Elmo's World-free episodes don't go over

[D'Snowth]

I think the reason why the EW-free episodes didn't go over well is simply because kids expect to see it. They tune in every day expecting the show to follow a certain pattern. Any major deviation from the show's formula will be met with resistance. I say they keep gradually cutting it back, and soon enough, the viewing audience will not expect to see EW every day.

Yeah... kind of like how right before Gary Burghoff left M*A*S*H, Radar kept appearing in fewer and fewer episodes each season up until his discharge from the 4077th.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I didn't think of that, but I guess that would be a good idea. Plus surely Elmo will still appear in every episode, so young kids won't complain about his absense or anything. I doubt the writers will really do something like that, but it was certainly a good thought.

 

[Beauregard]

Not sure if this fits into this conversation...but it's worth mentioning that they phased out SS from UK tv a while ago, but I do see Elmo's World appearing in TV-guides from time to time as its own seperate show.

Thought I'd share.

Beau

 

[wiley207]

He annoys hardcore fans like ourselves because a) we didn't grow up with him, and b) the whole avoidance of personal pronouns thing. BUT the children of today ARE growing up with him, so of course they would be scandalized if he is gone. If Sesame Workshop thinks that Elmo actually helps kids learn, which they seem to, then he should stay regardless of whether we like him or not.

I grew up with Elmo, and this was 1989-1993.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Yes I remember Elmo was years ago as well. It's more the over exposure that's the problem. And personally, I am skeptical as to the education value.

 

[Drtooth]

Me as well. I'm pretty sure whomever is watching this, even at 1 year old knows what feet are. And the ones about animals would be a lot more educational if they had actual clips and facts about said animals in the wild.

And Yes, overexposure is a killer. Much as I like Family Guy, I almost don't like Stewie anymore because he's everywhere and on everything. And Poor Chris is delegated to group shots and one or 2 solo t's.

And don't get me started on Winne the Pooh.

 

[ISNorden]

Amen. Any mother with a kid who's tried to bounce a birthday cake or feed a toy train his snack probably has to deal with developmental problems that are worse for the kid than anything he sees on Sesame Street; but it still bothers me that Elmo's World talks down to kids. If those fifteen minutes focused less on puns, gags, and obvious "questions" about the topic...and more on genuine facts that still interest a typical toddler...then Elmo's World might not be so bad.

 

[Drtooth]

EW works on the same shoddy "principle" that the Baby Einstine videos work on. Clearly this is only "educational" if you believe a one year old can absorb and process information. They can't. It's pure candy for the kids. They only like Elmo's world because it's Elmo's world.

They could improve on the formula at any given point, but somehow they think this is the one aspect of the show they can't do too much about, even if they want to. It's become a double edged sword now. We either have it and the kids are happy and the fans aren't or vice versa. It's not as easy as it looks, and I think they really want to break free from it.

If they did an entire season without EW, it would bother the older audience of children, but the younger audience wouldn't care, since this is the first time they've been exposed to it. It's a nice experiment, too bad it didn't turn out well.

 

[wwfpooh]

And the character himself has been around since the 1980s, so Elmo's actually a classic character really

Talk about making most of us feel old, considering a lot of us are children of the 80's (for me it was 1984) or even older.

If they did an entire season without EW, it would bother the older audience of children

I hate to feel like a bad guy here, but I say that they should deal with it bothering them, simply because neither of set of fans is truly happy with the current arrangement, because either we classic fans dislike it when it is on (considering it's no way as educational as the rest of the show) & the new fans dislike it when isn't on (because they grew up on Elmo's humungous popularity and don't seem to realize that we classic fans feel alienated by the inclusion of a segment that provides no real educational value...on an educational program).

 

[ISNorden]

Elmo was still popular with kids, and taught them a whole lot more, when he didn't get his own predictable mini-show. The character isn't as bad as I make him sound sometimes, but 90% of Elmo's World is fluff; the other 10% teaches things a 3-year-old could learn first-hand from real life.