# nuh nuh nuh nuh... nuh nuh nuh nuh... Elmo's World **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176 "2011-06-12T00:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/21 "2011-06-13T01:35:29Z")
I like Elmo and I like Caillou. I have even gotten dvds and cds of them both. I do wish that Elmo’s World didn’t take up so much of Sesame Street every day. If he’s the main character in the plot, then maybe a short or two, then Elmo’s World, it’s a little much. I’d like more of the other muppets. Barney is almost never put on my tv. (I’ve turned it on and left the room to do dishes or something literally just once or twice). I really like Sprout. We love to do Sprout stretches at night. I don’t know if I’ve seen Yo Gabba Gabba. Thankfully, I’ve gotten away with just PBS, sprout, and some Disney. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/22 "2011-06-13T01:39:19Z")
Yo Gabba Gabba is like a Saturday Night Live skit of a cable access children’s show. It’s totally cringeworthy. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/23 "2011-06-13T02:47:10Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > It’s “la la la la”, not “nuh nuh nuh nuh”. You must be thinking of Batman. I hear nuh not la, but you are probably right. But unless you are thinking of Elmo, that 4 nuh pattern can fit a surprising amount of songs. I agree with the poster above that thinks Elmo is just too much. As far as the Mr. Hooper being Jewish thing. It was weird. I thought he died a long time ago, so to see him on the show was odd. It may have been a Big Bird flashback or something, because he was in the clip. I wasn’t watching it… it was more on in the background and seeing/hearing Mr. Hooper wasn’t something that I stopped everything for. But I believe (and I’m not positive on this) Mr. Hooper was closing his shop on a day that Big Bird didn’t understand, and he told Big Bird he was jewish (or Big Bird told Snuffy he was jewish). In any event, it’s no big deal. I just thought it was strange that it was even brought up. I’m not sure kids are all that aware of different religions (at least not until maybe 5 or 6?), and I thought it was a strange thing for Sesame Street to cover. I am not sure what the target age is for Sesame Street these days, but Elmo indicates to me that they have skewed even lower than the age when I found Ernie and Bert fascinating. Enough of that. It doesn’t matter, and if no one else saw it, maybe it was something they touched on but didn’t focus on. As for Gordon, Maria, Bob, Susan… I was amazed that they were all still on the show and they all look pretty good! When I saw Bob, he was sitting down, but he looked fantastic, not a worn out 60 year old described above. But maybe he is. I think the water they drink on Sesame Street comes from the Fountain of Youth. Since there is such a groudswell of support for the Wiggles, I’ll give them another chance, but I’m skeptical. Still, I’ll do it. You all can’t be wrong… (or can you?) I will check out the other shows mentioned on my own before my daughter gets to see them and/or become attached to them. She loves Ernie, which I think is a good sign (it seems ALL kids love Elmo, so the older characters are forgotten). She loves Ernie’s laugh. Oh, and she likes Bob the Builder because I sing along with the title song… Bob The Builder! He can build it! Bob the Builder! He can fix it! something like that. The show isn’t bad. At least, it doesn’t annoy me. And the train isn’t bad, but I thought George Carlin did the voice for the train and he died a while ago… so did someone else take over or are all the train episodes repeats? (can’t remember the train’s name… I’m having a brain fart) oh, and one question for all you veterans of childrens television… I haven’t seen the teletubbies advertised at all. Have they gone away? That baby in the sun used to freak me out when my nephew watched that show. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/24 "2011-06-13T03:04:40Z")
Teletubbies 1997-2001. RIP. [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletubbies) is the Wikipedia link. So much controversy over such silly fun characters. A quick scan doesn’t bring it up, but I remember someone getting a wedgie over Po occasionally counting in Cantonese ( I think it was, maybe Mandarin). Asian invasion! Bi-lingual infiltration of the pre-verbal set! They were very, very popular so they had to be dragged down. Like the first guy in Blue’s Clues, rumored to have died of a heroin overdose when he actually changed to a music career. People are not always very nice. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/25 "2011-06-13T11:56:11Z")
As for your question about the voices for Thomas the Tank Engine, there have been at least five. Ringo Starr is the voice on the really old British ones and George Carlin is the voice on the older American versions. Alec Baldwin did a bunch but his are really poor, in my opinion. The newer ones are all computer-generated (instead of the stop-motion models) and have new readers. The new guys are competent but no one is as good as George Carlin was. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/26 "2011-06-13T12:32:44Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > IIRC, the original four were all teachers before they formed the group. I’m not sure about the new ‘yellow’ wiggle. [Not Quite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiggles) > [@](#): > > Field and Fatt were members of the Australian pop band The Cockroaches in the 1980s, and Cook was a member of several bands before meeting Field and Page at Macquarie University, where they were studying to become pre-school teachers. A school project led to the recording of their first album and tour in 1991. Two were pop artists, one of whom went to Uni to study to become a pre-school teacher, where he met the other two who were also studying. ---
**Author:** ![CCYMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CCYMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCYMan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/27 "2011-06-13T12:40:04Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > As for your question about the voices for Thomas the Tank Engine, there have been at least five. Ringo Starr is the voice on the really old British ones and George Carlin is the voice on the older American versions. Alec Baldwin did a bunch but his are really poor, in my opinion. The newer ones are all computer-generated (instead of the stop-motion models) and have new readers. > > The new guys are competent but no one is as good as George Carlin was. These choices always cracked me up for being so completely dissimilar. I picture an agent shouting into a telephone, “Get me George Carlin! If he’s not available then I want that Baldwin guy!” ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/28 "2011-06-13T12:46:07Z")
Of course, [Elmo does get hungry.](http://www.wimp.com/elmobell/) ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/29 "2011-06-13T13:58:48Z")
