Louise A. Gikow
Heading into its 43rd season, which starts Sept. 24, Sesame Street continues its long-running tradition of high wattage stars stopping by to mix it up with the cast of muppets. This year movie stars Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Amy Ryan, Steve Carell, Zac Efron, Casey Affleck, Paula Patton, and Melissa McCarthy are on the list, as are acclaimed TV stars Jon Hamm, Eric Stonestreet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Hyde Pierce, Timothy Olyphant, Maya Rudolph, Ed Helms, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard. Joining the fun are NBA Slam Dunk Champion Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Dodger’s Matt Kemp, Extra’s Mario Lopez, talk show host Wendy Williams, singer Colbie Caillat, rock band Train, rapper/musician Common, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
This season the Street will also have new pop-culture spoofs like “The Voice,” in which three judges are searching for “the voice,” but keep mistaking it for sounds made by other parts of the body; “Upside Downton Abbey,” in which everything in Upside Downton Abbey keeps falling to the ceiling; “Eye of the Potato,” a parody of the song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor in which Telly trains Elmo to become a hot potato champion; and “Five By,”a parody of the song “Drive By” in which rock band Train, Elmo and The Count sing about finding the right amount.
There’ll also be a new segment called “Elmo: The Musical,” 11-minute math-filled episodes that invites kids to sing, dance, play and imagine along with Elmo. It will replace the “Elmo’s World” segment but Mr. Noodle, Dorothy, and all the “Elmo’s World” characters will still be around in repeat episodes.
Grover and Abby Cadabby get their turn as well, with new “Super Grover 2.0” segments and new “Abby’s Flying Fairy School” animations.
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For more Sesame Street:
30 Classic ‘Sesame Street’ Visits
