We're gonna stay up late and party!
Sesame Street Stays Up Late! is a New Year's Special, spun off from Sesame Street that was first broadcast on PBS on December 29, 1993 and released to home video later the next year. Everyone on Sesame Street is getting ready for the big New Year's Eve party but Telly quickly discovers that the year will be over and fears what happens when it is, so he launches a campaign to stop the new year from coming.
Meanwhile Elmo is the host of the Monster News Network showing how New Year's Eve celebrations are held around the world. As this happens, we are treated to some segments featuring characters from international coproductions of Sesame Street.
For home media, the special was renamed Sesame Street Celebrates Around the World.
Tropes:
- A Dog Named "Dog": Moishe Oofnik is named "Oofnik the Grouch" in this special. Being that Moishe is his actual name and "Offnik" is Hebrew for "grouch" he is technically named "Grouch the Grouch".
- Are We There Yet?: A variation: Baby Bear keeps shouting "Happy New Year!" and blowing his noisemaker multiple times during the special, and the others have to remind him that it is not quite time yet. When the time finally does come, Baby Bear needs to be reminded that it is time.
- Ball-Balancing Seal: Wolfgang the seal is tasked with balancing a beach ball on his nose to throw in the air at midnight to act as the ball drop for the street's party.
- Confetti Drop: Balloons and small pieces of Confetti fall onto Around the Corner as soon as the ball drops.
- Crossover: The Monster News Network segments feature Elmo reporting on New Year's Eve celebrations from six different countries, most of which are crossovers from that country's native version of Sesame Street.
- Eat the Camera: Telly does this when he runs off screaming after Oscar makes him think that the coming of midnight will cause the world to end.
- Idea Bulb: Not a bulb, but rather the whole lamp, when Telly is trying to find an idea for where to hide from the new year and a lamp illuminates right above his head inside Finders Keepers Corner Store.
- Lampshade Wearing: When Telly hides from the New Year at Finders Keepers, he disguises himself as a lamp by wearing a lampshade, and tells his doll Freddy to "Act like a lamp".
- New Year Has Come: Obviously!
- Oh, Crap!: Tita the cat from Portugal's Rua Sesamo remarks "Ai-ai-ai" after hearing that one child made a wish for a dog.
- Overcrank: Once the group counts down to midnight Wolfgang tosses the ball up in the air and it lands on the ground. The footage of this happening plays extra slow.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Telly after he appears as an agent from the "Department of Parties & Celebrations". He is wearing only sunglasses and a false beard and is busted when his beard is caught in his suitcase.
- Running Gag: Baby Bear shouting "Happy New Year" and making noise with his noisemakers only to be reminded that it's not time yet. When the time does come he needs to be reminded.
- The Stinger: Everyone continues to celebrate after the credits roll, including Slimey, and Cookie Monster appears to eat a part of the text reading "THE END".
- The Song Remains the Same: In the Japanese dub of the special, none of the songs are dubbed, and are all left in English, with Japanese subtitles.
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: After seeing how children in Portugal eat twelve grapes at the strike of midnight, Big Bird gets the idea to do the same thing.
- Wrong Turn at Albuquerque: Subverted when Grover drops off the bag of cards from Japan to Elmo in the studio. He mentions it took him longer to get home because he took a left turn at Mt. Fuji instead of the right turn.
