Sesame Street Season 45 Episode 4502 - Bert's Training Wheels

[mr3urious]

I wouldn't worry too much about CGI completely taking over the show. Those backdrops don't look cheap, with all that advanced lighting and texture work. Not ideal for a show that's struggling with budget problems.

 

[Drtooth]

Agreed. But the fact that the CGI backdrop looks that good makes the Giant, flat Bert sliding through Sesame Street look lazy and amateurish. They certainly didn't skimp on that background shot, but it's actually so good it's distracting.

 

[Erine81981]

Really enjoyed this episode but was kinda disappointed in Steve not voicing Ernie knowing that he's doing other things. But like I have read I hope it's not permanent. It's cool to see a new street story with Bert and Ernie. Just love this guys.

 

[beakerboy12]

Man, I loved this episode. The street story is something I've wanted for a long time coming and it was executed nearly perfect.

I will say this in regards to the Ernie performer change , I honestly barely noticed a difference. I did feel like something was a little off, but overall Billy Barkhurst did a great job in my book!

Likewise, like @SpinneyBigBird1 said, Eric Jacobson is Bert at this point. Bert was perfectly written for in this episode and, even if he didn't act adult-ish, I think Bert was rightly handled.

Oh, and in regards to CGI backgrounds, I think it was fine. It does seem a little expensive-looking, but, in the end, I think it's something nice Sesame has up their sleeve. Now they have a ready made background for future use, in my opinion.

I will say this about the episode, though, a good amount of the songs in this I wasn't that in to. Bert's street story song was good, but "Power of Yet" I did not like and the Taye Diggs one was just not that memorable. No offense towards the guest singers.

The new "Murray Has a Little Lamb" is neat and, I know it's a rerun but, Repair-Monster the Musical was spectacular. Anything that comes from that segment is truly gold.

With these awesome segments and the letter and numbers of the day, all and all, this episode is one I love 2 much! You get it? Wocka Wocka!)

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I will say this in regards to the Ernie performer change , I honestly barely noticed a difference. I did feel like something was a little off, but overall Billy Barkhurst did a great job in my book!

Yeah. I've noticed a difference in the voice at the beginning of the street story, but by the time they got into it the voice did sound more like Steve's. That's why I wasn't sure until I read the forums. I noticed in the ep guide that Ernie does have another street scene this season, so we'll see if it's Steve or Billy there.

 

[Kasey Kockroach]

In regards to Billy as Ernie, I have a feeling that after all the work on MMW, Steve probably wanted a break.

Yes, Jim made time for both Muppets and Sesame Street. But his devotion came at a price. He was left with barely any time for his family (which would, among other things, deteriorate his marriage).

So, it's likely that after Muppets Most Wanted, Steve didn't have the energy to fly all the way to New York for one single character. And that's another aspect. Eric Jacobson has Grover and Bert, David Rudman has Cookie Monster and Baby Bear, so on. While Steve just has Ernie.

I adore Steve Whitmire's Ernie, but I can perfectly understand and accept him being unavailable from time to time. If anything, it's surprising just how often he IS available (with a few live shows, some Play with Me Sesame and this season having been the only exceptions so far in the past 21 years).

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I see what you mean. Since right now, Steve only has one character so he's not needed on the show as much as he used to be. But you can look at it the other way around too, because he only has that one character it shouldn't be hard for him to make it to the set every once in a while. So it sort of goes both ways there. So I guess what they're doing by giving Ernie two pupeteers is the best decision for the time being. Yet I'm still hoping to hear Steve's Ernie is "Ernie's Dance Video" if he's the one performing him for that one. But that's just my opinion. Like other people have said having Billy perform Ernie will give him some more airtime, but like I keep saying, we'll see what happens.

 

[Drtooth]

Regardless of who's playing him, I'm just glad to see that Ernie and Bert can actually be on Sesame Street and not a floating entity of just themselves, mainly for the foreign markets. I still can't fathom why half of the claymation segments were deemed unworthy for American broadcast, especially with such a budget conscious entertainment company like SW. And it seems that whatever Ernie and Bert stuff we did get was already used on or planned for foreign markets. Especially last season's Ernie and Bert story that was far removed from the actual street for cultural ambiguity. You know, the same crap that gives us gibberish writing on signs in cartoons? I HATE that stuff. But that's a tangent.

Ernie and Bert had the biggest absence of major characters on the show as of late. They're slowly bringing them back where they should be. Meanwhile, Germany abounds in so much Ernie and Bert, it pretty much was one of the factors that chased original German characters off the show. And remember, Ernie and Bert predate any other Muppet on Sesame Street. They predate the show being on national television itself.

If Ernie needs to be recast, it is kinda sad that Steve's not available, but hopefully this means more American Ernie and Bert segments for an American audience . Had to put him there.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Regardless of who's playing him, I'm just glad to see that Ernie and Bert can actually be on Sesame Street and not a floating entity of just themselves, mainly for the foreign markets. I still can't fathom why half of the claymation segments were deemed unworthy for American broadcast, especially with such a budget conscious entertainment company like SW. And it seems that whatever Ernie and Bert stuff we did get was already used on or planned for foreign markets. Especially last season's Ernie and Bert story that was far removed from the actual street for cultural ambiguity. You know, the same crap that gives us gibberish writing on signs in cartoons? I HATE that stuff. But that's a tangent.

Ernie and Bert had the biggest absence of major characters on the show as of late. They're slowly bringing them back where they should be. Meanwhile, Germany abounds in so much Ernie and Bert, it pretty much was one of the factors that chased original German characters off the show. And remember, Ernie and Bert predate any other Muppet on Sesame Street. They predate the show being on national television itself.

If Ernie needs to be recast, it is kinda sad that Steve's not available, but hopefully this means more American Ernie and Bert segments for an American audience . Had to put him there.

Yeah. I agree. It's not like when they had the old format or even "Journey to Ernie" where we're guaranteed an E & B (at least Ernie anyway) sketch per episode or a few seasons back when "Great Adventures" was a a regular thing. Now B & E sketches on the show are very rare and having them appear in street scenes is the only way to give those two enough airtime so having someone else play Ernie, (whether this is a permanent recast or if Billy is just an understudy for Steve) is a very good decision. So overall I agree what everyone else is saying here. Just thought I'd put in my two cents.

 

[Drtooth]

Even then, we have a LOT of Ernie and Bert bits intended for everywhere else but American Sesame Street. I don't see why they can't use one of those instead of the same parody/celebrity segment twice in one season.