The General Season 45 Thread

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
While every episode has it's own thread to discuss and as the season is over, how about a conversation on the season in general?

Ovarall, I thought this was a decent season. It had some strong street stories, but more than it's fair share of meh ones. I'll break it down this way:

The Good :wisdom:
  • While there's something to be said about the over-reliance on the "self regulation" imitative this season (I'll get into that later), I'm glad they handled certain topics that I see many a misbehaved kid struggle with, especially the movie behavior episode.
  • It's great to see them continue to have Guy Smiley make appearances here and there, and recasting Ernie has paid off nicely so far. Classic characters should be kept on the street along with the newer ones.
  • On that note, Ryan's Elmo has come along nicely. The perfect combination of making Elmo his own and making sure he's exactly how he was left.
  • Segi getting a street story. There's such great potential for the character other than insert songs. Having her interact with other, more famous and established characters gives Segi a nice hold on the street and the viewers.
  • Cookie Monster was jut excellent this season, and the new Cookie Crumby Pictures were overall very good.
  • Hey! New Super Grover 2.0's
  • Numericon. Just Numericon.
  • New letter and number segments are always welcome. While the Martian Beauty remake wasn't great, it's nice to see Sesame Street redoing old classic skits. A nice compromise between dropping them completely from the show.
  • It seemed like there was a subtle shift away from parody segments overall this year (not counting the Cookie segments), and we managed to get a couple great, classic style skits with Muppet characters.
  • Strong episodes were really strong, and it's great to continue to see stories about Oscar and Big Bird as well as Bert and Ernie and Grover.
  • Cameos by other characters in Murray segments. Why don't they do this more?
  • Nice celebrity selection this year. Even the standard "celebrity does a parody of their own song" was for the most part. Even One Direction's song parody had better lyrics than the original, but The Power of Yet was simply amazing.
  • Susan and Luis, who haven't been active on the show much made some memorable appearances. Changing the Fix it Shop to a Fix Bikes Shop not only makes it more contemporary, but it gives Luis something to do on the show.
The Not so Good:grouchy:

  • The letter/number intro songs, as well written and catchy as they are grew very tired very quickly. Especially with no variation other than the number version which only changes a line to fit the number into the song. Really should have made 2 or 3 songs for each and alternated. While I get what they were doing, it seems that it took time out of the show and was vastly inferior to the Murray announcements which at least tended to be ore varied, and thus less repetitive.
  • While the strong episodes were really strong, the weak episodes were extremely weak. Some even managed to feel rushed, ruining otherwise potentially good episodes, like the Thrift Garbage Shop episode. But the bad ones were... ugh.
  • I understand the need to space episodes out (to an extreme I'll get to) but SW failed to have it work in their favor. Similarly themed episodes ran one after the other, repeat footage from the same season ran within a few episodes of each other as well.
  • Said repeating of footage while the parody segments didn't come until the half way point, and even then the later of the half way point. Why were Power of Yet and Spanish Me/English Me within a couple episodes of their debut? Even "Two Worlds" appeared relatively early then again a while down the road.
  • Abby is sliding the heck into Stepford Smiler territory. That's a huge shame, as the character still has potential. It's nice to know she's no longer the awkward sausage of the group, but some of that awkwardness made the character work. Smiling and waving Abby? Seems she could have been any character in some episodes.
  • While I don't usually complain that such and such a character made meager appearances, what the heck was up with The Count only appearing in a word of the day and the number intros? Didn't seem like Matt was too busy to perform the character
  • They're still using the *&^%$ Sesame English Letter segments. They're still using those *&^%$ Sesame English Letter segments! And the can you see the number in the pile of rocks segment. Snoozefest.
  • Abby's Flying Fairy School hasn't had a new segment in 2 seasons, yet is still on the program. Reruns of an overly rerun segment in new episodes. Counting the rerun episodes... that's a lot of macaroni dinosaurs!
  • 15 and Penelope Penguin are officially the most annoying and abrasive characters to ever appear on the show. Horatio the Elephant and Rodeo Rosie look at them in disgust.
  • Not even bothering to utilize the 45th anniversary. A couple rare characters popped up in the background infrequently. Why not bring back the Hidden Gems? Even the inside joke ones? Why not even just open the season with Numericon instead of a weak episode about chicken school? I could complain about the outside refusal to market this with collectibles, books, and DVD's... but the show didn't even change the theme song for the occasion until next season.
And the biggie...

The self regulation initiative has been painfully anvilicious. Painfully. Sometimes they aren't just shoehorned into the episodes, they're driven in with a railroad spike. The Mother Goose and "Grover can Do it All" episodes are prime examples of how heavy handed and clumsy it became. The Mother Goose episode didn't need it at all, and the Grover episode had to stop a (very good) song dead cold in the middle to shove a breathing exercise that was repeated at least 20 times by then. As for episodes that dealt with it, to be fair it was a mixed bag. Some of them handled it nicely without being overbearing, but for the most part, repetitive episodes with hyperactive fairytale characters. Not that this isn't an important thing for kids to learn, mind you. But Crumby pictures already took care of most of them in a funnier, better handled and more subtle manner. And the one time they SHOULD have used the self regulation they didn't. The one where the number 15 was spending the entire episode having the least funny temper-tantrum on television. And you know me. I love George getting upset and Seamonsters eating Scrooge's ice cream. But why was that the one episode they glazed over? Seems like a natural place to put it. I'd say it's the third most annoying initiative behind engineering and nature. Really, Sesame. Next time incorporate this stuff subtly, or confine it to one segment.
 

antsamthompson9

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
3,376
Reaction score
1,674
As Drtooth said, recasting Ernie is the best thing that could have happened to him. Now, we don't have to wait for just one episode that has Ernie anymore. Billy is doing a great job and I'm sure Steve is relaxing more easily now that he doesn't have to fly to New York. Segi becoming a main character is very good. It gives her more depth and more emotions. This is just one nitpick I have: Why did Baby Bear get so little screen time? We didn't even get a funny Telly and Baby Bear story. He appeared in 9 episodes and an insert last season and he only appeared in 2 episodes this season. I hope we get some Telly and Baby Bear goodness next season.
 

