Why isn't Herry Monster around anymore?

[BooberFraggless]

You know I wonder about my pal Herry an awful lot. He seems to be forgotten, yet not entirely written out of the show yet. I still see him every year in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day SS Float, and he was in the 35th anniversery special last year. But the last time I remember seeing him in a starring role was 5 years ago in a 2000 episode when Rosita was looking for someone to be her best friend, and she found Herry who didn't have a best friend yet either. Now when I saw that I thought, this is great now mabye Herry will be around a lot more because he's Rosita's new best friend. But apparantly he had second thoughts about it, because I never saw him after that. At least not in any of the shows Iv'e seen. He does occasionally pop up in rerun clips (not classic clips but rerun clips from mabye the late 90's) but you never see him star in the main storylines anymore. I think they could very easily show him hangning out with Telly and Baby Bear. They could easily write a story about him and Zoe and Rocco, even a nice Herry and Oscar story would be fantastic (That's a pair you don't see much, even in the 80's episodes) but for some reason, this poor monster has been pushed into the background in recent years. Jerry Nelson still works on the show a little, to perform the Count, and he's making a comeback as Mumford in a few months, so why not throw Herry in there every once in a while? I'm not just talking about satisfying us classic fans either. I think kids watching the show today would really love Herry Monster (I always did) if they would just give him a chance. He's such a loveable guy, and he was always one of my favorites as a kid. He's probably my second favorite charachter, next to Cookie Monster. I remember how happy I would get to see him in a starring role years ago. I really think it's time they brought him back, give him a chance. What do the rest of you think of poor jilted Herry?

 

[Rosewood]

I think Herry deserves a chance, also. You know, people may say that basing SS around "The Fantastic 4" is because those characters are who todays kids relate to best. The true fact is that todays kids have not been given a real chance to relate to any other characters, besides these 4, in the main stream scenario on a regular basis. I bet you dollars to donuts if they would have kept Herry, Grover, 2-headed monster, the aliens, and the like out on the street to interact with Elmo and the rest, they would be just as popular today as they were back when Elmo first made his "grafitti debut"! I'm not saying that everything I say is proven fact, but I still say I see a pattern out there: When Jim Henson died is when these classic muppets started dissapearing. As new people took over, so did their way of thinking. They saw Elmo, Zoe, Telly, and Baby bear as the characters that would bring the most attention on the show; and, to make sure that this hypothosis would not be proven wrong, they simply took the liberty of removing all other characters that could possibly pose a threat from the opening main stream of the majority of the episodes. And, as a result, you now have the SS of today.

 

[PiLfan]

Herry isn't shown much, but i do remember one street appearance he made (i think) last season...it was the one where Elmo and Zoey were pretending to be aliens from Kalupa or wherever. He was sitting near the basement dwelling of 123 SS, reading a book, where he said hello to Elmo and Zoey as they walked by. That was pretty much his only line, and didn't look up from his book the rest of the way. It was basically a little cameo to please some of the reminiscing adults watching the show with their kids.

 

[BooberFraggless]

I think Herry would fit in great with the "fantastic 4" For those of you who might not remember. Back in the 70's and throughout most of the 80's Herry Monster was a Gruff and Tough Monster with an attitude about him. This obviously wasn't a good role model charachter for kids, but instead of writing him out of the show, in the late 80's they changed his charachter to be more like one kids could relate to. He became more sensitive, and had a dolly, and liked playing with toys and seemed more innocent like. I think this was a good change they made, and I really think it's a total waste of a good charachter. They need to let him out of that filing cabinet. The poor guy doesn't deserve to be locked away in there.

 

[BEAR]

I think Herry would fit in great with the "fantastic 4" For those of you who might not remember. Back in the 70's and throughout most of the 80's Herry Monster was a Gruff and Tough Monster with an attitude about him. This obviously wasn't a good role model charachter for kids, but instead of writing him out of the show, in the late 80's they changed his charachter to be more like one kids could relate to. He became more sensitive, and had a dolly, and liked playing with toys and seemed more innocent like. I think this was a good change they made, and I really think it's a total waste of a good charachter. They need to let him out of that filing cabinet. The poor guy doesn't deserve to be locked away in there.

Yeah, Herry was just one of those big kids that wasn't aware of his own strengh or force. A lot of kids can relate to that. He was always there to help a friend though and he got along great with the kids that would visit hence why he was mostly seen doing talk spots.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

The Fantastic Four! Don't need no more! The Fantastic Four!
(okay, sorry, I still really like the 1st. season version of The Fantastic Four theme song from the 1990s series- which is now on DVD in its entirety by the way!)

Hmm- The Fantastic Four reference was great! I can see it now.
Zoey as Invisible Woman (since she's the only girl in the group)
Baby Bear as The Thing (he just looks like the toughest and biggest one out of all them- he is a bear, after all)
Telly as The Human Torch (well, his fur is almost red and it was the only other character left)
and
Elmo as Mr. Fantastic (because he manages to stretch himself thin, working himself into virtually every current Sesame Street production, even if it has nothing to do with him!!!)

 

[BEAR]

Hmm- The Fantastic Four reference was great! I can see it now.
Zoey as Invisible Woman (since she's the only girl in the group)

Not quite. I wonder if you forgot about Rosita. She is often seen with that group too. Not quite as much, but a lot.

 

[minor muppetz]

Hmm- The Fantastic Four reference was great! I can see it now.
Zoey as Invisible Woman (since she's the only girl in the group)
Baby Bear as The Thing (he just looks like the toughest and biggest one out of all them- he is a bear, after all)
Telly as The Human Torch (well, his fur is almost red and it was the only other character left)
and
Elmo as Mr. Fantastic (because he manages to stretch himself thin, working himself into virtually every current Sesame Street production, even if it has nothing to do with him!!!)

Herry could be The Thing, since both are really strong.

 

[superfan]

Telly as the Human Torch? LOL!! Boy I'd hate to see what happens if he got himself worked up into a panic about...anything! Hope Alan has the fire extinguishers ready!

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Kevin Clash said that that one of the reasons thet Elmo has been around so long (about 20 tears now) is that he has a place on the show, just like Cookie Monster or Big Bird, and that he really connects with that 3-4 year old age group. But I guess I see no reason why Herry couldn't work on the show today.