Major Changes in store for Sesame Street Season 46

[Drtooth]

I wonder what'll happen to the Two-Headed Monster. It wouldn't surprise me if Matt Vogel takes over, since he's so many characters Jerry Nelson originated.

I dunno. I'm more worried about what happened to the show in general to think about tertiary characters being recast, especially if the show focuses on the merchandisable core six. It seems like Murray could be erased from the show, and I'm sure some old schoolers would be happy about that. I mean, he only really appeared this season in Murray had a Little Lamb and Word on the street segments. The letter/number things were replaced with the same songs every episode. I mean, I think it was a decent idea theoretically, but in practice, it was painfully repetitive and the songs were too long to give the show some significant time shifts. And, let's face it, the beauty of Murray was they took the Muppet characters out of the studio and put them in the real world. Something I'm sure Jim would have loved seeing. Anyway, it seems the character was being shrunk out of the show.

But that would have spoken to me as "I left the show because my character wasn't appreciated." Not the "fighting for the heart and soul of the show" cryptic message. Something tells me that along with the format change came some hard and harsh commands from the new SW head that we won't be able to see for at least 2 years now (more so for those who don't have HBO Go).

 

[dwayne1115]

I dunno. I'm more worried about what happened to the show in general to think about tertiary characters being recast, especially if the show focuses on the merchandisable core six. It seems like Murray could be erased from the show, and I'm sure some old schoolers would be happy about that. I mean, he only really appeared this season in Murray had a Little Lamb and Word on the street segments. The letter/number things were replaced with the same songs every episode. I mean, I think it was a decent idea theoretically, but in practice, it was painfully repetitive and the songs were too long to give the show some significant time shifts. And, let's face it, the beauty of Murray was they took the Muppet characters out of the studio and put them in the real world. Something I'm sure Jim would have loved seeing. Anyway, it seems the character was being shrunk out of the show.

But that would have spoken to me as "I left the show because my character wasn't appreciated." Not the "fighting for the heart and soul of the show" cryptic message. Something tells me that along with the format change came some hard and harsh commands from the new SW head that we won't be able to see for at least 2 years now (more so for those who don't have HBO Go).

When talking about the heart and soul of something it is usually a personal opinion. However with a TV show that has been on the air for 45+ years should be clear to everyone. Sadly I'm just not sure what the answer really is.

 

[D'Snowth]

I really don't think it would have anything to do with Murray - remember, he was seen as recently as that EMPIRE parody on SNL, where he comments on Cookie's (not Cookie Monster) new red coat after Elmo goes missing, and it was clear that many of the major set changes and whathave you were already made by that point.

Sure, Stinky, Papa Bear, and Horatio never quite had that star potential that Murray was given, but I really don't think that Joey would leave over the possibility of phasing out what was really his true signature character (assuming they are); but as pointed out, whatever the case may be, there may be some personal level behind his decision, we just don't know what that can be, and as Drtooth has said, all we can do is speculate at this point, but speculation would have a tendancy to make things seem more negative than they really are.

That said, I still say it's truly a shame that we're losing Joey, considering he's been such an intragale part of the Muppets as a whole for the past 25 years, and he's been a great addition to the franchise and its two major entities: the fact that he was merely a Muppet Performer and a sketch writer and went on to be a principal performer, director, and head writer says a lot.

 

[Drtooth]

Like I said, if it was just Murray's appearances shrinking, he'd just have left with a "there was no place for my characters," not "fighting for the heart and soul." It's clear there was going to be a format change in time where Murray just appears in his own little segments and maybe still the Word on the Street instead of Murray hosting the show. Even if Sesame planned to take Murray away from the show and focus indeed on just the 6 characters, Joey still was practically every incidental character, something the show will presumably still have. Above all, he was a writer. THAT'S the red flag. Was SW pressuring the writing staff? Were they trying to undo all the changes the writers strived for?

Whatever's going on here, it's unnerving. I'm trying very hard to remain positive about this whole thing. And who knows? The impact could be minutia or it could be as blatantly obvious with the blunt force of a frying pan hurtling to Earl Sinclair's head.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

That's really put a bad taste in my mouth about the upcoming and future seasons. Something tells me the major shake ups aren't just the ones they're talking about. I don't think the set change was the catalyst specifically, but it really could be other things. Anything is pure speculation at this point, but it just sounds like something worrisome. I don't think it's directly related to the HBO deal, since Joey says it was almost a year of fighting, and this deal didn't sound like it was anything beyond this spring at best. No, I think it has something more to do with the new head of Sesame Workshop and or PBS. Maybe the consideration of HBO was also a major problem, something sounds like the budget crisis was a long time coming this season. I mean, either PBS goaded SW into the half hour format or SW was planning it all along with PBS in mind.