> [@CCYMan](#): > > These choices always cracked me up for being so completely dissimilar. I picture an agent shouting into a telephone, “Get me George Carlin! If he’s not available then I want that Baldwin guy!” The first time I saw Thomas I hadn’t known that Carlin did the voices. I kept waiting for Thomas to call Sir Topham Hatt a cocksucker. Regardless, you can tell George put a lot of effort into it, where Baldwin sounds likes he’s already cashed the check. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/30 "2011-06-13T14:23:43Z")
Just don’t do DJ Lance’s “Break it down!” thing along with Yo Gabba Gabba, or your child will come and get you to do it every time. I speak from experience. One of the best kids shows that the little Torqueling got into was **Oswald**. I liked Oswald, because he was low-key and relaxed compared to most other kid shows. Another one I liked was [**Peep**](http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/), but it doesn’t seem to be on the air here anymore. The shows were short, and usually connected to some kind of science or learning concept in a very subtle way. And at the end was a quick live-action segment of kids doing something science-related or exploring nature or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/31 "2011-06-13T15:02:18Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > It’s “la la la la”, not “nuh nuh nuh nuh”. You must be thinking of Batman. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I hear nuh not la, but you are probably right. But unless you are thinking of Elmo, that 4 nuh pattern can fit a surprising amount of songs. [Relevant](http://xkcd.com/851/). ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/32 "2011-06-13T15:21:57Z")
Yikes, Caillou scares me. Every time it’s on and I glance at the screen I think there’s a dream sequence going on or something. I try to avoid it. My son (2 ½) is kind of done with watching Elmo now. He still likes Elmo toys and he will watch it, but Elmo isn’t requested. I’ve never found him talking in third person like Elmo, but he definitely learned some things from the show. Right now he’s on a kick with Dora the Explorer. I don’t have any major complaints. The other he likes is Bubble Guppies which I like. It scored major points with me when they pointed out the difference between a tuba and a sousaphone (I’m a band geek). It also has catchy songs that I get stuck in my head and will have little gags that seem to be aimed at adults. From an episode where they are at a construction site: Worker: Get a helmet on this kid, pronto! [Guy gets the kid a hardhat] Worker: Thanks, Pronto. OK, not the funniest, but most kids will miss it. We DVR everything so we have pretty tight control at our house. Yo Gabba Gabba is banned, along with Sponge Bob. I see zero redeemable qualities in the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/33 "2011-06-13T16:11:21Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Just don’t do DJ Lance’s “Break it down!” thing along with Yo Gabba Gabba, or your child will come and get you to do it every time. I speak from experience. > > One of the best kids shows that the little Torqueling got into was **Oswald**. I liked Oswald, because he was low-key and relaxed compared to most other kid shows. Indeed, \*\*Oswald \*\*is a nice change of pace from the high-energy **Yo Gabba Gabba**. Plus, he’s voiced by Fred Savage. I actually like both shows. As for Elmo, I’m not crazy about TV Elmo, but in talking-toy-form I can handle him. Strange. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/34 "2011-06-13T17:13:10Z")
Here’s Elmo and Justin Bateman on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij71DXDgvz0) (penguin start at about 0:32) It really has nothing to do with this thead, except that penguin in the first part is SO COOL. You gotta love how carefree and with it he is 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/35 "2011-06-13T20:20:32Z")
Yo Gabba Gabba is getting a lot of play these days for my 3yo. I don’t mind it so much, especially since the wife and I rag on the characters, like that stupid narc robot, always telling on the others when they’re being bad. Don’t run in the street, don’t bite your friends, put down that revolver, blah blah blah. The music on the show is pretty good, though, and the guest stars are fun, either being a character in the show or doing a “dancey dance”. I’m becoming a fan of [Pocoyo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5uneG5OZy4) I mean, Stephen Fry does the voiceover, how can you go wrong? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/36 "2011-06-13T20:23:18Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > 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. Truth. The Firebug, who’ll be 4 next month, seems to be finally moving out of the Caillou stage, and not a moment too soon. Can’t think of anything else he’s watched that I’ve been as glad to see him lose his interest in. He was in his Elmo stage for a few months either side of his second birthday, and that wasn’t so bad - Hell, I can still get into “[Elmo and the Bookaneers](http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-Elmo-Bookaneers/dp/B001PPLJJU),” which features Tina Fey as a pirate captain seeking treasure in the form of books. But the ‘Elmo’s World’ part of the show was pretty much a waste, no argument there. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/37 "2011-06-13T20:52:42Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > [Not Quite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiggles) > > Two were pop artists, one of whom went to Uni to study to become a pre-school teacher, where he met the other two who were also studying. Meh, three of them were tarining to be teachers, close. I wiki’d the teletubbies and couldn’t be arsed with the Wiggles, this says something about my personality that I don’t care to explore. My niece used to adore them as a toddler, now she’s downloading them for her son. The Wiggles have gone intergenerational! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/38 "2011-06-13T20:53:24Z")
**Yo Gabba Gabba** is a show that reminds me of what smoking pot is like. I wonder if watching while stoned would amplify it or cancel it out. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/39 "2011-06-13T21:00:52Z")
Heh, my kid used to love a show called “In the Night Garden” narrated by, of all people, Derek Jacobi. Appeard to me sort of like what was going through Claudius’ head at the end of _I, Claudius_ when he was dying of mushroom poisioning. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176/40 "2011-06-13T22:04:48Z")
We’ve had that here recently, I caught it on a day off. That’s some odd stuff. We’ve contributed the Wot Wots to the world, which we keep being told is a huge success story, anyone heard of it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-elmos-world/585176.md?page=3)