Sesame Street Saturdays: Season 41 Episode Recap, Week 7

Sesame Street Season 41

Episode Review

Week 7

Shane Keating – Welp, it’s the last week of new episodes! And let me tell you, they’re some of the best this season. Let’s take a look.

EPISODE 4234 – ROCK ROCK BAND

Virgil Von Vivaldi (played by Michael McKean, in a reference to Spinal Tap) visits Sesame Street in search of rocks to make a rock rock band with. Abby and Elmo bring him some rocks, as well as Zoe, who offers him Rocco. However, none of the rocks they find are fit to be the lead singer. Abby tries some magic, but turns Chris into a large gem. He is changed back, but Virgil likes the idea so much, he asks to be turned into a gem to be the perfect “rock” singer.

McKean’s performance in this episode was so great. All of his remarks as he assigned each rock to a part were hilariously clever (like “Use the force, lute”). The running gag with the two Anything Muppets appearing whenever he said “rock” was nice too. There’s also a great gag with some penguins I won’t spoil.

New Segments:

• Elmo and Anna Faris try to explain what a “gem” is, but a prince keeps interrupting, giving Anna some rings. This is one of the few where the Muppet assistant is more so the one explaining the word.
• In the park, Grover bothers Mr. Johnson once more trying to sell him some V related items.
• Film: A NASA astronaut counts down from 10 to a rocket launch. Some really nice footage in this one.
• Film: A group of kids visit Sterling Hill Mines and collect rocks. I’ve been there a few times on Boy Scout trips and seeing them with their rock-collecting boxes brought back some memories.

EPISODE 4235 – ZOE LOVES ROCCO

Zoe is enjoying a day with Rocco and sings his favorite song (“Rocco and Roll”) with Alan and Chris. She goes to fetch his sun hat and leaves Elmo in charge of watching him. Elmo instead pays with Baby David and finds him missing when Zoe returns. Chris helps him find Rocco using clues. Elmo finally finds Rocco and apologizes to Zoe for his treatment toward Rocco.

For some reason, I felt a little uneasy about Elmo’s treatment of Rocco here. It’s always funny when he gets frustrated with him, but his carelessness was kinda thoughtless of him. Despite that, it was a good episode. “Rocco and Roll” was a catchy song that was kinda on the short side.

New Segments:

• LaDainian Tomlinson and Elmo show what a “celebration” is.
• Film: 19 is hidden in a pile of pebbles. Another “yawn” bit, but its really short so it doesn’t have much of an impact.
• Film: An announcer asks kids how they feel in different situation. It kind of went on for too long.
• Also, I know it’s not new, but a surprise in this episode was the inclusion of Bert’s song “I Gotta Be Clean.” It’s not “classic”, but it’s the oldest Muppet material we’ve seen all season.

EPISODE 4236 – DIRTBALLS

Oscar has had it with the cleanliness on Sesame Street and forms a new company, “Dirtballs.” His workers, Hiram and Burt, follow him to spread dirt around the street. They try to foist some on Luis in the garden, but the dirt actually helps him and the kids plant some vegetables. Oscar brings some to Alan and Chris at Hooper’s, but it helps Chris out with his problem: he can’t keep his cousin’s hamster in the apartment, but the dirt is a perfect place for him to live. Finally, Oscar tries to spread some around the Laundromat, but Leela makes a game out of finding the “treasures” inside. Hiram and Burt are amazed at the many things dirt can do and sing about them. Oscar closes shop, fed up with the usefulness.

I love Oscar and this was a great street plot. He had so many great lines, I couldn’t list them all! The ending was a bit abrupt, but it does come completely from left field and it’s really funny.

New Segments:

• Usher and Elmo seen various animals “volunteering” to help adults. Susan makes a cameo, which is great because she doesn’t appear much these days.
• Animation: D stands for “dolphin” and “dive”. It has some really nice animation.
• Cartoon: 17 trucks are counted.

EPISODE 4237 – GROUCHY MOTHER’S DAY

It’s Grouch Mother’s Day and Oscar has some plans to make it the worst for his mother. When she lands, they also get a visit from Oscar’s sister, Bunny. She constantly one-ups him on gifts, giving their mom more stinky fish and better skunk perfume. Oscar tries to drive them to the dump, but when he actually gets the car to start, his mother and sister are upset it works and think the street is making him too nice. Oscar arranges a gift Bunny would never think of – a Grouch trio (Bob, Gordon and Chris) singing a rotten song for her. Oscar’s mom has had the worst Grouch Mother’s Day ever and is grateful for two rotten kids.

Another winning Oscar episode! That’s why he’s my favorite!

New Segments:

• Rachel Griffiths shows some examples of a dozen – a carton of eggs, some bagels, and 12 singing penguins.
• Animation: A claymation remake of the classic “Ladybugs’ Picnic” cartoon. It’s alright, but not as memorable as the original.
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: The two drift out to sea while relaxing on a floaty and end up on an island.
• Grover listens to his heartbeat and learns from a chicken how to make it faster. Another great Grover sketch!

