Your Thoughts: Sesame Street Season 43

[antsamthompson9]

So there was no new episode today? My guide said it was the LMNOP one, so I didn't record it.

 

[Drtooth]

Next season apparently has a new focus (Hispanic Heritage), so hopefully there will be some more unique storylines.

As long as they aren't all forced Hispanic Heritage ones. But then again, they have the potential to do it completely organic. After all, there's Maria, Luis, and Rosita. The new cast member, too, but we'll really see some more Rosita as Rosita and not as "that Spanish speaking friend of Elmo's."

Now, I seem to remember one season they planned to focus on money issues, and that amounted to one episode that was recycled from an online video. That was subtle and subdued. Even the math focus a couple seasons back was executed with restraint. But when they needlessly have to bludgeon a focus into kid's heads out of some moral panic due to some study saying something about the educational system... they just need to calm down and incorporate that gently into a couple episodes. Not make it a big fat initiative. I don't think it's 3-5 year olds that are the victims of those problems anyway. When there was a decline in reading skills, SW brought back The Electric Company. They need an older audience for engineering.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Okay... so when did they change the fact that today's episode was supposed to be the new one, and that won't be shown until the end of the month? Secondly, I read the synopses for the next consecutive episodes and they're all the bloody same! More trial and error engineering. The same episodes over and over with a slightly different plot.

Yeah. I know what you mean. It seems like that's twice they pushed it back. Wasn't this episode initially supposed to air on Monday? Plus Thursday episodes are good for me because my local stations repeat the Thursday episodes on the following Friday night and the following Sunday morning, so now that I'm working those are the best times for me, especially since there's no possible means of watching them online (well, not without paying $5 or whatever to watch them on iTunes.)
But on the other hand after reading your post about all the episodes being "trial and error," it seems like I'm not missing much. I guess that is the goal of this whole season. Still, I can see where it can get tiring after a while. But at least they're using Snuffy in the next one. (Don't we have a smilie of him somewhere? I thought someone else used a Snuffy smilie in another post. Oh, well.) It's better to use a classic character that we know than a fairy tale character.

If they want to do that they should bring back 's News Flash segments. Well, maybe not with Kermit because I know they need permission from Disney to use him now. But they still have Telly as the Monster on the Spot every once in a while, so that might be doable.

I wonder if the reason they're pushing back the new episodes until the end of the month is because it's pledge drive month and they want to be able to show the eps in their entirety. At least that's the case in my area.

 

[Drtooth]

But on the other hand after reading your post about all the episodes being "trial and error," it seems like I'm not missing much. I guess that is the goal of this whole season. Still, I can see where it can get tiring after a while. But at least they're using Snuffy in the next one. (Don't we have a smilie of him somewhere? I thought someone else used a Snuffy smilie in another post. Oh, well.) It's better to use a classic character that we know than a fairy tale character.

I have to admit, I'm getting kinda tired of Fairy Tale characters being used to prove a point. I think it's high time to recast some of Jerry's roles besides just The Count and have other main characters push the plot along. It confuses me why they put those two aforementioned similar episodes together and didn't split them up. I guess they wanted the season to start off with strong episodes. As much as I can complain about trial and error engineering, the Cookie Connoisseur Club episode was pure gold, as was The Good Sport (where we get actual tension between Abby and Elmo). They even had trial and error not engineering episodes where the trial and error was played for comedy's sake (Baby Bear trying to clean a stain off his shirt that kept getting in worse shape with every attempt/ Hansel and Gretel leaving various trails that get eaten/taken/cleaned up). It's just that the second part of the season took such a strong slant on engineering. They really could have switched the episodes up, but they didn't.

There's a lot of stuff from classic Sesame Street the older fans would like to see, I agree to that. Most of it can't be done for some reason, I also agree to that. But the thing I truly miss is comedy based, gentle Aesop, slice of life (or as slice of life as Sesame Street can get) street stories, and the structural educational content being the filler segments. We still have those moral based episodes, but they're taking such a back seat to whatever the focus of the season is. The thing that's really starting to lack is the even handed approach.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah. I know what you mean, I really liked episodes earlier this season that focus on classic characters, especially one in answer to rumors about CM changing to the "Veggie Monster." It seems like they put the better episodes up front and then as the season progresses, you see more of the weaker episodes. They should balance that out a little better. Or like you said, they should recast Jerry's characters or even Richard's and use them in the plot. If they are still going to do the 'trial and error' plots, it would help if they'd use characters we know. Again, that's why I'm glad they're doing it with Snuffy in the next upcoming ep.

 

[Drtooth]

No doubt I'm looking forward to whenever the Snuffy episode is. I agree that we need more classic characters and not some fairy tale associated bit. It really seems that they're grabbing at straws to get new characters in there, and they're going very overboard on Fairy Tale/Nursery Rhyme characters lately.

 

[muppetlover123]

and there is also a new mexican muppet character

 

[Oscarfan]

No doubt I'm looking forward to whenever the Snuffy episode is. I agree that we need more classic characters and not some fairy tale associated bit. It really seems that they're grabbing at straws to get new characters in there, and they're going very overboard on Fairy Tale/Nursery Rhyme characters lately.

I think it's because the only performers around frequently enough are the ones without (or with too few) main characters; look at the ETM, the characters are played primarily by Matt, John Tartaglia, Stephanie, Tyler and Leslie.

and there is also a new mexican muppet character

There's a new Hispanic human; there's been nothing said about a new Muppet character.

 

[muppetlover123]

i thought it was a puppeteer they were looking for in august....

 

[Oscarfan]

Nope, cast member.