Reviewing Sesame Street Spinoffs

 

Spinoffs are an interesting trend in media. The idea of taking certain characters from your main cast and giving them their own side adventures has been around longer than we think and can have varied results. They can either be loved (Daria, The Simpsons, Pinky and The Brain), hated (Planet Sheen, Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show, Joey), or somewhere in the middle (The Casagrandes, The Cleveland Show, Young Sheldon). And some never even got a chance to be a show at all. (Jack and the Pack)

In Sesame Street’s case, being the longest-running children’s show in history, they’ve managed to make 4, with moderate popularity. And I figured instead of reviewing them all separately, I should review all of them in one big review.

Now, before we get into said reviews, I should probably clarify what counts as a spinoff here. When I say spinoff in this review, I’m referring to a show aired on a TV network or a streaming service, that isn’t a part of the original Sesame Street, but still features characters from it. That means…

-No segments from the actual show. So no Abby’s Flying Fairy School, no Cookie’s Crumby Pictures, and no Elmo’s World. (Yes Matt, that was directed towards you.)

-None of the international versions of Sesame Street will be featured either, as they’re basically just the original show but hand-crafted to fit the needs of each country.

-And also, I’m not including Sesame Beginnings either, since that was only limited to DVD releases.

Everyone got that? Okay, now let’s dive into the weird and wild world of Sesame Street spinoffs, starting with…

So, as I said, Sesame Street has made four spinoffs as of the time of this review, and Play With Me Sesame was the first one, released all the way back in 2002, meaning it was the only one I actually grew up watching, but not in the same way that some of you reading this might have. You see this series was initially broadcasted on Noggin, but in 2007, it was re-run on PBS Kids Sprout, the TV channel of my childhood. This was the one I was most interested to watch because I wanted to see if I still felt about it the same way about it then I did when I was a kid. And… it’s pretty good.

Play With Me Sesame is a 24-minute interactive series about Ernie, Bert, Grover, and Prairie Dawn doing things with whoever’s watching, while muppet segments from the original series play in between. We get to play Ernie Says with Ernie, computer games with Bert, dance with Grover, and there’s even a part where Prairie Dawn showcases real drawings that real kids themselves drew. In fact, I distinctly remember when this show aired on Sprout during mornings on the Sunny Side Up Show, when Prairie’s part started, they would cut back to Kelly and Chica who would showcase the fan drawings in their studio.

There’s not really much to say about this show, it’s basically just a shorter, more-interactive version of Sesame Street with a smaller cast. But that doesn’t mean that it’s mediocre and boring.

The four muppets they chose to host this show were all characters that Sesame Street wasn’t really focusing on that much at the time, so Play With Me Sesame was a great way for them to get more to do. When kids are done hanging out with Big Bird, Oscar, Elmo, and Zoe, they can spend some time with Prairie, Grover and E&B. Helps that they’re still the same as they were on the original show, so old fans get to see their original favorites and new kids who might not be as acquainted with them can get a chance to see what they’re like. And they’re not the only ones who make appearances outside of the inserts, in some of the episodes I watched, Cookie Monster and Zoe made appearances that were also enjoyable as well. Cookie’s Very Simple Dance duet with Grover was especially hilarious.

And the theme song? Wow. Whoever had the brilliant idea to re-write Somebody Come And Play needed a raise because this might go down as the catchiest version of the song ever.

Play With Me Sesame also made me realize how committed Sesame productions were getting to the block format at this point in time. Gone were the days of one main narrative with a bunch of random stuff airing in between. Now you know what you’re getting and when you’re getting it. Unlike most, I actually like this method of content showcasing. Like I said, you know what you’re gonna see, but what you don’t know is how you’re gonna see it. There’s a formula, but it does something different with it every time.

If I had to mention any negatives though, there was one moment that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. Episode 6 in season 3, where B&E play a guessing game and Bert, for some reason, can’t figure out that Ernie is pretending to be a car, a train, and an airplane.

(Ernie pretends to be a car.)Bert: Ah, this is easy! You’re a rollerskate!/Oh oh, a tricycle!/Oh, I know, I know, I know! You are an escalator!

(Ernie pretends to be a train.)

Bert: You’re a moped!/A blimp!/A motorcycle sidecar!