EPISODE 4238 – ABBY TRIES AND TRIES AGAIN

Leela and Chris have plans to attend a party in the neighborhood. Abby offers to help Leela get dressed using magic. She does a magic spell that gives her a pirate outfit (complete with parrot). She tries the trick again and turns her into a football player. Leela tells her to be specific with her spell and she finally gets a fancy ball gown. Abby thinks her hair could use some improvement too and does another spell, which turns her hair all frizzy red and then into a puffy, Bride-of-Frankenstein look. After specifying her spell, Leela gets a ncie hairdo. Chris arrives to walk her to the party, but Leela can’t walk in her glass slippers. Abby offers more help and turns Chris into a horse. She changes him back and conjures a model airplane. She finally gets them a coach to ride. Abby does the dress spell on Chris, turning him into a pirate too. Chris likes the outfit and the two head for the party.

A nice little Abby episode. I enjoyed the various references to “Cinderella” (including Abby’s “Bipity-boppity-boo” inspired spells).

New Segments:

• Zoe Salanda and Elmo pretend to be various types of “transportation.”
• Cartoon: Elmo sings the Z sound in the word “zebra”. Yeesh, another one…
• Cartoon: 15 trucks make a 15
• The “Hot and Cold” song with Katy Perry was supposed to be in this episode, but was replaced with a Cookie Monster song, “The First Time Me Eat Cookie.” A good choice; I was hoping it would air again.

Well, that’s it for Season 41! Come back when Season 42 airs!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: Season 41 Episode Recap, Part 6

Sesame Street Season 41

Episode Recap, Part 6

Shane Keating – Only one more week left of Season 41. Let’s take a look at the latest two episodes.


EPISODE 4232 – VEGGIES REVOLT

Telly and Chris see that a group of veggies are protesting that they are treated poorly on the street and plan on leaving. Anderson Cucumber reports on all the proceedings for VNN. (Care to guess what it stands for?) The first offender is Zoe, who is about to leave her lunch without eating her broccoli. Chris shows her a veggie-dance that gets her to eat them. Next, Cookie Monster wolfs down several dozen cookies, when a plate of veggies is right near him. Chris has him imagine the plate is full of cookies and he eats the whole serving (including the plate). Finally, Gina is trying to get Baby Natasha to eat her peas, but would rather knock the bowl on the ground. The veggies have had enough and are about to leave, when the residents sing “We Love You Vegetables” and Natasha now eats her food. The veggies decide to stay.

Another good storyline. Full of great characters and some good songs. I love how Cookie tried to remind the viewer he’s not the “Veggie Monster”; I really wish people would get that into their heads. Also, the story is riddled with food puns, including one based on a certain frog’s famous song.

New Segments:

• Ellen Pompeo and Elmo show how to be healthy. I honestly have no idea who half of these celebrities are.
• Film: The number 16 is found in a pile of pebbles.
• Super Grover 2.0 – A cow can’t get down the stairs of her beauty parlor and Grover must find a way to get her down. This is the last new “Super Grover 2.0” sketch of the season, which is a shame because it’s so good.
• Abby Cadabby sings a song about trying broccoli for the first time. It’s all right, though I wouldn’t consider it “classic.”

EPISODE 4233 – FAIRY TALE SCIENCE FAIR

Telly and Baby Bear are reporting on Sesame Street’s “Fairy Tale Science Fair.” They visit Little Red Riding Hood’s booth, where she shows how observing and comparing will help her learn which Granny is the real one and which is the Big Bad Wolf. With help from the reporters, she finds out and the Wolf leaves in a huff. Next, they visit Cinderella, who loves science. She tests whether a pumpkin floats or sinks in water; and it floats! The prince comes along with a glass slipper, which Cinderella tests in her water tank too. Finally, they find the Three Little Pigs, freaking out because the Big Bad Wolf is coming. After answering some questions and doing some experiments with building material, they figure out they need to make a house from bricks to stay safe. The Wolf is thwarted again and takes his frustration out on Telly and Baby Bear, blowing them away.

I kinda liked this one. There were a number of funny gags and the many uses of science come across well. Plus, you can’t go wrong with a Telly and Baby Bear episode.

New Segments:

• Elmo plays reporter while Samantha Harris gives him something to report on.
• Ernie sings about things he wonders about. This is the first new actual Ernie segment since 2006 and it’s a really great song, his best in years.

Welp, only one more week to go! See you then!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: Season 41 Episode Recap, Part 5

Sesame Street Season 41

Episode Recap, part 5

Shane Keating – Here’s the rundowns for the last few weeks of episodes!

EPISODE 4227 – FETCH THE LETTER “I”

Telly and Elmo build the letter I using their Letter of the Day Kit. Meanwhile, Rosita plays with Iggy the dog and throws a stick for him to fetch. Iggy mistakes the I for the stick and grabs it. Elmo and Telly then make many attempts to get their letter back.

A pretty “meh” storyline, if only good for Telly. I was half expecting them to reference the classic cartoon in some way.

New Segments:

• Terrence Howard explains to Elmo what “incognito” means. Some passing animals in disguise help, as well as a second Elmo.
• Animation: Traction Jackson and his friend see a sign with only a neon I and sing about the many words it could start. It’s not often we see him anymore and I’d really hate to loose this character, so it’s good they still make new bits with him.

