Billy Barkhurst

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I could go on a rant about the small character focus, but the thing that bugs me is that Ernie and Bert, characters that predated Big Bird and even the show's official start, aren't part of that group. I can get why they'd shoo off Baby Bear and Zoe, but Ernie and Bert should have been part of the smaller focus. The Count as well, after all he had a massive comeback in recent years, even when his original performer passed.

I think it's a real shame about Ernie. It wasn't too long ago that it seemed he was one of the more popular characters, appearing in lots of merchandise along with Elmo, Grover and Cookie. And it seemed he and Bert were making a comeback last season.

And they're definitely not taking advantage of the fact that the Count finally has the ability to be featured more than he was five years ago. As for Zoe, I understand she's not quite as popular as Abby or Rosita, but they didn't even give her so much as one line this season. Once again, just like the Count and Ernie, what's the point of recasting her if your not even using her?

 

[MuppetSpot]

I can get why they'd shoo off Baby Bear

Actually it does seem like they are trying to slowly fade Baby Bear away. Since off Season 45 he only appear in two episodes and This past season only a brief cameo in a episode.

Back On Topic:

Billy perform Ernie along side Matt's Count & Eric's Grover

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Oh, and i'd also like to add, I think Snuffy should appear more, just because he's connected to Big Bird who's one of the core characters now.

 

[Drtooth]

I think it's a real shame about Ernie. It wasn't too long ago that it seemed he was one of the more popular characters, appearing in lots of merchandise along with Elmo, Grover and Cookie. And it seemed he and Bert were making a comeback last season.

I think we all need to be reminded that directly after the Tickle Me Elmo craze was the Sing and Snore Ernie craze. Certainly not as big as the Elmo toy, but it as popular enough for Ernie to get a major boost for the next several years. Look at the 2002 format change. Ernie got his own segment, and it was usually followed by and Ernie and Bert skit, but then there was the abundance of solo Ernie bits. Some of them were even Ernie's Show and Tell, a segment that was clearly made when the S&S Ernie doll was being produced.

And they're definitely not taking advantage of the fact that the Count finally has the ability to be featured more than he was five years ago. As for Zoe, I understand she's not quite as popular as Abby or Rosita, but they didn't even give her so much as one line this season. Once again, just like the Count and Ernie, what's the point of recasting her if your not even using her?

The past few years I've been harping on the fact that Zoe was being phased out in Elmo based story plots for Abby because she's the one that SW wanted girls to imprint on and buy toys of. So basically they awkwardly smashed their two show mascots together, refused to give them any tension (with a couple exceptions when they did and it worked), and all the sudden, Zoe who had better chemistry with the character was edged aside. Now, I'll admit, Ryan has better chemistry as Elmo with Abby than Kevin had, and whatever Zoe/Elmo dynamic will lie in Ryan and Jennifer. But when a show that came up with Abby to help pad out the female characters actually pushes one of its strongest female characters to the side, it seems kinda...well, not so much hypocritical as bizarrely counter productive.

But at least the recast Prairie Dawn got a couple appearances, especially a TV show parody focusing on her.

 

[D'Snowth]

Some people are actually starting to forget who Zoe is because she's been phased out so much lately. My mom used to love Zoe back in the day, then here just recently she saw a picture of her and was like, "who's that?"

 

[Drtooth]

Zoe's phase out was slow and gradual since Abby's rise in use. So I can totally see why she's been taken a back seat. Telly and Baby Bear have been used incredibly frequent in the past 10 years only to be stopped short the past season. And just when Telly was starting to get merchandising focus, too. That one kinda bugs me for that reason.

But the fact Ernie and Bert are regulated to being back up extras in musical numbers this season kinda sucks. You could whine about how such and such cast member was being fired, sure, but the fact the two most iconic characters on the show have been shoved to the side, characters that weren't treated this roughly when the show was legitimately Elmo-centric (they even stopped the EIG movie cold to comment on it, and it was better than the actual film), just kinda gets under my skin. I mean, great work with Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, and Oscar becoming major focuses. Also I applaud Rosita being in that count to give Latino representation. But really...do something with Ernie and Bert that doesn't automatically go to every country but us. Ernie and Bert aren't an American produced cartoon that we have to wait 2 years to even air in America.

 

[Oscarfan]

I can see why Baby Bear isn't getting focus; the push now is the characters who are more marketable and Baby Bear is...a bear. Technically, Baby Bear isn't even an original Sesame character; he's just a variation of a classic storybook one.

At least E&B will be prominent (it seems) in the new Christmas special (coming this holiday season, BTW).

 

[Drtooth]

Baby Bear always came off to me as only becoming a major character so David Rudman had someone to perform regularly. He may have been a product of the Around the Corner fairy tale character usage, but he stayed around mainly on that aspect, at least before he became a pal for Telly. That's his best work, I feel, and the characters play gloriously off each other. Not to say that his own family based episodes weren't good too, but his best work was with Telly. And while I can mostly see him being phased out with Telly, David now performs Cookie Monster, giving him an established character to work with. And Cookie's one of the priority characters too.

I seriously doubt the character of Baby Bear would have lasted as long as it did, had it not been for making him a sidekick for Telly.

 

[D'Snowth]

But weren't Baby Bear and Goldilocks introduced before ATC?

 

[MuppetSpot]

But weren't Baby Bear and Goldilocks introduced before ATC?

Actually Baby Bear was supposed to be a one episode character but, I guess the writers like him so they kept around.