Where are the older humans?

[Oscarfan]

When it rains, it pours.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

It seems to me that Sesame has been having a lot of bad press ever since Kevin Clash had to leave the show. I could be wrong but it seems that since he left the show has had one issue after another.

Not to mention the fact that the whole Mitt Romney/ Big Bird fiasco was just a month before Kevin Clash left.

 

[dwayne1115]

Maybe the show should end after 50 years. I mean for a show to last this long is amazing,but It's starting to look like time has caught up with Sesame Street and it's slowly becoming non relevant to today's pre schoolers.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

Maybe the show should end after 50 years. I mean for a show to last this long is amazing,but It's starting to look like time has caught up with Sesame Street and it's slowly becoming non relevant to today's pre schoolers.

I agree. Maybe once the show ends after Season 50, they should call it quits.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Maybe the show should end after 50 years. I mean for a show to last this long is amazing,but It's starting to look like time has caught up with Sesame Street and it's slowly becoming non relevant to today's pre schoolers.

Well, yes, I admit the show is definitely showing it's age, but at the same time, I don't think the show should end, I just think they need to do something drastically different. It's no secret that kids don't really need the show in the same way they did 47 years ago. But Sesame Workshop still does a lot of important outreach and charity work to help military families and kids in poverty and health programs. Not to mention, they have shows all around the world including in some countries where families rely on it as a major educational source for their kids. Sesame Workshop's reach is too massive and important for Sesame Street to just end. SW relies on the revenue that the show makes. If the show ends, than the entire company would suffer for it.

Not to mention, all the characters on the show are great, it would be a shame to lose them. There's still lots of stories that could be told with them.

 

[dwayne1115]

Don't get me wrong,I still believe in the work that Sesame is trying to do. I agree they have done a great job in recent years dealing with tough issues such as parents going to jail, or military,with poverty,and even autism. However the show itself is limiting itself with all of these cutbacks. Going down to 30 minute shows gives them less time to teach,and and enterain. However it did seem that they where having a hard time filling the hour which is why there would be so many repeats of Abby's flying fairy school and Elmo's world. I can't belive that inserts like they use to have in the 60's 70's and so forth are not relevant today. It would give the human and Muppet characters more screen time and would also be easy to share online.
When was the last time a new Ernie and Bert insert was filmed? These are two great enduring characters that could really teach these newer socal lessons that Sesame is trying to teach. What about all the wonderful songs that use to be sung by both Muppet and human cast? You can't tell me that music is not a relevant teaching tool anymore cause I have young kids and see how music helps them learn.
Maybe I'm wrong,but when they started cutting back on those things they just started to limit there out reach.

 

[Drtooth]

Maybe the show should end after 50 years. I mean for a show to last this long is amazing,but It's starting to look like time has caught up with Sesame Street and it's slowly becoming non relevant to today's pre schoolers.

I don't think the show would be let go so lightly. Look at how much hoopla the news breaking of older cast members being "fired" caused, especially to those who haven't watched the show in decades so they didn't know they were quietly phased out. As soon as SW would report "50 years is a long time to run a kid's show, time to pack it in," there would be such an outpouring of anger directed at them, they'd backpedal and make plans for the next several seasons after that.

Sesame Street is too much of a cultural institution for it to go away any time soon, and SW clearly cares about the preservation of the show at any cost. It's just that we don't like what the "at all costs" usually results in. Personally, if they made it to 40, they have no signs of wanting to end it until the world does. I could have seen them giving up after season 30, and be replaced by a long line of mediocre kid's shows we would have all forgotten the names of that don't even have the cultural impact a mid to late 90's Fox Kids cartoon that gets canned in half a year for extra Power Rangers rerun slots. A statement coming from someone who's a huge fan of Ned's Newt, Mad Jack the Pirate, Toonsylvania (which had a Burger King tie in at least), and Secret Files of the SpyDogs. Anyone remember any of those? No? So instead of Gary the blue puppet walrus or early CGI cartoons about sharing, Sesame STreet chugged on.

I don't think reduced usage of older cast members is enough to say "time to pack it in," considering the intended target audience only watches the show for 3, maybe 4 years, sometimes with their parents paying attention to them. it's more like SNL than The Simpsons. The different comedy and comedians speak to younger audiences while those who grew up with Murray, Akroyd, and Curtain stopped watching when they left (and put in Dana Carvey and Mike Myers or Will Ferrel and Amy Pohler and it works just as well) stopped watching the show, even occasionally.

 

[Drtooth]

ToughPigs once again tries to put the fire out with logic.

Basically stuff I already said, but more eloquent.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

ToughPigs once again tries to put the fire out with logic.

Basically stuff I already said, but more eloquent.

That article made me simultaneously happy and sad. Seriously, does no one care about Susan and Gina??! Nobody outside of us Muppet nerds have been asking about them.

 

[Drtooth]

Seriously, does no one care about Susan and Gina??!

I'd say that's a "THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU!!!" situation.

Sure, Bob et al are old time cast members, but Susan was there with Bob and the second of 4 Gordons, and Gina's been on and off the show for some time now. And i have to admit, even though she seems to have left on her own accord, I really miss Leela. It was nice to see another culture outside of Black and Latino on the show. Learned a lot about Indian culture that even an adult like me didn't know. heck, I learned about Dwali (sp?) from The Office! Wish they had a Dwali episode of Sesame Street before Leela left.