Sesame Street shrinks to 30 minutes, new shows will premiere on HBO and PBS nine months later

[antsamthompson9]

The MuppetCast has a good discussion on this whole thing. Listen from 23:50 to 49:03: http://muppetcast.com/show-260/

 

[Drtooth]

I know this is reading waaaaaay too much into this, but SW just posted a clip of the new Play with Elmo DVD, and there's something interesting with it...

It really seems that this DVD is a collection of Elmo segments that look like they were intended for something besides a DVD. Which leads me to three theories.

• This was intended as a segment for Sesame Street, but with the new 30 minute run time, it didn't fit and instead of blowing the money on an already produced segment they can't use, they put it on DVD.
• This is a segment for Sesame Street produced specifically for a 30 minute run time to fill in the gap that ETM left for Elmo content.
• This segment was produced with foreign series in mind.

I was going to say that maybe this was a test run/pilot for that supposed Sesame Spinoff, but this seems to have been produced before that announcement. Either way, if this is just a DVD with Elmo hosting very much in a Play with Me Sesame style, it's a weird DVD.

 

[Oscarfan]

I think it looks like stuff made for a DVD.

 

[Drtooth]

The thing is I know that, but it really feels that this is a little too specific for just a DVD. It feels like this was something else, even if it isn't. I could totally see something like this as a segment. That's why it feels weird.

 

[Oscarfan]

The thing is I know that, but it really feels that this is a little too specific for just a DVD. It feels like this was something else, even if it isn't. I could totally see something like this as a segment. That's why it feels weird.

I don't see it being any different than the Monster Manners DVD, where the framing scenes are (from what I can tell) just Cookie and Prairie sketches based on a similar theme.

I can see this as sort of that, just a game with Elmo and some segments following each game that relate to it in some manner.

 

[minor muppetz]

I feel like what appears to be the linking footage for the DVD looks very appropriate for video linking footage.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I know this is reading waaaaaay too much into this, but SW just posted a clip of the new Play with Elmo DVD, and there's something interesting with it...

It really seems that this DVD is a collection of Elmo segments that look like they were intended for something besides a DVD. Which leads me to three theories.

• This was intended as a segment for Sesame Street, but with the new 30 minute run time, it didn't fit and instead of blowing the money on an already produced segment they can't use, they put it on DVD.
• This is a segment for Sesame Street produced specifically for a 30 minute run time to fill in the gap that ETM left for Elmo content.
• This segment was produced with foreign series in mind.

I was going to say that maybe this was a test run/pilot for that supposed Sesame Spinoff, but this seems to have been produced before that announcement. Either way, if this is just a DVD with Elmo hosting very much in a Play with Me Sesame style, it's a weird DVD.

It sounds like Ryan Dillon is still having a hard time getting Elmo's voice just right.

 

[D'Snowth]

Ryan's been doing just fine; it's useless to expect the new performers to sound exactly like their predecessors in every way.

 

[Oscarfan]

It sounds like Ryan Dillon is still having a hard time getting Elmo's voice just right.

Yeah, he sounds nothing like Richard!

 

[Drtooth]

I can see this as sort of that, just a game with Elmo and some segments following each game that relate to it in some manner.

That's probably it. Kinda looks cheap, though. The PWMS backdrop and just Elmo. I guess they aren't putting that much money into these things because the home video physical media market keeps shrinking.

Ryan's been doing just fine; it's useless to expect the new performers to sound exactly like their predecessors in every way.

Other than a tiny glottal/nasal minutia, Ryan sounds closer to Elmo than most recasts do to their respective original characters. I still fail to see why sounding the same always trumps being able to capture as much of the character traits and details as possible. I'm just impressed that for the longest time a death or retirement meant years of not seeing a certain character due to lack of permanent recast, and how SW didn't skip a beat with Elmo. I mean, that's their money character. I really like the idea of understudies taking over roles if something happens, rather than leaving a huge gap in the cast. In both Sesame and Muppet productions, this means we're actually seeing more classic characters than the ones meant to replace them.