I have searched for this for years, and have found nothing…but I remember in great detail a song on SESAME STREET (this would have been 1980 or before) called "Surprise!" It involved various scenes and cast members from the show doing silly things that involved an element of surprise. Then at some point in the song, someone knocks on Oscar's trashcan and Maria pops up in a red devil suit and with a deep scary voice proclaims, "Oscar isn't here!!"
This scared the piss out of me as a kid and I would like to see if it still does, but I find absolutely no reference to this scene and no one who remembers it…I know I am sane, but I would love to see this again or at least hear from someone who remembers it.
Thanks,
Stephen
UNK SEZ: No luck finding that "Maria as Satan" clip Stephen, but I did find this old clip of Oscar which reveals him to be a natural ginger! He's even singing my theme song "I love trash!"
Thats the only "bad thing" about SESAME STREET: Since the show has been running  for a very long time and is pretty good with cranking out new episodes - if you have a vague memory of a skit you saw on there chances are you are gonna have a hell of a time trying to FIND that clip because there are so many skits you would have to look through. I'm sure after making so many episodes Maria herself doesnt remember this particluar one!
I remember when my daughter was a baby being afraid of the SESAME STREET show about the letter "X"Â that parodied X FILES. I never could find clips from it, and neither could the KINDERTRAUMA people. And I cant very well demand to dig through the hundreds or thousands of episodes in the SEASAME STREET archive to find it, now can I?
I've gone through the online Sesame Street episode guide http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Sesame_Street_Episode_Guide
but have yet to find the song that scared me so much. I think the Sesame Street censor squad is more efficient than the Secret Service and the PMRC combined
"SESAME STREET, you have used your show that is intended to TEACH children to instead TERRIFY children. How do you plead?"
"What? What are you talking about? (setting fire to the Forbidden Reels that were hidden in a secret vault)"Maria, you dont know nothin, ya hear? If you squeel we give you the SAW treatment!"
I remember in the early 70s they did homages to the first silent films that used to terrify me, especially the one with the steam-powered train heading directly towards you! And a girl sinking in quicksand! A girl burning in flames in an apartment – HELP! What were they thinking?!
And Maria used to impersonate Charlie Chaplin.
I actually remember that. Wasn't it Grungetta (or whatever her name was) that knocked on Oscar's trashcan? Then Maria popped out in a devil costume, and in a Frank Oz kinda voice, said "Oscar isn't in!" It used to crack me up, though. 🙂