Sesame Street: Mucko the Explorer

January 17, 2016 8:19 AM - Season 46, Episode 2

Alan Cumming, Oscar, and Elmo explore the refurbished street with all five senses.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi (4 comments total)

It almost felt like the opening song was addressed to skeptical new viewers of the show, like the writers are saying, "Hey, there's still grit here! You just have to know where to look!" I was glad to see Chris and Alan are still here, but it looks like Leela (played by Nitya Vidyasagar) might be gone. That bums me out. Not only because they've teased a relationship between Leela and Chris for awhile now, or because she had just the right mixture of silly and snarky, but because it was so revolutionary to have an Indian-American woman on children's TV, even in 2015.

The steadycam sucks, and it definitely doesn't do the human actors any favors. Sometimes it felt like the camera was flying around just because it could. More megafocus on Elmo and Abby, and I know I'm not alone in disliking both of them as an adult viewer, but I guess we're stuck with them (especially since Abby is now pretty much The Chick, with Zoe, Rosita, and Prairie Dawn's roles now minimized). The muppet wikia tells me that they're now aiming this squarely at kids because parents don't watch TV with their children anymore. Bummer.

Where's Telly? I spotted Murray in the group segments but Telly is the best. I'm sad if Telly is gone.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:27 AM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Also: kiddo did not request a third episode, and wanted to watch Mickey Mouse instead.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:30 AM on January 17, 2016

No Leela?!? Nooooooooooo!!!!! I wanted a Chris/Leela wedding really badly.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:48 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Meeee tooo. But doesn't she usually run the laundromat? Nina was the one there. I haven't been able to find any confirmation as to whether she's still on the new season (but then, I couldn't for Chris either, so I guess it's a possibility.)
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:27 PM on January 17, 2016