Waiting for Season 40

[Drtooth]

Muppet News Flash finally gives us the 411 on the 40th season of the show, and get this it's going to have a new theme song!

As long as it doesn't come off as dated. I never liked that hip hop opening they had the last 2 seasons... I will say, I liked the urban sounding arrangement of the end theme with out lyrics.

http://www.muppetnewsflash.com/2009/08/sesame-street-kicks-off-40th-season-on.html

HEY! Muppet news flash is back!

 

[SSLFan]

Muppet News Flash finally gives us the 411 on the 40th season of the show, and get this it's going to have a new theme song!

Wow another? That makes 5 in the last 20 years!

 

[MuppetManAZ]

Not so fast...

Just for people who haven't seen it, here's what the CGI Abby will look like:

http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp47/Oscarfan/CGIAbby.jpg

As a die-hard Muppet fan who grew up watching Sesame Street (and who may or may not happen to have friends at Sesame Workshop), I've been keeping a close eye on this Abby segment for a while.

I have to jump in and make a comment — That is NOT what Abby will look like in the new segment. That is a frame from one of the tests done by Magnetic Dreams during the original bidding phase of the Abby job, but MD didn't get the contract. The show was actually awarded to SpeakeasyFX (just Google SpeakeasyFX Sesame Street).

The show looks nothing like that now. I'm not really a big fan of the "CGI yay!" mentality (Sid the Science Kid freaks me out more than a little), but this show's not looking half-bad. After much debating I've got to grudgingly admit that going CGI does open up some avenues that are closed to traditional Muppets, and the people working on it have, IMO, done a pretty good job of keeping the spirit of the Sesame Street alive.

Should be interesting to see how it fares once it hits the air.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Oscarfan]

The image DID come from MD demo reel. Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[mbmfrog]

As a die-hard Muppet fan who grew up watching Sesame Street (and who may or may not happen to have friends at Sesame Workshop), I've been keeping a close eye on this Abby segment for a while.

I have to jump in and make a comment — That is NOT what Abby will look like in the new segment. That is a frame from one of the tests done by Magnetic Dreams during the original bidding phase of the Abby job, but MD didn't get the contract. The show was actually awarded to SpeakeasyFX (just Google SpeakeasyFX Sesame Street).

The show looks nothing like that now. I'm not really a big fan of the "CGI yay!" mentality (Sid the Science Kid freaks me out more than a little), but this show's not looking half-bad. After much debating I've got to grudgingly admit that going CGI does open up some avenues that are closed to traditional Muppets, and the people working on it have, IMO, done a pretty good job of keeping the spirit of the Sesame Street alive.

Should be interesting to see how it fares once it hits the air.

Just my 2 cents.

I mean compared the CGI Abby with the SS gang look in their one-time PS1 game entitled Sesame Street Sports... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3Ein_-tlvw

 

[Drtooth]

I see what everyone's saying. Somehow, I just wish that they would combine the CGI with Puppetry, like in Sid... I still think the segment should be no longer than 5 minutes, though. I'm sure the writers may just throw something fun in... I hope they do. Even in Elmo's World, they seem to put in a few choice gags.

 

[MuppetManAZ]

I see what everyone's saying. Somehow, I just wish that they would combine the CGI with Puppetry, like in Sid... I still think the segment should be no longer than 5 minutes, though. I'm sure the writers may just throw something fun in... I hope they do. Even in Elmo's World, they seem to put in a few choice gags.

I agree... I'd love to see something like that done right.

Sid weirds me out for a few reasons, but two things in particular:
1. They're using adult humans in crazy motion capture suits to do the animation of the kids, so the speed is all wrong. It's like the kids are moving through water a little bit.
2. The faces do some really heinous things when the kids are talking, in that the skin creases and pinches between their noses and mouths. And also, the adults never seem to open their eyes enough to actually look fully awake.

However, I love what they do with the actual show. I think it's a great show for kids in terms of the premise and curriculum, and I hope it continues.

But what I think would be interesting to see is a CGI system that allows a puppeteer to manipulate some actual physical input to control a digital puppet's head, mouth, and torso, and that then lets an animator take the reins using CGI magic to add in everything a traditional Muppet just doesn't easily allow for (walking, running, flying, riding vehicles, interaction with complicated environments, etc.). I think some really fun things could be achieved.

 

[MuppetManAZ]

I see what everyone's saying. Somehow, I just wish that they would combine the CGI with Puppetry, like in Sid... I still think the segment should be no longer than 5 minutes, though. I'm sure the writers may just throw something fun in... I hope they do. Even in Elmo's World, they seem to put in a few choice gags.

Oh, also. You're definitely right about the humor.

Without saying more than I should: Having seen a handful of these new Abby segments, I do feel safe saying that these new 9 minute spots are often hilarious. Really, there are tons of genuine laughs, and there are so many subtle gags that you'd have to watch the episodes a dozen times to catch them all.

I think that those of you who aren't determined to write it off immediately will find yourselves pleasantly surprised. Have faith: Everyone at Sesame Workshop really does want to do Season 40 right.

 

[Oscarfan]

Do you work at SW?

 

[JEANYLASER]

It's The first lady will be celebrate Sesame Street 40th Birthday!