The Muppets were frequently violent and mean-spirited, even on early Sesame Street! It’s part of why “Old School Sesame Street” had a warning on its DVDs saying it was “Not Appropriate For Children” (that’s just stupid, and is an example of how educational experts fundamentally don’t understand their subjects)
The Elmofication technically happened before Henson died, I believe, but that was the (figurative) nail in the coffin for anything resembling real interactions between friends (and frenemies), replaced with proto-SEL dreck. Henson was vaudeville through and through, and any sweetness was part of an honesty of baseness, not the entire meal.
The Muppets were frequently violent and mean-spirited, even on early Sesame Street! It’s part of why “Old School Sesame Street” had a warning on its DVDs saying it was “Not Appropriate For Children” (that’s just stupid, and is an example of how educational experts fundamentally don’t understand their subjects)
The Elmofication technically happened before Henson died, I believe, but that was the (figurative) nail in the coffin for anything resembling real interactions between friends (and frenemies), replaced with proto-SEL dreck. Henson was vaudeville through and through, and any sweetness was part of an honesty of baseness, not the entire meal.