The Late Movies: The Letter People

Remember The Letter People? Invented in 1972 as part of literacy program, these guys are a major memory from my childhood. Though there was a television show that aired on PBS and other educational channels, I was introduced to The Letter People as small, blow-up dolls — and didn’t discover the show and the hilarious songs until college when a friend found an old cassette tape. Each character represents a letter of the alphabet and has characteristics beginning with that letter (Example: Miss E, who has Exercising Energy.) Here’s a round-up of clips from the television series. For an almost-complete cache of Letter People videos, visit the user LetterPeopleLand on YouTube. There’s an extensive collection of great videos that we couldn’t post here for embedding reasons.

Miss A

While most of the Letter People were male, the vowels were represented by female characters. A very sneezy Miss A had a case of aaaa-choos!

Mister T

Mister T had some terrifically tall teeth and in this episode, he hangs out with Mister M, who has a munching mouth.

Mister R

A little more sinister than his compatriots, Mister R took great pleasure from ripping rubber bands. Though this video doesn’t depict his episode of the show, the song is catchy and there’s some great still shots from the episode.

Mister H

Mister H originally had horrible hair, but in the 1990s remake of the show, his hair got a lot happier.

Mister M

This dude’s munching mouth devours everything in sight.

Mister K

Mister K plays the kazoo with a king!