Your Thoughts: Sesame Street Season 38

[The Count]

Thanks to DTWolf for correcting me on the episode number, here's the rundown.

Episode 4148: Elmo sends Abby her first letter.
Cold Opening: Word on the Street: Murray Monster asks about "mail".
Street Story.
Song: "I'm Going To Write Myself A Letter".
Celebrity: Word on the Street Explanation: "Mail".
Film: Kids get letters in the mail and Email messages.
Letter of the Day: X, Cookie Monster gets examined by an X-Ray Technician.
Animation: The Letter X.
Animation: X perform tricks.
Muppets: Song: "People In Your Neighborhood" with Ben Stiller, Telly Monster, a Letter Carrier, a Cable Guy, and Ben as a Cheese.
Animation: Two neighbor families meet for the first time.
The Count's Counting Organ: 15, with a sort of Halloweenish song by the Count about searching for the Number of the Day.
Song: 15 Rap.
Animation: 15 popping out of various places.
Muppets/Song: "Soy Pura Mejicana", with Big Bird conducting a mariachi band in Guadelupe, Arizona (from the Big Bird USA Postcards series).
Film: Mexican kid gives us a tour of his home, family, and class which paints a mural.
Muppets: Dayle shows Ernie how to type on the computer.
Song: "Write Your Name".
Elmo's World: Hands.
Insert: Abby announces the sponsors with an interruption by her mommy on her cellular wand.

 

[Drtooth]

I don't want to say I just wastes an hour of my life, but....

The opening segment was cute. The "Dear Babby" joke wore thin after the millionth time. And I did like how Maria needed the BIG screw driver. Plus I loved how natural the spanish conversation between Maria and Rosita was. Not forced like in other kids shows which will remain nameless... on Nickelodeon....

But other than that and the Ben Stiller rerun, this was probably one of the dullest episodes I've ever seen. One new animation (with pipecleaners, incase you're wondering count. one family was made out of green cleaners, which explains the dumb "Greenland" joke) was the only thing in a bunch of frankly dated material.

The Big Bird skit was extremely old. I think maybe late 80's. And of course they shove as many borring filmed kid fillers in there as possible.

A lot of dated crap from the early 90's (that "this is the Letter X" segment is just a joke now. We can actually animate on a computer. You can do that entire thing in Power Point in a few minutes now). Boy, they couldn't even get anything GOOD from the old days.

I swear they used EW Hands before this year.... But I may be wrong.

All and all, good opening skit, bad rest of the show.

EDIT... I wrote this in waiting for the last segment. I have to say the end bit with Abby was also pretty cute.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Seriously, does anyone else like that going out on the street and "filming" a segment with muppets thing they're doing with Murray monster and the Fruit rap? I just think that's absolutely wonderful. They need to do this more. not just with SS, but with all the Muppets.

You mean those cold openings with Murray? I think I'd like it better if they used a character that we knew doing interviews rather than just a random monster. I could definitely see Kermit in his reporter role asking about the word on the street. But since the use of is limited, I could see Big Bird doing it or maybe Telly in his "Monster on the Spot" role.

 

[D'Snowth]

Okay, here are my two-cents worth (and a bit of a catch-up).

1. I really liked last Thursday's episode where Telly, Zoe, and Rosita play house, and Alan ends up playing "Uncle Sheldon"... it reminds me so much of Season 34, a season I really loved! It was funny, cute, and entertaining little story to say the least.

2. Last monday's episode was good as well; again, it too reminded me of Season 34, so I enjoyed that. Plus, it's our first look at Gabi this season, after some people were worrried that now that she and Miles graduated, and Chris's introduction, we'd never see them again. Liked Telly's interpretation of a detective, it was really funny.

3. Today's new episode was meh... I liked seeing Abby in the street scene again (and Chris too)... but I don't know, I kind of felt today's new episode was "slow", and a little too repetitive. Though I was glad to see that the original backdrop down the street was back, instead of it being a CGI street front like in the "Bookaneers" episode.

Now then, can someone help me before I make another change to my scalemodel of Sesame Street - in that skit with Elmo and them football players... WHAT in the world was that stuff all over Big Bird's doors, and WHEN did THAT happen, and HOW long is THAT going to last?

 

[somethingofafan]

I swear they used EW Hands before this year.... But I may be wrong.

You may be thinking of Feet. Or maybe it was a rerun from an older season; I haven't been keeping up with those.

Although I almost mis-parsed the question as "earlier than this year" rather than "earlier this year", which would have been obvious from the use of Mr. Noodle's brother.