(Ernie pretends to be a plane.)

Bert: Um, you’re a toboggan!/A hot-air balloon!/Well, I am stumped!

Really Bert? Really? I mean, I get that the joke was probably supposed to be that Bert is nerdy because he knows all these obscure modes of transportation, but he’s still smart enough to know what trains, planes, and automobiles are! This honestly seems like it would be a much better fit for Grover. Not understanding basic things is his forte.

But overall, this is just a really charming, extra dose of Sesame that puts focus on lesser appreciated characters, has fun interactive games for kids to play along with, and even gives them a chance to actually be a part of the action. It’s just a good fun time. I wish I could say more, but I can’t.

Alright, we’re starting off strong with these spin-offs. Let’s see if SS can keep their streak going 12 years later with our next stop which takes place all the way in the United Kingdom.

The Furchester Hotel is a show that aired on Cbeebies, where Elmo takes a vacation to the UK, to visit his Aunt Funella, Uncle Furgus, and cousin Phoebe at a giant Pee Wee/Foster’s-esque hotel that they own. Oh, and Cookie Monster tagged along and works as the hotel’s waiter.

After watching a majority of this series, I have to say, it’s actually really enjoyable. In fact, I think it might be my favorite SS spinoff so far. Why is that?

Well, I think one of the biggest reasons is that it has direction. Unlike something like The Patrick Star Show, where things just happen with no rhyme or reason, with the very thin plot thread of Patrick hosting his own show connecting it, The Furchester Hotel has a very clear concise storyline of a family of monsters trying to run their hotel as best as they possibly can, and the shenanigans that can arise from that premise. Episodes can revolve around the hotel staff trying to make a commercial for the business, trying to take some time off from their jobs, interacting with the many wacky and diverse hotel guests, or just trying to fix any problems that present themselves. Heck, the ending song is basically the characters begging us not to leave. Because there’s a much clearer narrative, the writers are able to take much more advantage of their premise and tell entertaining stories with it.

Speaking of the characters, that’s another area this show has TPSS beat. The latter’s cast is comprised of either diet versions of old characters, the old characters, or just mildly entertaining characters, but the former’s cast is an actually enjoyable bunch of different goofballs that you’ll be happy to spend time with.

In terms of originals, you’ve my two home dogs Elmo and Cookie Monster, and they’re just the same as they are in the original show. But the reason they work there, while Patrick, Sheen, and Mater don’t work in the shows and movies they’re placed in, is that the writers know who Elmo and Cookie are and where they work the best. Elmo usually has the main storyline, either by himself or alongside Phoebe, where he’s the one who learns how to do something or figures out a solution to whatever problem is going on, while Cookie Monster usually gets small bursts of comedy in every episode he’s in, many of which revolving around his namesake. These two are never forced into scenarios that don’t work with their characters and because of that, they’re still as lovable as we know they are.

But they’re not the only ones in the main cast. We’ve also got the Furchesters themselves, and all three of them are memorable and enjoyable to a major degree.

Funella is the fun-loving, joyful maternal figure, who’s really good at social situations, mainly welcoming new guests, Furgus is also fun-loving and joyous, but is more good at technical situations, as he’s usually doing many odd jobs around the hotel, and Phoebe, while not Elmo’s most iconic on-screen female partner is still a nice change from the mold. I mean, take a look at the main female muppets of SS: Zoe is a youngster who specializes in getting under Elmo’s skin, Abby is an inexperienced magic user who usually gets way in over her head, Rosita is a proud Mexican who usually lets her huge emotions get the better of her, and Prairie Dawn is too smart for her own good, and gets easily flustered and frustrated. Phoebe, on the other hand, is sort of like a cool big sister. She’s a lot older than Elmo, and she knows quite a bit more than he does, but she doesn’t try to act like she’s better than him, she’s able to speak to him and not down to him, and they both love playing together, and that dynamic makes for some really cute and heartwarming interactions between the two.

Besides the main family, the rest of the supporting cast, while not having the greatest development are still able to leave an impact because of how distinct and memorable they are. There’s Isabel, the bell monster who lives at the front desk, Harvey P. Dull, who’s a less grumpy, more helpful version of Mr. Johnson, and the Tea Time Monsters, whose only purpose is to run around and cause chaos for the main characters.

