Cute and Fuzzy Four: not half bad

[ISNorden]

Did anyone else see "The Cute and Fuzzy Four" today? In my opinion, it's one of the best recent episodes on the air:

Elmo was cooperating with other cast members (Muppet or human) as an equal, not as the leader of the group.

Three humans played a major part, and one of them doesn't appear that often (Gordon's dad).

The flashbacks to the humans' musical careers were well-done ("Johnny Uno" in that black-and-white 50's flashback kicked butt!).

The storyline determined one of the "sponsors" (4), not vice versa.

One Letter of the Day cartoon (with a lost kangaroo searching for his K-pouched mother, and meeting other lettered animals along the way) was well thought out, colorful, and funny.

Even Elmo's World (on families--some of them even sang!) and Trash Gordon (in a new ending scene) were novel enough not to bore me this time.

 

[mikebennidict]

The parts where Gordon and his Dad are talking abiut their past was interesting though it looked silly with the 3 of them singing the WW song with Elmo.
What was interesting in that vintage part with the Electric 3 Bob comments to LUIs I hope this Maria chick doesn't break up the band. I think that was Beatle's inspired where people blaimed Yoko Ono for breaking up the Beatles.

 

[ISNorden]

The parts where Gordon and his Dad are talking abiut their past was interesting though it looked silly with the 3 of them singing the WW song with Elmo.
What was interesting in that vintage part with the Electric 3 Bob comments to LUIs I hope this Maria chick doesn't break up the band. I think that was Beatle's inspired where people blaimed Yoko Ono for breaking up the Beatles.

I agree that the Wubba Wubba song was inappropriately silly for the new band; besides, very little of the song was left after the script writers decided to drop the monster-related lines. Otherwise, I loved following Gordon's conversation with his father. How many newer episodes focus on human characters' history...especially on history that takes place before most Sesame Street watchers' lifetime?

Although I missed the Maria/Yoko Ono comparison, I'm glad you pointed it out: newer episodes rarely include in-jokes that an adult viewer would get and a child wouldn't. Whoever included those lines must have been remembering the early years of Sesame Street...bravo for him!

 

[D'Snowth]

One of the very few episodes from season 35 that made me smile.

One of my favorite lines: "What Miles's grandpa in a band with Luis and English-accent Bob?"

 

[ISNorden]

Thanks for noticing another line I didn't hear; whoever wrote that screenplay must have remembered how funny the classic episodes were. Most of Season 35, in fact, feels like an attempt to blend classic and new material. I'm not totally surprised, though: from the 20th anniversary on, Sesame Street has always shown "special" material every five years. If only every season could include material from the best of both worlds: recent AND classic clips (they're not all outdated!); regular segments AND freeform material; Muppets AND humans getting important roles in the "street stories". (And yes, every major Muppet on the show should get the same star treatment...not just one.)