Sesame Street Season 47 begins shooting, HBO premiere set for January 2017

[mr3urious]

I gotta say, while I'm not happy that Elmo's World was brought back, it's at least a great deal shorter. Plus, at least his smartphone talks to him and has a deeper personality, unlike his old appliances.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I've honestly never had a problem with Elmo's World, my only problem with it in season 46 was how terribly edited they were. As long as the keep making new ETM segments, i'll be fine.

 

[Oscarfan]

Huh, I was not expecting stuff to come out this soon.

I doubt there there will be any ETM segments; the press release states that they made 25 new EW segments and there will still be re-runs of older ones. So, it looks like EW will be in every show.

I'd be angrier if these new ones didn't seem as...digestible...than the old ones.

This really shows what HBO's money can be used for. There seems to be some repeat episodes again, but not as many. And the fact that they made TWENTY-FIVE new Elmo's World bits?!

I like the new letter/number songs; not as visually interesting as the previous ones, but at least the Count is still involved. Recast the character, rebuilt the puppet and he's barely been anything since Matt took over.

Jen's Zoe is...okay...not the closest recast, vocal-wise. But, I'm glad they'll keep Zoe around and that Jen has a regular character; she's a really great performer (and left-handed to boot!)

 

[D'Snowth]

Who is that girl with the black-and-white mushroom hair? Ever since that really bizarre musical performance Kanye West did on SNL's 40th anniversary special that she was a background vocalist for, she keeps popping up, and I have no idea who (or what) she is.

So, is Eric now permanently Oscar - voice and all?

And, I'll agree, Jen's Zoe sounds almost nothing like Fran.

 

[Drtooth]

I gotta say, while I'm not happy that Elmo's World was brought back, it's at least a great deal shorter. Plus, at least his smartphone talks to him and has a deeper personality, unlike his old appliances.

I'm watching it right now, and almost everything seems to be a vast improvement over the original. The only thing I really miss is the special Muppet character e-mail/home video appearances from the original. Only thing that really doesn't work is that "interactive game" segment. If this were made for some internet based follow along game, it would work. Significant shortage of the segment also helps. Maybe they'll grow into that 25 minute slot yet.

I doubt there there will be any ETM segments; the press release states that they made 25 new EW segments and there will still be re-runs of older ones. So, it looks like EW will be in every show.

To be perfectly honest, I'd take this made for half hour format shortened Elmo's World than an overly edited, overly condensed ETM segment to the point of incoherence any day. Plus...ehhh... if they were going to be more like Iguana the Musical, I wouldn't exactly mind them disappearing as much. Seems the later bunch they made for a shorter episode were barely musicals at all anyway.

Jen's Zoe is...okay...not the closest recast, vocal-wise. But, I'm glad they'll keep Zoe around and that Jen has a regular character; she's a really great performer (and left-handed to boot!)

I don't much mind the character sounding different. After all, she did a great job that season and a half they decided to bring back Gladys without sounding nearly like...well...the fact the character was played by a dude and all. I can see her taking Zoe in a slightly different direction, making her sound a little older. But I'm glad that Zoe's still around as well since she's become such an underrated part of the show since Abby's addition. Though, yeah, it isn't as smooth a transition as Stephanie's Prairie Dawn.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Looks like some guy named Ken Scarborough is replacing Joey Mazzarino as head writer:
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/season47/behind-the-scenes/production-bios/ken-scarborough/

I'm watching it right now, and almost everything seems to be a vast improvement over the original. The only thing I really miss is the special Muppet character e-mail/home video appearances from the original. Only thing that really doesn't work is that "interactive game" segment. If this were made for some internet based follow along game, it would work. Significant shortage of the segment also helps. Maybe they'll grow into that 25 minute slot yet.

Yeah, I miss the email thing, it was a nice way to kind of have a mini Muppet segment within another segment. Also, another thing I miss is the fact that his room used to be a lot less empty and a lot more lively. His whole bedroom just feels deserted.

Also, geez, how many siblings does Mr. Noodle have? It's like we find out about a new one every few years.

 

[D'Snowth]

Ken Scarborough just recently returned to ARTHUR, after having been one of the key writers for that show for the first four seasons. This should be interesting.

Also, geez, how many siblings does Mr. Noodle have? It's like we find out about a new one every few years.

Kind of like how Cow and Chicken seemed to have so many different cousins or different species.

 

[Oscarfan]

Who is that girl with the black-and-white mushroom hair? Ever since that really bizarre musical performance Kanye West did on SNL's 40th anniversary special that she was a background vocalist for, she keeps popping up, and I have no idea who (or what) she is.

So, is Eric now permanently Oscar - voice and all?

That's Sia. Of the hit song "Chandelier." And others, i'm assuming. That's all I know.

And I don't think Eric is full-time Oscar. They probably hadn't dubbed in Caroll's vocals for the clip yet. Last season's sizzle reel had a clip of Matt voicing Big Bird and when it aired, Caroll was the voice.

 

[D'Snowth]

That's Sia. Of the hit song "Chandelier." And others, i'm assuming. That's all I know.

Oh, the one who does that song "Cheap Thrills," though her singing sounds a lot like Meghan Trainor? Got it.

And I don't think Eric is full-time Oscar. They probably hadn't dubbed in Caroll's vocals for the clip yet. Last season's sizzle reel had a clip of Matt voicing Big Bird and when it aired, Caroll was the voice.

That's what got me confused. I know Caroll's been doing quite a bit voicing on the sidelines now (much like Jerry was doing), but I wasn't sure if he wasn't even doing that anymore, even though he said he was going to try to make it through Season 50.

 

[Drtooth]

Ken Scarborough just recently returned to ARTHUR, after having been one of the key writers for that show for the first four seasons. This should be interesting.

He also wrote for Doug. Which...in retrospect is probably why Arthur is so similar to it, especially the imagine spots.

Yeah, I miss the email thing, it was a nice way to kind of have a mini Muppet segment within another segment. Also, another thing I miss is the fact that his room used to be a lot less empty and a lot more lively. His whole bedroom just feels deserted.

I'm fifty-fifty about the look. I can't exactly remember how much of EW was CGI effects and how many were actually practical on set. I could swear I remember most of it being green screened. This is entirely green screen and it feels very deserted and ...well...kinda cheap looking. But I have to admit, I do like the background being blue instead of white like it's drawn on paper. Just wish they made it more visually appealing. I also kinda miss the animated cartoon segments (which often were the highlight), but they whittled EW down to run clean and mean here. I always felt EW just wasted its runtime with nonsense like "let's ask a Baby."

Overall, looking at the season, it sure looks like they're going back to the younger audience which is ...eh. And that Sia...is...is she supposed to be Dot from Animaniacs or something? I've barely heard of her either, but knew of her existence once the Muppetwiki started posting stuff about season 47. All I know she's Australian and hides her face for some reason. I don't follow music much. Seems they're using some of that HBO money to go back to regular celebrity appearances, which is also...eh.