There goes the neighborhood

When I was in my late twenties, I developed a penchant for Elmo. I hadn't actually spent a lot of time watching Elmo, but there was something very cute about the toddler sized muppet who spoke like a 2 year old.

Olivia's arrival led me to actually WATCH Sesame Street, and I now see the error of my ways. That little red monster is nearly as annoying as Barney. (He actually is MORE annoying than Barney if you account for the annoying factor of the 'Mr. Noodle' sidekick.)

Sesame Street has deteriorated -- and it's Elmo's fault. Elmo's popularity led the Sesame Street producers to dumb down the characters. In the old Sesame Street, characters had adult vocabularies and were presented in adult contexts. The new cast of muppets now act and speak like 4 year olds. A new muppet is introduced at approximately the same rate as Starbucks introduces a new flavored coffee.

Other signs of the Elmofication of Sesame Street -- the Odd Couple schtick between Ernie and Bert has been replaced by claymation fantasy videos, Frog on the street Kermit is nowhere to be seen, and Cookie Monster eats vegetables.

According to the New York Times, the DVD release of Old School Sesame Street actually contains a warning that the material may not be suitable for toddlers.

There goes the neighborhood.