How can someone hate Elmo?

[dwayne1115]

yea I'm finding that some people ether love Elmo or they can't stand him.

I think your right Dr.thoth about Sesame doing to much, they are trying to pack a lot in one hour and it's not as fun as it use to be. Elmo is the easy target on this one because he is there and in the spotlight. I really think that some of the CGI and maybe Elmo's world should be a different show in itself. The quick lessons they have on Sesmae Street.com are sweet and they have a lot of different Muppets in them. Joey Manzno once said that they have a room full of Muppets that never get used, and it's a shame. He's right it is a shame, and why not do some recasting. I mean the Muppets have had to do a lot of recasting over the years and they could do more with the Classic sesame Muppets.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Elmo may not be everyone's favorite Muppet, but that's ok. I don't think he's supposed to be all that appealing to adults.

I just don't think I would have liked Elmo's World as a child. I remember what I liked as a kid and I remember why. And Elmo's World is not particularly witty or challenging, doesn't pull an real emotional strings and even as a kid that's what I enjoyed. I would have liked Sesame Street though, hehe.

Don't get me wrong, some kids certainly like Elmo. But other kids wonder why they don't show more of the other characters.

 

[Drtooth]

I just don't think I would have liked Elmo's World as a child. I remember what I liked as a kid and I remember why. And Elmo's World is not particularly witty or challenging, doesn't pull an real emotional strings and even as a kid that's what I enjoyed. I would have liked Sesame Street though, hehe

The age that Elmo's World is intended for would be satisfied with a test pattern. The concept is very screwed up... like I said, it focuses on one subject with all of Sesame's approaches watered down. I give credit to the writers for trying to shove as many funny tidbits as possible (Kermit the Frog, the Looney Tunes references in "Ears," Jimmy Durante nose...virtually all the e-mails). It shows that they're trying to make the best of things. But something tells me they know they made a lousy segment, and they do want to get rid of it, but they painted themselves into such a corner that they actually can't do anything about it.

Still, I gotta say I never cared much for Ernie's Show and Tell, but I'm not blaming Ernie for that. It's a cute segment and all, but it seems that it should have been Grover or Herry. A character that's famous for doing kid interviews.

I think your right Dr.thoth about Sesame doing to much, they are trying to pack a lot in one hour and it's not as fun as it use to be. Elmo is the easy target on this one because he is there and in the spotlight. I really think that some of the CGI and maybe Elmo's world should be a different show in itself. The quick lessons they have on Sesmae Street.com are sweet and they have a lot of different Muppets in them. Joey Manzno once said that they have a room full of Muppets that never get used, and it's a shame. He's right it is a shame, and why not do some recasting. I mean the Muppets have had to do a lot of recasting over the years and they could do more with the Classic sesame Muppets.

It's those darn initiatives, I tell yah. The thing is, those topics were what Sesame Street were covering all along... they just decided to loudly focus on them for some reason. They had science...

healthy eating habits...

nature and the environment...

and literacy...

And they managed to fit those lessons in 30 second to 1-2 minute segments. Sometimes they'd show a couple related ones back to back. We shouldn't value engineering over reading this young... engineering is something Sid the Science Kid should teach.

And here's the ironic part... Sesame Street didn't focus primarily on any of those things back when it started and there were few other children's programs. Now we have specialized kid's shows about literacy, math, science... and Sesame Street has to teach these things as well, even though the other shows who focus on those subjects do a better job.

 

[Dominicboo1]

Simply put, he takes the blame for the show's complete shift in demographics, even though it's a result for the huge spiral downward pre-schooler programming took the 90's.

Personally, we should stop being so nasty to little Elmo, and focus all our hate back onto

Because that show shook the preschool TV scene up so badly, Sesame Street had to struggle to keep up, even though they were on the same network anyway. Basically, that purple tumor caused such a dimensional tear in kids programming that we've been on a steady decline since... which of course lead to the faux-interactive show where the characters ask the audience for help in a talk down to, condescending, slow voice. Which thankfully we're moving away from. Also, while Sesame Street was a community based program (the focus was always more on the group, rather than the individual), Barney was quite the opposite. He transcended being the star of the show and became a cult leader. Everything had to be done for Barney... the kids stayed after school to play with Barney, they sat around waiting to do what he wanted to do... there's just so much there that I can say is the dark antithesis of Sesame Street.

So basically, Elmo's popularity sort of stemmed from the Barney factor... the one huge star who everyone has to revolve around. Just not to his extent. Plus, that toy came out.