EPISODE 4228 – RAHKI ROAD

Today is Rhaki, an holiday celebrated in India where brothers and sisters show their love for each other by making bracelets for them. Leela is expecting one from her brother in the mail. Telly and Zoe are intrigued and make bracelets too. Telly goes haywire, finding more and more people he considers a brother or sister and makes dozens of bracelets. Meanwhile, Chris tries to cheer Leela up by making a Rahki party with Elmo. They are all lured into Hooper’s and find a Rahki party waiting for them. And finally, Leela’s bracelet comes for her.

This story had such a classic vibe to it. I could totally see it airing with segments in between it like the old days. And Telly’s neurotic worrying is back and on full blast!

New Segments:

• Alton Brown and Abby cook up a “recipe” for fun!
• Film: The letter U stands for “umpire”, “umbrella,” and “underwear”. A really funny short film.
• Cartoon: Indian images count to 19. The new letter/number segments this year have been really good, I must say!
• Super Grover 2.0 – Grover helps a chicken get to the other side of the “Pretty Good Wall of China.” I think this segment set the record for the most chicken jokes in a 5 and a half-minute period.
• Cartoon: A creature hugs a sad, smaller creature, making him happy. One of the finalists in the aniBOOM contest.

EPISODE 4229 – PUDDLE JUMPING

Elmo can’t wait to jump in a puddle once it starts raining, but no puddles are around. While he waits, he runs into Baby Bear, who sings about showering in the rain (a verse from the classic Sesame song). He then meets Stinky the Stinkweed, who uses the rain to grow a flower. Cookie Monster comes by, pretending the rain is cookies and sings “It’s Raining Cookies” to help Elmo imagine it too. He then comes across Oscar, who’s collecting rain in his bucket to save for sunny days. Finally, he helps Rosita and Big Bird share an umbrella to get to Hooper’s. At last, there are some puddles for Elmo and friends to jump in.

An alright story. It’s great to see Oscar and Big Bird in the same episode, plus Stinky (who’s not used as much these days). Plus, how can you NOT love Cookie’s “It’s Raining Men” parody?!

New Segments:

• Jennifer Garner and Abby show what goulashes are.
• Super Grover 2.0 – An elephant and sheep need help balancing the weight in their boat.

EPISODE 4230 – SAVED BY SUPERFOODS

Elmo doesn’t know what is on his plate. Super Grover fails at helping, when the Super Foods arrive and point out it’s a kiwi and convince him to try it, Elmo does and he likes it! Super Grover goes off to find someone else in trouble. He finds Rosita unable to open her snack bag. Grover rips it open, spilling the contents on the ground. The Super Foods arrive again and show her the “rainbow” of snacks she could have instead. Fed up, Grover comes across a chicken trying to lift his heavy suitcase. Grover insists he help, but can’t lift the suitcase at all. The Super Foods appear once more to show him that because he skipped breakfast, he has no more energy. After trying some, he gains his strength back and everyone sings in praise of the Super Foods.

This story was originally made for an educational resource video, “Food for Thought.” I’m not sure why they put it into an episode; but it’s full of some great Super Grover moments! And the songs are pretty good too, my favorite being “Try, Try Again.”

New Segments:

• Grover suckers Mr. Johnson into playing the Letter G Game and gets many G-word prizes (unneeded, mind you).
• Cartoon: 5 trucks build a 5 in the sandbox. Animated by the same guy who does the Elmo’s World cartoons.
• Cartoon: A roll call (Imagine the pun). Another aniBOOM Contest entry.

EPISODE 4231 – TWINS DAY

Today, Hooper’s in celebrating Twins Day. The Count spends the whole day counting to 2. Chris has even brought his fraternal twin sister, Christy. Zoe and Abby want to be twins too, so they try to find ways they can be twins. They can’t do the same things as each other, which they think means they can’t be twins. Chris and Christy tell them that some twins look alike. With some magic, Abby makes Zoe look like her, and then changes herself into Zoe, but neither image works for them. They both find they like jumping, which means they can be “The Jumping Twins” and join the party.

This was a pretty good episode. Abby and Zoe were great and Christy was an interesting treat. Plus, it’s got the Count! There’s also a great running gag with Telly seeing double.

New Segments:

• Sherri Shepherd and Abby show things that are “identical.”
• Animation: Counting to 10 by 2s
• Cartoon: Question of the Day – Diversity. One of the aniBOOM finalists.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Season 41 Episode Recap, Week 4

Sesame Street Season 41

Episode Recap, Part 4

Shane Keating – Let’s look at the next few episodes of Sesame Street’s 41st season. Oddly enough, episode 4226 aired last Friday, earlier than the episodes before it. I guess since it was about spiders, it would fit in with PBS Kids’ “Halloween” day theme (just barely, mind you).

EPISODE 4226 – WHERE’S THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER?

 Telly, Rosita, and Elmo are waiting for the Isty Bitsy Spider to appear at the water spout, but she doesn’t show up. They decide to go looking for her. They find a bug in the garden, who says he’s a beetle (not a spider) and tells them spiders have eight legs (making them arachnids). They look some more, finding a grasshopper (who tells them to look for the spider in her home) and an ant (who tells them to look for a stickier home). At the end of the street, Telly is caught in a sticky string, when the look up and find the Isty Bitsty Spider in her lamppost-web. They watch as her egg sack releases many baby spiders.

We’ve seen many of these kinds of “find the animals based on the clue” episodes these past two seasons. This was alright, made better by the funny bugs.

