Elmo centrism - Why Sesamgade disappoints me.

It started gradually in the 70s when the little red baby monster was a nobody extra. Then from the mid 80s and on, with his cute squeeze-toy voice, Elmo rose to great power.

Journey to Ernie was a great side segment. There was Oscar reading to his pet worm, Slimy, Grover and his travels, the classic Count with his daily numbers, Cookie monster and cookies, which later on were replaced with healthy carrot sticks and celery and other stars of the Pyramid. Back in the day we enjoyed the homoerotic undertones of Ernie and Bert. We witnessed a rare and beautiful friendship between a wooly elephant and a giant, nasal bird. But most of all, Sesame Street was brilliant for it’s ethnic diversity, its colorful cast ranging from monster Muppets to empathic humans, pedagogic content and skillful story telling.

In the 90s when PBS went semi for profit, the Sesame Street stars like in any other franchise became greedy for the spotlight. Elmo began making appearances crossing over into primetime. He cornered the children’s market with tickle dolls and Elmo’s World adventure toys. Ernie was Ernie. Big Bird was Big Bird. But Elmo had his own world, which expanded over time. Elmo was Elmo and friends. Elmo became a free-floating entity with a special contract, an agent, own hair and makeup team, nutritionist and Kabbalah advisor.

But seriously, while Elmo became so controversial, pissing off old school S.Street fans (including myself), the show’s integrity for the most part remained in tact. Although Ernie and Bert were seen together far less (perhaps some right wing sponsors felt they were too close for the family values sect), the show still contained elements that were true to the Workshop’s vision. The puppets interacted with the world, the stories were fun and educational and the characters were colorful and funny. Social skills and motor skills were exercised with Sesame Street, and one always walked away feeling important, smarter and entertained.

Sesamgade aired on 18 October 2009. I understand that a children’s show must be tailored to the audience of any given land. I get that Sesame Street in Denmark would not have a real stoop and perhaps not the same emphasis on inner city life, but I expected more. I expected more education, more creativity, more inclusion, more worldliness and LESS ELMO! Elmo dominated the first 12 minutes of the 25 minute show, which included a few dubbed segments that seemed to be randomly picked. It was essentially Elmo’s World with familiar guests who appeared with a cheesy border and usually against patterned wallpaper backgrounds. They performed catchy tunes, but there wasn’t a single, well thought out number or sketch that could actually teach or inspire. It was more spoon-fed, zany entertainment rather than thought provoking fun.
The following episodes were not very different.

The set is an exterior view of a typical Copenhagen style building. The interior, apart from Elmo’s world, is a typically Danish apartment with a designer lamp, untreated hard wood floors and some Ikea furniture. Elmo is the host along with his sidekick human, Sine who is attractive in a recently impregnated kind of way. Not to say that she’s pregnant, but she has the glow and fleshy perkiness of someone who is around first trimester, which in my book is always sexy. But we’re not interested in sex appeal because it is a children’s show for god sakes!!! By the end of the debut episode, Sine was falling asleep. I think it was raining on the set and there was way too much hygge (Danish coziness [more or less]) for a Sunday morning in a country that for weeks has been covered with grey and rain.

All of that said, after the first screening my daughters were laughing and singing. Elmo managed a familiar Danish song in that irresistible-to-a-child voice and Ray Bolger-esque clumsy dance style that tickled their funny bones and made them cackle. For that I credit Sesamgade – a laugh is still a laugh.