[Sesame Street] Um...

[John Crichton]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/07/tv.cookie.lessmonster.ap/index.html

What's it all coming to? It's like watching a lion get housebroken. This makes me sad.

 

[Filby]

As far as I'm concerned, it's been going downhill since Jim Henson passed.

 

[WizarDru]

"So there it is. Cookie Monster still gobbles cookies, he's just a healthier version of his old self. His eyes are still googly, his fur is still scruffy and he's still messy.

Even "Sesame Street" recognizes that we all need guilty pleasures."

Speaking as a parent in an age where we have a national problem with overweight kids (and adults, for that matter)...it doesn't make me sad, at all.

 

[Desdichado]

Speaking as a parent in an age where we have a national problem with overweight kids (and adults, for that matter)...it doesn't make me sad, at all.

There are some things on which Sesame Street can realistically hope to make an impact, and then there's tilting at windmills. If parents aren't teaching healthy eating, Cookie Monster sure ain't gonna. Cookie Monster loses a big part of what makes him an endearing, nationally loved character today.

Spoken as someone who has rail-thin kids who find Sesame Street boring, of course. So I'm not too concerned about it. When Shaggy and Scooby start eating healthy, I'll be in an uproar, though. Luckily, they advocate a pretty active lifestyle. Running away from ghosts and monsters keeps both pretty svelte.

 

[Mouseferatu]

There are some things on which Sesame Street can realistically hope to make an impact, and then there's tilting at windmills. If parents aren't teaching healthy eating, Cookie Monster sure ain't gonna. Cookie Monster loses a big part of what makes him an endearing, nationally loved character today.

Word.

Besides, if healthy eating is a message they want to promote, they can always get it across through other characters trying to explain to CM why he shouldn't always eat cookies. There's no reason to have CM himself doing it, and ruining a beloved character in the process.

 

[Desdichado]

Besides, if healthy eating is a message they want to promote, they can always get it across through other characters trying to explain to CM why he shouldn't always eat cookies. There's no reason to have CM himself doing it, and ruining a beloved character in the process.

Indeed. In fact, as a parody and a monster it's hard to think that CM is some kind of role model to kids, teaching them to pig out on cookies as it is, frankly. Oddly, I think the message is probably better served by leaving CM as is.

 

[Flyspeck23]

Looks like good character development to me.

Or do you prefer your muppets to be walking stereotypes?

 

[Desdichado]

Looks like good character development to me.

Or do you prefer your muppets to be walking stereotypes?

Of course I prefer that! What's next, Cookie Monster starting to go grey, getting a big gut, getting regular prostate exams, going bald and buying a hot red convertible as his mid-life crisis is explored on Sesame Street? No, thanks.

 

[Mystery Man]

Spoken as someone who has rail-thin kids who find Sesame Street boring, of course. So I'm not too concerned about it.

I don't know how my son (he's 10) can eat so much and not have any fat on his body at all.

My daughter is 5 and thinks Sesame Street is boring. I wonder if they sold the first few seasons on DVD and she got a chance to see what it was really like back then she probably would not think so.

 

[reveal]

There are many, many things kids learn by watching Sesame Street. Why should healthy eating habits not be one of them? And why is it not "ok" for SS to update a character? I mean, when I was a kid, no one could see Snufalupagus except for Big Bird. Now, everyone can see him. Where was the letter writing campaign for that change?

Times change and shows like Sesame Street have to change to get their message across to the current audience. It's not a huge change anyway. Cookie Monster eats a few less cookies and a few more fruits and vegetable. Huzzah I say!

Plus I just posted this in the Off-Topic forum: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=127532