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24-545: Elmo is a red Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street . A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person , he hosts the last full five-minute segment (fifteen minutes prior to 2017) on Sesame Street , " Elmo's World ", which is aimed at toddlers . He was originally performed by Kevin Clash . Following Clash's resignation in late 2012, Elmo has been performed by Ryan Dillon . Elmo

48-628: A helmet . The most-viewed episode of the series featured the heavy metal band, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza , and their appearance followed an email from a viewer. The ratings, however, were not strong and in early March 2006, Danza told viewers that he was not sure if the program would return after a scheduled two-week hiatus. On March 24, 2006, the program returned with new episodes but after two more months The Tony Danza Show came to an end. The last live broadcast aired on May 26, 2006, with reruns continuing until September 15, 2006. VH1's The Best Week Ever then started an online petition to save

72-611: A Holiday Special shown in December 2008. Kevin Clash and Aaron Neville were also guests on this show. On a special episode of Oprah called "The Faces Behind the Famous Names", Kevin Clash and Elmo appeared at the same time. Elmo was the star of the 1999 full-length, theatrically released motion picture The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland . He also starred in the special Elmo Saves Christmas . Elmo also appeared in

96-632: A fifth-season episode of The West Wing along with his friends Zoe and Big Bird . In that episode, Elmo receives a medical checkup from Abbey Bartlet , the First Lady (who is making a guest appearance on Sesame Street ), and cheekily questions her about the validity of her medical license. Elmo also appeared in the eighth-season episode of Scrubs , " My ABC's ", along with Oscar the Grouch , Grover , and an Anything Muppet named "Ex Ray". All four characters are in separate fantasies of J.D.'s in

120-670: A group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson , many for the purpose of appearing on the children's television program Sesame Street . Henson's involvement in Sesame Street began when he and Joan Ganz Cooney , one of the creators of the show, met in the summer of 1968, at one of the show's five three-day curriculum planning seminars in Boston . Author Christopher Finch reported that director Jon Stone , who had worked with Henson previously, felt that if they could not bring him on board, they should "make do without puppets". Henson

144-414: A personality, but nothing seemed to materialize." The character of Elmo was originally conceived as a supporting character and background character by Henson Associates-based Muppet artist/builder Caroly Wilcox in 1979, first appearing in the Sesame Street song "We Are All Monsters", which first aired in a Season 11 episode during 1980. Elmo became a named and recurring character on Sesame Street (during

168-435: Is self-described as three-and-a-half years old and his birthday is on February 3. Elmo characteristically avoids pronouns in reference to himself, instead referring to himself in the third person (e.g., saying "Elmo wants this" instead of "I want this"). Sesame Street staff writer Nancy Sans once described Elmo's origins: "There was this extra red puppet lying around and the cast would pick him up sometimes and try to create

192-467: The Food Network 's second annual "Cook With Your Kids Week". The special was produced in conjunction with Sesame Workshop's Healthy Habits for Life program. In 1996, a Tickle Me Elmo doll became a fad toy . Some traditionalist fans of Sesame Street have complained that Elmo's prominent status has caused roles to be greatly reduced for several older characters, with some referring to him as

216-635: The "Little Red Menace". Some fans also blame Elmo for the semi-permanent departure of Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street . In its FAQ , the Sesame Workshop addresses the allegation that Elmo referring to himself in the third person will teach children improper English , by stating that this behavior "mimics the behavior of many preschoolers. Like 3-year-olds, he doesn't always have the skills or knowledge to speak proper English." List of Sesame Street Muppets The Sesame Street Muppets are

240-476: The Muppet segments, their interest wavered during the "Street" segments, when no Muppets were on screen. This was because the producers had followed the advice of child psychologists who were concerned that children would be confused if human actors and Muppets were shown together. As a result of this decision, the appeal of the test episodes was lower than the target. The Street scenes were "the glue" that "pulled

264-504: The Season 17 premiere of Sesame Street , episode 2096 (first aired November 18, 1985, following the release of the Sesame Street film Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird ). In the episode, Big Bird is tired of the adults refusing to believe him about Snuffy, so he decides to arrange for them to come to his nest and meet Snuffy, and Elmo offers to help. Snuffy returns, then tells Elmo he had better go home and brush his fur to prepare for

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288-553: The character, providing movement for Elmo's arms and legs, particularly in green-screen shots. Alongside Cookie Monster , Elmo has appeared in The Furchester Hotel , where he is taking an extended stay because of his fascination with the Furchester Hotel. His father Louie is the brother of Funella Furchester. On May 27, 2020, The Not Too Late Show with Elmo premiered on Max . The series stars Elmo as

