Joey Mazzarino leaving Sesame Street

[antsamthompson9]

Why don't we share our favorite Joey moments? I love seeing how funny Joey could be when he was off-the-cuff, the nerd HQ panel last year our this panel I posted here. Please reply to it. If the reason, you're not replying to it is because you can't look at Kevin the same way again, that's unnecessary. All those cases were thrown out and dismissed. Kevin is still a good and kind guy. http://www.muppetcentral.com/forum/threads/sesame-panel-at-dga.59075/

 

[D'Snowth]

Joey seemed to always play such funny and quirky characters, and sometimes you'd see similarities in some of the characters he played. For example, Bug from EIG and Goggles from KSY are both neurotics who try to be the voice of reason in distressing situations, and both give speeches: "You're a mean villain/bully, and nobody likes a mean villain/bully." Likewise, both Murray the Mediocre from A MAGICAL HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE and Joe Marley/Joey Dickens from A SESAME STREET CHRISTMAS CAROL had a quirk of always fixing up their hair.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I believe this one was written by Joey. Flo Bear writes a story and reads it to Telly and some kids,the story's called CinderTelly. It's funny when Telly gets so wrapped up in the story that he completely forgets that it's just a story. He gets totally ticked off at Flo for her treatment of the book's main protagonist .
Joey plays the fairy godperson in this story and he is absolutely hilarious.

 

[antsamthompson9]

One of my favorite Joey preformances was the Matt Lauer Muppet when the Muppets took over the Today Show:

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[mbmfrog]

I found this article that may have given out an explanation of why Joey left the show: http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/what-does-hbo-mean-for-sesame-street.html

Here's hoping he can come back for the 50th anniversary of the show.

 

[MuppetSpot]

So I was complete wrong about Joey leaving I thought it was about Murray.

 

[antsamthompson9]

Here's some more of my favorite off-the-cuff Joey moments:

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[D'Snowth]

You know, re-reading the article about Joey's departure, I realized how problematic the situation was, and I actually see both sides of the argument. Telly, for instance: Joey mentioned he loved writing for Telly, but says he doesn't understand why more kids don't love him, and that unfortunately sheds light on why SW has decided to do away with celebrities and spoofs - because kids don't know who the celebrities are, and they don't understand spoofs. Telly is modeled after Woody Allen - and according to the article, George Costanza as well - well, kids aren't very likely to be familiar with either of those two, so whatever nuances Telly has based on them is lost on kids.

 

[Drtooth]

because kids don't know who the celebrities are, and they don't understand spoofs.

That's never really stopped them before. Those were always their for adults watching with their kids anyway. While I'm not a fan of why this is happening (though there's still plenty of celebrities in the mix next year), it kinda had to happen to Sesame Street. On the one hand, they were too instrumental in making the show still relevant in a freaking ocean of preschool pop programming. But on the other hand, I can see budget advantages. Those daily word on the street inserts with celebs could not come cheap no matter how "we're doing it for kids" the celebrities get. I'm sure the pop culture parodies cost some change too, but I don't see it as that much more than regular segments. Still, they sure seemed to want to get the most of them and rerun them multiple times a season, or when they're irrelevant.

Seeing how the show is unfolding this season, it's starting to become clear what Joey was fighting for. I don't know if he was happy they brought back EW or not, but considering the strides the show has made to get to slightly older audiences, it speaks volumes about the show going back to the younger set. I'd care to make a guess that the fact letters and numbers are being all but shooed out of the show was one of many problems he saw coming.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I read somewhere that another writer, Michael J Goldberg has left the show.
I wonder if they hired any new writers for season 47 or if the other writers just have more to do now. Does anyone else wonder who will take over from Joey?