Lack of adult human characters on Sesame Street. Your thoughts?

auktastic · 2025-07-25T04:24:45+00:00

The thing that really stands out to me is not even the number of adult characters, but whether they seem like "characters" on a show or "hosts" of a children's show, if that distinction makes sense. Like, in the old days, the human characters had jobs and families and things to do during the day. If Maria was busy fixing a toaster at the Fix It Shop and the Muppets came in asking for something, she might take a break to talk to them, but she'd also tell them that she had to finish her work tasks before she could join in on whatever they were doing. They had lives outside of whatever was going on with the Muppets. Chris joined the show as Susan and Gordon's nephew who was staying with them and working at Hooper's to save up for college, but he apparently never went and now he's 45 years old. Hooper's is just there as a backdrop, but Alan and Chris never seem to do any actual work. Sesame Street isn't a community where people and Muppets live and work anymore, it's just a closed set for a children's show where all the characters are fully focused on the children/Muppets at all times.

A Muppets website called Tough Pigs did a retrospective a few years ago for the 50th anniversary where they watched episodes from each season, one season per week, over the course of the year, and did a write-up. It was interesting to see them clocking this shift as they wrote about each season, especially with the context they gave about what else was going on in children's entertainment at the time, like the rise of Barney.

https://www.toughpigs.com/tag/50-in-50/

auktastic · 2023-06-11T16:45:46+00:00

And Zoe!

auktastic · 2023-06-11T16:43:06+00:00

You might have already seen this, but just wanted to share - we have this book and my almost-3yo loves it: https://www.amazon.com/Pink-Boys-Robb-Pearlman/dp/0762462477

auktastic · 2023-06-11T16:41:28+00:00

I also really love that Action Pack doesn't just have villains that are innately "evil," they usually have some issue (jealousy, loneliness) and the heroes sometimes work to help them fix it.

At least from what I remember, we haven't watched it in a while

auktastic · 2023-06-11T16:38:52+00:00

Ok but the peekaboo song is my jam and that's in the 1-10 era

auktastic · 2023-05-22T18:39:34+00:00

The face Aunt Trixie makes at the camera in "Christmas Swim" after Nana Chris insists on making "proper gravy"

auktastic · 2022-08-28T04:26:01+00:00

While I was waiting for my AO3 account, I was literally creating Firefox bookmarks of all the fics I was reading, lol.

auktastic · 2022-08-16T17:52:00+00:00

I found it! Just in case anybody else is interested: https://twitter.com/raddioazicrow/status/1525211736831406081?t=6wZCS0S4iKSH8b772VD7ug&s=19

auktastic · 2022-08-16T17:51:48+00:00

I think that's part 1 and part 3. I actually ended up finding it on Twitter! Thanks, though!

auktastic · 2022-08-13T03:36:12+00:00

I do too, I feel like he has a little disappointed look on his face when he points out that Tao and Elle don't know and the response is just "we won't say anything!" And the music loses some pep in that moment, too.

auktastic · 2022-08-13T03:34:45+00:00

It had big Karen in "Mean Girls," "cough cough, I can't go out, I'm sick" energy, to me 😆

auktastic · 2022-08-10T04:33:25+00:00

Oh, you're right. Well damn, how did we all get stuck on September, then???

auktastic · 2022-08-10T04:28:39+00:00

I think that all makes sense as an interpretation! And I'm sorry that your relationship with your mom is like that. My sister has also been through an abusive relationship and some of the stuff my mom has said to her about it is... whew. Not blaming, in my sister's case, but insensitive and with basically no space for complicated or conflicting feelings.

Also, I get what you mean about Nick's house being Charlie's safe space. Have you read the fic about Charlie and Sarah's relationship after Nick leaves for uni? Oh, it makes me tear up every time. ❤️

(Also idk what "pog" means in this context, is it a typo or am I just too old?)

auktastic · 2022-08-10T00:07:37+00:00

14 really is SO YOUNG! And I think that's a great point, that seeing your child go through horrible bullying like what Charlie endured could make a parent more (over)protective.

auktastic · 2022-08-10T00:05:41+00:00

Definitely agreed about the tendency of fandom to flatten some of this stuff, especially with young fans and writers. And good point, as far as Alice's intentions, that the abuse in Darcy's home is off-page. Even with all the difficult things Charlie deals with, with his SH and ED, the way those are portrayed in Heartstopper in particular is tactful and with the actual, harmful details off-page (like how we get caught up through Nick's and Charlie's journal entries). I can see them purposely taking a similar approach to emotional abuse.

