Do you think Rudy could become the new Elmo?

[MuppetSpot]

Not really sure what she's up to, I guess just living a normal life. She has a Facebook but she doesn't post very often. She has a son who appears to be either in his late teens or his 20s. She traveled to Tailand at some point late last year, and she was still working for The Jim Henson Company at least as late as 2003.

Maybe, she wants to live a nice and quiet life much like Brian Meehl. Which, I understand.

 

[Buff Beaker]

Thanks for all of the replies guys. Yeah I think we have to see where this can lead to. Rudy may be the next Roosevelt Franklin where hes a one off character or he becomes the next big thing.

 

[Froggy Fool]

Tailand

Ha. Good job, Pig!

But yeah, I think he needs some time to develop as a character before he becomes as popular as Elmo. Personally, I'm not crazy about Rudy... he's really annoying (but so is Elmo to an extent and that didn't stop him from being a huge success!)

 

[D'Snowth]

I don't particularly find Rudy annoying, but I agree he needs more time to be developed as a character, because he's definitely got a Cousin Gary Oliver Stu thing going on right now.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I agree, he's kind of just a tagalong. He doesn't really have his own identity yet. Maybe he at least needs some kind of a schtick to help him stand out.

 

[D'Snowth]

Probably is, given the kind of character he is, that seems like that would be his schtick: the cute little tagalong baby (step)brother.

In all honesty, before we were introduced to Rudy on the show, and reading about some of the episode plots that involved him (like taking Abby's wand and getting into trouble with it), I foresaw him being an almost D.W.-esque kind of character: kind of a brat, and a bit of an annoyance to Abby. At first, I was relieved that he didn't turn out to be that kind of a character, mainly because it's just as much of a troperific characteristic for younger sibling characters, and would make Rudy too much of a cliche . . . but now, I'm wishing they kind of went that direction. I mean, he doesn't have to be exactly D.W. level of brattiness, but at least maybe give him a bit of a mischevious streak to make things a little more interesting: not only would that make Rudy himself more of an interesting character, but it could present some further development for Abby as well, putting her into a role of a responsible and somewhat flusterred big sister.

Then again, I know SS has really been pushing the kindness angle in recent seasons, and that really is all well and good, especially with the way the world is today, but as both @Oscarfan and I have been noting lately, the storytelling and quality of the street plots has been suffering quite a bit because of it - it's almost as if the writers are afraid of conflict, and that's where your story comes from: without conflict, you have no story, and the street plots as of late are more or less just random events and things happening rather than actual stories. And it's ironic, given that SS has two of the original ARTHUR writers now: Ken Scarborough and Joe Fallon, both of whom were notorious for some of those classic, old-school D.W. pesters Arthur and Arthur is about ready to blow his brains out scenarios (Joe especially).

If nothing else, the conflict could be written into the stories in a way that they serve as lessons for kids on how they could handle real-world conflicts. SS used to write stories like that.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I always thought Zoe was meant to be the female Elmo counterpart.

 

[D'Snowth]

She was until Abby came along.

 

[BEAR 2]

She was until Abby came along.

Yeah, Zoe was the it girl until Abby came along and she kinda got kicked to the curb. But Prairie wasnt seen quite as often either, which makes me wonder if part of it had to do with Fran wanting to slow down a little. Zoe is a great character!

Actually, it seems like the only character from the 90s that has had any staying power or even a rise in popularity is Rosita!

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, they've explained it before: they really wanted a female Muppet on the show who could match Elmo's star power, but was sort of an "any-girl" character for little girls watching could really relate to; Prairie's too prissy and uptight, and Zoe's too quirky and eccentric.