The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo

Honestly? Not crazy about the Game Edition. One of the problems is with the episode, the other is with the format.

Maybe it's Covid making everybody nervous, but Drew Barrymore didn't interact with Elmo properly. And human celebrity interactions with Muppets are crucial to any given project's success. When she's speaking with Elmo or Skylar she is properly bright and sunny. When she's listening to Elmo talk to Skylar she has a cringe on her face. We as a society are not as laid back as we used to be. But I could instantly tell Barrymore was uncomfortable being there, which is a no-no for an Elmo project. And I doubt this was even Barrymore's fault. This is ALL something we are going to have trouble getting used to.

The second problem is with the format. Barrymore let Skylar win. Which means the games are entirely scripted and staged (including her asking her father for help for something obvious) which defeats the purpose of a Game Edition. It's one thing for Elmo's silly contests with celebrities to be boarded and plotted out ahead of time. Doing that with a kid is totally wrong. But they didn't want kids competing with each other because one of the kids would lose, so they had the adults let them win, defeating the purpose of the premise. I very much hope these Game Editions are rare in season two. I would prefer not to ever see another one.

Any good things? Biff and Sully cameo. Any Old-School Street-Kid could nerd out at that.

But that didn't work. Probably the wrong episode to showcase as the free preview on YouTube. 1 star.

Not on board. The games aren't merely rigged. They are entirely scripted. It's sort of cute that the talk show was scripted but you can't do that with a game show. It was a scandal in the 1950's when they did that. I really dislike the format this season for that reason. I want them to go back to the talk show next year.

Good things? Very cool and interesting new puppets. I love the bulldozer, the robot, and the chicken, and Rosita is right that the baby chick is adorable.

But I'm not loving the feel of this season. 2 1/2 stars.

They actually scripted the kid to lose a round. Jayla seems to have a visible crush on Brady Moon so I doubt she minded.

I love that Spot was an ant.

Apparently Elmo has a dog named Tango. I would like to see that sometime.

Sort of cute but I still miss the talk show. 3 stars.

Bert's fashion montage was kind of funny. I liked the pigeon costume.

But how does Bert brush his teeth? He doesn't appear to have any. Neither does Snuffy for that matter.

When Ziva and Amber had to brush those giant teeth in the challenge I wondered what the heck they had been eating.

The game show version is much less interesting than the talk show version. 2 1/2 stars.

Felix The Helpful Chicken is great. His voice is so funny.

Why does Baby Bear need swim trunks for the beach? He doesn't wear clothes.

I liked the Yip-Yip Martians randomly popping up in the last ten seconds of the episode.

Bad things? This Sophie Fatu kid creeps me out. She looks, sounds, acts, and dresses like a combination of Vicki the robot from Small Wonder, and Carmilita Spatz from A Series Of Unfortunate Events. I half-expected her to call Elmo a Cake-Sniffer. Shirley Temple, she ain't.

Sigh. 3 stars.

Felix the Helpful Chicken continues to amuse me. It's the voice. It's hilarious.

Leslie Odom's singing voice is SO great. There's a reason he's a superstar. It can be argued he's the most famous person the show has ever snagged.

Still not loving the scripted nature of the games. 3 1/2 stars.

I'm caught up. So I'll now address something that concerns me. So far there hasn't been a single boy contestant on this show. That worries me. Do boys really not want to play on a Sesame Street game show? Sesame Street has spent decades being gender neutral and it's like this show is embracing its inner Disney Channel. I don't like that.

The contestants are clearly fake anyways. Hire some boys. It's not right that there haven't been any yet.

No offense to Julia, but as far as clearly Aspie Muppets go, Felix The Helpful Chicken has it all over her. And yeah, I think he's an Aspie. Not only does he seem to have weird hobbies and obsessions, but his entire shtick is misreading social cues. I like that the show asks me to be charmed by Felix's quirkiness, because it asks me to be wary of Julia's. What's amazing is that Felix probably isn't an Aspie in the writers' room, or was ever intended to be that. But I like him for that aspect far more than I do Julia.

AJR did a pretty great rendition of "People In Your Neighborhood" right here.

Felix is great, but my unease over the format change continues. Are they trying to turn Sesame Street into a girl's show? Because it never should be just that. 3 stars.

Still have yet to have a male contestant.

Still, this ep had the first grandparent on the show. That's something. 3 stars.

First boy contestant!

Stephanie the parrot reminds me of H Ross Parrot back in the 1990's. I think they recycled his design for her.

Elmo looks so cute when he's getting dressed.

Cute! 4 stars.

Okay, Cookie Niece was pretty much the most adorable thing ever. The way she eats cookies is hilarious.

True story: I have never heard of a stuffed animal being referred to as a "lovey" before. Trust me, for ME, this specific gap in my knowledge seems huge. It's a great word that I'm totally using now.

Another boy contestant. But Adam's mom can't imitate a tuba for poo.

I think Big Bird's new voice is terrible, and I'll never get used to it. The irony is Oscar's new voice sounds absolutely fine. It's weird how things like that work. It's not like Carol Spinney made Oscar or Big Bird sound remotely like each other so it's also perhaps not a big surprise.

Funniest bit was Cookie Monster wailing to Rosita that he didn't deserve a cookie and then immediately pivoting to asking her what kind she had. That's totally Cookie Monster.

For the record, the challenge was incomplete. That was not an actual win. It's interesting the guest was a helper rather than a competitor this time.

Hate to say it, but Hello Sunday struck me as incredibly creepy. They give me the willies.

It was cute. Lovey! I'm stealing that! 4 stars.

Am I the only one who had hoped Bug from Elmo In Grouchland woulda showed up?

I like Donovan suggesting his dad sing the song in Spanish. He won't let his dad be Elmo's astronaut tutu-wearing puppet.

The shadiness of the Scout Ant was pretty funny.

I did not know butterflies do not have homes or nests. 46 years old and Sesame Street is still teaching me new stuff.

Cute. 3 1/2 stars.