 

[abiraniriba]

mail

I saw the mail episode today, that's the second full new ep of SS that I've seen this season. I found it to be very interesting. I really liked the "People In Your Neighborhood" skit where Van dressed up as a cheese and the AM's attempted to eat him, reminded me of the old adult muppet sketches where the muppet monsters would try to eat the guests and each other. I wonder what would happen if in a letter of the day sketch Cookie Monster tried to eat.... Prarie Dawn. (insert Cookie Monster smiley here)

 

[Drtooth]

You mean those cold openings with Murray? I think I'd like it better if they used a character that we knew doing interviews rather than just a random monster. I could definitely see Kermit in his reporter role asking about the word on the street. But since the use of is limited, I could see Big Bird doing it or maybe Telly in his "Monster on the Spot" role.

You do not know how much I wanna see that happen. Random monster or popular character. I wouldn't mind them doing this with the other Muppets too. Bring 'em out into the street and have them talk to people on the street. Not just confine themselves in the studio.

 

[DTWolf]

Count, the mail episode was indeed 4148, not 4158.

In other news: now that we're this far into the season I've had some other thoughts about the show.

THE GOOD
1. "Word on the Street" is good stuff. Yes, Drtooth, showing Muppets interacting with people in the real world, outside the studio, is wonderful. And highlighting a particular word each day for kids to listen for seems like a great learning tool. I've been impressed with the variety of words too--some simple (dog), some fairly difficult (frustrated), some in-between (mail). Sesame Workshop deserves some applause for choosing words all along the scale, since their child audience takes in kids with a wide range of vocabulary skills.
2a. We've had episodes WITHOUT Elmo's World.
2b. We've had episodes where the street segment was divided up and continued throughout the hour.
3. They left Journey to Ernie on the discard pile.
4. Those "Get Up, It's Time to Play" segments are gone.
5. Telly used words like hypotenuse.
6. We've seen some nice TV parodies.
7. Chris has moved into the show quite nicely. While watching the Elmo-writes-a-letter-to-Abby segment I suddenly realized I liked Chris being on the show. When he first showed up I was indifferent, but now I think he really works as part of the cast.
8. We got a new number-of-the-day bit with Grover.
9. We get to see some variety in the "brought to you today . . ." ending segments. The Trash Gordon reruns were getting old.
10. The new opening sequence looks really neat, even if you don't like the new version of the theme song.
11. I like Abby. I'm not sure why they decreed she must be in EVERY episode--but they've accomplished this without making her obnoxious and annoying. (More than we can say for Elmo, of course. . .)

THE BAD
1. No new Count number-of-the-day segments.
2. No new letter-of-the-day segments.
3. Many famous Muppets are pretty much missing in action. They're not totally absent, but nearly so. People who were worried--after the first episode!--about Big Bird and Ernie getting shoved to one side may have been right. They've had very little screen time overall. I'm delighted that Journey to Ernie is still gone, but come on, we ought to see Big Bird, Ernie, and Bert in other ways instead.
4. [Fill in the rerun segment you hated most here.]
5. That indescribable Muppetty-goodness quality just isn't there. Where's the spark? Something's missing. Yeah, it's been gone a long time. Last season I was excited, thinking it might be coming back--but this season I'm just not feeling it. It's not that the show is bad--it just isn't great.

 

[abiraniriba]

I'm not sure if today's ep was new

I came in a little late today and missed the cold opening, if there was any. The street story was about Zoe's pet rock needing a rocksitter (gimme a break, IT'S A ROCK!), Telly wound up doing it. Afterward they had a film about how real rocks can be very colorful and pretty. Looks like it was done in NYC's Central Park. The rest of the scenes were all very old. I never saw the rocksitting story before, but then I've missed a few eps in general due to Megan's videos and various appointments. Maybe at the end I'll know by whether Oscar reads Slimey Trash Gordon or something else. Bye now, I gotta go feed my pet dirt clod, his name is Dirty

 

[Drtooth]

I've been impressed with the variety of words too--some simple (dog), some fairly difficult (frustrated), some in-between (mail).

I love how they've been teaching kids about "Frustraition" lately. It's very important kids learn this fealing as young as possible.

That indescribable Muppetty-goodness quality just isn't there. Where's the spark? Something's missing. Yeah, it's been gone a long time. Last season I was excited, thinking it might be coming back--but this season I'm just not feeling it. It's not that the show is bad--it just isn't great.

That is what is wrong with this season exactly. Too many dull filmed inserts, not enough Muppet segments, and not enough characters. I think Carol may have had issues playing the Bird (he's almost 40 years older since he first put it on, mind you and the oldest puppeteer still currently working there).

I mean, I do miss JTE, since they really did try to make it work near the end (the B museum with Bob was amazing), but only to see Ernie, Big Bird, and the 2 headed monster on a daily basis. I'm bummed they let Global Grover go too. Especially since last year they did a Global Grover segment that Didn't need a film clip (the Russian restaraunt).

If they just had more muppet segments, and no lame filmed filler from the 90's they would have made this season better.