The hotel's run by monsters, a staff beyond compare.
We've got the kind of service you won't find anywhere.
We've got the kind of service you won't find anywhere.
The Furchester Hotel is a spin-off/companion series to Sesame Street, and a coproduction between Sesame Workshop and UK-based children's network CBeebies; it runs on that channel and is also available on the web. Elmo and Cookie Monster travel to England to help Elmo's aunt and uncle run a "half-star" hotel whose staff is good at solving problems.
Outside of the UK, the show can be seen on YouTube, and in select territories on Netflix.
Tropes:
- Ascended Extra: Originally performed by Mak Wilson (or, occasionally, David Rudman), Gonger was used during series 1 as sort of a one-note character: he'd randomly appear to ring a gong, leading to the Tea Time Monsters stampeding through the hotel to get to their tea, and never show up again until the next episode. During series 2, however, the character was recast to Warrick Brownlow-Pike, and given a more prominent role as the hotel cook (complete with permanent chef's toque and apron). When Furchester ended its run on CBeebies, Gonger was imported to the American Sesame Street for "Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck", and Brownlow-Pike came along with him, becoming the only currently-active U.K. puppeteer working on the show. Since then, Gonger has gained official Sesame merchandise, book appearances, and even a walk-around character at Sesame Street Live! stage shows and at the Sesame Place theme park in Langhorne, PA.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: The raccoon guest with Sticky Fingers.
- Bears Are Bad News: Again, averted. Although the bear guest that shows up falls asleep just as the Furchesters try to get him to his room, he's actually a Gentle Giant.
- Big Eater: Mr. Squigglebottom, the caterpillar guest that comes. He makes Cookie Monster faint by demanding a lot of leaves.
- Brits Love Tea: Mr. Dull and the Tea Time monsters. Justified as this is Britain and tea time is Serious Business.
- Brutal Honesty: Harvey P. Dull sometimes delivers this.
- Butt-Monkey: Harvey P. Dull is often the main victim of the chaos the monsters and guests cause.
- Canon Immigrant: Gonger was added to Sesame Street itself in Season 48, running a food truck with Cookie.
- Character Catchphrase:
- Funella: "We welcome you with furry arms!"
- Pheobe: "Fuzza-wubba! That gives me a monster idea!"
- The Tea Time Monsters: "Ugga-wugga tea time, ugga-wugga clink! Ugga-wugga tea time, ugga-wugga drink!"
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: After chasing around five chickens for one episode, to keep them together for a tour, Elmo and Phoebe are flabbergasted that all they needed was a whistle to call the chickens together.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- No one wants to get close to Pierce the porcupine for fear of getting hurt, and he is a Stepford Smiler about it. This is very analagous to people who have behavioral disabilities and contagious diseases or whose physical appearances scare others.
- Elwood the Woodpecker always needs to peck, which is a problem when he reduces most of the furniture in his room to sawdust. He makes it clear that he has to, and cannot be physically stopped, and thus they find a compromise when it's revealed he can peck the glockenspiel quite well.
- Friend to All Living Things: Phoebe and her cousin Bebe. They can talk to animals.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Phoebe briefly when Bebe reveals that she can speak to chickens better than Phoebe can.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mr. Harvey P. Dull. Although he is The Eeyore about the hotel and a Deadpan Snarker, he also is polite to Phoebe and Elmo and dresses up as Monster Monster to cheer up Elmo when the real Monster Monster doesn't show up.
- Lampshade Hanging: The episode "Gonger's Gong Gone" hangs a lampshade on the entirely random occurrence of Monster Tea Time (which sometimes happens in the middle of the night if that's when the episode's set); Funella asks Gonger if it should really happen straight after breakfast, then shrugs and says "Well, if you're sure".
- Meaningful Name: The little, pink monster who bangs a gong to signal tea time for the appropriately-named Tea Time Monsters? His name is Gonger.
- Once an Episode:
- The "tea time" Running Gag happens.
- Either the song "A Furchester Never Gives Up" or "A Furchester Catastrophe". (Season 2 adds "We Can Solve Any Problem".)
- The characters coming up with a solution to the problem of the week by "putting our furry heads together".
- Required Spin Off Crossover: Season 2 has a Big Bird episode, a Count von Count episode and a Yip-Yip Martians episode.
- Shout-Out: Episode 109 "Mystery Weekend" has various parodies of famous fictional detectives, including Miss Marbles, Penguin Mason, and a raccoon named Inspector Raccoonseau who is named after Inspector Jacque Clouseau, and has the voice and mannerisms of Columbo (funnily enough, the main Sesame Street once had their own Columbo parody named "Colambo"). Sherlock Hemlock also appears, but is reduced to a silent background cameo, as Jerry Nelson had died two years prior to the episode's production.
- Smelly Skunk: Mr Smells-A-Lot, who sprays whenever he's surprised. The Furchesters have to show him everything in the hotel, so that nothing will startle him anymore.
- Something We Forgot: When guests arrive for Mystery Weekend, Funella and Fergus have realized that they've forgotten to set up a mystery. Thankfully, a raccoon with Sticky Fingers ends up providing a good whodunnit.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Phoebe and her cousin Bebe. Of course, being a Sesame production, most of the animals speak English unless the plot requires them not to.
- Stating the Simple Solution: When the phone is out and the Furchesters realize that yodeling isn't working because no one in the hotel knows who they're yodeling to, they're preparing to sing all the room numbers in yodel so as to make distinctions. Harry P. Dull then finds that the phone cord is unplugged and solves the problem.
- Stepford Smiler: Pierce the Porcupine. He claims that it doesn't bother him how having all his quills is a stigma, but when Phoebe and Elmo prod him he admits that he's very hurt about it.
- Stiff Upper Lip: Pierce demonstrates this when Cookie Monster freaks out on seeing him and spills salad all over him, leaving to the vegetables landing on his spines. He says that he likes "shish-kabob"
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Cookie Monster's British cousin Biscuit Monster appears in one episode. He looks exactly like Cookie Monster, except he wears a Dashingly Dapper Derby and has an English accent.
- Yes-Man: Mr. Carrot the horse, until Phoebe teaches him how to say no.
- You Mean X Mas: Monster Monster Day. Monster Monster comes to the best hotel during the winter and cheers up the place.
- Becomes baffling when they do celebrate Christmas in a later episode.
