing in 1988: "Never talk down to children. Always try to entertain children and parents at the same time. Try to have adult characters speak the way adults speak and not in singsong kiddy-show style. And teach something while all this is going on... This is basically a sketch comedy show.

Outside of the Muppets and SESAME STREET, Stiles has written for America 2-Night (starring Martin Mull and Fred Willard) and Mel Brooks' 1975 sitcom spoof of Robin Hood When Things Were Rotten.

In 1996, Stiles co-founded Sirius Thinking Ltd, an independent children's television production company, with fellow SESAME alumni [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_K._Frith Michael K. Frith ] and Christopher Cerf. At Sirius Thinking, Stiles wrote and produced the PBS children's show Between the Lions which premiered in 2000. The show has won 6 Emmy Awards Daytime Emmy Awards, including a 2004 Emmy Awards Emmy for best writing.

In April 2014, Stiles launched a crowdfunding campaign for an online video series Baby & Toddler Parenthood News Network with his wife Ellen Dillon and child development expert Amy Hatkoff.

Television writing credits

 * SESAME STREET ( 1971 - 1995 )
 * The Muppet Show : Sex & Violence
 * to Lunch Out to Lunch
 * The Jean Marsh Cartoon Special
 * The SESAME STREET Special
 * Free t o B e . . . a Family

Book credits

 * The  SESAME   STREET  Treasury Volumes
 * 1
 * 2
 * 4
 * 5
 * 6
 * 7
 * 8
 * 9
 * 10
 * 11
 * 12
 * The  SESAME   STREET  Treasury Volumes


 * 1
 * 2
 * 3
 * 4
 * 5
 * The  SESAME   STREET  Storybook
 * The  SESAME   STREET  1, 2 , 3 Storybook
 * The  SESAME   STREET  ABC Storybook
 * The Perils of  Penelope 
 *  I  ' ll Miss You, Mr . Hooper
 *  The   Amazing   Mumford  & His Amazing Subtracting Trick
 * The  Ernie  &  Bert  Book
 *  Grover  ' s Little Red Riding Hood
 *  Grover  & the Every thing in t he Whole Wide World Museum
 * Around the Corner on  SESAME   STREET 
 *  The   Count  ' s Number Parade

Songwriting credits

 * Above it All
 * Robins Counting Robins
 * Dance Myself to Sleep
 * Do De  Rubber   Duck 
 * Don ' t Sing This Song
 * Do - Op Hop
 * Elmo ''' ' s Jive Five
 * Google Bugle
 * Handful of Crumbs
 * Hey Food
 * I Am Chicken
 *  Me  Gotta Be Blue
 * Monster in the Mirror
 * Put Down the  Duckie 
 * Swamp Mushy  MUDDY 
 * Telephone Rock
 * You ' re Alive

Miscellaneous writing credits

 *  BIG   BIRD  Discovers the Orchestra, album
 * Silly Dancing, SESAME STREET Live stage show
 * Sleeping  Birdie , stage show