How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street • Hacker News Board

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#111

Post by Amezarak » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:41 PM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #104

douche wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a little disturbing to hear all of this praise of a model of children's television that's A/B tested to hell and back and engineered for children. Then again, I grew up watching (and loving) Loony Tunes. There's a depth there that this modern-day pap doesn't possess. The Teletubies never did Wagner or the Barber of Seville; Bugs Bunny did.

Teletubbies is aimed at children young enough to not be speaking yet - 6 months to 2 years old.

Children under two aren't even supposed to watch television.

> Television and other entertainment media should be avoided for infants and children under age 2. A child's brain develops rapidly during these first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens.

https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-ini...

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#112

Post by stevewilhelm » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:43 PM UTC

silveira wrote: post #3

I recently watched "I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story" documentary and I had this impression that the show shifted towards a younger audience with Elmo. I wonder that this was probably related to a bigger audience on this age range.

I understood the documentary to say that Sesame Street noticed that their audience was getting younger. In response to this age shift they introduced Elmo; a character that resonated to this new growing demographic.

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#113

Post by DrScump » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:44 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #95

Republicans killed funding for public TV so now the shows have to earn their own money which means the primary concern is no longer teaching but how to make money via toys and DVDs, etc. which leads to finding the most addictive character and making him a star. Because capitalism ruins everything.

  Republicans killed funding for public TV

When, exactly, was this?

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#114

Post by DrScump » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:46 PM UTC

stevewilhelm wrote: post #112

silveira wrote: post #3

I recently watched "I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story" documentary and I had this impression that the show shifted towards a younger audience with Elmo. I wonder that this was probably related to a bigger audience on this age range.

I understood the documentary to say that Sesame Street noticed that their audience was getting younger. In response to this age shift they introduced Elmo; a character that resonated to this new growing demographic.

Could they have cause and effect backwards? Perhaps the shift toward insipidness simply alienated older viewers at that time?

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#115

Post by DrScump » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:49 PM UTC

desireco42 wrote: post #41

It is very hard to put yourself in position of very young child and issue judgement on what toddlers would like. I couldn't stand Teletubies, I still can't. But young kids are fascinated and my late grandma loved them too. Who am I to judge.

"It is very hard to put yourself in position of very young child and issue judgement on what toddlers would like"

But what they like, going in, is often worst for them.

If you put both ice cream and a spinach salad in front of a child, which will he pursue by choice?

Being challenged is often initially uncomfortable. But that's part of the point - to learn the long-term value of delayed gratification.

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#116

Post by Amezarak » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:50 PM UTC

LastZactionHero wrote: post #18

DiabloD3 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this. Kotaku articles have no place on the front page of HN, especially ones like this that don't understand the larger context of the program, and its inability to thrive in the "junk food media" environment that is being force fed to kids. If I ever have kids, I'm going to continue to not have TV in my home. They can read all the books I read when I was a kid, or watch select TV shows from the past 20+…

I have the same gut reaction, but as counterpoint, I know some people that grew up with parents that really restricted viewing- not 'no tv at all', but close enough. Later, the parents conceded that the media blackout backfired, as their kid couldn't relate to a lot of the things their peers were talking about- even if it is 'pointless bullshit'. They weren't like a social pariah or anything, but to this day, they fe…

My parents had a 'restricted viewing' policy in the sense that a) we only had OTA TV, not cable or satellite; b) there were other things I was supposed to be doing almost all the time and c) we were too poor to go to the movies or rent movies.

I will freely admit that I don't get a lot of references to shows people watched growing up. But honestly, this is such a tiny thing I really doubt it's worth mentioning. If it comes up, you smile, nod, and move on.

I would certainly say I'm better for it - I spent time outdoors actually learning and doing things or reading instead. And sure, I read a lot of relative trash, but even the trash of the day contained references to real things that warranted looking up or learning. And I also ended up reading a lot of literature and nonfiction.

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#117

Post by hendekagon » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:52 PM UTC

I never liked Big Bird. What a twat.

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#118

Post by gknoy » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:52 PM UTC

cheald wrote: post #71

taeric wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am rather fond of Wild Kratts. It is a victory in the house if the kids pick that over Power Rangers.

Wild Kratts is actually pretty good stuff. It tends to be the go-to for my kids and I hate it a lot less than most of the other options.

Wild Kratts (and their earlier show, Zaboomafoo?) are on Netflix, too. Prepare for kids dj-ing to their favorite episodes.

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#119

Post by DrScump » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:55 PM UTC

batbomb wrote: post #16

dragontamer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem with this article is that it makes the "Why Snoopy ruined Peanuts" article utterly redundant. Its clear that the author is just taking "Why popular character X ruined (show) he was from" as a formula. http://kotaku.com/how-snoopy-killed-peanuts-1724269473 I guess its interesting from a sense of irony or maybe a creative exercise. But it almost feels like textbook "clickbait".

The author wrote that article too. The author says he's a teacher, I'd be interested to know if he has children himself.

Maybe he has a boilerplate that he reuses.

:%s/Snoopy/Elmo/g

:%s/Peanuts/Sesame Street/g

:%s/Woodstock/Mr. Noodle/g

etc

Re: How Elmo Ruined Sesame Street

#120

Post by gknoy » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:55 PM UTC

Splines wrote: post #85

knicholes wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't these characters those like Maria, Gordon, and Mr. Hooper?

For logistical reasons, not really. It's easier to maintain puppets vs trying to keep the same human actors tied to the show.

The point is, Maria and Gordon __have__ been with the show for decades, and now their characters have kids. Similarly, some of the kids in earlier years still are involved as older kids. It's one thing I have really liked about the show, as it lets them show nuanced relationships (both in terms of jobs and family).