Your Thoughts: Sesame Street Season 41

[Daffyfan4ever]

*sigh*

I guess that's the trouble with seeing those episodes so late in the season. Seems like people stop paying attention to this thread after a while. Oh, well. What can you do?

 

[Drtooth]

Don't take it so bad... people stopped paying attention to this thread when the new episodes were still on. Such a shame, as I wanted to hear everyone's end of season opinions. That way we can really have a conversation.

Anything i'd say would almost be as repetitive as season 41 was, thematically and as far as filler goes.

Seriously... Hasbro better have some choice stuff, and it had better be reasonably priced. SW needs a LOT of money to make sure we don't see the same stuff that much in a 26 episode season again.

 

[beakerboy12]

For me, even though I haven't seen every episode , I thought the season was really good. They brought back Two Headed Monster and from what I heard they made a new Ernie song! It was definitely a good season! One of my favorite parts from the whole season was will.i.am's number! Great song! One of my favorite episodes was Dirtballs! That song in there was so catchy! The season, to me, was downright awesome! Plus we got to see Super Grover 2.0!

 

[Convincing John]

I know I'm late to this, but I'd like to give my opinions. Ironically, I've been too busy with other Sesame-related projects to come on MC in a while. I'll elaborate on that later.

I'm glad to say that they saved the best, or at least two of the best episodes for last (storywise, anyway).

Oscar, as always, was in top form (or should I say rotten form?) in the Dirtballs and Grouch's Mother's Day episodes.

First, the Dirtballs one could only have been better if they had included Bert. Why the heck CAN'T they include Bert on the street if Eric is there to perform? It would give the chance to see him out of his "claymation" form. Any episode that features Oscar or Big Bird gets a thumbs up from me. It's a refreshing break from the constant red menace footage.

True, Oscar's plans to dirty up Sesame Street were thwarted. However, I saw in an interview where Caroll Spinney said he liked when Oscar's plans backfired sometimes. Looks like they granted his wish.

My favorite episode (if I had to pick a favorite) would be the Grouch's Mother's Day one. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but the sibling rivalry and grouchy presents alone were something that could have come right out of an episode from the 1990's or even the 1980's. Plus, we got to see Bob (he sang with Gordon and Chris in this one), and the Sloppy Jalopy!

When they're aired again, enjoy the Oscar and Big Bird stories while you can, folks. It's the only break we get from the red menace. Eventually, grouch stories on the street will become like the revised version of the book "A Grouch's Christmas". Just...scroll down on that link.

A small side note--I'm so glad that Sesame Workshop has the Video section up with all those old clips on there. With the whole block format, about half of the show is on an endless repeating loop that isn't half as educational as what you can find in many of the classic bits from the show's "magazine format" years. I'm looking at EW, AFFS and the "what's up next?" framing bits with Murray.

I also had a comment about the way the show is filmed. It's filmed digitally, of course, but with the "widescreen" format, what about kids who don't have a TV set up like that? I thought of that becuase my TV is an older one. On some of the counting
segments especially, I noticed that if there are, say 12 items counted, sometimes only 8 are visible onscreen. I've noticed edges of words and some letters are cut off, too.

Obviously, I know how to read and count...but what about a kid who watches the show on a non-widescreen TV? The voice says "12" but only 8 eggs are visible. Did the researchers at SW realize that not all kids have newer TVs? It wouldn't take much to scoot the letters, numbers, etc. more towards the center of the shot so all the kids can see them.

Convincing John

 

[ISNorden]

Oscar, as always, was in top form (or should I say rotten form?) in the Dirtballs and Grouch's Mother's Day episodes.

Bravissimo! It's episodes like those that reassure me: someone on the writing staff still cares more about doing memorable, funny stories that teach without forcing a curriculum initiative down toddlers' throats.

First, the Dirtballs one could only have been better if they had included Bert. Why the heck CAN'T they include Bert on the street if Eric is there to perform? It would give the chance to see him out of his "claymation" form.

Not only that, but Bert's neat-freak attitude makes him the perfect character for Oscar to annoy with dirt. It's a shame the writers missed that opportunity!

Any episode that features Oscar or Big Bird gets a thumbs up from me. It's a refreshing break from the constant red menace footage.

Agreed...though I wonder what happened to the "messing machine" that Leela agreed to keep in the laundromat last season? That would've been perfect for the "Rakhi Road" scene when Oscar needed his new bowling shirt dirtied up.

I also had a comment about the way the show is filmed. It's filmed digitally, of course, but with the "widescreen" format, what about kids who don't have a TV set up like that? I thought of that becuase my TV is an older one. On some of the counting segments especially, I noticed that if there are, say 12 items counted, sometimes only 8 are visible onscreen. I've noticed edges of words and some letters are cut off, too.

I noticed the cutoff especially on the Indian-themed cartoon about counting to 19: once the numbers got above 12, some objects simply didn't show at the edges of my old-style TV (which I got brand-new 3 years ago, mind you). I imagine some poor preschooler getting very confused about those big numbers when they look alike to him!

Obviously, I know how to read and count...but what about a kid who watches the show on a non-widescreen TV? The voice says "12" but only 8 eggs are visible. Did the researchers at SW realize that not all kids have newer TVs? It wouldn't take much to scoot the letters, numbers, etc. more towards the center of the shot so all the kids can see them.

Convincing John

Absolutely; the producers need to test new clips on both screen styles to make sure kids can see the whole thing either way. If too much goes missing...back to the drawing board!

 

[Drtooth]

Not only that, but Bert's neat-freak attitude makes him the perfect character for Oscar to annoy with dirt. It's a shame the writers missed that opportunity!

