Most of the western planet knows by now that “Sesame Street” had selected pop Perry as the headline celeb guest to open its 41st season. The landmark children’s program is known for bringing out the inner child in celebrities great and small, and Katy Perry’s appearance was no exception. Or it would have been, if her episode hadn’t been edited in a panic at the last moment due to a supposedly racy tunes video with the “Street’s” modern kingpin, Elmo. Elmo gave his thoughts on it.
'Good Morning America’ featuring Elmo with George Stephanopoulos
The New York Times reports that Elmo was prepared to defend his new-found friend. Elmo, super Grover and Executive Producer of “Sesame Street” Carol-Lynn Parente all appeared in front of an audience that thought Katy Perry’s mostly-covered breasts were inappropriate for kids to view on the show.
Miss Perry created a parody of her song “Hot ‘N Cold” about Elmo and Perry having a play date for the scene in question. It’s easy to find on YouTube. Perry was ready to play with Elmo. When she finds out he doesn’t want to, she gets sad. She has even gone to the trouble of getting in her best dress-up clothes (a low-cut dress that is not revealing). Parents do not like it. That is why there is so much controversy. This has given Puritanical members of the extreme right a “cause” to caterwaul against.
Parente ’surprised at the volume of disapproving responses’
”Sesame Street” would “never, never produce anything that we thought was inappropriate,” Parente explained to Stephanopoulos. ”Sesame Street” was just planning to get a wider variety audience with younger parents. That is why Perry seemed like the perfect fit. Complaints flowed in like crazy about the inappropriate dress on the show. There was enough complaint that the production team decided it was worth getting rid of to keep their already stable audience base.
For his part, Elmo reached out to Perry, saying that he hoped she would come back to “Sesame Street” for a play date.
He explained that “Elmo loves Miss Katy.”.
Those who complained are made fun of
The parents who complained got made fun of. Super Grover did what he could with this. He asked Stephanopoulos his opinion on his costume he was wearing. He then said very quickly, “It is not too revealing, is it?”
Further reading
New York Times Arts Beat
artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/great-muppet-caper-continues-as-elmo-defends-katy-perry/
One more time, with feeling. And a one, and a two…
youtube.com/watch?v=OAz4MKHhovQ
