Tough Pigs News Extra January 10, 2002
Frisk-Me Elmo January 10, 2002 by Alan Sepinwall, The New Jersey Star-Ledger Reprinted entirely without permission
Even Elmo isn't immune from the effects of September 11.
Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who handles and voices the beloved Sesame Street character, used to have no trouble bringing Elmo in a carry-on bag as he traveled around the world to make appearances. Since airport security was ratcheted up, however, baggage screeners have become a lot more suspicious of the little red monster in the duffel bag.
"They're really checking everything now," says Clash. "It's really good (for everyone), but it's very disconcerting sometimes for me. A lot of times, they open your bag and ask you to move away. They're opening things and they don't want you to touch anything, and I have to really correct them very quickly on the fact that this is Elmo, and you can't just handle him a certain way."
The contrast in appearance between Elmo and Clash -- as he says, "I'm a 6-foot black guy performing a falsetto little red monster" -- occasionally creates added confusion, but Clash has also used it to his advantage on plane flights.
During one cross-country trip, the flight attendants discovered who he was and asked if he would get on the intercom system as Elmo to say hello to the kids on board.
"I went into the cockpit and Elmo said he loved all the kids on the plane, and then I walk out and I see all the people on the aisle seats tilting out to see who was there on the speaker phone. They looked at me and said, 'Nahhh.'"
Clash and Elmo will get to address 9/11 when Sesame Street begins its 33rd season on February 4. Four episodes will obliquely deal with the tragedy from a kids' perspective, with stories about fear, loss, bullies and inclusion. The first episode will include appearances by real-life New York firemen, who will put out a grease fire at Hooper's Store and then give Elmo a tour of their firehouse.
The new season will also feature a few tweaks in the format, with the addition of some new segments like "Spanish Word of the Day," as well as a structure that keeps all the segments in the same place every day.
The more rigid order is designed to make Sesame Street more accessible for the 2-year-olds who have begun watching the show in greater numbers. (Three-year-olds used to be the earliest viewers.)
"We've noticed from our research that our audience was getting younger," says executive producer Michael Loman, "so we created these predictable formats that follow one another every single day, much like you would find in day care and preschool, so children can navigate the show more easily."
While the show's audience is getting younger, Kevin Clash's daughter -- who used to call him at work and ask if he could put Elmo on the phone -- is getting older.
"She just turned 9, so she considers herself a teenager now," he says. "She's into Destiny's Child and Britney Spears, trying to take her clothes off like Britney and stuff. She loves watching Sesame Street and Muppets and stuff like that, but she keeps me and Elmo separate now."
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