Your Thoughts: Sesame Street Season 40

[Drtooth]

And seeing the "Guess the Season" song with Rosita, Abby, and Zoe just totally multiplied my dislike for miniZoe. (or as i'm hereby referring to it, "WTFZoe") Seeing it right up in the camera and in relation to the other puppets, it really looks just plain awful. How anyone thought using that hideous thing as a replacement Zoe puppet would be a good idea (and how other people went along with it instead of politely telling them to take their pills or get some rest) is beyond me. RealZoe is such a BEAUTIFUL puppet (and i've seen it up close in person - simply stunning!) - there were a couple years a while back when the pupil placement was off and mucked up the look a little but it eventually got fixed. The eye focus is horrible on WTFZoe but it's just one of MANY things that doesn't work. I hope that everyone realizes that the replacement failed BIG TIME and that's why Fran's using RealZoe for promotional appearances; that they'll go back to it now. How can kids even like it? It looks like the real puppet is being replaced with a cheap made-for-kids toy puppet!

I don't think it's a matter of replacement or anything like that so much as it's a matter of them wanting to get their money's worth off of a puppet they made to use once for a special... sort of like that random episode where Telly Monster was taking care of a baby duck, and he randomly turns into a duck... It was totally an excuse to just reuse the Telly the duck puppet from Peter and the Wolf. And I betcha it really isn't all that fun to puppeteer either, her movements are pretty awkward (from what I've seen) compared to her normal sized self. I'm surprised they didn't just make an episode where she randomly transforms into a mouse for the entire episode,... they wouldn't even have needed to take the ears and nose off. Keeping homunculus Zoe... yet another budget problem.

Okay, add me to the list of those who would LOVE to see a plush Blogg. Heck, anything remotely resembling one like a pillow or something! SW, you're sitting on a huge cash cow there and you'd be foolish to not persue such a marketing opportunity!

Still feel A'sFFS's too long and out of place within the context of the show as a whole, but i will stand up and proclaim how refreshing it is to have a longer regular segment to actually LOOK FORWARD to seeing as opposed to Elmo's World?

AFFS is a segment I wanted to hate, but couldn't even dislike. I hate the fact we're clearly going into reruns, as I said, but that's unavoidable. I agree that 9 minutes is a bit long, but at least we have a plotline, an actual story, and not 10+ minutes of repetition like I feared. I really REALLY wish this were its own show, and was paired with Ernie and Bert's Great Adventures and classic skits to fill out a half hour, though... but PBS wouldn't like that at all. Lemme just say, AFF is one of the only shows about Fairies I actually like, the other being a certain Nicktoon.

And here is the heart of why Murray-as-host fails. Besides what's already been touched on; that it's too much focus on a single character when SST works best as an ensemble piece chockful of different varied characters - it's yet more of Murray by himself. The Word of the day intros and the Murray/kid moments from past seasons and all the Murray-as-host segments all place Murray as a totally-seperate-from-the-rest-of-the-Sesame-cast character. What made Murray Has a Little Lamb work and a great segment was the interplay between Murray and Ovejita.

I know that Joey actually likes Murray that way. He felt uncomfortable the couple times they used Murray in the street story, but sorry, Joey, sometimes "uncomfortable" is good. It means your character is being stretched and more fully realized. Maybe as a performer it felt unusual but on the other side of the screen, it was terrific. Murray was a really funny HIGHPOINT of The Golden Triangle of Destiny.

I agree with you on that... though I think it fails for different reasons too, which I will go into. Of course, I wanna point out that Murray seemed pasted into that Golden triangle episode to me, last minute. Almost like a character who's been looped dialogue mimed over a recording (but he was there). I respect that he feels that Murray should be like Traveling Matt (his words exactly), but Matt mingled among the other Fraggles in episodes like "Inspector Red."

I really agree that Murray AND Ovejita should be the "Hosts" of these cut-a-ways, links, whatevers. Maybe add Spanish words beginning with those letters, or the Spanish word for the number of the day.