And of course, I can’t forget to mention the one and only Chef Gonger, who started as a nameless monster when the series began, but by the second season evolved into the sometimes irritable monster chef with a distinct speaking pattern we know and love today. Gonger is probably one of the most known muppets from the past decade, and we really have the show and Warrick Brownlow-Pike to thank for his existence.

It’s also worth noting that Big Bird and The Count make guest appearances in season 2, and they’re also just the same as they ever were, with plots tailored to their personalities. Big Bird’s episode is about finding a place in the hotel that’s big enough for him to sleep in, and The Count’s episode revolves around the gang having to restrain him from counting stuff.

Also, it got me thinking about plots that could arise if they let other SS characters make guest appearances. In fact, here are four great ones I thought of.

1. Grover wants a job working at the Furchester, but because he's Grover, he’s bad at every job he attempts, so the Furchesters have to find a job that he’s actually good at doing.
2. Ernie and Bert decide to take a small vacation at the hotel, and while Ernie loves all the excitement and chaos, Bert has trouble relaxing, and the Furchesters focus on finding the perfect relaxation spot for him.
3. Oscar and Grundgetta pay a visit to see if the hotel is grouchy enough for them, and any other grouches who might come here, and the Furchesters try their best to make their experience as grouchy as possible.
4. Abby vacations to the hotel and spends the day playing with Elmo and Phoebe, and throughout the episode, Phoebe gets jealous of Abby and all the magical things she can do.

Sound like good episodes, don’t they? Shame this show didn’t have another season, then maybe they could consider them.

And oh my god, I haven’t even gotten into all of the weird and wacky hotel guests that this place houses, which include, but are not limited to, a group of acapella singing vegetables, a porcupine who likes to live in denial, DotBot, the new Furchester Hotel robot assistant, penguins who bobsleigh, two ducks who are obsessed with television, howling wolves, a tiny ant, a cow sculptor, an apatosaurus, Cookie Monster’s British cousin, and so many more bit and background characters that if I tried to list them all we’d be here all day. And just like Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, each of them contributes to making the Furchester Hotel a cool and interesting place.

The music is also top-notch. Each of the songs in this series is catchy, and fun to sing along to. If I had to pick my favorite, it would have to be either the theme song or A Furchester Never Gives Up.

I only have two main gripes with the series as a whole. The first one is that some of the songs, while great, are played in nearly every episode, and that can sometimes screw with what’s happening in the story.

Like there’s an episode where Phoebe loses her voice, and immediately afterward it cuts to the catastrophe song. The problem that arises is that Phoebe is heard and seen singing along with the other characters, despite the fact that she lost her voice a few seconds ago. They should have reshot that song without Phoebe to make it make narrative sense.

This problem comes back in a season 2 episode where Phoebe gets angry at Elmo, and when Elmo finds out and can’t figure out why, it cuts to “We Can Solve Any Problem”, where Phoebe is once again present, despite the fact that in this point in the story, she most likely would not want to sing a song, especially not with Elmo around.

I know that’s a minor thing, but it can still be an immersion breaker when it really didn’t need to be. All they had to do was remove the character who was causing the problem while everyone else sings about it.

My second gripe, and this is a bigger issue, is that the series as a whole lacks a setup and conclusion, in that we never get to see or learn why Elmo and Cookie decided to fly over to this country and stay in this hotel, AND we never get to see them get ready to head back to their home.

Like, think of how much more impactful it would be if we had a promo where Elmo gets a letter or phone call from his British relatives asking him to come over and stay at their hotel for however long, and Cookie Monster wanting to tag along also, and a pilot episode about the two actually arriving at the Furchester and getting accustomed to the building and settling into their new jobs and living spaces, and when the series ends, they could have had a finale episode that revolves around E and CM’s final day at the Furchester and all the antics that take place during it, and at the end, it would feature the two getting in a taxi that will drive them to the airport so they can fly back to Sesame Street. That would feel like a proper end to the series and proper goodbye to the characters we’ve come to know and love.