New Segments:

• Jim Parsons (Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory) doesn’t know what an “arachnid” is and is frightened when a spider follows him.
• The Count sings a short song about the number 8. The beat is nice, but it’s a pretty “meh” song.
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: The duo are in the Australian outback with a Kangaroo.

EPISODE 4223 – SNUFFLE SNEEZE

Big Bird finishes up his dust bath before meeting Snuffy for a play-date. When they get together, Snuffy starts sneezing uncontrollably. They think Hooper’s will be safer, but Snuffy’s powerful sneeze blows away Alan’s newspaper rack, then Alan himself. They go to the Laundromat, where Snuffy sends Leela’s working table sliding away and throws laundry everywhere. Gina comes by and inspects. She discovers Big Bird’s the problem, because of his dust. Snuffy sneezes all the dust off and they continue their play-date.

I really liked this one. Elmo centric-episodes don’t even compare to ones like these; they have a plot, emotion, comedy, and a good lesson.

New Segments:

• Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel explain what it means to be “allergic”, but the animals recruited to help them cause the couple to break out. Joey Mazzarino's shrimp and Leslie Carrera Rudolph's chicken are particularly funny.
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: The duo work as “Dustbusters” and try to clean a woman’s living room. Ernie’s high-tech methods make the problem a lot worse than Bert’s old-fashioned broom and dustbin.

EPISODE 4224 – THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

Telly is trying to do a perfect “Boingarooni” on his pogo-stick, when a salesman named Mack offers him a new iPogo, a pogo-stick that can do many different things with the use of “apps”. Telly trades his old, beloved pogo-stick for the iPogo, while Baby Bear reads the large instruction manual. They go through several apps, finally finding one for boinging. Telly thinks it bounces to slow, but the “faster” setting makes him bounce of out control. With the right app, he is able to do a perfect “Boingarooni”, but he wants to do it on his own, without the help of the iPogo. Mack tries to give him the even newer model, the iPogo 300, but Telly wants his old pogo-stick instead. Back on his trusty pogo-stick, he does a perfect “Boingarooni” by himself!

This was such a funny street story! The whole spiel about the iPogo being useful for everything but bouncing is so true to life. The only thing I would’ve put in is a brief explanation of what an “app” is. Sure adults will get it, but kids probably won’t.

New Segments:

• Ty Burrell tries to explain what a “hexagon” is, with some magical “assistance” from Abby.
• Cartoon: A song about the Lonely 11, one of the finalists in the aniBOOM contest. This bit was my favorite entry and I’m glad it made it into the show, but I don’t really like the modifications they made to it.
• Super Grover 2.0 – Grover helps a family of robins get a heavy grand piano into their nest.

EPISODE 4225 – ‘A’ TEAM

The Big A (Ryan Renolds) recruits Elmo, Abby, and Telly to join “The A Team”, where they’ll solve problems using the letter A. They first find Baby Bear, who can’t get Curly to sleep. The A Team helps by showing her an astronaut doing aerobics while reciting the alphabet, which somehow puts her to sleep. Next, Gina has a letter that has been blown into a tree. The A Team brings in some animals with apricots on their ankles to sneeze it out (they have apricot allergies). Finally, two pigs are pestering Oscar by his trashcan. The A Team brings in Alan with an afro, getting chased by an alligator with an attitude, but the pigs don’t leave. They then try showing them an ape dressed as an angel singing about acorns, but they still don’t leave. Simply asking them, the pigs stop their game and the A Team rejoices.

This episode was nuts! Their ‘A’ solutions were so wonderfully crazy. And Telly as Mr. T? Hilarious! Especially when he quoted him, going “I ain’t gettin’ on no plane!” The only thing I didn’t really like was their song at the end; it seemed so lazily written.

New Segments:

• Rebecca Romijn and Abby show what accessories are, while Abby makes some magically appear.
• Film: From the NASA Space Station, an astronaut shows the letter A.
• A short film about the number 9 in some rocks.
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: The Great Ernesto and his assistant Bertini chase their rabbit through a magic land inside their magic hat.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: Season 41 Recap, Week 3

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Sesame Street Season 41

Episode Recap, Week 3

Shane Keating – Only two new episodes this week, which means…less work me for me! Let’s hop to it!

EPISODE 4221 – BERT’S PIGEON SEARCH

Elmo and Abby play with their rockets, making “brr brrr” sounds. Bert mistakes them for the blue bar pigeon, the last pigeon he needs to see to complete his pigeon list. Abby and Elmo help him by looking for the pigeon themselves. They come across a chickadee, robin and blue jay before finally finding the pigeon. They call Bert to see and they all have a pigeon party.

Ya’ know, for an episode titled “Bert’s Pigeon Search”, you’d think there’d be plenty of Bert in it. You’re quite mistaken; he’s only there for the beginning and end of the episode. That’s a very missed opportunity for some classic Bert frustration. Plus, an episode about birds and no Big Bird appearance? What were they thinking?!

New Segments:

• Julie Bowen and Elmo show off some binoculars
• The winning aniBOOM Awards 4 Sesame Street short appears. It’s a claymation remake of “Pinball Number Count #12”, set in a childs’ room.
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: Bert enters Bernice in the Pigeon Games.

