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"I would give anything to go back to the way things were in the seventies, before I went off my rocker. We were such a tight family, and I guess I was naive enough to think it would never end and that I would just keep doing this until I was on my death bed. To see 'Sesame' in its current state is simply painful- I will not watch it." And without a Grover on it, neither will we.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
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Whether or not Elmo had anything directly to do with it may never be known, but it was one of the biggest children's merchandising phenomenons in modern
history that was to change the face of Sesame Street forever. The Tickle Me Elmo doll was released in 1996 and became the hottest item of the year. Parents stampeded into stores to get one for their kids' Christmas gifts, but demand outstripped supply and it was not uncommon to see the little dolls being sold in newspaper classified ads for $100 or more. Overnight, Elmo had become the most popular Sesame Street character of all time. And that hurt the cast that had been with the show for over 25 years.
"You know, I was very happy for Elmo at first," recalls Grover. "But it soon became apparent that his growing popularity had gone straight to his tiny fuzzy little head. Before long, Elmo was being written into more and more skits, and the rest of us were starting to feel like bit players. It was never said, but we knew Elmo was manipulating his fame to get more air time on 'Sesame'. Why do you think he's never signed a contract for longer than a year at a time?" What hurt more was the fact that Elmo hardly spoke to Grover anymore, who had looked out for him in the early days. "After '96, Elmo would breeze into the studio 2 hours late surrounded by his entourage and start making demands for script changes, sets to be moved around and lighting to be changed to favor his 'good side'. It made us sick. It was Elmo's idea that Ernie would be his 'best friend' on the show, but in real life Ernie could not stand him. And I had to admit that he was becoming increasingly difficult to work with."
The nineties were Elmo's decade. He starred in several movies, had a hit single with "Elmo's Song" and the merchandising flurry continued unabated (though the success of "Tickle Me Elmo" was never repeated by any toy manufacturer before or since). Grover's bitterness which he had felt so acutely in 1976 started to rear its ugly head again as his role on Sesame Street, the home he had loved for nearly 30 years, diminished year after year. "It was all I could do to keep from opening another bottle of Wild Turkey and drown my bitterness, my anger and yes, even my hatred. That little red bastard stole my thunder and did not even acknowledge the help I had given him from the start. The worst thing was thinking that the little children had abandoned me for him. You know, I always tried to speak to the children like intelligent little adults. Our job was to entertain, yes, but also to teach. But the message Elmo seems to send out is that it is OK to never grow up, to always act like a screaming, annoying baby with a speach impediment. Hrm. It seemed as if the head honchos down at CTW were trying to move our demo from a 5 or 6 year old to a 2 or 3 year old set. It made it very hard to get out of bed in the morning and go to work."
But the final blow was yet to come. In 1998 the CTW made the announcement that Elmo was to get his own segment on "Sesame Street" called "Elmo's World" and that it would take up a full 20 minutes of each broadcast. This was, of course, in addition to the large amount of time already devoted to Elmo and his new annoying friends Zoe and Rosita during the regular part of the show. To the people who had grown up watching Sesame Street in the seventies and early eighties, this was nothing short of a complete and utter sell-out, and "Sesame" would never be the same again. It was at this time that Grover announced his resignation in disgust. "The writing was on the wall anyway," says Grover now. "I was only there as a token blue monster." CTW actually threatened to sue for breach of contract, so Grover stuck around one more season to do the odd bit part here and there, but in 1999, 30 years after joining Sesame Street, Grover left the set for the last time. "The saddest day of my life. That was my family, and now it feels like I have nothing."
Fast-forward 3 years, and a 47 year-old Grovski Carbunkle is a little more philosophic about his years on the small screen and their unfortunate end. "You know, life has its ups and downs. I had my day and I know that many of those little children out there who loved me so much in the seventies and eighties are all grown up now, but a part of them still loves me. I had a better run than most. If it were not for Ernie, I probably would not have been on the show in the first place. So who am I to complain? The worst part for me is the sense of betrayal through the years- first by 'Froggy-Baby', then Fozzie, then of course by Elmo and the whole stinking Children's Televison Workshop. Ha, woops, I guess I am still a little bit bitter. But I have my bridge club and I still go out for ice cream and Shirley Temples with Ernie once a week. Life is a journey, and I would not change a thing about mine."
One can only admire Grover's tenacity and courage in the face of such dissapointments. But if there is any comfort to be taken, it is perhaps in that these were circumstances beyond his control. Bert has already been written out of Sesame Street, and it looks as if Big Bird will be gone within a year or two. The only reason Oscar is still on there is because he agreed to tone down his harsh manner. But our favorite "Sesame" characters may have the last laugh yet: the show has been losing a lot of ground to up-and-comers like "Blue's Clues" and "Barney" (ugh), and it seems as if the appetite for puerile 17 year-old monsters still pretending to be 3 & 1/2 is nearly sated. If we lose "Sesame Street" it will have been because its creators tried to fix something that wasn't broken. But the victory will be bittersweet for Grover and pals.