But even so, The Furchester Hotel is still a very enjoyable separate series with great characters, funny jokes, catchy songs, and a new experience for its viewers, and that’s really one of the greatest things a Sesame Street spinoff could be. Would definitely recommend this show to anyone looking for something new and exciting. Speaking of which, let’s head on back to 123 Sesame Street to take a look at our next spinoff.

While we were still in the pandemic, and HBO Max was still in its infancy, alongside tons of classic SS episodes, we were also promised a new talk show hosted by Elmo as an original program on the streaming service, and on May 27, it was released to the public.

The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo is about Elmo joining the likes of Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O’Brien and hosting his own late-night talk show from his apartment before his bedtime, with Cookie Monster as his co-host, Mama Bear, Herry and Freddy as the house band, and the rest of the Sesame muppets as the cast and crew. And what do I think of it? …Well, it’s not amazing, but it’s pretty darn close.

First off, the setup is genius. Elmo and his friends trying to pull a Muppet Show was great in Elmopalooza, but pulling off their own talk show with Elmo as the host? There are so many ideas that can be spawned from it, and for the most part, they take advantage of most of them. The talk show catalog is one that can be very dirty, serious, and even sometimes scandalous, but The Not-Too-Late Show is the breath of fresh air that it needed. It’s a talk show made by kids and kid-like characters who are only concerned about delivering good clean fun to their guests and audience. The best moments come from the interview/game portions, where the celebrities get to banter with Elmo and Cookie. John Oliver, in particular, was especially endearing and natural.

Speaking of which, the character roster for this show is pretty sweet. Of course, you have Elmo and Cookie, who are still the best characters, and Mama Bear, Herry, and Freddy provide some great music-related gags throughout the show, but we also have, Abby, Rosita, Grover, Big Bird, Oscar, Ernie, Bert, Count, Prairie, Rudy, Zoe, Telly, Baby Bear, Mr. Johnson, The Two-Headed Monster, even Alan gets a chance to participate when he gets a monster makeover. This show continues to do what Elmpalooza did and gives most of its screen time to one or two characters, but still giving the rest of its cast stuff to do. The backstage endeavors are also pretty enjoyable, from Abby’s magic messing up the control room to Ernie giving some sheep a tour of the studio to Cookie Monster’s adorable niece running amok backstage to Grover failing to escort Mr. Johnson to his seat, the muppets keep providing entertaining bits for us to enjoy in between the main action.

The music of this series is also really awesome. From the songs, the guest stars get to sing (My personal favorites being Lil Nas X’s cover of Elmo’s Song, Ben Platt’s cover of C is for Cookie, Dan + Shay’s cover of IDWTLOTM, The Joyus String Quartet’s string medley, and the Jonas Brothers’ irresistibly catchy teeth brushing song) to Elmo’s closing song that he changes lyrics for in every episode. The tunes of The Not-Too-Late Show were some of the Sesame’s greatest 2020 work, music-wise.

But the best thing about this series is how it 100% succeeds at its intended purpose: To help kids get ready for bed and go to sleep. Since this talk show takes place right before Elmo goes to sleep, bedtime is the central topic that the characters revolve their actions around. When his musical guests sing their songs, Elmo is usually off-screen, brushing his teeth or getting pajamas on, there’s one episode where Elmo has to pack his backpack for school and another one where he has to pick a bedtime story. And at the end of every episode, we see him fall asleep in his bed. This is why I think TNTLSWE is so genius. Whereas all other late-night talk shows intend to keep folks up all night, this one is perfect for your kids to fall asleep to. They can have fun and get all their energy out during the beginning half of the program, and then start to wind down near the end, and even fall asleep to Elmo’s outro. Kids win, because they got to have fun with their favorite puppet pals before bedtime, and adults win, because their kids are asleep, and also because they had a few laughs here and there.

The only problem I have with it is that Oscar never got a chance to do his Trash Talk segment, which was something I was really looking forward to seeing. He attempts to do it in all of two episodes, but in one, the show ends before he can start and in the other, they got him mixed up with another segment. Oscar was really done dirty here, which I guess you could argue is in line with how grouches like to be treated, but I still wanted to see him do this thing.

But other than that, The Not-Too-Late Show was a fun experience for both kids and adults, with the same lovable cast of characters, funny jokes, excitement, great music, and a calm, gentle ending to each episode. Definitely one of the show’s better productions in the modern-day era.

