Word: showing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Emmy-award-winning performer and producer with dozens of TV and film credits to his name, but he's far better known as a furry red monster. Clash is the puppeteer and the voice behind Elmo, one of the most popular characters on the seminal children's television show Sesame Street, which this week marks its 40th anniversary with a series of special episodes and a two-disc DVD set, Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days. Clash spoke to TIME about becoming Elmo, the show's many celebrity guests and why even grown-ups need a Sesame Street...
...want to ask how you joined the show and how you came up with what you do with Elmo. The character existed before you joined? They had a bunch of monsters and they thought, Wouldn't it be nice to make a red one? So they did. David Korr, who was a writer at the time, really took a liking to the character, and started writing him into the scripts. And of course, then they had to find somebody to puppeteer him. Brian Muehl did it for a couple of shows, and then Richard Hunt. Richard hated it. Richard originated...
...what point did you realize that Elmo was going to turn into such a big deal? I came back in the next season, and the first bit I did the crew actually laughed. If you can get the crew to laugh on a show, you know that you're doing something. At the end of each season, the producers would get together with the writers and they'll poll what new characters worked that season. And when the research department went out with Elmo, they saw that not only were the kids being entertained by the character, but that they...
...know how many celebrity guests there have been on Sesame Street? I know that James Earl Jones was the first. And now we've had over 400. The most memorable were the ones that come in and have that feel for what the show has meant. I remember when Tracy Chapman came in, she was crying as she sang her song; she was just so overwhelmed by being there. Danny DeVito stood up on the steps so everybody could see him personally thank everybody for all the years that he loved watching the show. I mean, to watch Ray Charles...
...than there's been before. At the beginning of children's programming it was Mr. Rogers, it was Sesame Street, Captain Kangaroo was still on - but that was really it. Now, it's everybody. But Sesame Street has always stood apart. The statistics of how many adults watch the show who don't have children is amazing. I got one letter from a husband and wife who said when they get home and they've had a bad day, they pop in the Best of Elmo video. The guy sent me the cover to sign, to give as a 10th...