nuh nuh nuh nuh... nuh nuh nuh nuh... Elmo's World

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My daughter has discovered Elmo. I don’t actually hate Elmo yet, although I can see where this relationship is heading. Right now, I’m excited that my daughter is happy to see and recognize the same muppet over and over. And Elmo has the added benefit of NOT being Barney, so there is value there as well.

BUT - Besides the annoying laugh and really annoying voice, Elmo does one thing which I truly can’t stand. And in retrospect if I’m being completely honest, I could stand Elmo’s daily intrusion into our home if this one particular item would go away. Why does Elmo speak in the THIRD PERSON?

It’s one thing if it’s a Bo Jackson or Ricky Henderson… someone so immersed with themselves that they don’t have a real grasp of reality. But Elmo is a muppet, and I assume that The Muppets are there to teach lessons. Cooperation, communication, counting to 20 in spanish… all that stuff.

So why have Elmo speak in a way that is incorrect, and easily copied? Elmo isn’t a side character, like Animal or the Manumanu singer. He’s very popular and kids seem to love him. Why this weird speech? Stink Fish Pot wants to know.

2

My daughter(2 1/2) loves him, too, and I have no idea how she even fell in love with him. We didn’t show him on TV to her until she already knew who he was. She just liked his books and so forth.

Oh, and I have no idea why he speaks in the third person.

3

IIRC, Elmo is said by the writers to speak in third person because he’s 3, and 3 year olds often speak in third person.

Wait 'til she discovers Caillou. You’ll be all kinds of nostalgic for Elmo when you’re inundated with *that *whiny little bastard.

4

I agree. Caillou is a tv show devoted entirely to whining.

5

I believe Elmo is 3 and a half years old. I know this, because when my kids were toddlers, I heard that freak tell them… oh about every other episode… “Elmo’s three… and a half! Hahahaha!”

Suck it, Elmo. Learn how to use pronouns.

Another thing. We used to have this Elmo video called “Elmocize” or something, where the kids could [del]exercise[/del] watch along as Elmo chanted “ELMOCIZE! ELMOCIZE!” over and over again, as the kids around him were basically just flailing around and looking lost. Apparently, this video’s colors, patterns and noise must’ve been crafted like a crystal meth cook, cuz it certainly had the same effect on children’s brains. After 30 minutes of this, my daughter would replay it until a blood vessel would inevitably burst in one of my eyes, and turn completely red.

Then I’D get to chant: ELMO’S EYES! ELMO’S EEEEEYEEEESSS!!!*

*ok, that didn’t happen. But a part of me wishes it did…

6

Ah yes, here it is on the Sesame Workshop FAQ:

7

You might not like Elmo but he was a logical response by Sesame Street to the fact that their viewership got younger.

8

My child is about to turn eleven. You will find that the “Elmo period” and the “Barney period” and the other early childhood television phases tend to pass pretty quickly. (Though it doesn’t always seem like it at the time. . .)

Some programs we watched, like Bear in the Big Blue House, were enjoyable. Others not so much. Overall there is an amazing amount of decent children’s programming on compared to my day when we had Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room, Gumby and Davey and Goliath (Not counting the Saturday morning cartoons.)

9

Thanks for the quote from the Sesame Street Website! I had no idea 3 year olds talked like that. But now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve never known ANY child of ANY age talk like that. It’s not cute, it’s not funny, and worse, it’s not even accurate. Unless of course, I’ve been completely oblivious to every 3 year old around who has been speaking (quite possible).

I noticed that Sesame Street is a lot different than it was when I was a kid. Elmo is certainly a pain in the ass (why can’t kids love Ernie and Bert like we did? And the Cookie Monster and Grover? etc, etc)

Big Bird’s friend Snuffy is now visible, which I think is a good idea, even though it never bothered me as a kid. I can see why they changed it. I wish I could have seen the transition episode. That would have knocked my socks off.

Another weird thing I learned was that Mr. Hooper was jewish! Really? Let’s start those stereotypes when they are young! The only merchant in town, the only one with a store front for 30 years is jewish. I thought that was so weird to find out. Maybe when he dies (I thought he was dead), the store will be sold to Muslims. Koom-bye-ahhhh!

Not that I care that he’s jewish… in real life or on Sesame Street. But religion was never an issue when I was a kid on that show. And why should it be? What are Susan and Gordon (who still look pretty good considering - although if I remember, the REAL Gordon is long gone, this current one has been around a long time. I assume Luis and Maria are Catholic (aren’t all P. Ricans? HAHA) And Bob? Hell, Bob still looks like he’s in his 30’s! I was amazed! (FTR, I have no idea if Luis is still around.) Can we wait to torture children with the non-visual differences of people until later in life? A 4 year old doesn’t need to know about different religions. At least from Sesame Street. What is Oscar for goodness sakes?

Ah, childhood TV. You have all depressed me with Caillou, because I’ve seen it on the directory on Sprout. So I know it’s coming.

But WTF are the Wiggles? 4 gay guys singing to our children? Why?

Oh, I forgot… my daughter LOVES Chicka (chicka’s alright), but the Wiggles pop in and out all the time, and they also have their own half hour. Those guys freak me out. They remind me of grown Teletubbies.

10

All that happened when I read the thread title was that I got stuck in my head. >.<

11

The Wiggles are fine, at least semi original music and credits to covered artists.

Remove all music players in your home before the kid discovers the bloody chipmunks if you value your sanity.

I wasn’t keen on Elmo either, but I agree at least he’s better than Barney.

I still love the Teletubbies, shh.

12

I would suggest not letting her watch Caillou until she’s about five. She’ll watch one episode and haughtily proclaim it to be a ‘baby show’ (as only a five-year-old can do! :wink: )and your sanity will be saved.

The Wiggles aren’t too bad, IMO. In fact, they’re pretty cool. They can get annoying sometimes, but it’s not as bad as Elmo or Caillou can be.

13

Elmo’s more fun when Ricky Gervais is around.

14

I don’t have kids.

That being said, a little Elmo is fine. Cute. More than about two minutes and I am ready to tear my hair out. No insult to the performer, he does what he does very well…but oy, I’m not sure how he can do it.

I banned Barney from my house preemptively years ago just in case. I can live with Elmo if I have earplugs.

15

I don’t know where you’re getting the religion stuff from (from the Sesame FAQ?) but it’s certainly not part of the show (or at least any modern episode that I’ve ever seen).

Mr. Hooper is long dead and the store seems to be run by the young Asian guy and Leela runs the laundromat.

I feel sorry for Bob every time I see him. He looks like he’s going to drop dead at any moment and yet they still make him do singing and dancing numbers. Gordon is amazingly ageless.

16

There’s also the Fix-it-Shop (now the Mail-it-Shop, because toaster repair isn’t exactly a viable business model). Luis and Maria own those. Did you know Maria is in her 60s? She looks great.

If you think Elmo is bad, try Yo Gabba Gabba.

17

Because they’re good at it. They put on terrific live shows.

Watching some people with talent who genuinely like entertaining children beats the hell out of a lot of the shit you’ll see on TV.

18

IIRC, the original four were all teachers before they formed the group. I’m not sure about the new ‘yellow’ wiggle.

19

It’s “la la la la”, not “nuh nuh nuh nuh”. You must be thinking of Batman.

20

This. I was home with my 5 year old the other day and got sucked into watching this. It was like watching a train wreck.