Should Sesame Street continue?

[Daffyfan4ever]

All right: I'm not trying to cause a war here.
But let's all look at the facts:
The show's been going for 43 years & change. Jim Henson passed away in 1990 (?) (I give Steve Whitmire great credit for picking up where Jim left off ; don't get me wrong!) But now Jerry Nelson has passed on.Kevin Clash has decided to leave us.Carroll Spinney isn't getting any younger (even though by Ryan/prawncracker's pics /he looks wonderful,he's STILL pushing 70something) I think Fran Brill has been around since 1972. I don't know about the other Muppeteers.
Plus what about the humans? Susan (Loretta Long) & Bob (McGrath) have been there since there since day 1! I found out from a fellow MCer that Bob is 80! At the Thanksgiving parade my family & I were remarking at how Bob had aged. If (God forbid) Bob and /or Loretta does pass away it'll be another explaining about death again to another generation of kids. It was handled well when Will Lee (Mr.Hooper) passed away 20 years ago (I applaud the writers & the cast . & just realized how long ago that was..WOW!Although I'm not happy w/the way they handled David's departure.Kids are usually told when someone leaves they come back. Big Bird was told that David moved to the farm to help his grandmother.I'm wondering how many kids wondered when David would be back.But that's just me.) Anyway, am I wrong in my thinking? And let's not turn this into a battle where the mods need to close the thread OK?
Kathy

It's okay, Kathy. I see what you're saying and I can sort of see both sides. With all that's been going on, it may seem like the street has seen it's days, but considering this is one of the longest-running childrens' shows watched by people all over the world, I don't think they're considering cancelling. I'm sure they knew in advance that puppeteers/human cast members or whoever weren't going to be around forever, so I'm sure the producers saw this coming. They just didn't think it would be quite so soon. But there were shows like Mr. Rogers, Captain Kangaroo (I can't think of too many others) that were able to continue even with so many cast changes, so there's no reason it shouldn't be the same with Sesame Street. Sure it won't be the same as it was without Jerry, Kevin, etc. Then again, it hasn't been the same as it was when Jim, Richard, Mr. Hooper and all those people were around either. I guess you just have to keep going. Recall the Jim Henson quote: Take what you've got and fly with it.

Grover's Super Grover 2,0 is supposedly a hot gift this season, but I've never seen anything to prove that.

I've actually seen an ad for that in a magazine rack in the store where I work. I might want to check that out again.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Hubert I think that Loretta's absence would get explained (because IF Gordon is still seen on the street & he's still married to Susan, something would HAVE to be said. And I'm pretty sure Chris is still seen on the street. He's been established as Susan's nephew. )
As for Bob, they might pull the ol' "Bob moved." Sad to say.

Well, you never know. After all, Miles was recently written out of the cast and his disappearance was never really explained, so I don't know. It's sort of the same with Bob. I kind of agree with what Dwayne mentioned about why they added Chris and Leela. I am a little concerned that they will gradually focus more on the younger cast members and sort of forget about the older ones. Though that would be quite sad and I really hope I'm wrong on that.

 

[Drtooth]

Well, you never know. After all, Miles was recently written out of the cast and his disappearance was never really explained, so I don't know. It's sort of the same with Bob. I kind of agree with what Dwayne mentioned about why they added Chris and Leela. I am a little concerned that they will gradually focus more on the younger cast members and sort of forget about the older ones. Though that would be quite sad and I really hope I'm wrong on that.

It really depends on if Bob fully retires from the show or not. Loretta keeps popping up from time to time, but she probably has that teaching job still. Sesame Street has the luxury of a fleeting demographic rule, so the older characters will go without notice to kids just old enough to start tuning in. Us old timers will feel any major shift, but if it's all new, not so much.

Didn't they say Gabby and Miles left for college, though?

 

[Oscarfan]

Miles was never established as leaving for college; Gabi was around after she graduated and mentioned school a few times, so she probably commutes or something (I mean, it's NYC, so getting around is easy as pie).

I mean, Chris is only here to fill the void Miles left and has made his own unique mark. But as I've said, he seems to be more hammy than natural and that has affected Alan as well for some reason.

