Your Thoughts: Sesame Street Season 41

[antsamthompson9]

I still can't comment on the one from Friday.

I can now. The Super Grover sketch was hilarous. And I know it's a rerun, but I loved RSI. Tyler Bunch is too funny in that! As for the new episode from yesterday, I knew it was a repeat so I fasted through the street story and Abby's School and B&E's adventures. But I loved seeing Bert and Ernie in EW. If that's the only to get the puppets back, why don't they make more?

 

[Mupp]

we have to see reruns of reruns we've already seen in reruns. Kinda stinks... I wish I had some money right now... I'd buy everyone here a Sesame Street T-Shirt so they could get more money to go back into projects.

Yes, its really annoying that so much is being recycled.

Now, I realize that young children learn through repetition, but it certainly does seem to be a budget issue.

Seeing the same Super Grover 2.0 segment? Pathetic.


Its kind of making me nervous about season 42, it will probably just get worse.

 

[InvaderZim]

I'm suprised that there's no new Elmo's World produced for season 41. The last time the repeats were done was in season 32.

 

[Drtooth]

Yes, its really annoying that so much is being recycled.

Now, I realize that young children learn through repetition, but it certainly does seem to be a budget issue.

Seeing the same Super Grover 2.0 segment? Pathetic.


Its kind of making me nervous about season 42, it will probably just get worse.

The Super Grover I kinda saw coming... but this early in the season when they didn't even show 3 of them yet? 6 is a very skimpy number, and it seems we're getting more of the Claymation Ernie and Bert segments (which have already been completely produced 2 years ago)... but at least wait until half of them air before we see them again. The budget is almost non-existent and it shows:

• Reuse of segments already reused a previous season (Murray tune ins/ AFFS)
• Smaller number of Muppeteers on set/ smaller number of cast members
• shrinking number of newer segments and skits
• 5 sponsors

I swear said sponsors spend more on their little commercials than they do giving SS part of that money, and it's probably a tax write off anyway. PBS gives them so little money, it's not even funny, and PBS blew the budget outbidding BBC America on lame British cop shows (exactly like ours), and even lamer British sitcoms about old doddering couples. If you're gonna pull that stunt, bring Mr. Bean, Black Adder, and Monty Python back! Not to mention the lack of children's programming pledge drives... but I could go on forever about PBS's pledge drive problems. Long story short, it's basically telling old people to give their social security checks to them and maybe sign off a piece of their will to Public television (as that's the only venue left, it seems).

I still find it a great folly that AFFS has to be an every day thing. THAT should alternate with another skit. If they really did things RIGHT, they'd alternate AFFS with BEGA, and then alternate Murray Had a Little Lamb, Super Grover 2.0, and Munchin Impossible (still disappointed they didn't try to get it into the series yet). That way, the repeated footage gets to go the next year over... or we have something new to look forward next season.

And on that subject:

I'm suprised that there's no new Elmo's World produced for season 41.

Sesame Workshop somehow is sending the message that they desperately want to ditch this old chestnut. Problem is, they can't. Would it really ruin things to put a mixture of Elmo's Backyard and Goodnight Elmo in its place? Slowly ease the show out of the bloated 15 minute EW runtime? Now they're not even making new ones, and just rerunning 10+ years of footage. They don't show anything on the show over 10 years old anymore (except for that stupid mural painting).

 

[minor muppetz]

I've been thinking about how the show seems to have abandoned 1990s segments, and how very few pre-HD segments outside of Elmo's World have been on the show this year... It's bad enough that a few years ago they even stopped showing segments with Jim Henson's invovlement (if you don't count Aaron Neville's "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon", it was two years ago, and if you do, then I find it very unacceptable that the anniversary season was the first to not have Jim Henson segments). And that gets me wondering: If they never recasted Ernie after Henson's death, would they still be showing classic Ernie segments in current seasons?

We should be thankful that they eventually recasted Ernie with a new performer, but it would have been sad if they chose not to ever recast Ernie with a new voice and therefore Ernie segments had stopped airing by now altogether. He is one of the main Muppet characters, even if he rarely (if ever) starred in any street stories during Henson's time on the show. The closest thing to another main character being on the show for years and then being phased out would be Herry Monster. He seemed to be a main character on the show itself, but outside the show he was really underused, often appearing as an extra in specials, only having one line in FTB, rarely being merchandised, and so on (many people seem to say the same thing about Telly).... Quite the opposite of Ernie. And I believe they started phasing Herry out when Jerry Nelson was still actively physically performing.

I hope I didn't bring this too off-topic, but it is kind of a scary thought, considering we haven't seen any 1980s segments in three years and now the 1990s are being affected almost more quickly.

 

[ISNorden]

I too am worried about Sesame Workshop's budget: for Pete's sake, they're having to rework Season 39 eps (Golden Triangle of Destiny, the Shoe Fairy) into that block format. Can't they at least let the reruns air as near-reruns, changing only the inserts and letter/number clips? (Back when they still called themselves CTW, that was the way they usually recycled episodes...) The way shows are going this year, I fear Sesame Street won't make it to Season 50.

 

[TSSD]

Okay, I finally got around to seeing Ironing Monster today, the first episode i've seen in like, 7 years or so, and I have to say, I'm not really liking the show's new format. Not only was the street not shown at all, but the only muppets I saw were Elmo, Grover, a small flash of Cookie and Bert, and this new guy, Murray! And whats up with the new Ernie and Bert Claymation thing? I get that Whitmire may be busy, but come on! I didn't like the fact that the Street story was all in one part instead of spread throughout the story. And Murray? Whats up with him? What happened to the Sesame Street I remember? Sorry for the rant, but I'm just really dissapointed with what I saw.

 

[Mupp]

I didn't like the fact that the Street story was all in one part instead of spread throughout

The street story has not been spread out in years, and probably never will be again.

According to the recent Sesame Street book, Dr. Rosemarie Truglio took over as vice president of education and research for the show in season 29, the show's demographics were skewing younger that when the show first premiered, and the show was struggling to hold its audience since there were now a lot more children's show alternatives.
They found out that the original format for Sesame Street (A street story interrupted by a series of "commercials") was no longer meeting children's needs. (Their attention spans)

Here is a quote from Dr. Rosemarie Truglio from the most recent Sesame Street book;

"It was around the 45-minute period that children were beginning to lose attention, you had them at the very beginning, because they're interested in the story; but then you keep breaking up the story, so you see their interest level drop."

 

[Drtooth]

The Ernie and Bert segment was originally made for overseas markets and was adopted into the series a year later... possibly due to the fact that they were already produced, so it saved them a bunch of money doing so. Of course, we also asked to see it somewhere in the US too. The project was in development since, what? 2005? 2006?

 

[Oscarfan]

The street story has not been spread out in years, and probably never will be again.

According to the recent Sesame Street book, Dr. Rosemarie Truglio took over as vice president of education and research for the show in season 29, the show's demographics were skewing younger that when the show first premiered, and the show was struggling to hold its audience since there were now a lot more children's show alternatives.
They found out that the original format for Sesame Street (A street story interrupted by a series of "commercials") was no longer meeting children's needs. (Their attention spans)

Here is a quote from Dr. Rosemarie Truglio from the most recent Sesame Street book;

"It was around the 45-minute period that children were beginning to lose attention, you had them at the very beginning, because they're interested in the story; but then you keep breaking up the story, so you see their interest level drop."

It's true. I mean, I don't like EW, but I don't ever deal with it anymore thanks to the Fast-Forward button. But, without it, SST may not have reached today.