Monday, May 25, 2020

On The Air: The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo (2020)

Meet the world's youngest talk show host.

Sesame Street spins off one of its most popular Muppet characters, Elmo, into his own HBO Max series, which officially begins streaming tomorrow, along with Looney Tunes Cartoons (previously reviewed).

Elmo (voice of Ryan Dillon) is 3 1/2, although announcer Cookie Monster, speaking in coherent sentences for a change, says Elmo is 3. The new show, a cross between The Muppets and the short-lived talk show/sitcom My Talk Show, since it's set in Elmo's living room, has the potential to be a hit.

The funny thing is, Elmo, while he didn't get his name until much, much later, is actually turning 40 this year, having debuted during season 11 of Sesame Street, when he was known internally as Short Red. The Jonas Brothers guest star in the series opener, which HBO Max supplied to YouTube:



What this show teaches is that children learn how to set goals at an early age. They learn about ambition. Season 1 is 13 weeks.

Prediction: Like Street, Elmo will eventually be repurposed on PBS and/or PBS Kids.

Rating: A-.

4 comments:

Goldstar said...

Elmo's been around for thirty nine years? Wow! I am old!

Kind of interesting that Sesame Workshop would want to devote an entire series to Elmo of all characters when the last time I checked, Elmo was already occupying a sizable chunk of screen time on Sesame Street.I guess the producers are going by popularity, but Does Elmo really need two shows?

hobbyfan said...

It must be the amount of merch he moves.

Steven Dolce said...

Elmo made his debut in 1980, so that makes him 40 years old.

hobbyfan said...

I made note of that, Steven.