But when it comes down to it for me, be it Murray, Elmo, Abby, Sheri Netherland, or third monster from the left in the Beginning Middle and End song, I just don't like the flow of these links, or whatever they're called. I think the fact they're shot on location make them look great, and I think if they were used better (just as letter and number announcements) they would be very good... but the whole thing reminds me of Disney's One Saturday Morning, and not in a flattering way. I think if they cut out the references to "Abby's Flying Fairy School [Elmo's World, Ernie and Bert, Murray had a Little Lamb] is coming up next" it would feel a lot more authentic, and a lot less like we're watching 6 different, disconnected shows.

 

[ISNorden]

Keeping homunculus Zoe... yet another budget problem.

Amen; hopefully FrankenZoe will be retired when Sesame Workshop gets enough cash. She looks as ugly as tiny-headed Big Bird did...and as creepy as the evil-eyed debut version of Mr. Snuffleupagus.



[snippage]

I really agree that Murray AND Ovejita should be the "Hosts" of these cut-a-ways, links, whatevers. Maybe add Spanish words beginning with those letters, or the Spanish word for the number of the day.

Great minds think alike; I liked Murray and Ovejita's working together as a bilingual comedy team. The guessing game in "Murray Has a Little Lamb" actually taught Anglos a little Spanish, something that Sesame Street has done for years in the US. The kids-in-school film is still educational and includes some great kid/Muppet dialogue. But the theme song teaches nothing and is almost as long as Sesame Street's own theme...if you were a curriculum advisor, which part would YOU cut?

Heck, if Rosita could name the number of the day in Spanish a few seasons ago, I see no reason that Ovejita couldn't have translated it this season. Showing that English and Spanish use near-identical alphabets wouldn't be a bad lesson either; I can easily imagine Ovejita dressing as a kangaroo to demonstrate the letter K, as Murray tries to pronounce the animal's Spanish name.

Granted, Murray's and Ovejita's roles separate them from the other residents of Sesame Street. That's not necessarily bad, since some classic Muppets rarely appeared outside "lecture segments": Roosevelt Franklin, Lefty the Salesman, and Herbert Birdsfoot come to mind. As long as Murray's cutaways don't turn into monologues, kids are likely to learn from him without getting too bored.

I just don't like the flow of these links, or whatever they're called. I think the fact they're shot on location make them look great, and I think if they were used better (just as letter and number announcements) they would be very good... but the whole thing reminds me of Disney's One Saturday Morning, and not in a flattering way. I think if they cut out the references to "Abby's Flying Fairy School [Elmo's World, Ernie and Bert, Murray had a Little Lamb] is coming up next" it would feel a lot more authentic, and a lot less like we're watching 6 different, disconnected shows.

Unfortunately, Sesame Street feels like six different, disconnected shows because the producers were copying the format of other kidvid channels' programming. ("The competition treats an hour as a time block; today's children are used to watching blocks of short shows; therefore, our episodes should feel the same.") I wonder how many children in their test audiences tuned out the rest of an episode just to watch a single, 8-minute mini-show? If the numbers were too high, that format spells disaster for Sesame Street...

 

[ISNorden]

So, I missed out on Changing seasons, and only caught 5 minutes of the Y Quest before I got too dizzy to even bother, but thankfully, I got to see one of the best street stories so far this season. And Lemme tell you, I'm glad they pointed out that the 4 bears never hibernated before... that would have been a major plot hole (they celebrate Hanukkah, remember?) I really dig these Baby Bear/Telly plot lines, and this was no exception.

The street story is one of the best I've seen this season: even the bears' dependence on porridge (which usually annoys me) became the springboard for a science lesson. Alan explains about hibernation; Max Bear adds to the lesson by singing about bears' other unique traits. All in all, a great introduction to zoology: the "Muppet animal tries to act like his real-life counterpart" plot has been used before, but this didn't feel clichéd at all.

On top of that, it was great to see Telly Monster with some of his old "lovable worrywart" personality back: not a sore loser, not a geek with a one-track mind, but a friend concerned about his relationships.