And above all... even without the Purple Menace, Sesame Street was hurting... Jim passed on, Richard passed on... they lost a lot of people in a single period. They didn't recast anyone quite yet (Ernie was recast in 1992, correct)... and while they had enough older material for some time, new material couldn't happen until they created new characters and increased roles for certain existing characters. And when some of the new characters failed to catch on, the pre-existing ones took those roles... leading not only to the rise of Elmo, but Baby Bear, Zoe and Rosita.

Or,

This thing who deserves to be thrown headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench. No his friends would still accept him, and sing a stupid song like "You stink but we still love you! Our hearts are more powerful than our noses!"

 

[Drtooth]

Or,

This thing who deserves to be thrown headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench. No his friends would still accept him, and sing a stupid song like "You stink but we still love you! Our hearts are more powerful than our noses!"

I haven't seen much of Gabba, but at least it didn't do irrevocable harm to kid's programming. No one's copying it (Futurama parody doesn't count), and there hasn't been a trend started by that series. It stands alone and is unique. It's popular with hipsters who have kids and like the fact that the characters are very Japanese-like and that one of the members of Devo apparently created it. Personally, I'm closer to Wubzy (mainly due to a friend's unrealized "KOOOOooooOOOOKY" meme), but I'll take Gabba any day over that talks like a tourist Dora.

 

[Dominicboo1]

I haven't seen much of Gabba, but at least it didn't do irrevocable harm to kid's programming. No one's copying it (Futurama parody doesn't count), and there hasn't been a trend started by that series. It stands alone and is unique. It's popular with hipsters who have kids and like the fact that the characters are very Japanese-like and that one of the members of Devo apparently created it. Personally, I'm closer to Wubzy (mainly due to a friend's unrealized "KOOOOooooOOOOKY" meme), but I'll take Gabba any day over that talks like a tourist Dora.

Yeah Koooky is pretty silly. Wubzy goes under so eccentric it's entertaining. Gabba goes under so annyoing it's annoying.

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah Koooky is pretty silly. Wubzy goes under so eccentric it's entertaining. Gabba goes under so annyoing it's annoying.

I haven't really seen Gabba yet, so I can't judge.

But Wubbzy has the same sort of humor Nickelodeon cartoons seem to have. There are notes of Spongebob and Fairly Oddparents in it, but more in the taste of a preschooler. I really felt that series was the turn around preschool show, as Wubbzy talks to the audience in a gentle, friendly style like Sesame Street usually does, rather than the loud, slow, bad American Tourist talk in most kid's shows today (Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Superwhy)....

At least with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they're actually giving Clarabelle Cow, Big Bad Pete, and Ludwig VonDrake some sort of merchandising presence. I haven't seen Pete stuff since Goof Troop, and Pete predates Mickey... nay... Pete predates even Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. he's one of the first cartoon stars Disney had... but I'm going off topic here.

 

[Dominicboo1]

I haven't really seen Gabba yet, so I can't judge.

But Wubbzy has the same sort of humor Nickelodeon cartoons seem to have. There are notes of Spongebob and Fairly Oddparents in it, but more in the taste of a preschooler. I really felt that series was the turn around preschool show, as Wubbzy talks to the audience in a gentle, friendly style like Sesame Street usually does, rather than the loud, slow, bad American Tourist talk in most kid's shows today (Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Superwhy)....

At least with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they're actually giving Clarabelle Cow, Big Bad Pete, and Ludwig VonDrake some sort of merchandising presence. I haven't seen Pete stuff since Goof Troop, and Pete predates Mickey... nay... Pete predates even Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. he's one of the first cartoon stars Disney had... but I'm going off topic here.

True, but I'll never get used to a nice Pete. Sorryit's not what I grew up with.

 

[Drtooth]

I really do hate how watered down the characters in that show are, though. The same characters were present in the superior, but made for a different audience, House of Mouse (and Mouseworks, the precursor that was only short cartoons).

Of course, you have to admit, Pete was actually pretty well behaved (yet a little mischievous) in A Goofy Movie and the sequel. I tend to think that Goofy and Pete are bonding over how their sons are growing up and going to college in that last one. But that's off topic and more suited for a Disney thread.

But the paradigm of preschool programming seems to be switching back to shows that don't talk down to kids. Dinosaur Train seems more childlike than childish, Curious George is still very popular (and that's written with humor adults can enjoy as well)... we need more of that and less of Super Why and Dora clones. Then, maybe then, Sesame Street will swing back and return to a show similar to what it was before. At least in the 80's or early 90's.

 

[Hayley B]

I loved Elmo when I was a kid. I loved his baby voice. Though when he started to come around as Elmo, I did stop watching. But not because of him. But there was another show I wanted to watch that was on the same timeslot as Sesame Street.

Maybe too much of Elmo can annoy people? Nower days it's nothing but Elmo lots of the times and no stories of the other Sesame Street characters.