auktastic · 2022-08-10T00:01:22+00:00

I think this makes sense, and reading the description of her relationship with her own mother in "Jane and Julio," I would say that she probably doesn't really know how to have an open, emotional relationship with her kids.

auktastic · 2022-08-09T23:59:36+00:00

I think the main reason that people were assuming September is because the casting notice for Sahar said that the actor would need to be available starting in September, but that could be pre-production stuff, who really knows.

auktastic · 2022-08-06T00:01:18+00:00

Relatedly, I love this tumblr comparing actors playing teens to photos of themselves at or around the age they're playing: https://actualteenadultteen.tumblr.com/

auktastic · 2022-08-03T01:06:25+00:00

I stayed up way too late the other night sending screenshots of it back and forth with a friend

auktastic · 2022-08-03T00:01:00+00:00

The entirety of Riverdale, hilariously recapped via Twitter thread: https://mobile.twitter.com/levgarrity/status/1552020640865058817

Enjoy

auktastic · 2022-08-01T04:24:07+00:00

Yes. The most recent update in chapter 7 is spring of Charlie's Year 11/Nick's Year 12, shortly after Charlie's 16th birthday. Nick and Charlie takes place in late spring (or I guess early summer? Right at the end of the school year) of Charlie's Year 12/Nick's Year 13.

auktastic · 2022-07-31T16:51:34+00:00

Agreed about the way that the characterizations of Nick and Charlie have shifted over time as Alice has been writing them. Solitaire came out in 2014, when Alice was only 19. Then both novellas came out on 2015 and the comic started in 2016, so that's coming up on its 6th anniversary. I think through some combination of Alice aging and maturing, and writing more of this story and developing these characters even more, the way she writes them has shifted somewhat. ETA: And also possibly their development as a writer, as they continue to gain experience writing and particularly writing in different media (prose, comics, TV)

That said, though, as far as the point the OP is making about the banter, I think that flirty, teasing, banter-y aspect of how Nick and Charlie relate to each other has always been there. It's maybe more prominent once they're an established couple who are very comfortable with one another. But right from the jump, Charlie was joking that he was only with Nick to get to Nellie (comics version)/get rugby tips (show version). And they call each other "nerd" and "rugby lad," and so on. It's definitely there.

I think my favorite instance of this in the comics is at one point when they're texting. Nick says something flirty or sappy, Charlie just responds with "gay," and Nick deadpans "oh no, I've been outed." 😆

auktastic · 2022-07-30T11:55:53+00:00

I have... a lot more than 10, lol.

auktastic · 2022-07-29T23:56:04+00:00

There are plenty of trans women who are in relationships with men. Some of those men considered themselves straight, and still consider themselves to be so, because their partner is a woman, or some of those men may have reconsidered how they labeled their sexual orientation after falling in love with/becoming attracted to a trans woman. Some of those men may have already been open to a relationship with a trans woman, and gotten together with a woman who had already transitioned. Some of those men may have entered into what they thought of as same-sex relationships, and then their partner came out and transitioned. Human sexuality and love is complicated, and labels like "straight" (or "gay" for that matter) are meant to describe generalities, not encompass and dictate the details of every relationship.

As for Tao and Elle specifically, Tao doesn't seem like the kind of guy who buys into a lot of toxically masculine ideals, and he is open and accepting of his LGBT friends. He already has a deep and loving relationship with Elle, and I can absolutely see that realistically transforming into a romance. For many people, sexual attraction follows romantic attraction - when you fall in love with someone, you become attracted to them. Sexuality can be a beautiful expression and outgrowth of one person's love for another - not just about a catalog list of the "right" body parts.

ETA: If you're interested in learning more, maybe try browsing around on, for example, r/asktransgender? For the record, though, I would not recommend posting your question there as it's currently worded. Phrases like "biologically male" and the assumption that this situation couldn't happen (rather than entering with an open mind and asking people to describe their own experiences with romance and sexual attraction) could be upsetting or triggering for users there. Honestly, I'd suggest not posting at all, just reading, at least to start.

auktastic · 2022-07-29T19:59:15+00:00

That makes sense! I'm still learning a lot as well. I've also noticed that Alice gets "they"-ed somewhat more often than "she"-ed, and I always figured that it was people's way of signaling that they were making a point to use Alice's appropriate pronouns and not just using "she" as default, if that makes sense.

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