And I just LOVED the Special K commercial. Love how they made fun of the old 1980's marketing campaign, and not the fat-a-phobic "instead of this, eat a bowl of cereal" junk they're talking now.

I was just as glad to see that the "Super K" sketch didn't end up pushing nutrition on the side, focusing on the cereal ads themselves. (If you don't count the "source of vitamin K" blurb on the Super K box, that is... ) Of course, the kids would be VERY disappointed to learn that they can't make a word with just one letter--even if it is their favorite!

 

[scarletjul]

I'm new here; I just wanted to comment on what I've been seeing lately. . .

I'm a huge Sesame Street fan, though I haven't watched regularly in awhile. But, I picked up this season for the 40th and I think I agree with what seems to be a general consensus of adult viewers.

Originally Posted by ISNorden
Unfortunately, Sesame Street feels like six different, disconnected shows because the producers were copying the format of other kidvid channels' programming. ("The competition treats an hour as a time block; today's children are used to watching blocks of short shows; therefore, our episodes should feel the same.") I wonder how many children in their test audiences tuned out the rest of an episode just to watch a single, 8-minute mini-show? If the numbers were too high, that format spells disaster for Sesame Street...

PBS Sprout does that, don't they? All short segments (Berenstein Bears, Dragon Tails, etc.) with connecting segments of what's coming next/later. I see why that works on other TV channels, but I do think it's not a great formatting move for Sesame Street. If one portion gets popular, i.e. FFS, wouldn't that mean there could be less viewers for the whole show throughout? Couldn't kids tune out on the parts they don't like and then miss big lessons?

The show feels very disjointed now, IMHO. Having all of those little shows with a "what's coming up next," intro inbetween segments seems to take away from the general flow of the show. I feel as if Murray is being overused, especially in episodes that include "Murray Had A Little Lamb."

I haven't been able to sit through a full episode of "Flying Fairy School." I try and I just can't; I get bored (apparently, my attention span is a little short. ) What I've seen is cute but it just doesn't interest me. And I'm a little sad that we're already getting reruns of it.

That said. . . so far, I've really enjoyed all of the street stories. Today's episode about the 3 Bears hibernating was really well done. I thought the story was cute, very educational and interesting. I liked that they kept the continuity of the bears not having hibernated before. I like Telly being worried about his friendship with Baby Bear - the scenes felt natural to me.

I also thought the one where Elmo wanted it to snow was very educational and entertaining. Plus, Elmo really seemed like a little kid in those scenes - it was very appropriate that he didn't understand why he couldn't have what he wanted - and it was so cute when he and Abby were talking about Elmo's wish for snow in front of Chris. Plus, the scenes with the blue muppet customer were great - I loved seeing him trying to gnaw through his soup in the background shot.

And The Y Quest episode was great for all of the character interaction - we saw 3 muppets in the story and 3 adults (Alan, Gina, Leila.) Plus the explanation of a "quest," (with Tiki) included Oscar, Grover and Cookie Monster. It was nice to see all of those characters again, all in the same episode.

Originally Posted by Drtooth

And I just LOVED the Special K commercial. Love how they made fun of the old 1980's marketing campaign, and not the fat-a-phobic "instead of this, eat a bowl of cereal" junk they're talking now.

This skit was awesome and totally reminded me of an 80's commerical. It was a lot of fun. My older sister and I were giggling a lot during this sketch and thought it was really well done.

 

[ploobis]

Did anybody see the new Marshal Grover sketch with Frank Oz as Grover and Jerry Nelson as Fred The Wonder Horse?

It was on the episode where Elmo, Telly & Abby are on a knight quest with the letter Y.

It is so great seeing that both Frank Oz and Jerry Nelson are still apart of Sesame Street!

Also, During the Y Quest sequence you see a small picture of Jim Henson on the window of the laundromat!

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

And I just LOVED the Special K commercial. Love how they made fun of the old 1980's marketing campaign, and not the fat-a-phobic "instead of this, eat a bowl of cereal" junk they're talking now.

