Sesame Street Season 45 Episode 4514 - Oscar's Trash Savings Plan

Daffyfan4ever

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I don't see why they can't air some of the skits from it on the show; they put some on that Cooking DVD a year or so ago. Plus, so many E&B bits. Confuses me why they can't run them.
I agree. I miss the days of JTE when we were guaranteed a sketch with B&E or at least Ernie in every episode. They really should bring back something to that effect.
 

SpinneyBigBird1

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The problem with this street story was that it went into a million directions at once. First the PUgel horn, then Mucklemore, then the Sty Phone, then Goozie Orman, without fully fleshing out any of those ideas.

A few thoughts:

Why was it necessary to have two parodies in the same street story? I think Goozie Orman was funnier, and she actually served a purpose in the scene. I wish they had used her more instead of Macklemore. Speaking of...

Was Macklemore not available to shoot more than this one song? Is that why he disappeared as quickly as he appeared with no purpose behind him being there?

What was the purpose of that song? Why did it feel like a standalone music video in the middle of the scene, instead of actually serving a purpose? If it had talked about saving trash or the temptation of spending it all, it would have at least functioned in the scene.

Who was Mucklemore? They didn't even give him any bit of a backstory for who he was and why he suddenly was on Sesame Street. Is he the owner of the thrift shop? Is he an old friend of Oscar's?

Okay, I was very critical of this street story. I'm glad I got all of that out of my system. A few other thoughts about the show in general:

- The two girls who said poop was awful in the WOTS are Joey Mazzarino's daughters. I was there in Lincoln Center when they filmed that and met his lovely wife, as well.

- I really miss the letter and number of the day introduced back on the street like they last did in season 39. The street set is literally never seen again after the first twelve minutes of the hour and it seems like a real waste of such a famous set. Plus, it gave the human actors on the show more to do. Bringing that back would allow the kids at home to find a bond with Maria, Gina, Bob and everyone just like they do with Elmo, Cookie and Rosita.

Now, I'm worrying that kids are just wondering why they don't see their new Sesame Street friend Adam Scott or Melissa McCarthy on the street every day. The WOTD segments introduce these celebrities like they are just one of the residents on the street; it's no wonder the kids don't create bonds with the human actors anymore. Most of the "residents" they meet disappear after one appearance.
 

Drtooth

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The problem with this street story was that it went into a million directions at once. First the PUgel horn, then Mucklemore, then the Sty Phone, then Goozie Orman, without fully fleshing out any of those ideas.

A few thoughts:

Why was it necessary to have two parodies in the same street story? I think Goozie Orman was funnier, and she actually served a purpose in the scene. I wish they had used her more instead of Macklemore. Speaking of...

Was Macklemore not available to shoot more than this one song? Is that why he disappeared as quickly as he appeared with no purpose behind him being there?

What was the purpose of that song? Why did it feel like a standalone music video in the middle of the scene, instead of actually serving a purpose? If it had talked about saving trash or the temptation of spending it all, it would have at least functioned in the scene.

Who was Mucklemore? They didn't even give him any bit of a backstory for who he was and why he suddenly was on Sesame Street. Is he the owner of the thrift shop? Is he an old friend of Oscar's?
They should have gone one direction or another. Mucklemore should have been in the street story longer, and he should have been the one to keep tempting Oscar with stuff instead of the random StyPhone thing. Goozie and Macklemore could have been opposing view points, but they weren't. It really seems to be the theme this season, missing potential to water down the message. Not as bad as the Cookie Monster wanting to steal Abby's Wand episode. That was such a wasted concept, and Abby and Elmo just obliviously played around and Alan had to do everything himself instead of adding some much needed tension. I'd say that one was more unsatisfying.

Not to mention the fact the street story was barely 9 minutes long? A couple extra minutes would have solved the pacing problem, but we desperately needed to shoehorn that recycling rap with the obnoxious British kids singing.



