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Wow. Makes me wonder what the suits at HBO are thinking. I grew up with those guys in the mid-late 70s. First the lady who played Maria left and then the rest of the old guard are given the boot. A sad day in children's programming if you ask me
Actually these changes have been in the works for about 18 months. Sesame Workshop lost $21 million in the last three years it was producing Sesame St. for PBS mostly from the loss of revenue from the sales of DVD's. Now that kids are connected so well and can see SS whenever they want on youtube, Mom isn't plunking down $15 for the latest Elmo release.
HBO offered SW financial support (estimated at about $20 million a year) for the right to the first airing of SS (with PBS to get airing rights 9 months later) and HBO having a hands off approach with SS. HBO gets full creative control of the new show they are going to produce with SW. SW had to look at what it could do in order to make that $20 million last. Their research has shown that kids don't watch SS on TV with their parents anymore as they do it on iPads, laptops, etc and that the kids really don't relate to the human characters. As such SW made the decision to:
cut the show to 30 minutes
de-emphasize the adult human characters
reduce the parodies that adult viewers (who don't watch much anymore) as they were expensive to produce.
Television shows evolve and characters change. These three guys who were not re-signed had a great run (Bob was on the show for 45 years and is now 84) and I'm sure made a good living.
P.S. Home Box Office has a site for comments, complaints, etc.
I hope those who are ticked like I am will use it and let those jerks know.
Do you watch Sesame Street? Just curious as to why you are so angry about a child's show.
I don't, but I would think after 45 years it would be time to get some fresh faces on the show. How many preschool aged children relate to 85 year olds? I would think having younger actors would be more appealing to the show. Actually, I would think the muppets are what appeals most to children. Elmo and cookie monster dolls are big sellers. No one is rushing out to buy their very own Bob, Luis, or Gordon doll. I watched Sesame Street as a child, but could not name a single human actor. I can name all the muppet characters though.
What? Commercial greed? Sorry, Sesame Street is a business, not a charity. PBS is lucky that HBO is helping with the show instead of having it canceled. Would you rather Bob, Luis, and Gordon kept their jobs on a canceled show, or for future generations to be able to enjoy Big Bird, Elmo, Bert & Ernie, and the rest of the characters?
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