Salon.com > sesame street

Hasbro supports Elmo despite controversy

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:00:00 +0000

"Sesame Street" is fighting to protect the reputation of its beloved puppet, Elmo, after accepting the resignation of longtime Elmo voice actor Kevin Clash, who has been accused by two men of having sexual relations with them as teenagers.

Hasbro has released a statement to E! News supporting Sesame Street:

"Sesame Street and its wonderful characters have been entertaining and educating children and families for more than 40 years," a Hasbro spokeswoman told E! News. "We are confident that Elmo will remain an integral part of Sesame Street and that Sesame Street toys will continue to delight children for years to come."

Hasbro's Elmo dolls still on sale include the Ready for School Elmo doll, the Sesame Street Playskool Let's Rock set and LOL Elmo, a follow-up to the popular Tickle Me Elmo doll.

Kevin Clash can’t destroy Elmo

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:35:00 +0000

It's the most ignoble career flameout any "Sesame Street" star has ever had. In fact, amazingly, it's pretty much the only flameout in the beloved PBS series' four-decade history. On Tuesday, Kevin Clash, the voice and puppeteer of the furry red superstar known as Elmo, left the show.

Sesame Workshop released a statement saying:

Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential. Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization. Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street.

Sotomayor gives Sesame Street some career advice

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Crushing the dreams of countless little girls (and boys) around America, Justice Sonia Sotomayor broke the news to the viewers of Sesame Street that being a princess is not a career. Sorry, kids, the truth hurts sometimes. She suggests Abby become a teacher, lawyer, doctor, engineer, or scientist instead. “A career is something that you train for and prepare for and plan on doing for a long time.”

Elmo voice actor accused of having sex with teenage boy

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:35:00 +0000

UPDATE: The 24 year old man who accused Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of having sexual relations with him as a minor has recanted the allegations, the New York Times reports. Clash released the following statement via a spokeswoman:“I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. I will not discuss it further.”

Kevin Clash, the legendary voice behind one of Sesame Street's most beloved puppets, Elmo, has taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street after being accused of having sexual relations with a 16-year-old boy. Today, Sesame Street released a statement addressing the accusations:

Quote of the day: Big Bird bites back

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Even the Obama campaign has capitalized on Romney's "Big Bird" comment during last week's presidential debate, coming out today with an ad depicting Big Bird as a corrupt business executive. “Mitt Romney knows it isn’t Wall Street you need to worry about, it’s Sesame Street," says the narrator in a foreboding tone.

But the real Big Bird isn't amused. The Sesame Workshop released the following statement in response to the character's appearance in any type of campaign ad:

Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads and, as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.

As of 4:55 PM, the video is still on Obama for America's YouTube channel, however:

Sesame Street fights back

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 20:30:00 +0000

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Six examples of the right’s war on children’s characters

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:17:00 +0000

Mitt Romney's comments, during Wednesday night's debate, about cutting funding for PBS despite his “love” for Big Bird, immediately got a response from the Internet: FiredBigBird popped up on Twitter shortly after the comments and was quickly joined by Sesame Street colleagues FireMeElmo and FiredOscar, as well as BigBirdRomney.

PBS has long been a conservative target, despite the minuscule amount of savings that cutting it would actually produce. As Laura Clawson noted at Daily Kos, “Romney's setting up the need for $9.6 trillion in non-defense cuts. His answer? Fire Big Bird to save $445 million.” Big Bird and his cohort are just collateral damage in the Right's war on anything public; Romney can sadly shake his head and say that even though he loves Big Bird, the big yellow guy just has to go because of the deficits!

Did Twitter ban fake Big Bird accounts?

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:59:00 +0000

After Mitt Romney threatened Big Bird's livelihood yesterday, Twitter exploded in defense of the feathery friend. Instant-sensation parody accounts such as @FiredBigBird popped up, posting doctored images of Big Bird in the unemployment line and begging.

But now questions of censorship and foul play are swirling across the Twitterverse as @FiredBigBird's account has been suspended and unsuspended numerous times in the past 24 hours.

@FiredBigBird reached out to Salon via email to explain the Twitter saga. Following the account's swift rise to popularity (12,000 followers), Twitter suspended the account before confirming that the user was a real person, the account owner explained.

Twitter policy does allow for parody accounts, but impersonator accounts that might deceive other users are banned. Given that @FiredBigBird has been reinstated, it seems clear that he was not considered an impersonator of PBS' character in any way that violated Twitter policy.

"It seems to me to be an automated thing," @FiredBigBird told Salon, adding, "But the reaction of my followers I think is the funniest thing. They assume Romney had a hand in it … they suspect Mitt Romney is calling Twitter on Bat[man]-like red phone to have me suspended."

Indeed, as soon as news emerged of the brief suspension, the hashtag #Birdgate started gaining traction, noting that other Big Bird parody accounts had been pushed off Twitter:

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Despite conspiracy theories abounding, it is not unusual for Twitter's algorithms to automatically block accounts that look like spam. Twitter has not returned Salon's request for comment, but @FiredBigBird does not believe he was deliberately pushed from his perch.

PBS takes a bullet

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:50:00 +0000

One of the more schizophrenic outcomes of last night’s Obama-Romney debate, and the insta-panic Obama’s poor performance has fomented among liberals, has to do with PBS. The morning after, the Public Broadcasting System finds itself both scapegoat and call to arms, with liberals simultaneously dissing moderator Jim Lehrer and embracing the ever-adorable Big Bird.

On MSNBC last night, after the debate had wrapped, Rachel Maddow refrained from naming a “winner” (her colleagues would not be so polite — or is it partisan?) but did say she thought Jim Lehrer, elder (and elderly) statesman of PBS, had officially put the nail in the coffin of this particular debate format. By near universal assessment, Lehrer did a bad job, but Maddow was spinning, taking the focus off Obama and putting it on Lehrer with a bit of blame-shifting. As Frank Rich wrote on Twitter last night, “Lehrer can't be blamed for Obama's failings. His own were dreadful enough.” But Lehrer is still shouldering some of the criticism for a less-than-stellar-for-the-Democrats debate.

You do not mess with Big Bird

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:46:00 +0000

In a debate in which Mitt Romney emerged as the near universally declared winner (perhaps because it wasn't a truth-telling competition), there was one unexpected casualty of the night: public broadcasting.

Before the debate was even over, the sputtery, passive performance by PBS's stalwart star Jim Lehrer as debate moderator was already being panned as the worst thing to happen to television this year that didn't involve a Kardashian. And more significantly, the network's 43-year-old altitudinous icon, Big Bird, got a surprise dis when the man who would be president declared, "I'm sorry, Jim, I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not going to keep spending money on things, borrowing money from China to pay for it."