312-543: The episode. At the request and with the assistance of Rep. Duke Cunningham , he testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education in April 2002, urging support for increased funding in music education. Emeril and Elmo's Healthy Start was a special featuring Elmo and Emeril Lagasse that aired on November 4, 2005, at 8 p.m. as part of

336-400: The first season, Vetrini, who gained fame appearing on The Apprentice , was let go from the program, and DiGiallonardo took over most of her co-hosting duties. On May 9, 2005, during a go-kart race with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace (who was a guest that day), Danza's kart flipped after Wallace accidentally bumped him. Danza suffered a concussion; neither he nor Wallace were wearing

360-551: The full rights for the Muppets created for Sesame Street (which do not include Kermit the Frog ) have been owned by Sesame Workshop; Sesame continues to license the trademarked term " Muppet " from The Muppets Studio for their characters. The Tony Danza Show (2004 talk show) The program was hosted by actor and New York native Tony Danza . For the first season Danza was joined by Ereka Vetrini as his co-host, with music provided by pianist Nadia DiGiallonardo. After

384-441: The grown-ups' arrival, but Elmo holds on to his snuffle so he cannot go; as such, the adults meet Snuffy for the first time ever. Clash cites a moment later in season 17 (from Episode 2215 in which Elmo packs for an imaginary vacation) as the moment when he "found his voice" as Elmo, and by 1987, he became added to various episodes and product lines. John Tartaglia , Matt Vogel , and Jim Martin have all been secondary performers for

408-550: The host of his own late-night talk show . After becoming a regular guest on The Rosie O'Donnell Show , Elmo began touring the talk-show circuit. He has appeared on Martha Stewart Living , Martha , The Tony Danza Show , Rove Live , Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! , and The View . Elmo and a developmental expert gave babysitting tips on the June 18, 2005, episode of Teen Kids News . He has also appeared on Emeril Live , helping Emeril make (non-alcoholic) eggnog during

432-526: The material. Not intended for broadcast, they were presented to preschoolers in 60 homes throughout Philadelphia and in day care centers in New York City in July 1969. The results were "generally very positive"; children learned from the shows, their appeal was high, and children's attention was sustained over the full hour. However, the researchers found that although children's attention was high during

456-597: The show together", so producers knew they needed to make significant changes. The producers decided to reject the advisers' advice and reshot the Street segments; Henson and his coworkers created Muppets that could interact with the human actors, specifically Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird , who became two of the show's most enduring characters. These test episodes were directly responsible for what writer Malcolm Gladwell called "the essence of Sesame Street —the artful blend of fluffy monsters and earnest adults". Since 2001,

480-433: The show were popular since its premiere, and more Muppets were added during the first few seasons. The Muppets were effective teaching tools because children easily recognized them, they were predictable, and they appealed to adults and older siblings. During the production of Sesame Street ' s first season, producers created five one-hour episodes to test the show's appeal to children and examine their comprehension of

504-446: The show. "Extravadanza" was a game played once each day with a home viewer via telephone. Danza (or, more often, his co-host) would drop a chip on a Plinko -style board. Unlike Plinko, a stuck chip still counted when it eventually hit an amount. The caller would then try to answer a question, and similar to the games on Live with Regis and Kelly had 10 seconds and only one guess (as opposed to 20 seconds on "Live"). A correct answer won

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528-417: The street storylines) sometime later that season (episode 1439, to be exact), although he still appeared as a supporting character in segments in later episodes of the show at the time. The character was performed by a rotating ensemble of Muppet performers such as Jerry Nelson and Kathryn Mullen while he was a background character in such Sesame Street segments from 1980 to 1984. As a named character, Elmo

552-658: Was originally reluctant but agreed to join Sesame Street in support of its social goals. He also agreed to waive his performance fee for full ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets and to split any revenue they generated with the Children's Television Workshop (renamed to the Sesame Workshop in 2000), the series' non-profit producer. The Muppets were a crucial part of the show's popularity and it brought Henson national attention. The Muppet segments of

576-626: Was performed by Brian Muehl from 1980 to 1984, and later Richard Hunt from 1984 to 1985 upon Muehl's departure. However, in 1985, Hunt was so frustrated with the puppet, he squeezed it and threw it at Kevin Clash , who then performed Elmo. Clash said that Elmo should be a character who is kind and loving. Sans says of Clash, "one day in 1985, Kevin Clash, a talented puppeteer, raised him up and brought energy and life into Elmo and from that day forward we would all write for Elmo." Modern Elmo debuted with

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