How can someone hate Elmo?

[Drtooth]

And why there's so much stuff online.

SW has given older Sesame Street fans an alternative. Sure, I'd love to see more iTunes/Amazon/paid Youtube/DVD episodes released. But they have no obligation to appeal to anyone over the age of 5. Even on the merchandising level of adult sized T-shirts, contests to design t-shirts, and designer label baseball caps. They have acknowledged the older fans in the past few years, and that's quite a lot to be thankful for. But the show remains for children.

Now, back about 10 years ago, the dark era of tape trades and being freaking lucky to stumble on some older skits on some fan site posted in RealVideo (remember that horrible thing?) I'd say the guy has a point. But there has since been an effort, again, one they're not obligated to do, to bring back as much classic Sesame Street as they possibly can.

Plus, quite honestly, the argument's exactly the same. Blaming characters and lack of old skits for the show's "decline," calling everything PC when it isn't the case, and expecting a show that runs for 45 years to be of consistent quality that's exactly the same from start to finish (which, mind you, even shows that last 5 years can't seem to do). Instead of, you know, the general decline in preschool programming due to the 1990's preschool show ghetto, conflicting psychologist studies, creative forces leaving the show or dying, and overall outside world changes that for better or worse get absorbed into the show. I'm not saying there's nothing for old school fans to find objectionable, I'm just saying they're looking in the wrong places to complain.

I have problems with the show's current format as well. Much the same as I find the current SNL cast (save for Kenan Thompson) absolutely humorless and The Simpsons to not be as glorious as it was 15 seasons ago (but still love them with a passion and never miss an episode). I completely accept that you can't have a show be exactly the same forever. That and the stuff that would replace any of those if they just ended... shudder. Much worse.

 

[mr3urious]

Though the writers still try to provide witty dialogue and sketches when they're allowed to.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Note that I said I'd buy the Old School sets for my friend's KIDS. Not my friends. To be frank I would never buy any child anything remotely Elmo's World related. I don't believe it is at all beneficial.

 

[Drtooth]

Would you believe that now it's gone, parents are complaining about the lack of Elmo's World? Seriously!

I completely agree that EW was a bad segment. Not "Time to Play" bad. But still, I don't see the point outside of giving Elmo a vehicle or putting something on at the 40 minute mark to keep kids interested. I've spoken my peace about it a hundred times, but the show boils down to every method of teaching Sesame Street has to offer (animation, goofy adult actors giving a wrong example, talking to kids, films of kids...etc), streamlined, all to cover one subject. It should have been a spinoff series, but wound up dragging the demographic down to the pre-preschool stage. It's since been replaced by Elmo the Musical, which is at least surprisingly entertaining and even better... short. And the entertainment factor makes it feel shorter. EW made 15 minutes feel like an eternity. But other than reruns and home video, the book has closed on EW. The show actually got significantly better in recent years.

My main complaint about the series is that it seems that they're focusing more on the foreign market (having the show consist of shorter segments that would work better on their own), as well as focusing on celebrity and parody segments to get the adults to watch with the kids. And the reruns and budget problems inherent in both. While I cannot say the show is better than ever, it certainly is better than it has been since 2002.

And Cookie's Crummy Pictures is the best thing to happen to SW in a while. I really hope they don't ruin it with constant reruns like Super Grover 2.0.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

It's funny that we have a thread like this, because a little while ago, I had an interesting experience with a couple of my friends (both of them, female) today after class. I happened to be wearing this jacket: http://www.stylinonline.com/track-jacket-sesame-street-all-faces.html

One of my friends blurted out how awesome the jacket was and noted that Elmo is the only missing from it. This led to her and the other girl I was hanging out with talking about Elmo is literally the only reason why they love Sesame Street. I asked them what they had against the other characters. One of them was all like "Well, Cookie Monster's OK except for the fact that he doesn't usually share his cookies! The other characters are..." (I'm sure you all get the general idea.) This whole convo got me to thinking...

Now, it's one thing for a toddler to think that Elmo is the only likeable part of the show, but for college students to talk like that? I know everyone has their own input, but still.

Sorry if this story doesn't belong here, but it just got me to thinking about this thread, that's all.

 

[Drtooth]

Which brings us to the sad realization of how long ago Elmo's super popularity started. Indeed, college age students were in the SS demographic when they were kids. Elmo's World lasted well over years on the show. Sooner than later, the new era's going to outlast the old era.

 

[Bridget]

My feelings about Elmo, are Kermit's feelings about Elmo in loud and quiet.

 

[Drtooth]

You know what you never hear? Praise from the fact that Grover and Cookie Monster made huge comebacks. I'd venture to say Cookie Monster is on the show almost as much as Elmo now.

Which is a great reminder that Elmo's rise to popularity (though it did start in the 80's when he was a slightly different character) was Frank Oz's lessening presence on the show, among other characters lost by the deaths of Jim and Richard, and the failure of any newer characters that took their place to stick. Now, Frank's roles have been recast, filling the void that Cookie, Bert, and Grover left. There's been a greater move to the central classic characters as of late. Why, the Count was recast not too long after Jerry died. Which is a good thing, as the Count's presence on the show grew in recent years.

Heck, seems like there's actually a shrinking presence of Elmo.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I asked them what they had against the other characters. One of them was all like "Well, Cookie Monster's OK except for the fact that he doesn't usually share his cookies!

So they're OK except for that one flaw that actually makes them interesting, lol.

Enough said. That's why I don't give an inch about the Elmo's World stuff. I don't think it was helpful to the audience in the long term. The toys made a lot of money for PBS and clearly that's all that mattered. And all throughout Television, bland kiddie entertainment won out over something that actually challenged its young audience. Most parents didn't think too much about it because it made their kids happy and they thought that was their only requirement as a parent.

Sorry to be harsh but every time I try to give Elmo a break, this kind of nonsense comes up again, lol. And if he is now having a shrinking presence on the show, I can't say I'm sad.

 

[Drtooth]

Elmo's World is the longest running of the segments, and (other than Time To Play, but let's not speak of that again) also the blandest of them. I really cannot fathom why they made a segment that's geared towards 2 year olds, and it hurt the series in the long run. I can't fault the writers, though. They tried to shove as many little sly jokes in there as possible, and the animated segments and character e-mails were pretty good. I like how Food featured a brief appearance of Waiter Grover. Not to mention Kermit's cameo in Frogs. I'm very appreciative of that. But overall, I just never got the point of it. They could have made a much better, more engaging segment. Elmo, as a character, gets all the blame for that, when it was just a lame attempt to be like other preschool shows of the era. We'd probably have been more forgiving if another character hosted is, but it still would have been repetitive and dull.

Unlike, say, Monster Clubhouse. At least, on it's own, it would have been a fun project. it reminds me of what little I've seen of Muppet Time on Nick Jr. But as a Part of Sesame Street, it just didn't work. It had the wrong tone, and felt completely out of place. Had it been some sort of spinoff project, it would have been good. Heck, any given segment (again, the one I'm not speaking of) had potential and was entertaining in its own right. JTE, after that shaky, terrible first season, became a place for the Two Headed Monster to make a daily appearance. Just... Elmo's world feels like the show's signal was hijacked by a series of pre-preschool videos. Seriously, once the show started to do away with it, the older (4 and 5 year olds) came back to the show.