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SesameStMuppets
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2007
- Messages
- 136
- Reaction score
- 1
I just sat down to seriously watch the special yesterday. I was surprisingly pleased, even with my low expectations and personal bias against Elmo and Abby.
Personally, my favorite scene was Oscar's bit with 'I Hate Christmas.'
It's my favorite Christmas song that shows a discontent with its yuletide bliss! Not to mention that Caroll Spinney is by far my favorite Muppet performer (we share a birthday and his characters have a particuarly warm part in my heart) 
.
A VERY close second was the Bert and Ernie christmas show. It was probably the BEST part of the special, but again, December 26!
I personally didn't have any beef with the set, considering the context of the pop-up book / flashback. I did notice in the credits that the show was taped in the same studio as Sesame Street itself which bothered me; they were 20 feet from the real thing and opted out of it... a poor decision in my book.
I was disappointed with the Anne Hathaway scene. Don't get me wrong, I love Anne Hathaway and (obviously) the characters in the scene. But the voice / sound track of Big Bird was off. It was clearly Matt Vogel performing Big physically (face it, Caroll hasn't kept his head hu that high in a while) while Caroll sang; that's all well and good. My problem was with Matt's dialogue inserts. I suppose it may have been a test to literally transition Matt into the part, but (as a long devoted fan) I was disappointed.
On a different note, Santa was lack luster. Not only was the finale a bit too anti-climatic, but Kevin James was not a good Santa Claus. His call-outs to Big Bird and Grover were cool, but it took me like half of his air-time to realize that it wasn't some kind of joke! With a lame beard and a bedazzled belt, he was the furthest thing from a Santa since Arthur Godfrey on the Ed Sullivan show.
Lastly, while the variety of the songs was incredible, I agree with most of the fourm members that the Sesame Street humans could have easily replaced at least a few of the celebrity guest stars, especially Alicia Keys. While 'Do You Hear What I Hear?' is a good song and kind of an Elmo staple, it probably have been more appropriate to see Bob, Susan, and Maria (or at the very least Miles and Gabi).
I know it seems like a lot of negativity, but I really did enjoy this show and will definetally keep it in my holiday line-up. That's just what I think. Hopefully I didn't offend anybody
!
Personally, my favorite scene was Oscar's bit with 'I Hate Christmas.'
It's my favorite Christmas song that shows a discontent with its yuletide bliss! Not to mention that Caroll Spinney is by far my favorite Muppet performer (we share a birthday and his characters have a particuarly warm part in my heart) .A VERY close second was the Bert and Ernie christmas show. It was probably the BEST part of the special, but again, December 26!
I personally didn't have any beef with the set, considering the context of the pop-up book / flashback. I did notice in the credits that the show was taped in the same studio as Sesame Street itself which bothered me; they were 20 feet from the real thing and opted out of it... a poor decision in my book.
I was disappointed with the Anne Hathaway scene. Don't get me wrong, I love Anne Hathaway and (obviously) the characters in the scene. But the voice / sound track of Big Bird was off. It was clearly Matt Vogel performing Big physically (face it, Caroll hasn't kept his head hu that high in a while) while Caroll sang; that's all well and good. My problem was with Matt's dialogue inserts. I suppose it may have been a test to literally transition Matt into the part, but (as a long devoted fan) I was disappointed.
On a different note, Santa was lack luster. Not only was the finale a bit too anti-climatic, but Kevin James was not a good Santa Claus. His call-outs to Big Bird and Grover were cool, but it took me like half of his air-time to realize that it wasn't some kind of joke! With a lame beard and a bedazzled belt, he was the furthest thing from a Santa since Arthur Godfrey on the Ed Sullivan show.
Lastly, while the variety of the songs was incredible, I agree with most of the fourm members that the Sesame Street humans could have easily replaced at least a few of the celebrity guest stars, especially Alicia Keys. While 'Do You Hear What I Hear?' is a good song and kind of an Elmo staple, it probably have been more appropriate to see Bob, Susan, and Maria (or at the very least Miles and Gabi).
I know it seems like a lot of negativity, but I really did enjoy this show and will definetally keep it in my holiday line-up. That's just what I think. Hopefully I didn't offend anybody
!