This new format S*X

[dcfboss]

I've been reading a lot on this website how Sesame Street should go back to the old format. I dont remember how the old format was cuz i was pretty young. I only started to watch Sesame Street again in Mid August of this year.

Basically what I'm saying is this....if the S.S. people were smart, in my opinion, they would rely more on their classic muppets and not so much on the newer (compared to the classic ones). Take Baby Bear, his little Hero Guy sketches are expendable. His voice and the way he talks is unbearable at times, no pun intended, lol. The Count's little organ segments are the shortest of the entire show....what ever happened to the old Count when he would count something and you would see the lightning and he would do his vampire laugh? That's been replaced with stupid old confetti when his little organ reaches the number of the day (which can only be entertaining for so long).....at least bring back the "Batty Bat" song once in a while. 1 2 3 spread out the cape, 1 2 3 twirl on the floor.....lol

You hardly ever see Cookie Monster walking around playing with the other monsters or children. You don't see the brick wall with the 2 headed monsters either. Would it kill them to have a few Herry Monster skits here and there? Or Barkley and Guy Smiley (even though I hate them both)? And for the love of all things don't show 20 mintues of Elmo's World if he's on in the begining of the show....Too much Elmo is a BAD BAD thing, lol.

 

[Drtooth]

Here's my opinion. The Baby bear segments can get irritating. I like Baby Bear (well, when he was always foiled by Goldilocks) and it still gets on my nerves. The Count's counting needs some tooling. It was a fun idea that got kind of less fun per day till it was dull! Monster club house is just...AWFUL. Journey to Ernie is long and sometimes pointless, overly repetitive, overly repetitive, and overly repetitive. I have no real qualms about Elmo's world, other than the fact that it should be an alternating feature.

However, the Letter of the day segments are HILLARIOUS!!!!

 

[dcfboss]

Nice to see someone agree with me. My major issue with Elmo's World is it's length and that stupid Mr Noodle and his brother. I swear, that must be the dumbest living man on Earth. I know it's for kids to make them feel smart, but at least let the poor man speak.

The letter of the day is the best. Cookie Monster is DA MAN. Only wish they would settle on one monster though because the cookie monster that's shorter and darker and has the black lump in his mouth isn't the better one.

 

[Salmoto]

I hate how modern children's shows tend to talk down to children. I was 5, and as I watched the Sesame Street skits I understood them just fine. As I grew, I was at no time ever confused about format and order, I was more astute of it then my fellow 1st graders in fact, and I was never an at risk kid. I can attribute most of the problems of the world to the fact that we have our toddlers belittled by a cackling red monster, feel lost and alienated, then go off on some shooting spree. Okay, so maybe it's not that far removed, but it does make you think.

 

[CensoredAlso]

This is just my opinion but I never got the impression that sesame street was talking down to its audience...until elmo's world

 

[Salmoto]

The new skits are very condescending. Elmo's World follows the same pattern every episode so kids won't get confused. Monster clubhouse is even more formulaic, Journey to Ernie probably has only a handful of different variables every week. And the letter, number and spanish words of the day are all presented in the same manner. I have a slight respect for the Hero Guy segment, since Baby Bear and his subsequent performer carry the entertaining aspect of the installments pretty well. Nowadays when I get the sesame itch I watch Noggin for reruns of the street from the mid 90s, this new format could possibly help kids learn, but I think if they're like me, they're more irritated than anything....

 

[Hays]

Here's the thing - I have a two-year-old, who's right in the target market for Elmo's world (actually, he's starting to grow out of it) Personally, I'm not a big Elmo fan - I realized the other day, it's because Elmo ISN'T a three-year-old - he's an adult in three-year-old clothing.

I think this is actually what's changed most about the Street. Before, even though everybody said Big Bird was 6, the kids all related to him as an adult - Grover and Kermit, too. Nobody was trying to con them into thinking otherwise. But they didn't DIRECT the kids so much. Elmo (and the other new things on the Street) are TRYING to EDUCATE kids. I think kids are smart enough to educate themselves, if given the right tools.

I will say this in defense of Elmo's World - the concepts seem stupid unless seen throught the eyes of a very young toddler. I went to the park one day with my son, and the children's moon was out. I tried to get him to look, but it took a long time because he didn't understand what "sky" was - if you think about it, it's a really complex concept. The "sky" Elmo's world was on a few days later, and you could see the light turn on in his head. It works. Briefly. But it's only good for kids who are between 1 and 2 - an important but awfully small group.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Here's what MY opinion is...

I was there in the early 70's as a littly bitty tiny wee little cute cub and the skits and formats of the day were good enough to teach me and entertain me, and I turned out okay.

I think.

I'm a 30 year old Muppet fan, still watching SS and playing with toys...

Um...

help?

 

[trekkie1701E]

What bothers me ... Is SS following its original principals w/as much "sophistication" as it used to? I mean ... for example, I honestly think ELMO'S WORLD is three times too long, and is dumber than anything I remember on SS as a young kid.

I do have great respect for it & all, and the segments "are" somewhat entertaining.

But I remember more sophistication on the street in the '80's.

 

[juliette]

I think we all remember the best parts of the old Sesame Street episodes and we tend to forget that it had its flaws just like the current episodes do now.

Don't get me wrong -- I don't like Journey to Ernie at all (except for the Ernie and Bert sketches at the end, which rock) and I can't stand Monster Clubhouse. Elmo's World, I've learned to live with, because very young children seem to like it so much.

I've watched some of the older episodes lately and they have their problems too. The main segment on the street itself would tend to drag. Adult characters would get into long, tedious conversations that I can't imagine children finding interesting. Some of the animated segments seem to have no visual appeal.

I wish the new episodes would have more appeal for grownups than they do, because I think it's important for adults to watch the show with children and this is harder if you're repelled and annoyed by Elmo and other elements only appealing to small children. I think the show is every bit as sophisticated as it was -- more so in some ways -- but the writers ought to be clever enough to find ways to interest grownups without alienating the kids that are the show's target audience.