So... Sesame Street Season 44!

[Oscarfan]

So, season 43's over with, which means it's time to find out what's going with the next season! There's some slight info over on Muppet Wiki. The most important thing is: more Jerry Nelson material, which is fantastic. I hear there's also a Jerry tribute they filmed, but there's no real details. Plus, we're getting a new cast member, with a video series about it:

If you find any other information about the season, post it here!

 

[Drtooth]

They want the Hispanic character to speak Spanish. Hmmmm... How come Leela doesn't teach us Hindi words?

 

[Oscarfan]

They want the Hispanic character to speak Spanish. Hmmmm... How come Leela doesn't teach us Hindi words?

I believe that when she auditioned, there wasn't an intention race-wise. She just happened to be Indian. Here, the season's going to be about Hispanic culture, so a Hispanic human is picked deliberately.

 

[D'Snowth]

What's with the whole, "Search for the Next Sesame Star" thing they got going on now? Seems like that would be beneath them.

 

[The Count]

And why do they need a "new" Hispanic character?
If they want to learn Spanish, go talk to María or Luis or somebody like that, not that…duck.
But Bert, Rubber Duckie knows how to speak Spanish. Go ahead. There, he said "Hola Bert, ¿Qué tal?"

 

[Drtooth]

I believe that when she auditioned, there wasn't an intention race-wise. She just happened to be Indian.

I wonder if there was or wasn't. Other TV shows around the time of her arrival introduced (or had) Indian characters on the show. A little bit before that, said Indian characters were less racially sensitive than Apu, and were the bungling comic relief with thick accents bordering on parody. There was some terrible Fox sitcom I would use as an example that I had to look up called Unhitched. The Farrelly Brothers were behind it, and it showed. Theory? People were angry that companies were outsourcing to India and brought out some good old fashion passive aggressive racism. Someone must've finally wised up, and now Indian characters are competent and have natural accents. Leela possibly hired to keep up with positive Indian American role models. Other than that episode about that holiday, you rarely see her heritage pop up. Which is why I kinda feel that adding a new Hispanic character to the cast specifically to teach about heritage a tiny bit hypocritical.

I mean, even Yoshi showed more of his cultural background.

And why do they need a "new" Hispanic character?

Seems like Luis is being phased out, possibly because of the writers, possibly because they want younger cast members to relate to, maybe the actor's unavailable and moving on... and Gabbi's actress is off too... that leaves just Maria. This is the burden of the long runner... having to add new cast members to replace ones that leave.

 

[Oscarfan]

I don't think Luis is leaving, he's part of season 44 in some way; I feel like this is a Gabi replacement, just as Chris was a Miles replacement.

 

[minor muppetz]

I wonder if there was or wasn't. Other TV shows around the time of her arrival introduced (or had) Indian characters on the show. A little bit before that, said Indian characters were less racially sensitive than Apu, and were the bungling comic relief with thick accents bordering on parody.

Maybe it's both. Like, maybe they didn't plan on a race, but then when an Indian actress auditioned they chose to hire her.

 

[D'Snowth]

Gabi's gone now too? Man, I am SO out of the loop.

 

[cahuenga]

I think that in the last few season , the most prominent actors in the street scenes were Chris and Leela, and the rest of the cast acted like cameos, I dont know why they bring tv/film stars to the street scenes , because they eat the screen time from the veterans like Luis, Maria, Gordon, Bob and Susan, mostly the last two...