Daffyfan4ever

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
5,007
Reaction score
579
Maybe they liked the Telly/Oscar pairings better. I'm still hoping to see more of those in the future.
 

antsamthompson9

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
3,376
Reaction score
1,674
One good thing that Drtooth didn't mention is that this season, Prairie Dawn was brought back as a regular character again.
 

sesamemuppetfan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
1,476
Reaction score
1,155
Another good thing (in regards to characters showing up) that really continues to stick out is how many appearances Bert made throughout the course of the season!

@Daffyfan2003 to be honest, I myself actually prefer the Telly/Oscar pairings!
 

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
This is just one nitpick I have: Why did Baby Bear get so little screen time? We didn't even get a funny Telly and Baby Bear story. He appeared in 9 episodes and an insert last season and he only appeared in 2 episodes this season. I hope we get some Telly and Baby Bear goodness next season.
That's baffling, actually. Baby Bear and Telly are a very strong pairing and usually they recurred frequently. I love the Oscar/Telly pairing as well, didn't see much of that this year either.

I could list all the characters that didn't appear much and ones that did, but in the end I'm just more shocked that The Count only had one word on the street insert and that's it. The Count had a great resurgence in recent years, even when Jerry was still around. To have him like segregated to just one thing and the number intro songs feels strange. Glad to see Oscar, Big Bird, Snuffy (though only like once or twice) and the like. It's great to see Ernie and Bert in street stories again. But it seems they're in an Elmo and Abby rut. And honestly, Elmo had some great episodes... Abby however, why is she so lobotomized this season? It's like they're going out of their way to make sure she doesn't have any emotions besides eternal happiness.

The perfect example is the episode where Cookie pulls a Crocker and wants to steal Abby's FAIRY!!!! wand. Instead of any internal struggle where the kids can work it out on their own, it was all on Alan to basically come in as the adult and say "what you're doing is bad" leading any dramatic tension as a what if simulation. In other words, keep Abby and Elmo smiling and counting and make sure that Abby doesn't stop giggling. Now let me tell you this, I try very hard to defend against the Stepford Street Geewunner rant. I really do. But what drives me nuts is when they have a point and Sesame Street flawlessly delivers. I liked Abby because she wasn't always happy. When she first appeared on the show (barring her Poochie-esque introduction) she seemed to be genuinely frustrated with her lack of magical skill and shy. And while being more comfortable around others and more confidant in her magic is character development, they went too far too fast to the point where any dramatic or comedic tension is eliminated. She's perfect and that's where the character goes wrong.

But that episode in particular was disappointing because there's always been potential for a character getting jealous/envious of Abby's magic episode and that was the closest they've done. There's a great lesson in dealing with envy and jealousy in a kid's show. Some kids have more and better toys than others. Arthur flawlessly managed to do so with Emily and D.W. Why not Sesame Street? It would have been a perfect opportunity for Abby to get very upset with Cookie and Cookie feeling super bad about it. Nope! Just get Alan in there to describe what could have happened and keep Abby and Elmo smiling and counting.
 

Oscarfan

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
7,604
Reaction score
3,949
Will try to think of some thoughts later, but I wanted to share the Season 45 album I've been working on for the past several months:

https://mega.co.nz/#!yIEHVCBA!ZUlRy-LoXaGzkOJ85pof0z0IZDHDEwC07_DK2Od-vrc

It includes:
  • Mup3s of all the songs from the street stories, inserts and Elmo the Musical segments (well, not ALL: I forgot to record "Make Way for Her Snazziness" from "Proud to Be Me". But, it's like 10-15 seconds long, so who cares really)
  • All the Number of the Day dance breaks, in full (there's only one for the Letter of the Day, since nothing about them changed really)
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Bonus tracks include:
  • 8 songs from "The Furchester Hotel"
  • "A Lovely Sunny Day" from Mashable
  • "Another Good Morning" from GMA
  • All the songs from "The Cookie Thief"
  • YouTube songs: "Elmo's Christmas Dream," "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes," "Hello Halloween," "Happy Valentine's Day," "The Wheels on the Bus"
  • "Growing" from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
  • "Words are All Around Us" from "Words Are Here, There and Everywhere"
I hope you all enjoy 'em. There's a lot of good songs in there.
 

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
In making a list I left the most positive positive out.

The utter lack of reruns being passed off as "new" episodes to fill out the 26 episode order. Shame that there was only a couple new ETM's, but if that cost went to make new street stories, I'm all for it. It was a real drag the last 2 seasons to be padded out with reruns, especially given how many reruns of reruns that run inbetween "new" episodes. Glad to see the budget allotted a full 26 order of street stories and a TV special. Can't believe I overlooked that.
 

Daffyfan4ever

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
5,007
Reaction score
579
The utter lack of reruns being passed off as "new" episodes to fill out the 26 episode order.
To be honest I never thought that was the best idea with the current format. It seems like people don't want to watch an ep they've already seen, but at times they squeeze new material in those episodes, so you're sitting through something you've already seen many times just to wait for about seven minutes or so to see something you haven't seen. Basically I feel like that's what You Tube is for.
 

sesamemuppetfan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
1,476
Reaction score
1,155
@Drtooth The Count actually appeared in 2 Word of the Day bits: Artist and Greeting. I know that probably doesn't help much with his appearances throughout the season overall.
 
Top