Sesame Street Season 46 Episode 4601 - Bedtime Story

[D'Snowth]

Did anyone else notice the BG tracks in EW were redone?

I didn't pay attention to that so much as I did the obvious new versions of the intro, crayon-scribble transitions, and the montage of sleeping kids.

In addition to shortening the episode by cutting and pasting, didn't it also seem like Mr. Noodle's bit was sped-up? I know it was trimmed as well, but the rest of it zipped by almost faster than could be registered.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Speaking of Zoe,i'm hoping despite her demotion we'll still get to see some classic Elmo and Zoe conflict this season.

What I find interesting is that Elmo referred to Abby as his best friend in the "Best Friend Band" episode, when it was established Zoe was his best friend. Though you have to admit that Abby doesn't annoy him with a rock or try to steal his blanket and things like that. Lol. So sometimes I feel like Abby is a better friend to him than Zoe.

Baby Bear seems to barely be in this season,if he's on it at all.

Yeah. I thought that was Baby Bear that appeared in the bedtime segment, but once I heard the voice it turned out to be another bear. I hope the bear family is still around, though Joey isn't around anymore to perform Papa Bear so I don't know.

 

[Drtooth]

I understand from the POV that it fit the theme of the episode, but I don't see why they essentially condensed the block format into the half hour. In the half-hours that run on PBS, they a few short inserts and then one long-form bit (shortened EW included). Why is there an EW AND a Smart Cookies in the same episode when they could just drop EW like they already have? It already takes away much more time.

I mentioned that in another thread. The segments recurring at the ends of the episodes, giving the rest of the show more room. There's obviously still some level of Elmo quota, otherwise they wouldn't bother to widescreen-cheat some old EW's. I think ideally ETM should rotate with SG2.0 and Smart Cookies, but that's the same thing I said about AFFS. They somehow feel the need to have Elmo's segments at the show for the sake of some parents writing in and complaining about how little their 2 year old is willing to sit still because he's not on the screen.

I noticed that Abby's now refered to as "Elmo's best friend." Admittedly, this is a tad irksome (I know Drtooth is bothered by it) when you think about it, but the thing of it is, they were determined to ensure Abby could achieve the same level of star power Elmo had so that she'd be popular with little girls, and that pretty much tossing Zoe aside.

Elmo and Abby are starting to work a little better together. And that's after years of forcing. This episode proved they can work together to an extent, but it also proved that they're the mascots of the show essentially and they need to make more episodes with the two of them. Somehow, I feel that Nina wasn't really necessary in this episode and it should have been Elmo getting a little more annoyed with every loud action Abby would perform. But you know, it's one of those times they need to have the adult there to say "the adults always know what they're talking about." And that's something that's either reasonable or just kills the conflict of the episode.

I always felt Zoe to be the stronger of the female role models on the show. She did her own thing, she came off as quirky before that was even a thing. She knows exactly how to push Elmo's buttons, turning him from Stepford Smiler to actually like a Muppet character.

 

[Drtooth]

Actually, I forgot to add this, but rather than edit the last post to fit it, I'll post it separately.

While I hate the fact Elmo's World is still part of the show, I'm actually happy that we've seen this segment edited. Why?

I've always said this. Elmo's World is actually a condensed form of every approach Sesame Street takes with multiple subjects and applies it to one. We have the animated segment, the goofy adults segment, the Muppet segment (the E-mails and videos), the talking to kids segment, and the film segment. Only thing missing is the song, as I refuse to count "The __________ Song" as one. Which is the show's real fault, as it becomes redundant to see all the same things usually applied to multiple subjects over the course of an episode on one thing.

How does editing factor into this? Well, tell you the truth, I was flipping around the second the theme hit, I caught just about enough to get the gist of the cuts. So if there's any inconsistency, please point it out.

• The Theme song is cut by a few seconds and replaced with a title card
• Some of the Mr. Noodle segment is significantly shortened (guessing)
• The "What does and What Doesn't" segment, also gone
  
• Elmo telling the kids to count such and such with them is gone
• The film about a kid telling Elmo all about the subject of the day is gone
• as is the e-mail and or video segment
• the end gag about the "Fill in the blank" channel is cut
• And several edits of dialogue and gags throughout the episode.

Other than I'd say they should have cut some of the capering of the shade, I do like how a lot of the fat was lopped off to take a 15+ minute segment into a svelter, 8-9 minute runtime. Even though this is years overdue.

 

[zucca]

Just caught the two new episodes on HBO Now, the end credits show that Leela and Mando are not credited, so they may no longer be on the show.

It's weird because they are in pretty much all the episodes that are reused stories for this season, so if they really are being phased out, it's just adding more confusion for kids watching.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

It's weird because they are in pretty much all the episodes that are reused stories for this season, so if they really are being phased out, it's just adding more confusion for kids watching.

I don't think it would confuse kids. Kids don't know that Mando and Leela aren't main characters anymore, it's not like three year olds will be reading the credits.

 

[zucca]

I don't think it would confuse kids. Kids don't know that Mando and Leela aren't main characters anymore, it's not like three year olds will be reading the credits.

Fair enough. Confusing for me, then

 

[Drtooth]

It's weird because they are in pretty much all the episodes that are reused stories for this season, so if they really are being phased out, it's just adding more confusion for kids watching.

Money over logic.

There's no secret that this season was made on the cheap. That's why the HBO deal went down. Cutting the new episodes with ones prior to the redesign wouldn't make sense otherwise if it wasn't painfully necessary.

That said, I'm very disappointed that characters they cast and made a big deal about the past few seasons have been cut. Now, I understand the logic of pushing aside older members of the show, but they made such a big deal with Mando and Leela, only to get rid of them. Probably another cost saving move. I'm starting to like the HBO deal more and more if it means the show isn't in dire straights because kids don't buy toys anymore and PBS is getting stingier with anything that isn't Downton Abby.

 

[minor muppetz]

Considering Elmo's World reruns (and presumably any other fullframe segment that appears from now on) are shown in widescreen form, I wonder if full frame segments will appear that way on future video releases. In the past, the full frame segments on video had been presented that way while widescreen was presented in widescreen, and in the past two years videos that included full frame segments showed them with vertical black bars on the sides.

Of course, I'm sure any video release of full episodes that debut this year will have the full frame segments in widescreen, and any video release of past full episodes will likely present all segments as they were broadcast in those full episodes. And I'm sure any video release of only full frame segments (like any Elmo's World DVD) will be presented in full frame (actually there's a trailer for the upcoming Elmo Wonders DVD, I'll have to check to see if the clips are full frame).

 

[D'Snowth]

This whole fullscreen/widescreen/letterbox/pillarbox debacle just really bites.