…And then season 2 came along.

In March of 2021, The Not-Too-Late Show was renewed for a second season, which sounds awesome! That means more potential for new celebrities, more character appearances and interactions, more great songs, and maybe Oscar will finally get a chance to do his segment, right? Well, here’s the catch, the show was now called “The Not Too Late Show With Elmo: Game Edition”, and instead of a talk show, the program was now more of a game show where kids play the same round of three games that are tailored to a different topic in each episode.

Before I go on, I want to clarify that I don’t think season two of The Not-Too-Late Show is bad, and it does have some good elements to it that I will go over right now:

The music is actually a step up in quality from the first season, The Topic Of The Day ditty is very catchy, and don’t even get me started on the original songs sung by the celebrities during the second game of the show, because they might be some of the greatest Sesame Street 2020 bangers I’ve ever heard. My personal favorites are the ones sung by Tori Kelly, Keedron Bryant, Bebe Rexha, Hello Sunday, WanMor, Kane Brown, Juanes, Taz Niederauer, Sophie Fatu, and Madison Reyes. Plus, AJR and Leslie Odom Jr.’s covers of People in your Neighborhood and Rubber Duckie, respectively, are also great as well.

The backstage shenanigans the rest of the muppet cast gets into are more or less the same, and so are the muppet cast themselves. They even added a new character in Felix the helpful chicken, and he’s rather enjoyable with his funny voice and the way he bounces off of the other characters. That one episode where he and Baby Bear pretend to take an Outer Space Vacation was pretty fun.

And of course, Cookie and Elmo are great, as always. I love these guys, and it’s no different here.

But despite these good elements, season 2 of this show also has a host of issues. The first one of which being that the kids and their parents having to do “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” in EVERY episode got REALLY old REALLY fast. Yes, the celebrities did sometimes do this game in season 1, but the keyword in that sentence was “sometimes”. It never overstayed its welcome and was one of many things Elmo’s guests did, but here having it be part of every episode is just boring and dare I say, tedious.

Second, the celebrities that are a part of the first game of the show are criminally misused. Like I said before, one of the main enjoyable aspects of the first season was Elmo and Cookie’s interactions with their guest stars, whether they were talking, tricycle racing, playing Cookie Monster Says, or whatever. In season 2, the celebrities will only say hello, have a few brief lines relating to the topic of the episode, and after the game, say goodbye. Heck, Elmo doesn’t even get to play the games, he just commentates, which he does do a good job at, but it’s really lacking that element of muppet human interactions that made the first season so great.

Third, the second game the contestants play is WAY too easy, like insultingly easy. The songs are awesome but the game itself isn’t challenging whatsoever. Let me explain: In this game, celebrities sing songs and the kids have to find and recall three things that were present in the musical number. What’s the problem with that, you ask? The problem is that no effort is given to hide said items whatsoever. They’re mentioned in the songs, and muppet versions of the objects appear alongside the musical guests during the songs, so kids 3 and up should have absolutely no problem figuring out what things to list, and they definitely don’t need to ask their parents for help. The only one that attempts to hide/not mention the three items was LOJ’s Rubber Duckie cover, and even then, one of the items was a rubber duckie, the very thing the song itself was about! This game doesn’t provide ANY challenge whatsoever and it makes the experience rather frustrating.

But I think the biggest problem that hurts this season is the reformatting. Turning the Not-Too-Late Show into a game show takes away what made it work in the first place. Elmo was hosting a late-night talk show before his bedtime. That was the schtick. And the humor comes from having to do certain things before going to bed, while also putting a more innocent spin on the more adult genre it was spoofing.

In season 2, there’s no Mama Bear and the Monsters, no soothing outro song sung by Elmo at the end, everything is more high energy, and bedtime is rarely even mentioned! With all this in mind, it’s gotten to the point where The Not-Too-Late Show might as well be called The Not-Late-At-All Show.

