Posts made in November, 2015
The Muppets 1.08: “Too Hot To Handler”
Scooter goes on a date with Chelsea Handler.
So far, The Muppets has had a mix of episodes that were mostly fantastic and ones that were more uneven, with genuinely brilliant elements side-by-side with ones that just didn’t work very well, for various reasons–plotting, characterization, what have you. Tonight’s, “Too Hot to Handler,” however, is the first that doesn’t inspire a rave nor a significant complaint from me.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say “it’s just there,” because there’s a lot about it I did enjoy, mostly revolving around Scooter’s surprising romance with Chelsea Handler of all people, but overall, it falls significantly short of exceptional while also not containing anything particularly objectionable. After two truly terrific episodes, this one is…perfectly all right, and if that
Read MoreSesame St S1: Bert & Ernie, Pt 2
Ernie shows Bert his treasure map.
And now my coverage of Bert and Ernie’s Season 1 sketches continues! Yesterday, I watched “Egg on the Counter,” whose punchline revolved around Ernie taking a line of Bert’s (“Drop it!”) literally. In today’s first clip, we get another fun, literal joke twist in “Ernie’s Treasure Map,” (06:00-08:02), when Ernie leads a reluctant Bert on a hunt for buried treasure in the apartment. “X Marks the Spot!” he says, and just when Bert finally succumbs to the thrill of the chase, Bert uncovers a hidden chest that does have a treasure…the letter X! Odds are, Ernie being Ernie, that he actually set this whole joke up, but that’s never confirmed.
Ernie definitely gets the better of him, however, in “Bert and Ernie Share
Read MoreSesame St S1: Bert & Ernie
Bert complains about Ernie’s mess.
Today we focus on that dynamic duo, Bert and Ernie. I didn’t discuss this in depth before but what makes Bert and Ernie so great, particularly in those years when Jim Henson was still around, wasn’t only Ernie’s ability to drive Bert up a wall but their underlying love for each other, even though that love may not have been as clear or apparent at all times. I’m guessing this was another way that the show deliberately undercut any overly precious or saccharine qualities it otherwise could have had. Classic Sesame Street had a bit of bite to it. You didn’t have to see Ernie and Bert always verbalizing or explaining their friendship to realize there was warmth there underneath the pranks.
Although today many identify Ernie and Bert as a gay couple, the show
Read MoreSesame St S1: Songs, Etc.
After watching a few early episodes of Sesame Street over the past few days, today I’m taking a look at a number of famous clips from throughout the first season, since obviously, watching all of 4,552 currently produced episodes isn’t an option! I got the first group from the “Classic Cuts” bonus feature on the Sesame Street: Old School, Volume 1 DVD set.
The first is of Ernie in the bathtub, singing his signature song, “Rubber Duckie,” his ode to his very favorite, squeakiest bathtime companion. What is wonderful about the song is that, besides being beautifully representative of Ernie’s openhearted, emotive, whimsical nature, it also doesn’t serve an explicitly educational point other than to encourage children to make use of their imaginations and perhaps to encourage them to enjoy bathtime. But, again, it’s so fun that it doesn’t feel like a lesson at all. In fact, like Kermit’s “Bein’ Green,” it gained cultural popularity far beyond that of a typical children’s show song, hitting No. 16 on the Billboard single charts (and not in a children’s category) and even being nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children in 1970! And it only lost to another Sesame Street album, The Sesame Street Book & Record, which it was also on, anyway!
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Sesame Street Ep #123
Cookie answers the phone.
Today we come to the final first season of Sesame Street episode I’ll be watching for the site, which you can view on Netflix and iTunes under the title, “Here Comes Cookie Monster”. And, as you might have guessed, I’m not too torn apart at leaving this first season behind. It’s been a fascinating peek at the embryonic stage of what would become a brilliant show, however besides the sketches, which allow us the first glimpses of Sesame Street genius, and some cool first-time moments, the plodding street scenes and lack of narrative cohesion make the experience of watching the overall episodes a bit of a slog.
If nothing else, these handful of episodes provide an unimpeachable argument for why, at least at this stage of the show, watching random
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