Why are Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and Baby Bear so annoying to classic SS fans?

[mikealan]

Hello, when I remember going to the talks of Sesame Street on Jump the Shark and Yesterdayland, most of the SS fans think that Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and Baby Bear are so stupid and annoying! wockawocka thinks that Zoe is stupid and dcfboss thinks that Baby Bear is annoying.

Why are Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and Baby Bear so annoying to many SS fans who love classic Sesame Street?

 

[CookieFan]

For me, personally, part of it is nostalgia.

The other part for me is that these characters don't seem to have as much, well, CHARACTER as the older ones. They seem to be targeted to the under-three segment.

The new ones don't seem to have the same level of sophistication with a sense of humor geared on another level to adults.

Something like Monsterpiece Theater....the adults get the spoof, the kids just think it's funny.

Bert & Ernie skits often work on an "adult" level. Like Bert talking on a banana to an elephant: "Oh, I'm about 6 feet, blond hair...no, I don't think we should meet." Had me cracking up.

I don't see the newer characters having that sort of adult appeal. Either that, or they're just not given the good lines!

IMO, anyway......

 

[somethingofafan]

I think the main reason the new characters annoy adults like us is that they aren't the ones we grew up with so we aren't used to them. (I was introduced to Elmo in the later days of my Sesame Street viewing as a kid, when he was just starting his rise to power.) Personally I think that Rosita is a wonderful addition to the show, Zoe isn't bad, and Baby Bear is okay as long as he has someone other than Hewo Guy to interact with. IMO, the most annoying new characters are the ones in the Monster Clubhouse segment, but even among them, I could learn to appreciate Mel in small doses.

 

[ssetta]

I agree. Elmo didn't used to be anything like he is now, and he was hardly ever on. Rosita was only a minor character as well. I remember Zoe used to get words mixed up when she first started. And I liked Baby Bear a lot better when he used to be followed around by that pesky Goldilocks, who would always be there and make his life a living ****.

 

[Sam Bald Eagle]

No offence to the current puppeters or creative staff but sinse the old blood left the show its lost its edge. Henson and Oz made kids shows for adults (the muppets, early sesame street etc and so forth). They were creative Geniuses (Geniui???). Look at characters like Oscar and Bert and Ernie and Guy Smiley - these were characters that weren't just for kids (my mum got as much of a kick out of them as I did). Elmo, Rossita et all are characters for children - they hold very little interest to adults.

It was bound to happen. No matter how good the creative team are, they aren't Henson. In the end, it was his genius and ability to create on more than one level that made his work what it was (really, the only comparable artist is Matt Groening.......).
Signed Lee
(Sam Bald Eagles girlfriend)

 

[FellowWLover]

Originally posted by Sam Bald Eagle
Elmo, Rossita et all are characters for children - they hold very little interest to adults.

Not true.

You just need to give the new characters a chance. Like any other relationship, it takes time to get to know them and appreciate their quirks. I watch it everyday, and am always amused.

 

[dcfboss]

i try to look at this in a non bias way.

i can hardly say that i grew up on classic ss. but growing up in the 80's, to me it's classic. there are just certain simple things that have been removed from SS that takes away from what SS is all about. i posted in another thread how there are no real straight forward lesson orientated skits anymore that directly teach kids different fundamentals. instead, they try to subtley jam these things into the childrens' sub-concious through longer story lines and meaningless segments like when Big Bird says "My favorite food is birdseed cookies. what's yours?" To be honest no one really cares what the favorite food of 5 different kids are.

the most under appreciated thing, i think, that makes SS special to the classic SS lovers, was the simple straightforward scenes that tought things. For example, the 2 headed monster by the brick wall trying to spell a word. C ar C ar Car CAR CAR CAR!!!!! That tought kids how to sound out words and learn to spell. Since when did that not become important for a educational children's show? For another example that I've usde before, was the fast/slow skit with Cookie and Telly (a much skinnier telly at that lol) Short little 4-5 minute sketches like that not only made for good educational programming, but they were entertaining as well.

it's just that all the new characters (which some aren't bad) pushed the classic stuff out of the way like the 2 headed monsters. and it's a shame because SS is way past it's prime and it's getting worse and worse while at the same time staying great, like the simpsons. they're not as funny anymore, but it's still good tv. rosita, zoe and elmo are all fine, but they are used so much in the street scenes over ernie, bert and cookie. they seem to be shoving telly down our throats a lot too, probably becuase he's friends with that devil bear. the bear is terrible, i can't stand him and neither can my little 2 year old cousin. he sees him and makes nasty faces. lol. i just think that whoever writes the scripts isn't being loyal to the core group of characters.....Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and the Count.

Also, look at all the home videos that are being released. They're all something with elmo. and many of them you can tape yourself off the tv. they should release more dvd's/videos like that 25th anniversary dvd....ones that show more old footage for those who really love it.

well that's it....gotta go out and shovel snow.

 

[beaker]

You guys are tripping, Elmo, Rosita, Baby Bear and Zoe work great together on Sesame since they were introduced. Im an old school Sesame fan(well, more like mid 80's) ...and even though I havent been able to get in Sesame in years(the only new SS I get is the dvds)

I love the colorful characters. I think Telly and Baby Bear work great together, as does Telly, Elmo, and Zoe. Elmo by himself is annoying as all get out, but when working with other Sesame or Muppet show characters hes great. I mean Elmopalooza is my fave Sesame thing ever.

No, the only thing annoying to me all these years has been those freaking cartoons! Gah!

 

[ryhoyarbie]

whats's freaking annoying and pointless i might add is elmo's world...ughh...lame lame lame....elmo does nothing on that segment..i don't think talking to his pet goldfish is something....

ryan

 

[Ernie101]

Yeah They dont reach out to everyone and arent that funny to everyone.Kinda take the fun out of it lol,like elmo asking what a firetruck is.