EPISODE 4222 – UP IN THE AIR

Snuffy and Big Bird are having a playdate and try jumping to see who can stay up the longest, but find neither of them can stay up. Gordon explains what gravity is and tells them it’s what’s keeping them from going up. With Abby’s help, they eradicate gravity and begin floating in the air. But, all their playdate stuff floats away from them. Abby brings back the gravity and they enjoy a playdate on the ground.

This was a nice street story. The song was kinda bland, though. See how good an episode can be when Elmo isn’t shoehorned into it?

New Segments:

• Natalie Morales and Abby show things that can float: a pumpkin (in water), Abby and even Natalie (with some magical help). Yup, this is the only new segment in the whole episode.

BONUS!: This week, some repeated episodes aired, using season 39 plots with new segments. A new Super Grover sketch was part of one. He demonstrates the letter F by trying to fly, but (of course) he falls flat on his face.

The next episode doesn’t air ‘til November, so I’ll see you all then.








The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: Season 41 Episode Recap, Week 2

Sesame Street Season 41
Episode Recap, Week 2

Shane Keating – A second week of shows, a second week of write-ups! This week started the return of “repeating” episodes, where they use the street scenes from an older episode and add new segments to it. The season 39 shows are being repeated this season, but I’m not going to cover them. Let’s go!

EPISODE 4218 – THE FURRY FOUR

Elmo, Telly and Abby are inspired by their “Furry Four” comic to pretend to be the superheroes. But, there are only three of them and they need a fourth. They find Rosita and Zoe, but they make five. They find a chicken, which refuses to be a part of it. A squirrel takes up the challenge, but breaks his back while showing off his “super-strength.” With no hope, they find Chris, who becomes their fourth member.

The episode was pretty funny. Joey M’s squirrel particularly had me in stitches. Much like the “Y Quest,” they sing the same song in every scene and it got on my nerves.

New Segments:

• Chris O’Donnel tries to show “activate” by activating a robot, but can’t find the right button.
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: Ernie and Bert are dog-walkers and deal with Lady Ostrich’s sad dog.
• An Anything Muppet girl sings about how much she loves her hair. It’s a good song.

EPISODE 4219 – THE WOOSH & VANISH MYSTERY

Elmo and Telly are going to play basketball, but their ball suddenly disappears. Telly gets an investigator’s hat, crayon and pad to try to find an answer to the mystery. They first accuse Abby, since she can make things disappear, but she was with the Seven Dwarves. They then accuse the Big Bad Wolf, since they heard a wooshing sound, but he was busy at the hair salon (he works as a hair drier now).

A pretty good story again. The Big Bad Wolf and his Zsa Zsa Gabor-like customer were a highlight.

New Segments:

• Colin Farell and Elmo investigate to find the meaning of “investigate.”
• Anime-Elmo sings about the J sound in “jacket”. Was there a demand for more of these?
• A film segment where a man takes plastic bags blowing around the city and makes an inflatable animal from them.

EPISODE 4220 – MUSIC MAGIC

Abby leaves her wand behind on her way to the library. Elmo pretends he’s a conductor with it, and soon casts a spell on himself and the street that makes everyone start singing. He makes Bob, Gordon and the kids sing about their games. Baby Bear and Alan are bewitched into singing about his porridge order; Elmo magically makes them sing high and low (with a Chimpunk’d Alan voice!) He spies Chris asking to get a mustard stain out of his shirt with Leela and makes him sing a “Shout” parody while singing loud and soft. Soon, Elmo sees everyone doesn’t like singing, but doesn’t know how to stop. Abby arrives and fixes everything. Leela explains that if Elmo wants everyone to sing, he doesn’t need magic – he just needs to sing!

I had high hopes for this episode and was not disappointed. The songs were wonderful and I want them on my iPod! It may be all a reference to the Buffy episode “Once More with Feeling”, especially with the mustard stain reference.

News Segments:

• Reggie Bush explains “appetite”, while two monsters have a hunger for his food.
• Film: Four folks in the city beat-box, showing M for “mouth-music.”
• Cartoon: A family of penguins go to the movies, but by the time the snacks are passed to papa, there are 0.
• In a UTube video, Elmo shows how to do “The Elmo Slide.” I don’t love it, but don’t hate it.

Keep reading until next week and watch the new episodes if you can!









The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: Season 41 Episode Recap, Week 1

Sesame Street Season 41

Episode Recap, Week 1

Shane Keating -Another season of Sesame Street has begun! And on my birth-week no less! This season’s all about science and conducting experiments, which sounds a lot more tolerable than season 36’s healthy curriculum. We’ve got 26 episodes over the course of four months, so let’s begin here in September!

EPISODE 4213 – THE CAMOFLAUGE CHALLENGE

Elmo’s taking photos of Chris and Rosita, when they are greeted by Camouflage Carla (played by Kira Sedgwick). They are invited to join the Camouflage Club, but need to find 6 things that blend into Sesame Street in 6 minutes. They look all over the street, finding a grasshopper, a lizard, two butterflies and two ladybugs.

An alright story. It shouldn’t have been the season opener though. I love the "Camouflage" song though.