- I really miss the letter and number of the day introduced back on the street like they last did in season 39. The street set is literally never seen again after the first twelve minutes of the hour and it seems like a real waste of such a famous set. Plus, it gave the human actors on the show more to do. Bringing that back would allow the kids at home to find a bond with Maria, Gina, Bob and everyone just like they do with Elmo, Cookie and Rosita.
Personally, I just want them to do something else with the number/letter of the say than just give it a theme song. The letter sometimes gets shafted with one "commercial." And when it doesn't, the only other segment they use are those Sesame English letter songs. I get what they're trying to do with the letter and number theme songs, but they're very tired after such a short period of time. Indeed. I like how they started moving back to episode specific street shots introducing the letters and numbers. Too bad that lasted all a season.


Now, I'm worrying that kids are just wondering why they don't see their new Sesame Street friend Adam Scott or Melissa McCarthy on the street every day. The WOTD segments introduce these celebrities like they are just one of the residents on the street; it's no wonder the kids don't create bonds with the human actors anymore. Most of the "residents" they meet disappear after one appearance.
They always kind of did that with celebrities. The real problem I have is that Sesame Street needs so many celebrity and parody segments to get the parents involved. Kids probably care less that Sesame Street is parodying a TV MA cable show that they can't even watch. This is intended for the parents and the media to keep Sesame in the public eye, no matter how many Elmo dolls sell out near Christmas. Still, I agree completely with the lack of Sesame Street cast members appearing on the show. I like Alan and Chris, but that's usually the only ones you see. And even then, only in the first 10 minutes of the show.
 

The Count

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This episode reran today. Got to watch it, seems like Leslie's getting all the good female roles like Goozie Orman. Thought she did a good job at the parody. Not sure if that was Gina or Leela who showed up along with Maria bringing in the bags of trash so :grouchy: could have enough to buy the P.U.gelhorn. The bit with the delivery grouch was funny though. For some reason I thought the Murray school segment was the one about Recyclable Arts where his mom showed up at the end, but it's more of a normal recyclables sorting facility. Not much else, one less missed episode for my overall Season 45 experience.
 

Drtooth

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It was Gina.

I don't see why sometimes they have a lot of the human cast members and other times it's Alan and/or Chris. Must be an availability thing. Just like how they sometimes only have 2 or 3 characters (Human and Muppet) on the street, while other times they actually manage to fill the street up.
 

The Count

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Yeah, that's part of the problem of shooting a TV show at times.

BTW: When did Mucklemore say his fish hat cost him three bags of garbage? All through the song, or at least what I could intelligibly understand of it, the grouch who was part of Mucklemore's entourage kept spouting off about "seven bags of trash".

And :grouchy: doesn't necessarily have to choose between the P.U.gelhorn or the Sty-phone 6, he could always save up a total of fourteen bags of trash and get both. Although I do appreciate the message of being smart about choosing what you eventually end up buying with your particular brand of currency.
 

Drtooth

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And :grouchy: doesn't necessarily have to choose between the P.U.gelhorn or the Sty-phone 6, he could always save up a total of fourteen bags of trash and get both. Although I do appreciate the message of being smart about choosing what you eventually end up buying with your particular brand of currency.
I liked the message, but it comes across a little confused. Using trash as currency is a cute, grouchy concept. There are holes to poke no doubt, especially since if this was one of the old school style broken up story line, you'd see the entire street banding together to help Oscar to get the Pyooglehorn. Then that kinda defeats the point I guess.

My problem is that Mucklemore should have been constantly tempting Oscar with thrift store things or not have been in the plot at all. It really seems that there was potential for that, but they figured they'd be able to put in random recycling songs instead of fleshing out the concept with a whole 2 more minutes of storyline.
 

sesamemuppetfan

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The two girls who said poop was awful in the WOTS are Joey Mazzarino's daughters. I was there in Lincoln Center when they filmed that and met his lovely wife, as well.
That's awesome! Since when do Joey and Keri have another daughter in addition to Segi?
 
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