So yeah, this season wasn't so hot. But despite that, The Not-Too-Late Show was still a great and interesting experience that didn’t deserve to be wiped off of its only home. Yeah, for those of you unaware, this show was one of the many unfortunate victims of the infamous HBO Max purge, which really sucks. Luckily, all episodes have been uploaded and saved on the website known as Sesamestreetguide.com, which hosts a variety of Sesame Street content, including many of the episodes and specials HBO Max got rid of. So, after you finish reading this post, please check it out, and give TNTLSWE a watch. Mostly the first season, and maybe the second season if you’re up for it. As I said, it’s not bad, it just can’t hold a candle to the first one, which used the premise to the best of its ability and provided an enjoyable experience that as Cookie Monster put it best: “It fun for whole family!”

Well folks, we’ve finally reached the last spinoff we’re going over today, and this one is CGI animated. That’s a first.

Mecha Builders is the latest Sesame Street production which aired on Cartoon Network’s new preschool programming block, Cartoonito, and is about an alternate universe where Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Abby are giant robots with superpowers who solve problems in their hometown of Pretty Big City. Now, what do I think of the series? Eh, it’s alright.

The best aspect of the show has to be the Mechas themselves, and the tools/powers they inhabit, which is mostly thanks to the great animation. My personal favorites being Cookie’s googly vision and Abby’s stretchy arms. And despite being giant robots, these three don’t feel like different characters than we’ve known them as before. Well, I guess one could make the argument that Abby is a bit more confident and brave in this series, but Elmo is still a happy-go-lucky giggler who’s good with crayons, and Cookie Monster is still the gluttonous comic relief. Plus, it helps that their respective puppeteers were brought on to voice them.

The Yip-Yip Martians also made two guest appearances and those were a treat as well.

The music fits and serves its purpose in the show, and the theme song has been stuck in my head since the day I first heard it.

Yeah, I don’t really have a lot to say on Mecha Builders. It’s not bad, by any means, but it’s just not as entertaining as the other spinoffs we’ve gone over, and certainly not as entertaining as Sesame Street itself. To explain why that is, I want to compare it to the Sesame Street segment Super Grover 2.0, since that one is also about superheroes and also has STEM as its main lesson.

Now, SG2.0 already has an advantage, because Super Grover is a concept that most people who watch the show know about since it’s been around since 1974, while the concept of Elmo, Abby, and Cookie being robots has never been executed until now. But also, the main aspect of SG was that he was a completely incompetent superhero, and his interactions with whoever he was trying to help were the main comedic selling point of the entire segment. Plus, kids could see themselves in whoever Super Grover was trying to help, as they are able to piece logical information together and fix whatever issue they have. In Mecha Builders, our three main heroes are very competent and any mistakes they make can usually be chalked up to misfires. As such, there’s not really much of a setup for jokes and memorable moments, it’s just heroes doing hero stuff, which is nice to see, but it just doesn’t have the same Sesame Street feel as the previous spinoffs and segments I’ve gone over.

So yeah, I think it goes without saying that Mecha Builders is my least favorite of these four spinoffs. It’s not bad, but it’s lacking the special sauce that usually helps Sesame Street productions leave a mark.

But hey, I’m still grateful that it exists, cause if it didn’t, we wouldn’t get these YouTube gems.

So there you have it, folks. We have gone over all four SS spinoffs: A structured bite-sized version of Sesame Street that gives focus to underused characters, an enjoyable international co-production that gave us a lovable cast of new characters and a fun setting for us to get lost in, a charming spin on an adult TV format that kind of lost steam around its second season, and a serviceable animated series with cool robot designs and not much else.

I gotta say, I had fun revisiting these after all this time, and organizing my thoughts on each one. And I definitely had more stuff I liked than stuff I disliked. If I had to rank them all, it would probably look something like this:

(#1) The Furchester Hotel

(#2) Play With Me Sesame

(#3) The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo

(#4) Mecha Builders

I would highly recommend you give all of these shows a watch because while they’re all vastly different, they all still get the basic concept of making learning fun for kids down pat, some more than others, and I’m sure at least one of them will stick with you after you’ve watched it.

This experience has also made me curious about the future of Sesame Street spinoffs. Will we get any more? Will a good majority of them be animated? What will they be about? And who will they focus on? We may never know, but right now, I’d say we’ve got it pretty good.

Well, that’s all the time we have for today. Did you agree with my opinions? What’s your favorite of the spinoffs I went over? Please feel free to let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next review. Bye!