New Segments:

• Amy Poehler and Elmo show what a challenge is.
• “The O Network” – A cartoon letter O hosts an Oprah parody (voiced by Oprah herself)
• Abby’s Flying Fairy School: The class takes the Tooth Fairy Test by trying to place a coin under a girl’s pillow. It’s really nice to see a new one after a season of repeats. I especially loved the Tooth-Bank commercial.    
• Super Grover 2.0: Grover tries helping some penguins move an ice block from their dance floor. This is a GREAT segment! It’s 6 minutes, but unlike “Murray Has a Little Lamb”, it didn’t seem like that at all. It went by really fast. And there’s plenty of Grover comedy in it and Super Grover-type blunders you’d expect.
• The Closer: A Kira Sedgwick Muppet closes cases around the office. How odd that they’d include this in the episode with the Closer herself. You don’t really have to know the show to get the jokes. 

EPISODE 4214 – THE HAPPY SCIENTISTS

Telly, Elmo and Rosita find Gordon grading his student’s science papers, inspiring them to become scientists. They form a hypothesis about baths, after seeing Leela giving Barkley a bath. Elmo and Rostia think everyone on Sesame Street takes a bath, while Telly thinks otherwise. They roam the street and find that Chris takes a bath, cats take tongue baths, sparrows take dust baths, owls sun bathe, and Oscar takes a mud bath. Telly is upset his hypothesis was wrong, but learns that it’s okay to be wrong in science and the fun is in finding the answer.

This episode was a lot better than the previous episode. Telly is flat out hilarious when he becomes a “mad” scientist. The song they sing after they make a discovery got annoying after awhile (much like the Questing song from last season).

New Segments:

• Wanda Sykes shows Elmo what a journal is, but her journal begins to spread her secrets.
• F for Float – An astronaut in a NASA space station shows the letter F.
• Abby’s Flying Fairy School: A Cubby Creature steals all their stuff and they must get them back using patterns and “The Name Game.” If you like Michael Jackson, you’ll get a lot of the jokes Blögg makes.
• will.i.am sings “What I Am.” It’s a good song with lots of characters in it. But as you’ve probably seen, he doesn’t look too enthusiastic about it.
• The Two-Headed Monster adds chickens and pigs to make 14 animals. How cool is it to see these two (one?) back in action?!
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: Bert, Ernie, and Rubber Duckie (The Three Ducketeers) help King Louie Louie get his queen to forgive him. Bert falls in the moat several times in the process.

EPISODE 4215 – CHICKEN WHEN IT COMES TO THUNDER STORMS

Elmo, Chris, Leela, Abby and four chickens celebrate their tee-ball victory, but because of the thunderstorm outside, the chickens freak out, trashing the store and causing harm to Chris. They try to calm them down in various ways, including pretending the storm is like a side-show and a rave-song.

Chris is an excellent foil when it came to getting chickens thrown at him. Also, Teriyaki Chicken is a terrible pun name.

New Segments:

• Jason Bateman can’t find someone to help show “comfort.”
• “Fear,” a cartoon segment by child-book illustrator Todd Parr.
• Abby’s Flying Fairy School: Abby can’t sleep during naptime and tries counting sheep…by poofing several sheep into the classroom. Among there are a trio of German fashion model-like sheep, which cracked me up. 
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures – In Scotland, the duo try to get a picture of the famed Loch Ness Monster.
• True Mud: A “True Blood” parody where a man orders “true mud” at a restaurant, but gets a “true spud”, “true cud”, a man named Bud and a “true dud”. I liked it, plus Jerry Nelson voices the Bill M. Muppet! I don’t see why YouTubers are saying this will make kids wanna watch “True Blood.”

EPISODE 4216 – IRON MONSTER

Grover needs his Super Grover cape cleaned, but everyone in the Laundromat has an issue. While his cape’s in the wash, he invents a new superhero – IRON MONSTER. He tries breaking Chris’ dollar literally, while Leela shows him how to make change. Gabi then has a sweater with some stains, which Grover adds to rather than subtracting. Leela provided some stain remover. Finally, Maria is missing a sock, so Iron Monster uses his static-cling power that sends clothes flying at him. Leela finds the sock in the Missing Sock bin. When his cape is ready, he retires Iron Monster, stating the Laundromat has a superhero – Leela.

New Segments:

• Jude Law explains what “cling” means. Some animals help by clinging to him.
• Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures - Ernie and Bert train the Amazing Froggy to hop in the Frog Race. A tad tame compared to their other misadventures.

EPISODE 4217 – WHAT’S THAT NOISE?

Elmo is sleeping over at Maria and Luis’, when they hear a grasshopper on the sofa, but aren’t sure how to get rid of it. Big Bird arrives to say goodnight, and learns that some birds eat the insect, causing him to freak out. Super Grover then comes to the rescue, luring the grasshopper from under the sofa with a grasshopper call (or more accurately, a cow call). Getting the idea to lure the grasshopper outside, Elmo and Rev Run team up and sing “Hop This Way” as the grasshopper follows them to the garden where it belongs.

Another pretty good street story.  I didn’t really understand why Rev Run was really needed, but Super Grover’s scene was certainly great! And for anyone wondering, he retains his classic Super Grover look in the street scenes and has the new get-up in the Super Grover 2.0 segment. Speaking of that…

New Segments:

• Kara DioGuardi and Chef Elmo show the different kinds of pasta.
• Super Grover 2.0 – A cactus tries playing with his ball, but it suddenly begins to shrink and blow out air. Grover tries to find an appropriate substitute ball.