 

[D'Snowth]

I mean, Chris is only here to fill the void Miles left and has made his own unique mark.

Wasn't the idea behind Chris (or at least his character) to try to bring in a modern-day David to the street?

Other than that, sure he tends to be a little hammy, but then again, it seems like most young actors have a tendency to be so (Miley Cyrus being the worst offender), and that's kind of what has made him kind of a fun addition to the street, you can tell he enjoys being there on that show, which is something you don't see a whole lot of any more, especially when it comes to the youngens, who have gone from having sparkles in their eyes being on the street and mingling with the Muppets, to looking like they couldn't care less about being there.

 

[Drtooth]

Miles was never established as leaving for college

...I could have sworn.

Anyway, how come everyone's all, What about Bob and Susan when no one's asking about Mr. Hanford, Gedde Wattanbe, and all the others that weren't on the show that long that disappeared from the show with no in show mention. Especially the entire Around the Corner cast. I can't imagine any of the characters saying "Oh, I went to that store that Ruth Buzzi ran and she's still there."

Bob and Susan are staples that have been with the show since the beginning, and I get that in case anyone points that out. But there are quite a few cast members that are no longer with the show for various reasons. Mr. Hooper was the only one they mentioned dying, but he was the only major character that died in production before he left.

 

[D'Snowth]

As far as Mr. Handford goes, honestly, I don't believe he must have left that much of an impression on me as a kid, because to be perfectly honest, when Alan was introduced, I don't remember ever questioning why, I just accepted it, I thought he was a great addition to the human cast, he quickly became one of my favorite humans, and still is. I give props to David Langston Smyrl though, I've seen him in a few other things, and he's a terrific, quirky character actor. Leonard Jackson's Handford was before my time. Same with Gedde Wattanbe, I was too young to remember him on the show (yet, ironically, I clearly remember a couple of teens they had in the early 90s, I forget their names, one of them displayed that stereotypical teenage trait of constantly being hungry, the other being like Carlo before Carlo came on).

Like many others though, I just wasn't a fan of ATC, so I wasn't at all disappointed that they got rid of it... I know the reason they still kept Ruth Buzzi for a while afterwards because she was so funny and quirky, they wanted to hold on to her.

 

[dwayne1115]

I like Chris, and was watching the show where he moved to Sesame Street was a real;y good show. He was suppost to be looking for a job to help pay books for school.
As far as Gabby and Miles, I don't know why but Miles never really seem to fit in to me. Gabby on the other hand really seems to love being on the street.
To me I think they should stick with what they have been doing slowly adding newer younger people to the street, and give them a very useful reason for living on the Street.
I loved watching Gina adopting Marco. It was a story that was focased on one of the humans it had emotion to it, and everyone really seemed like they lived on the street.
I would love to see more shows like that because it give the Muppets more chances for comedy then having to be the focus point for the "drama"

 

[Drtooth]

Same with Gedde Wattanbe, I was too young to remember him on the show (yet, ironically, I clearly remember a couple of teens they had in the early 90s, I forget their names, one of them displayed that stereotypical teenage trait of constantly being hungry, the other being like Carlo before Carlo came on).

Seriously... Gedde came and went on the show. He did somethings here and there, and it was a break from playing retrospectively racist characters in 80's movies. But he didn't last all that long and he was long forgotten by anyone who watched it then. Even in the 70's, characters other than the mainstays lasted a couple seasons before they moved on. No explanation (that I can remember) was ever given to anyone except David and Mr. Hooper. But we do notice when a large mainstay like Linda leaves the cast or like Bob who appears far fewer times than ever before.

 

[D'Snowth]

It's been that way, even with the kids... remember, during the ATC era of the show, we had Carlo, Tarrah, Lexine, that boy with the mullet-like hairdo (can't remember his name), among a few others, all of whom were gone by Season 30, with the exception of Tarrah, who remained for maybe another season or two, similar to Ruth Buzzi (of course, there was that article posted here recently that explained Carlo Alban was actually an illegal during his time on the show).

For one season afterwards, there was another wheelchair girl who seemed she was going to be a replacement for Tarrah (Emily, I believe her name was), but again, she was there for just one season.