MOVE OVER COLIN – HERE COMES ELMO

By Risë Birnbaum

It’s only been a couple of days since the finale of “True Detective” and I’m still trying to figure out who did what to whom and why.   [SPOILER ALERT] All that gunfire and stabbing.  All that blood dripping from Vince Vaughn in the desert.  All the nights of insomnia following the last show.

Now, in the wake of that gritty series comes news that HBO will be airing five fresh seasons of “Sesame Street.”  OMG.  It’s like going from a tequila body shot to a Shirley Temple.  Sesame Street will run on HBO, HBO Go and HBO Now in an effort to get more kids to watch cable.  This is pretty funny given this is the same network that has shows like “Game of Thrones,” “The Wire,” and “Real Sex.”  Kids will learn that H is for “Hung,” B is for “Ballers,” and O is for “Oz.”

Fingers crossed we’ll get some “Sesame Street” x HBO crossover with overlapping characters and plotlines and darker episodes for kids. Plots like “The Count Counts Boobs,” “Big Bird Bangs His Sister (Birds of a Feather),” “C Is for Cookie, comma Pot,” and “Elmo Runs Guns.”

Kidding.  But who thinks this strategy to bring Sesame Street to HBO will work?  I’m not sure yet.  But this scene from a recent episode of “Sesame Street” looks promising.  Maybe with enough marketing HBO will attract the younger audience it’s looking for, and make its programming “stickier” so that all family members have something to watch  –  avoiding moments like these…