I don’t love Sesame’s social media accounts. Once in a while they’ll come up with something brilliant (see: that time they had Big Bird tweeting Snuffy, whose account was hidden) and I appreciate that the only things The Count has tweeted are a sequence of numbers. But, man, I’m so bored by most of their stuff, especially their videos. Sesame throws these together, often poorly against a green screen, and while the performers are able to sell it, the material they’re being given is mediocre at best.
When it was announced that Elmo, Abby and Cookie Monster were heading to Paris to cover the Olympic Games, I just shrugged. I mean, why? As much as I adore Abby, what is she going to bring to the table that we can’t get from literally anyone else? Their promotion didn’t help, either. Cookie posted on his accounts, more than once, that the Olympic Rings look like cookies. I’m reminded of the outtakes of the John Oliver/Cookie Monster video from many years ago, where John calls out one of Cookie’s cookie jokes by saying ‘boy, that’s just your go to, isn’t it?’. I don’t blame David Rudman for that, he’s shown many times in many appearances he can make loads of jokes, even about cookies, but keep them fresh and in character. But I was honestly expecting the same old drivel at these Olympics as we usually get these days from Sesame. I thought ‘Elmo is gonna say everyone is doing their best, Abby will say Paris is magical, and Cookie will say the rings look like cookies because that’s what the writers have told him to do’.
But, god dammit, if I’m not finding these Sesame Olympic videos endearing as hell!
There are a few in particular that have really tickled me, featuring medal winning athletes doing silly little videos with our furry friends. The first is with Simone Biles, who is such a beloved champion that even we in Australia were hoping she would win. Simone appeared with Elmo, where she leads him to believe that she wants to take a selfie with him, but it’s in fact Elmo’s greatest enemy, Rocco, who she’s after. Take a look (also, sorry for the TikTok links);
If I’m honest, I’m a little done with the Rocco gags, but having him somehow have made it to Paris without Zoe just to taunt Elmo made me chuckle. Maybe Rocco is sentient after all? You can tell how much fun Simone is having, too. I’d imagine these athletes will take any chance they can to do a silly video rather than talk to boring reporters 100 times a day. She’s relishing this.
As is Katie Ledecky, who narrowly defeated fellow Australian Ariana Titmus in the Women’s 800m freestyle. I didn’t even think Americans knew what meters were! But I digress. Katie famously once swam with a glass of chocolate milk balancing on her head and DIDN’T SPILL A SINGLE DROP! So the only way to follow that up was to balance cookies on her head with Cookie Monster and Elmo in this gorgeous little sketch;
Tell me Katie, David and Ryan aren’t having the absolute time of their lives here! I’m sure Katie has other plans when she retires, but if she and Cookie Monster want to do a buddy cop movie, I’d be the first in line. Having been in videos with Muppets myself (including these two), sometimes the easiest thing to do is just embrace the weirdness of the entire situation and commit, and that’s what makes this video so fun.
The final athlete/Muppet video I want to showcase is one with Cookie alongside Olympic swimmers Caeleb Dressel, Bobby Finke and Ryan Murphy. I don’t even know where to start with these guys. They’re so happy and shocked to be with Cookie Monster that the look on their faces says it all. Just watch;
They’re genuinely speechless, and not in a ‘we’re too cool to be here way’. It’s in a ‘holy crap, that’s Cookie Monster and we’re eating cookies with him!’ way. I get it, boys! What an endearing trio of dudes.
The final video I want to show really made me laugh, because it’s purely just a 20 second sketch. Two dudes who call themselves ATFrenchies are teaching Cookie Monster how to say a bunch of words that sound the same. Take a look!
If you get some time, go have a little scroll through some more of Sesame’s videos in Paris. The puppeteers are having a wonderful time and it’s nice seeing that joy come through. There are some fun photos out there of Cookie fencing with a baguette, Cookie hanging with unofficial Olympic mascot Snoop Dogg, and Abby Cadabby cuddling up with medalist Melissa Jefferson.
But I do want to leave you with one more video that isn’t Sesame related at all, I just found it super adorable. Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin won Silver on the Women’s Balance Beam and while on the podium learnt that athletes will often bite the medal after she saw her fellow winners do it. Enjoy!
By Jarrod Fairclough – Jarrod@ToughPigs.com
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