Elephant Parts of the Third Kind". Two related TV series were "PopClips" for Nickelodeon (released in 1980), and "Television Parts" for NBC in 1985. Nickelodeon's parent company, Warner Cable, wanted to buy outright the "PopClips" copyright to be expanded into an all-music video channel, but after Nesmith declined the offer, Warner Cable started work on what would become MTV. The title "Elephant Parts" refers to the parable of the blind men and an elephant where each man comes to a different conclusion about what an elephant is due to them touching only one part. When "Elephant Parts" was first released on LaserDisc
Seeing the elephant writes that the popularity of the phrase came from Coney Island which used the elephant as a mascot throughout the Gilded Age. "So famous was this massive monument [the Elephant Hotel] that for a generation, "seeing the elephant" signified a quest for satisfactions in disreputable quarters." Earthly delights are not the only reason the elephant craze existed considering its many earlier origins. More likely the elephant Americanism gained steam and then was used as a catchy draw for brothels, saloons or businesses. There were several old west saloons that had 'elephant' in the title, including the famous White Elephant Saloons.