Yeah. I caught the references to the cereals Alphabits and Special K. Of course, they're made my different companies so you wouldn't really see them advertised together. BTW, didn't that kid in the commercial sort of look like Farley?

 

[Drtooth]

Amen; hopefully FrankenZoe will be retired when Sesame Workshop gets enough cash. She looks as ugly as tiny-headed Big Bird did...and as creepy as the evil-eyed debut version of Mr. Snuffleupagus.

I still prefer the term "Homunculus Zoe"... after all, it means an underformed, miniature being. And that's what she looks like... a Zoe that didn't quite develop right.

Unfortunately, Sesame Street feels like six different, disconnected shows because the producers were copying the format of other kidvid channels' programming. ("The competition treats an hour as a time block; today's children are used to watching blocks of short shows; therefore, our episodes should feel the same.") I wonder how many children in their test audiences tuned out the rest of an episode just to watch a single, 8-minute mini-show? If the numbers were too high, that format spells disaster for Sesame Street...

That's the problem with everything. Everyone is so impatient. And it's not like SS was ever this really really long. It felt like watching SNL, only it had connected sketches. I mean, you could still keep AFFS, EBGA, MHLL, and even EW and still blend them seamlessly (or as seamlessly as possible) as possible, I think. The whole "X is coming up Next" doesn't sit well with me at all. And I want to know what they've taken that from, since Disney's One Saturday Morning and Nick Jr's Face (shudder shudder) did the same thing 10+ years ago, and they didn't feel the urge to do this until right now.

I still wanna see the report that says that kids can't sit still for longer segments, but they'll patiently wait for Dora or the Super Readers to answer their own questions for 20 seconds at a time. Seems like a huge logic gap to me.

 

[The Count]

Actually...

1 Ovejita dressed up as a kangaroo to help teach Spanish words + the alphabet would have to be used in the C sponsored episode. Kangaroo in Spanish = "canguro".
2 You can spell a whole word with just the letter K. Granted, it's a three-letter acronymic word, but still it might not be one SST would want anywhere near itself.
Hope this helps.

 

[mbmfrog]

I dont know if this has been addressed yet but I dont like the new mini Zoe. It looks like she shrunk in the wash.

I got to agree, it is kind of creepy and can give someone nightmares.

I liked the older version better, a mixture of the original Zoe and her love for dancing.

 

[Drtooth]

Homunculus Zoe all through the street story. She really must not be a picnic to puppet either, as her movements seemed completely off compared to her normal sized counterpart. I wish they just used a regular sized Zoe in Abby in Wonderland... it wouldn't have been such a hassle. And frankly, that's a lot more upsetting than the whole Kismit the Toad fiasco. That was 3 appearances. We have a whole season of homunculus Zoe.

So, Great street story, virtually everything else was a rerun. other than the word of the day and the letter and number intros were reused, right up to Murray's sounds of the street bit.

At least we finally got a new street story with Stinky the Stinkweed. We haven't seen him since the Desperate Houseplants segment a couple years ago. And he's back to his own self loathing ways too. Dreading another birthday, reminding people he doesn't need anything. If there's any Muppet that needs a therapy session, it's him... and maybe .

Something kinda disappointed me... they had a kid wearing a periodic table of the elements shirt in the "What's on me that begins with B?" link. I really wanted Murray to point to the kid's shirt and say, "B- Beryllium!"

I think I just noticed something in the Pre-School Musical sketch. Is that odd red and white polka-dot blouse supposed to be a reference to Minnie Mouse? I'm taking it as one (after all, it is a parody of a Disney production).

Seeing muppet Ernie and Bert would be a bigger treat if they either made new small skits, or showed something older. I've seen "In My Book" so many times now.

I was just as glad to see that the "Super K" sketch didn't end up pushing nutrition on the side, focusing on the cereal ads themselves.

I don't think Special K's message of "If you don't eat all of our products 4 times a day, you'll turn into a fat lard no one would ever love, and you'll never find the right man" would work on a kid's show.