muppetlover123
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i hope it goes til at least 50
I never really bought the "characters being phased out because of Elmo" meme. It all had to do with puppeteer availability. Cookie, Bert and Grover were appearing less because Frank was. Eric and David brought the characters back. Cookie's pretty much the character you'll see most next to Elmo in merchandising and personal appearances, Grover on the show. Like I said, Super Grover got a Balloon in the Macy's Parade, Elmo didn't. The only characters that were really phased out are ones that haven't been recast yet, or ones the writers just can't write material for somehow. If you look at it, we've seen more classic characters come back, if anything. Too bad some of the comebacks aren't permanent.I miss the humans. Some of them were really great. I wasn't as big of a fan back then as I am now, but they really are great and they're so dedicated to the show.
I don't like that they've been phased out a lot recently, but I think a lot of characters have been phased out with this whole Elmo craze .
Dr. Tooth (tooth...ouch!...er..never mind) you make a good point in letting the Muppets still be called Muppets despite Jim Henson being gone & Kermit & Co. being sold to Disney.That's the Fleeting Demographic rule. Kids don't know or care much for characters that aren't on often, unlike us who grew up with them. On the one hand, it is pretty sad that kids don't have the same connection, but they have their own characters they connect to. We've seen Hooper's store change hands multiple times. This next generation will only know it from Alan and Chris. And that's pretty stable considering how many hands it changed in the 90's.
Other than the short lived Twiddlebug revamp and Abby's Flying School (which is no different from Ernie and Bert claymation segments), we're not going to see that any time soon. Sesame Workshop knows that, while Sesame would have been a good children's show anyway, it wouldn't have lasted 5 years, let alone 40 without the Muppets. Even though Jim is erroneously credited with the series, and often times was given a lot more credit than he really did, he did shape the show. Out of respect, SW is keeping the Muppets as Muppets (except for special occasions, like Elmo's Alphabet Challenge). Heck, Disney gave them the distinct honor of letting them still call the characters Muppets. Henson didn't even get that privilege.
Plus it refers to them as Muppets on Sesamestreet.org. Check the top of the page/Dr. Tooth (tooth...ouch!...er..never mind) you make a good point in letting the Muppets still be called Muppets despite Jim Henson being gone & Kermit & Co. being sold to Disney.
Well that was definitely part of it. But I don't recall any of the newer characters geting their own segment in the show like Elmo's World.I never really bought the "characters being phased out because of Elmo" meme. It all had to do with puppeteer availability.
Most Muppets had their own segments. Difference is they weren't that long, nor did most of them last that long. We tend to forget, Letter of the Day was Cookie Monster exclusive, and Number of the Day was The Count's segment when they first did them as segments. Let's not forger Journey to Ernie, a Big Bird vehicle. The only major characters on the show currently to not get a segment were Telly, Baby Bear, and Zoe. Even Oscar had the short lived Trash Gordon. Grover even had 2.Well that was definitely part of it. But I don't recall any of the newer characters geting their own segment in the show like Elmo's World.
OK fair enough, I admit I'm not as up on 1990's-Present Sesame Street. But I do think once Tickle Me Elmo became a huge hit on Black Fridays the creators did lean in a certain direction.Most Muppets had their own segments. Difference is they weren't that long, nor did most of them last that long. We tend to forget, Letter of the Day was Cookie Monster exclusive, and Number of the Day was The Count's segment when they first did them as segments. Let's not forger Journey to Ernie, a Big Bird vehicle. The only major characters on the show currently to not get a segment were Telly, Baby Bear, and Zoe. Even Oscar had the short lived Trash Gordon. Grover even had 2.
Steve Whitmire & Eric Jacobson do a great job with Piggy and Kermit, but I don't think the Ernie/Bert dynamic can be imitated as easily. That was a Henson/Oz dynamic, unique to their friendship.He even had a recurring segment, Ernie's Show and Tell. Of course, poor Bert was left out in the cold.