Your Thoughts: Sesame Street Season 41

[Oscarfan]

Wow... for an episode that was supposed to be all about Bert, it sure was all about Abby and Elmo again.

His appearance at the beginning and end was fun, but then it degenerated into another "This is this and that is that" episode... I'M REALLY starting to get sick of this "My world is green and growing" initiative. They do like 3 of these a year. We get it, animals have different attributes, even generalized species. And would it have killed them to write Bert in every scene at least? The fact that he gave up and went home made me give up on the episode. Like that they managed to mention Doin' the Pidgeon, but the episode actually quite depressed me. I was looking forward to Bert, and I get another Elmo and Abby explore nature plot.

OOh! And a freaking Abby Fairy School that was on at least 4 times by now! Wow! Yeah, I'm not going to bother with the rest of the episode...

Thankfully, there's only one more of those stories left in the season ("Rock Rock Band"), but it looks a lot more interesting.

 

[Drtooth]

Hey, if Rocko's in it, it will be interesting. Somehow, having something that can set Elmo off, causing him to, once again, emote, that's good enough for me.

You know, the nature initiative is almost as annoying as the health initiative a few years back.

 

[antsamthompson9]

The street story was okay. It would have been better if Bert was there the whole time. The binoculars bit was cute. The new Bert and Ernie's Great Advanture was good. I liked seeing Ernie in EW: Bells.

 

[DTF]

This episode was ALMOST identical to Cowmonster Pair from last year, only with Bert in it. He made the plot better, Abby and Elmo's forced appearance took away what could have been an otherwise good episode. There is something so mechanical and inorganic about it. Their chemistry really doesn't work the way they want it to. Elmo, unlike Kermit or even Big Bird can't work with just anyone. I've said that several times.
...
No... instead we got 2 characters who don't emote with each other talking to different birds (and one was SUSPICIOUSLY missing ) about how different birds are different. Even if they at LEAST were all the other kinds of pigeons (such potential in listing all the different kinds) it would have been more meaningful. But no, we get Cowmonster Pair with animal sounds instead of animal tracks.

First, Dr. Tooth, your analysis is very helpful in reminding me, when i write my Print on Demand chidrens' books, to make sure my main characters can really interact well with each other. I've got a point here where there are a couple minor characters and it's kind of hard to think how they would do; thankfully, that's not a problem with my majors, I don't think.

Second, regarding the large yellow...oh, count, I'll just let you handle that, you're good at those descriptions! I wonder why they can't just have Carroll's voice in one.

I mean, this is one of those where it's obvious they could just call him on their cell phones; and especially since Abby gets calls on her cellular wand, even if the others might be deemed too young to have phones.

Only argument I can see, someone could argue, "It might convince kids to call more instead of walking to friends' houses." Lame, yes, but I can see someone saying that in this day and age.

Then again, if 90% of science fiction shows refuse to have their spaceships attacking from the top or bottom, instead acting like space is some sort of plain, then it figures that TV shows would generally refuse to consider the possibility of using other means to show that characters are still there even when not on screen. (I wrote about half a dozen focs to show how they could have easily done a "Full House" 9th season without anyone moving away, just by having certain characters referenced but never on screen.(http://www.fanfiction.net/u/5456/Me if anyone's interested, I list the 9th season ones, a few have all, others the ones missing who wouldn't have been able to make it))

 

[Drtooth]

First, Dr. Tooth, your analysis is very helpful in reminding me, when i write my Print on Demand chidrens' books, to make sure my main characters can really interact well with each other. I've got a point here where there are a couple minor characters and it's kind of hard to think how they would do; thankfully, that's not a problem with my majors, I don't think.

Second, regarding the large yellow...oh, count, I'll just let you handle that, you're good at those descriptions! I wonder why they can't just have Carroll's voice in one.

I mean, this is one of those where it's obvious they could just call him on their cell phones; and especially since Abby gets calls on her cellular wand, even if the others might be deemed too young to have phones.

The good thing about having a large cast of characters is that certain combinations of any of them can provide anything from comedy to drama to even a realistic feeling. Abby and Elmo... they seem like they're forced together because they're the popular characters. They have a very small thing together, sure... you can believe they're sort of friends to the extent that they occasionally hang out together... but there's not that deeper connection, like he has with Zoe. Watch EIG and try not to walk away with the fact they're feelings will grow deeper once they're older. There's a connection there. Grover? Grover's like Elmo's goofy older brother (not by many years, mind you) that tries to teach him how to do things... tries to be a mentor, but stumbles around giving him an example of what not to do. Oscar's like his grandfather figure... sort of a Carl/Russel type deal from Up. Even with Big Bird, Ernie and especially Telly, there's something there... it seems to be missing with Abby.. Abby works well with certain other characters, but that's another long list.