Tune in next week for some more weekly wrap-ups!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

41 Favorite Sesame Street Segments

41 Favorite Sesame Street Segments (in No Particular Order)!

Michael Wermuth, Jr. - Well, Sesame Street’s 41st season just started, so what better way to kick off the 41st year than with a listing of my 41 favorite Sesame Street moments. Now, in the past I’ve made other lists of the favorite Sesame Street songs that haven’t been released on albums, that haven’t been released on DVD, my favorite segments from last decade, and the top five segments I didn’t know about until sesamestreet.org… But this isn’t about whether the segments are available on CD, DVD, or online, it’s my top 41 favorite segments from Sesame Street, in no particular order!

1.       Henson #1 (aka Baker #1)

2.       Grover asks Kermit, The Count, and Sully why the number 2 is their favorite numbers (and it isn’t any of theirs!)

3.       Rubber Duckie

4.       C is for Cookie

5.       Oscar, Bruno, and the adults go to the Cha-Cha Palace

6.       Kermit’s W Lecture

7.       Monsterpiece Theater: Chariots of Fur

8.       Pinball Number Count #2

9.       Prairie Dawn invites Grover, Herry, and Cookie Monster to dinner

10.   The Ten Commandments of Health

11.   Jazz #7

12.   Teeny Little Super Guy: Pets

13.   Kermit and Joey sing the alphabet

14.   Grover serves a burger

15.   Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)

16.   Sesame Street News: Cookie Monster’s first day of school

17.   1,2,3,4 – with Feist

18.   That Grouchy Face – with James Taylor

19.   Jim Carrey: Happy and Sad feet

20.   Squeal of Fortune

21.   D-Dance

22.   Song About Elmo – with Adam Sandler

23.   Things That I Remember

24.   Kermit and Grover: Earmuff Salesman

25.   Ernie and Lefty: U/V Salesman

26.   Snuffy jumps on Big Bird’s trampoline

27.   Cookie Monster and the Count co-operate on eating and counting cookies

28.   Super Grover: Telephone Booth

29.   Bert’s Bust

30.   Bert and Ernie go to Egypt

31.   I Just Adore Four

32.   Typewriter: N-Nose

33.   Number Three Ball Film

34.   Mystery Guest

35.   Disco Frog

36.   Don’t Know Y – with Nora Jones

37.   Because We’re Friends

38.   Mumford’s Levitation Magic

39.   Ernie and Cookie Monster: Same and Different

40.   Mad Painter #3

41.   Super K Cereal

Honorable Mention: Every version of “What’s the Name of That Song?” The song is so good, and every version I’ve seen is great, whether it’s sung by Forgetful Jones, Bert and Ernie, or the entire cast (or really most of the then-current humans and some Muppet characters).

Well, that’s my list. I chose not to include anything from season 41, mainly because the season hasn’t been completely broadcast yet, but I have seen a few clips on sesamestreet.org and Sesame Street’s YouTube channel that I would have liked to have included (such as “Hot and Cold” with Katy Perry and “What I Am” with Will.I.Am).

Do you agree with Michael's list? Are there more segments you'd like to have seen included? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier 

What's Wrong (And Right) With Sesame Street's New Music Videos

Today we have a very exciting article for you, Muppet fans! It was written by the one and only Steve Swanson, host of The MuppetCast and it discusses the good, the bad, and the booby of Sesame Street's new music videos.

NOTE: This article was written before Sesame Street removed Katy Perry's song with Elmo from Season 41--but fret not, it still works just as well.

Remember that Sesame Street's 41st season starts tomorrow, September 27th on PBS! 
 

WHAT'S WRONG (AND RIGHT) WITH SESAME STREET'S NEW MUSIC VIDEOS

Steve Swanson - Many of us have probably wound up watching Sesame Street far beyond the years anybody thought we would. If not religiously, we still tune in at least every now and then. And as probably everyone reading this blog knows, Sesame is set to debut their new season tomorrow, Monday, September 27. As has been the case in previous years, the folks at Sesame Workshop just can't contain their excitement about all the new stuff they've created for the show, and they've released some of it to the web for fans to enjoy ahead of time. That's one of the reasons I like those folks; they all seem to be endlessly creative and passionate about the content they create that, for over forty years, has been educating and entertaining like nobody else.

Along with the Muppets themselves, I've been a longtime fan of Sesame Street music. There's something there, some magic ingredient, that sets it apart from almost all other children's music. Why has "I Love Trash" and "C is for Cookie" stuck with us for decades, when songs from other children's shows--such as 321 Contact or even The Electric Company--simply haven't? There is an inherent specialness that's hard to duplicate. Even when mainstream musicians make appearances on the show, their work takes on a new quality and in some cases lives on well into future popularity (case in point: R.E.M. with "Furry Happy Monsters").

But for a great number of fans, Sesame's musical hayday lies in its past. Recent years brought the inevitable shift from using real human musicians to largely synthetic music, and changing the overall style to more hip-hop and imitating other modern genres. And while some were very vocal in stating that something uniquely "Sesame" is now gone from the show's soundtrack, famous singers and musicians of all types still flock to the Street to lend their superb talents. Just two such individuals in the new Season 41 include singer Katy Perry and rapper Will.i.am.