That makes me wonder... Now, I wouldn't exactly say the writers DIDN'T plan that... the press release did say Bert was in there, so I'm guessing they got an earlier version of the draft when either Eric wasn't available, or there were revisionary edits to cut for time, and they had to write him out last minute. The press statement guy probably got an early draft of the script to work off of, maybe even just the initial story outline (the first start in any script writing, mind you... remember, Super Grover was supposed to be in an episode last year, but wasn't). I will see this, I'm not all that familiar with Flight of the Concords... so was the "Burt" character a reference to something, or did they just give him that name for the sake of a rhyme?

Agreed...though I wonder what happened to the "messing machine" that Leela agreed to keep in the laundromat last season? That would've been perfect for the "Rakhi Road" scene when Oscar needed his new bowling shirt dirtied up.

I could get on a whole thing about continuity, but I won't. There are shows that painstakingly try to get continuity down and still manage the occasional slip up.

Absolutely; the producers need to test new clips on both screen styles to make sure kids can see the whole thing either way. If too much goes missing...back to the drawing board!

Well, on a regular TV, you usually have the option of having cropped or letterbox... at least if you have that digital thing....but I'm hearing a LOT of stations, even digital ones, are refusing to air it in letterbox format. And the whole thing is a sham because there's such an inconsistency with letterbox on that show. They refuse to recycle episodes before the switch over (which would open up a LOT more possibilities), and they tend to favor new skits that use it... but all and all, when they HAVE to use full frame they use it... Elmo's world being a prime example. I still say, do what BTL does and make CGI curtains, or even tacky looking boarders for those FF segments, and during the wide frame stuff, keep the major action in the middle of the screen. Just shove random little bits on the sides, like oddball background cameos or more classic episode Easter eggs.

A small side note--I'm so glad that Sesame Workshop has the Video section up with all those old clips on there. With the whole block format, about half of the show is on an endless repeating loop that isn't half as educational as what you can find in many of the classic bits from the show's "magazine format" years. I'm looking at EW, AFFS and the "what's up next?" framing bits with Murray.

EW just can't be taken off the show no matter how hard they try. Trust me. I want it replaced, you want it replaced, SW seems to regret doing it now, there hasn't been a new episode since last season, and that was only 1... and the sad part is, some of the oldest stuff on the show is old EW segments. but nothing can be done about it. I want to see a test of 2 full episodes that end with either Goodnight Elmo or Elmo's Backyard. As for Abby and the tune ins, that's their own fault. Look at the Ernie and Bert's Great Adventures segments... 5 minutes each, produced well over a year in advance, used so sparingly that we have well over 26 episodes, and we haven't even seen half of them in the US yet. Abby... 8 minutes, produced the year it was added, only 13 episodes, and daily. And they held 3 episodes over.

Now, I tend to LIKE the Abby segment. The only problem I have with the content is that the action is so rarely Abby's fault. The jokes are snappy, the references are clever, the characters are wonderful, and as much as I dreaded the thought of the segment, I actually find it a warm and welcome change from the repetitiveness of Elmo's World. And it has a PLOT! Imagine if all EW's had a plot and watched like a show instead of a Blue's Clues-esque infomercial for feet or something. However, at the 5th or 6th time in a supposedly "new" episode jokes about Zha Zha Gabor, M.C. Hammer, the Ramones, and Michael Jackson just aren't funny, no matter what.

Again, the problem I have with Abby is that it could easily be edited down to 5 minutes, and it SHOULD have been a revolving segment with Super Grover 2.0 (I love that one like a son, but I really hate they only made enough to rerun them twice even IN rotation), Ernie and Bert, and Murray had a little Lamb. Or 2 of each. I'm wondering if shorter Abby segments could have translated into more segments. The choice was obvious, either order 26 episodes worth of segments, or not have the things be daily. Even had they produced a secondary set of 13 episodes for this season, it wouldn't have been so bad.

That said, I welcome stuff like Munchin' Impossible, Count TV and all that. we just need to ROTATE these things so we don't see the same 5 over and over. Even 3 year olds will know.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

That makes me wonder... Now, I wouldn't exactly say the writers DIDN'T plan that... the press release did say Bert was in there, so I'm guessing they got an earlier version of the draft when either Eric wasn't available, or there were revisionary edits to cut for time, and they had to write him out last minute. The press statement guy probably got an early draft of the script to work off of, maybe even just the initial story outline (the first start in any script writing, mind you... remember, Super Grover was supposed to be in an episode last year, but wasn't). I will see this, I'm not all that familiar with Flight of the Concords... so was the "Burt" character a reference to something, or did they just give him that name for the sake of a rhyme?

That's actually a good question. I don't know why they would name an AM Burt, when they already have a 'Bert' who would even have made an appearance if his scene hadn't been cut out. I suppose for the sake of rhyming they could have called him Curt or something, so maybe you're right about 'Flight of the Concords' whatever the heck that is.

 

[Drtooth]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_concords

So the names don't exactly match up, but they are still parody names... Bert is an anagram of Bret... clearly had to call hum "Burt" to avoid confusion. And the characters are puppet caricatures of them.

I've never actually seen this series yet, but I DO know the bit at the end is a direct parody of what they do on the show

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Okay, I get it. Though I think calling Bret, Burt might more likely have been to make it rhyme with 'dirt.' I'm not sure how they got 'Hiram' out of 'Jermaine' though. I'm thinking another reason the names were changed might have been because of copyright issues.

 

[InvaderZim]

I've noticed there has been several appearances of Gabi in street scenes in season 41, while Miles hasn't (he only appeared in a segement about the number 1) and I also agree the indie AniBoom segements are great:something there should be more of in the future.