Rumor: Big Bird only in four Season 41 episodes

[RyGuy]

an interesting observation I've noticed is that over the years especally in places like Hoopers, Fix it shop etc.. is they hjave surprsingly never talked about money or coins or paying . SSi is sending a wrong message by not doing this . You need to pay for things/ services . Did big bird Pay for milkshakes at hooper's ? No . Should he , yes ? Gina had a tostwer fixed should she pay for it , yes . I undrstand SS's audenice is preschool but Alan could say : the porridge costs three doolar Baby bear .

I'd also like to see family dynamics more ( Gabi Maria and Luis talking over dinner ) Example Luis could ask how school was and instead of one word answer Gabi could say : We had a test, " luis : what was the hard part" more full conversations at meals.

 

[minor muppetz]

an interesting observation I've noticed is that over the years especally in places like Hoopers, Fix it shop etc.. is they hjave surprsingly never talked about money or coins or paying .

And Alan apparently gave away flashlights during the hurricane instead of charging for them!

Actually Hooper's has charged money before. In the test pilots and the first episode characters put money into a can at Hooper's Store after purchasing newspapers from the store. I think David charged Gina for all the lemonaid she drank in the epsidoe where she ended up getting hired at Hooper's. And I remember an episode shortly after Mr. Handford was hired where Big Bird, Elmo, Telly, and the kids wanted to buy crayons and juice but only had enough money to buy one of the two.

And I've seen Luis pay Mr. MacIntosh for some of his food. And according to Muppet Wiki there was a season three episode where Big Bird took food from either Willy or Mr. MacIntosh without paying, and then got blackmailed by somebody named Bad Barney.

 

[Muppetplus]

And Alan apparently gave away flashlights during the hurricane instead of charging for them!

Actually Hooper's has charged money before. In the test pilots and the first episode characters put money into a can at Hooper's Store after purchasing newspapers from the store. I think David charged Gina for all the lemonaid she drank in the epsidoe where she ended up getting hired at Hooper's. And I remember an episode shortly after Mr. Handford was hired where Big Bird, Elmo, Telly, and the kids wanted to buy crayons and juice but only had enough money to buy one of the two.

And I've seen Luis pay Mr. MacIntosh for some of his food. And according to Muppet Wiki there was a season three episode where Big Bird took food from either Willy or Mr. MacIntosh without paying, and then got blackmailed by somebody named Bad Barney.

Bad Barney? Is that by any chance the annoying purple polyester dinosaur?

 

[minor muppetz]

Bad Barney? Is that by any chance the annoying purple polyester dinosaur?

I (think I) know you're joking on that, but I'm sure it's not. That episode came from the early 1970s, and Barney was introduced in the late-1980s.

I assume that Bad Barney was an Anything Muppet. But unfortunately, that episode page was sourced from a CTW Archives program guide, not an episode that anybody has a copy of.

 

[Drtooth]

an interesting observation I've noticed is that over the years especally in places like Hoopers, Fix it shop etc.. is they hjave surprsingly never talked about money or coins or paying . SSi is sending a wrong message by not doing this . You need to pay for things/ services . Did big bird Pay for milkshakes at hooper's ? No . Should he , yes ? Gina had a tostwer fixed should she pay for it , yes . I undrstand SS's audenice is preschool but Alan could say : the porridge costs three doolar Baby bear

Over think much? Sesame Street has never mentioned money in those situations because they never HAD to. There are signs all over Hoopers (I don't know about recently, but they WERE there) that had the actual prices for things. But I'm sure kids ignored it. I always figures that the youngest members of the street DON'T get charged because they have an open tab that the adults usually pay.


Besides, who can forget that Wanda Falbo the Word Fairy segment where the "grocer" expects "pay" (that's another good word!)

 

[ryhoyarbie]

I can see it right now if a scenario were to take place for forgetting to pay for something at Hooper's Store.

Waiter: Hey buddy, you forgot to pay for your soda!
Forgetful Jones: Woops, I for......
Waiter: Ya, ya, you forgot because your name if Forgetful Jones and you always forget things. You need to get your act together pal!That stunt you did was cute 25 years ago, but not now. Go to a doctor and get that memory loss thing checked out!

*teaching children to remember to pay for something and also going to see a doctor if you're having problems with something basic like remembering!

 

[SSLFan]

*Ahem*

Well, getting back to the original topic at hand.

I recently read the toughpigs interview with Joey Mazzarino, and I must cut the guy some slack. As another post mentioned, every writer does have their weakness, and Joey has admitted that of all the characters, Big Bird was the one he had the most difficult "finding a voice" for (What are the odds? LOL). While I am still VERY upset over the situation at hand, I will give the guy the BOTD and be a little more lenient, after all it could have just been an honest mistake. And it is too late to change anything in the season now.

It sucks though, SW is not going into production NONE this year. Season 42 may not get filmed until sometime next year in 2011, unlike later this fall like they did last year with Season 41. The point: almost 2 more years of these lame "block format" episodes. Hopefully Season 42 will deliver.

 

[Drtooth]

Oh boy... I bet they moved the premier date up another 4 months again, leading to even longer periods of reruns. Wow. Way to kill the ratings PBS.

 

[SSLFan]

Yeah, and the fact that SS only produces 26 episodes a season now doesn't make it any better. If only SW were able to crank out AT LEAST 50-65 episodes, like Seasons 30-33.

Oh well, that's the economy for ya.

 

[Drtooth]

PBS was screwing SW out of 50+ episodes when the economy was supposedly "good."

The long period of reruns wouldn't be all that bad if they didn't keep making it longer for some reason. Sure, Arthur can get away with having only 10 or less new episodes a season, splitting them in half in some cases... but that's because they have over 100 episodes to rerun over and over. They even have a contingency on rerunning select numbers of reruns.

SS doesn't. It's bad enough that you have so much repeated footage in a single season now, but you have to get through overaired reruns of the last season to get to them, AND they only show a third of new episodes at a time to stretch it for months. And they wonder why the ratings keep sinking. i don't even see how they can't fudge 26 more episodes out of pre-existing episodes with altered footage like they used to in the old days. It would at LEAST stretch the long and growing longer season of reruns out.