That said, I know there's some dumb budget thing that kept Carol from coming in and being Big Bird... but I don't see why they couldn't have Big's head pop out of the doors and react to them talking about birds non-verbally. That's what's been bugging me lately. Even if characters weren't in the story and had no lines, and even if the performer was unavailable, they always managed to be in the background silently reacting to things.

 

[Oscarfan]

Drtooth, you should really hear Grover and Elmo's banter in the DVD "Counting with Elmo". He gets very frustrated with Grover's lack of knowledge toward the end.

 

[ISNorden]

Most of you have taken the words out of my mouth already, but I might as well throw in my own review...

The good points:

• Bert is a major street-scene character for the first time in, what, 3-4 seasons?
• Cute in-jokes about Hunt's characters, especially Bert's frustration à la Don Music.
• The new Pinball #12 claymation, even though it felt a bit too short...
• The Bird Games adventure; the turkey literally "laying an egg" when she failed to fly was a great visual gag.

The bad points:

• As several of you pointed out, these "nature ID" episodes are getting WAY too similar. Three rounds of "you're wrong, here's another clue" before finding the real thing...*yawn*
• A Bert episode without Ernie, or a birdwatching episode without Big Bird? Someone had better help Sesame Workshop with their production budget next season, and convince the performers to get together more often.
• I'm glad I wasn't the only one to find the robin's "beautiful rrred brrreast" ironic after Kate Perry's outfit got her banned. Can anyone else say "double standard"?
• The sooner "Flying Fairy School" gets replaced, the better; seeing the same recycled episodes is probably boring the kids as much as it bores me.
• "P is for Princess" should have stayed on the Abby DVD; the ants-in-formation clip was funnier and more memorable IMO.

Overall impression: Sesame Street is desperately trying to balance its appeal to kids and adults, not to mention old and new characters. Unfortunately, budget cuts and actors' other commitments make the balancing act a lot harder than it should be. Here's hoping the situation improves by next season!

 

[Mupp]

Unfortunately I missed the most recent episode.

But again, I am really sick of seeing nothing but the newer characters from the early 90's and beyond getting most of the screen time.

Judging from what I've heard of the newest episode, it really makes me mad.

Would it kill them to let the classic characters have a major role?

And again, the buget issues really make me nervous. The show is suffering because of it.

 

[Convincing John]

That said, I know there's some dumb budget thing that kept Carol from coming in and being Big Bird... but I don't see why they couldn't have Big's head pop out of the doors and react to them talking about birds non-verbally. That's what's been bugging me lately. Even if characters weren't in the story and had no lines, and even if the performer was unavailable, they always managed to be in the background silently reacting to things.

That bothered me, too. I was waiting for either Abby or Elmo to say "We need to find a bigger bird!" then our yellow feathered friend would bee seen through Elmo's binoculars.

But nope...we just got ten minutes more of Elmo with a tiny Bert cameo at the beginning and end of the clip. The Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures is an OK series, but it just reminds me of a Muppet Babies episode in too many ways. Those two really work best as a comedy duo in fleece and foam form.

The "Mary Mary Quite Contrary" episode from last season was such a breath of fresh air.

As for the budget, Kevin Clash makes way more than any other Muppeteer. SW pays him big bucks. If they actually let someone like Caroll, Jerry, Steve, Eric or Marty have a chance to perform in the lead the story (for once), SW wouldn't have such a huge "Elmo bill" to pay, if you catch my drift. Remember the ad-libbed line Elmo said once? "Elmo gets paid by the Elmo". I think it's a true statement at times. No wonder the show is losing so much dough.

I came across this while looking for old school Sesame Street clips. I wonder whatever happened to that concept. I sure agree with what they're saying. Check out Jim Henson's quote!

Convincing John

 

[Convincing John]

Would it kill them to let the classic characters have a major role?

Yes, it would. Simple as that. They have to compete with the dumbed-down kids' shows out there by copying them. If all kids shows for that age had the same quality as say, Mr. Rogers, it wouldn't be so bad. Instead, we have the horrible, purple abomination that will not die, the loud, slow-talking girl with the monkey-in-boots and the nauseating CGI characters with glassy stares in watered down versions of watered down fairy tales ("Do...you...see...the...letter...P?" Blank staring for a full 30 seconds while the letter is in plain view next to him... "Right! Super job, super readers!")

And parents were worried about Don Music making kids want to bang their heads against the wall...

Convincing John