Kids don't like structure. The parents want kids to have structure and routine for no better reason than raising a generation of Rainman/ people that freak the heck out if something unexpected happens.
Well, kids like a routine, in the sense of a bedtime routine or having a favorite book read over and over (my one cousin wore out a "Lion King" tape when little she watched if 2-3 times a day at times). But, that kind of routine isn't the same as having everything structured, I agree.
A good way to explain how I see the difference is, overly structured is when it has to be the same person every night giving a bath and reading the same book and having the exact same pajamas and everyting. Routine is saying, "Guess what, Daddy's working late and Mommy has to finish doing the taxes, so after Mommy gives you yoru bath Big Sister is going to read you your story and tuck you in!" Done in a sufficiently excited voice, even the most insistent of toddlers will eventually relent and accept that, "Daddy isn't here, but Big Sis does okay, even if she can't do Papa Bear's voice near as well as Daddy."
EW's problem was it was the same things over and over. I like the idea that it's his expanded unvierse, his expanded imagination as he grows now. There is, really, still routine potential - like a story it has a beginning, middle and end, it has a curtain he'll interact with, it's sort of Super Grover 2.0-esque in a way, from the one I've seen, where Elmo helps the penguin out and has to figure out how to do it.
EW's problem is that it doesn't encourage growth. In with the bedtime routine is that idea that there will eventually be some changes - sometimes it happens in a motel because you're on vacation, sometimes Big Brother or Big Sister get the honors, indeed, sometimes it's light out and sometimes it's dark depending on the time of year., if the kid has a normal bedtime. (i.e.: a 2YO who goes to ed anytime before 9:00, and it's usually about 7-8 in our family)
That's when you point out those differences and ntoe that it's fun anyway even if Big Bro has suddenly decided to put pirates into the Three Bears - the 2YO has no idea what's going on but he'll think it's funny anyway. And there's where kids enjoy the changes.
Unforunately, when they put EW together they never did that. They never said, "Hey, guess what, let's do it a little different each time." Meaning interacting with different muppets, as many others hve noted, going different places, etc.
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