I have little problem telling you I'm one of those folks who appreciate "classic" Sesame Street material over the new stuff. In fact, it kind of helps my story here. There are people who enjoy the newer Sesame Street music far more than I do. There are exceptions--I loved Feist's re-working of "1,2,3,4"-- but they are few. So when I saw The Muppet Mindset's link to a new Sesame tune sung by a rapper and co-founder of the Black Eyed Peas, I was... well "skeptical" is an understatement. But I dutifully clicked the link, and was absolutely delighted with what I saw and heard. It was a bright, cheery, incredibly fun and unbelievably catchy song! And simple; I couldn't believe how effective Will.i.am dancing and singing with a half-dozen of the main Muppets, in various combinations, in front of a plain white background really was. I'm singing the song in my head right now, just thinking about it! It's already my favorite thing from the new season. Too bad it only lasts a minute and a half.

I had my preconcieved notions, I was proven wrong, and as so often happens I learned something new and was truly glad for the experience.

Couple that with Katy Perry's newly-released Sesame video. I saw the links appear for this one while I was at work one afternoon, and couldn't wait to get home to watch it. I was still on my high from Will.i.am's "What I Am," and although I know nothing about Katy Perry except, well, her cherry chapstick, I thought if this was anything like my "What I Am" surprise, I was in for a treat.

I have to pause here and say that, prior to these experiences, I had never heard anything at all by Will.i.am or Katy Perry. So I need to ask you an honest question: is it weird that I don't know who these people are? I take pride in being blissfully unaware of pop culture and the "celebrity" landscape. Heck, I barely know who Ryan Seacrest is. Is that odd?  Anyway...

So I get home and eagerly click the link to watch Katy Perry's rendition of "Hot and Cold." And something strange happened. In one of those mind-flashing moments, I remembered back to my pre-"What I Am" mental state, expecting to be nonplussed or even put off and winding up being a rabid fan of the song. And then I compared that to my current "Hot and Cold" mindset-- that of eagerly anticipating watching the video, and then seconds into it, sinking into disappointment. Which eventually became appalled disbelief. I wound up turning it off.

Why am I writing this much about two little Sesame Street videos? Because these two specific examples demonstrate what's right--and still wrong--with some of the decision making regarding the show's content. I vehemently disliked the Katy Perry piece, and I wanted to be able to articulate specifically why it was so bad a fit for Sesame Street.

It's a little odd that Will.i.am's song, so simply put together and executed, could be so powerful and positive, while Katy Perry's video seemed to have so many components to it, and most of them were awful.

Let's start with her wardrobe. This is a simple one: overt cleavage is not appropriate for preschoolers. In any way. Do I need to repeat that? This went beyond distasteful; rather than simply cleavage, I saw much more of her upper anatomy than I ever want to see (on Sesame Street). Really, Sesame wardrobe people? That dress got signoff? I know you're better than that.

The song was refitted with lyrics for the Sesame audience, and that's how it usually goes with these things. It's her song "Hot and Cold," which I think I've heard in passing once or twice. While I couldn't understand what she was singing most of the time, it seemed good enough. But the song wasn't the guilty party here, it was everything around the song. The premise of this piece was that Elmo had told Katy they were going to play dress-up, and when Katy showed up in her dress-up costume (which Elmo would have had much more to say about had they been on Jay Leno or Jimmy Kimmel), Elmo decides he doesn't want to play anymore and takes off running. So Katy runs after him, chasing him every which way, all the while lamenting and singing how she always wants to play with him while he remains aloof.

The whole thing had nothing educational to offer--it hardly included a Sesame Street character. It was barely a Sesame-worthy piece; Elmo only seemed to be onscreen as an excuse to put this on the show. Almost every time you saw Elmo, he was secondary to Perry. This was unquestionably all about her, and it demonstrates exactly what I despise about many Sesame celeb appearances: it was an excuse for Katy Perry to appear on Sesame Street to get her hit song out there, and further expose promote herself.

Will.i.am didn't need a storyline behind his video. He didn't even need a background! With a good song, effective use of characters, appealing visuals, and a positive, self-affirming message, he did more in two minutes than Katy Perry, with all of her flashy, vapid, over-produced music and video, did in what felt like 20 minutes (but was probably more like four).

To the writers and producers of the show: you know we love you guys! We've stuck with you for over forty years, and by and large it's been great seeing the show evolve and serve the needs of today's youngsters. But when you're deciding on which high-profile people on invite on the set, please, please don't feel the need to stick celebrities in there just because they're the "it" thing today. Sometimes that's a good idea because they add something truly special to the show, something that stems from their natural talents and (in Will.i.am's case) gives something wonderful and invaluable to your audience. But with some individuals, as with Perry, you can get something empty, self-promoting, and at its worst, inappropriate for your audience.

As a quick sidenote, I was in for a third surprise when I watched Elmo and Rev. Run sing "Hop This Way" (a parody of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way"). I loved it! Cute, fun, and accessible to both kids and their parents.

Steve Swanson is the host of The MuppetCast, the only podcast dedicated to the work of Jim Henson and the Muppets. Every Sunday, The MuppetCast presents Muppet news, information, and entertainment completely free to fans worldwide. Subscribe in iTunes or at http://muppetcast.com.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier