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Previously, on My Week with Elmo.
All the Elmo Detractors are on one side, hissing and booing and throwing rocks and stuff, saying that Elmo is a one-note tickle-bot who takes the focus away from all the other Sesame characters.
And I’m over on the other side (also known as: the side of truth and light), saying: Um, no. Not really.
There, that’s you all caught up.
So our next video is Elmopalooza, Sesame Street’s 30th anniversary special from 1998. Now, if there was ever a title to make the Elmo Detractors hiss and boo, that would be it right there. It’s Sesame Street‘s 30th anniversary, and whose name is smack dab at the front of the title? Tchah, say the Elmo Detractors. Pah. Phooey. At this point they throw the video down in disgust and go watch Noggin until they can pull themselves together.
But we are not like the Elmo Detractors. No, no. We are good and pure of heart, and we’re gonna watch this video.
The premise here is that it’s a live, star-studded special from Radio City Music Hall, celebrating 30 years of Sesame Street music. Jon Stewart is supposed to be the host, but Elmo accidentally locks Jon and the entire crew in the dressing room. The Muppets worry that they won’t be able to put the show on themselves, but Elmo insists that they try. “Elmo wants to fix his mistakes! Elmo wants the show to be great! And — most of all — Elmo wants his own trailer! So who’s with Elmo?” Yay! So the Muppets all take their places — Ernie and Bert in the control room, Big Bird working the cameras, Cookie Monster eating the boom mikes.
Okay, so yes, granted, Elmo is once again a force of chaos and destruction. But he hasn’t actually disrupted space and time or destroyed the global economy yet, so we’re still one up on “Elmo Saves Christmas.”
And let’s do a little headcount. Kermit opens the show as the newscaster, with a funny Ted Koppel gag. Grover is a limo driver, hired to take Gordon and Susan from Sesame Street to Radio City, by way of Roswell, New Mexico. Prairie Dawn is the producer, impatiently bossing people around like she does with her Sesame pageants. They’re about to do a countdown for the show, and the Count pops up: “Please! Allow me! I’m a professional.” Oscar, Snuffy, Rosita, the Two-Headed Monster… Title aside, this special isn’t 24-7 Elmo at all. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many Sesame characters all in one place, all being funny at the same time.
And if I can step away from the Elmo Politics for a minute, the thing that’s really amazing about this video is how tight and funny and well-produced it is. It’s a lot like the Sesame gang doing The Muppet Show, actually. There’s back-stage chaos, with people trying to hammer the locked door down and rescue Jon Stewart. There’s on-stage chaos, with monsters flying around and tap-dancing elephants doing auditions.
And then the musical numbers — the main “meat” of the show — are these gorgeous little videos. They’ve recorded new versions of a bunch of Sesame songs as duets between celebrity singers and Muppets, and then filmed real music videos for them. Gloria Estefan sings “Mambo I, I, I” with Rosita, Luis and Maria. Shawn Colvin does a fantastic, heartbreaking duet of “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” with Ernie — and the video is a little film of Shawn and Ernie taking a roadtrip in a convertible, stopping off on the highway and singing the song to each other. En Vogue does a really cool cover of “I Want a Monster To Be My Friend” with Cookie Monster, Zoe — and Frazzle. For real! Frazzle! When, in my wildest Sesame-Fan dreams, did I ever think that I would see Frazzle in a full-scale modern music video?
Those silly Elmo Detractors just don’t know what they’re missing. Look at them over there — just sitting there, all bitter and upset, muttering to themselves about the Red Menace. Hey, guys! C’mon over here! We’ve got Frazzle! No? Okay, suit yourselves.
Anyway, here’s the point. If “Elmopalooza” is the Sesame version of The Muppet Show, then Elmo is The Kermit. He doesn’t really take over the show; he’s just the host, tying everything together and introducing all the other acts. He really only has one song in the whole hour-long special. I admit, that number is a duet with Rosie O’Donnell, but go with me on this. If you’re gonna do a variety show, you need a Kermit, and that’s what Elmo has become. Elmo is The Host — not just The Host of “Elmopalooza,” but The Host of Sesame Street. He’s the character that ties things together, the center that things revolve around. But that doesn’t mean that the show is all Elmo, any more than The Muppet Show was all Kermit. Elmo’s the front man, the Emcee, and you need one of those. When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing that Sesame Street managed without one for so long.
So Elmo’s doing his big number with Rosie O’Donnell, and everything’s going wrong. The sets crash down, the stagehand monsters zoom around on ropes. Elmo says that everything’s messed up, and it’s all his fault. He goes off and sits on his own — and I swear, if there was such a song as “It’s Not Easy Being Red,” he’d be singing it right about now.
Your honor, I submit to you that my client is completely innocent on all charges. He’s not always happy, and he’s not hogging all the time from the other characters. I move that the charges be dropped, and we all go out for ice cream.
Case closed. Boy, that was easy. The rest of this week is gonna be a breeze.
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by Danny Horn