Either way, there's a lot of people to make out to be the villain here. Problem is, until we get some sort of in-depth narrative of what actually happened, we can't just say who's to blame yet and what we should worry about.

I have this major fear that maybe they're getting rid of the human characters.

 

[cjd874]

I have this major fear that maybe they're getting rid of the human characters.

To me, that isn't necessarily the case. It seems like they're putting more focus on the younger members like Leela, Chris, and Mando, since they could probably identify with the increasingly younger viewers, and vice-versa. Over the past four to five years, Bob and Susan have slowly been getting phased out, each appearing in maybe two episodes per year at maximum. Maria has also retired after 44 years on SS. The only mainstays from previous years are Luis (1971-present), Gordon (1974-present), Gina (1987-present), and Alan (1998-present).

While we're on this track, I'm not sure what to think of this new focus on the "core six" characters. It's great that Cookie Monster and Grover have gotten renewed recognition after being in the background for most of the '80s and early '90s. Also, Caroll's characters are essential...you can't have SS without Big Bird and Oscar. Elmo and (ok, fine) Abby Cadabby are pretty key to the show as well, especially for the viewers ages 2-4. But what does this mean for other Muppets? Martin Robinson has been a core puppeteer for thirty-five years...it would be a shame if Snuffy and Telly gradually disappeared, unless they were to be recast within the next couple of years (Marty's reached the big 6-0, I believe). Same for original characters like Bert, Ernie, and the Count. I'd hate to see them getting the axe in favor of Abby, Elmo, and the gaggle of one-shot fairy tale characters.

One final thought: I wonder how the show will change with Joey Mazzarino's departure. While I was never liked how he used that one high-pitched voice over and over again, I admit that he's written some good stuff for the show.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

To me, that isn't necessarily the case. It seems like they're putting more focus on the younger members like Leela, Chris, and Mando, since they could probably identify with the increasingly younger viewers, and vice-versa. Over the past four to five years, Bob and Susan have slowly been getting phased out, each appearing in maybe two episodes per year at maximum. Maria has also retired after 44 years on SS. The only mainstays from previous years are Luis (1971-present), Gordon (1974-present), Gina (1987-present), and Alan (1998-present).

While we're on this track, I'm not sure what to think of this new focus on the "core six" characters. It's great that Cookie Monster and Grover have gotten renewed recognition after being in the background for most of the '80s and early '90s. Also, Caroll's characters are essential...you can't have SS without Big Bird and Oscar. Elmo and (ok, fine) Abby Cadabby are pretty key to the show as well, especially for the viewers ages 2-4. But what does this mean for other Muppets? Martin Robinson has been a core puppeteer for thirty-five years...it would be a shame if Snuffy and Telly gradually disappeared, unless they were to be recast within the next couple of years (Marty's reached the big 6-0, I believe). Same for original characters like Bert, Ernie, and the Count. I'd hate to see them getting the axe in favor of Abby, Elmo, and the gaggle of one-shot fairy tale characters.

One final thought: I wonder how the show will change with Joey Mazzarino's departure. While I was never liked how he used that one high-pitched voice over and over again, I admit that he's written some good stuff for the show.

Well Snuffy is usually only in about 1 or 2 episodes per season. Also the writers have said how much they enjoy writing for Telly, so I doubt he would just disappear. Martin P. Robinson has said he dosen't plan to retire for a long time. The Count,Snuffy,Bert and Ernie are all way too iconic to be retired and they just recast Ernie so that they can use him more.

 

[GonzoMan]

Well Snuffy is usually only in about 1 or 2 episodes per season. Also the writers have said how much they enjoy writing for Telly, so I doubt he would just disappear. Martin P. Robinson has said he dosen't plan to retire for a long time. The Count,Snuffy,Bert and Ernie are all way too iconic to be retired and they just recast Ernie so that they can use him more.

Really? So does that mean Billy Barkhurst has officially taken over Ernie?

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Really? So does that mean Billy Barkhurst has officially taken over Ernie?

Well Steve Whitmire is no longer credited on the show and is very busy with Kermit right now. Billy Barkhurst has played Ernie at least twelve times since 2014, on the show and for appearances on Saturday Night Live etc. Also this game http://www.sesamestreet.org/games?uuid=2054a5a1-a263-4928-9e90-efcd81080c98

 

[GonzoMan]

Well Steve Whitmire is no longer credited on the show and is very busy with Kermit right now. Billy Barkhurst has played Ernie at least twelve times since 2014, on the show and for appearances on Saturday Night Live etc. Also this game http://www.sesamestreet.org/games?uuid=2054a5a1-a263-4928-9e90-efcd81080c98

Oh yes, I've seen that. I've noticed that Ryan Dillon has voiced Elmo for a couple new games there as well.