This week saw the launch of HBO Max, a new streaming service that houses a lot of content. From classic television and movies to animation for all ages and a limited, yet diverse, selection of original content, the platform has got things to keep one occupied during this global crisis. One of the streamer’s best original shows is called The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo, and it may be the single best piece of programming for children and adults to temporarily escape these terrifying times.
The show is exactly what it sounds like: a kid-friendly late-night talk show hosted by Sesame Street’s own red monster, Elmo. While it has all the hallmarks of your average late-night show, it’s most obvious influences are The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and the original Muppet Show. The banter between Elmo and his excellent co-host Cookie Monster is reminiscent of Johnny and Ed McMahon. While the backstage hi-jinks involving Bert and Ernie feel like a natural extension to Kermit the Frog trying to keep his 1970s variety show from going off the rails.
Each episode begins with Elmo and his parents, Mae and Louie, engaged in some post-dinner cleaning duties when Cookie Monster announces that the talk show is about to start. Elmo is excused to do the show, but Mae insists he remembers it’s almost time for his bedtime routine. Elmo agrees, changes into a suit, thanks his mother for wishing him a good show and heads out on stage. The studio audience represents the streaming audience with children and adults (and muppets) enthusiastically cheering and laughing along with the show.
In the premiere episode, Elmo receives a letter via snail mail from a viewer, delivered to him by an actual snail. From there, Elmo tells a joke, catches up with Cookie Monster and segues to his first guest. So far his interviews have been with Jimmy Fallon, the Jonas Brothers and John Mulaney. The guests do a great job at acting as though they’re on any other talk show and this one just happens to be hosted by a fictional character.
John Mulaney is a real standout. When Elmo challenges John to a tricycle race, he quickly accepts and then loses. Elmo then lets John know how glad he was to have him on the show. John mentions that he had some stories and a few things he wanted to plug, as would be the case on any traditional talk show, but Elmo assures him there is no time, and Mulaney has to ride his trike away. This is a perfect example of how the show can appeal to adults without resorting to innuendo. It may never cross the mind of a really little kid that celebrities come on these shows to promote things, but their parents sure do.
During the show, viewers are given a glimpse backstage at how the thing is being run. While Prairie Dawn and Bert are trying to keep things professional, Ernie can’t help but mess everything up for a pun. When Prairie Dawn says she wants a crew that would work for chicken feed, he hires chickens. Ernie brings in anthropomorphic sports equipment and a sea lion on a beach ball. After Abby Cadabby performs some real magic to fix a broken set, all the electrical equipment in the production booth goes haywire. Each time they cut away from the talk show it feels like classic muppets all the way, providing laughs for the kids and a heavy dose of nostalgia for the older viewers.
Elmo’s musical guests have featured Kacey Musgraves singing Rubber Duckie, the Jonas Brothers harmonizing about brushing teeth and Lil Nas X performing Elmo’s Song in a duet with Elmo himself. Musical performances can sometimes be the weakest point in any variety show, but the creators here found a way of changing up the formula by keeping it on-brand with the world of Sesame Street.
The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo manages to be perfect nighttime viewing for Elmo’s biggest fans, little kids and for adults looking to escape from their onslaught of worries. For roughly fifteen minutes each night before bed, viewers of any age can turn off the news, forget about the struggles of the day ahead and lose themselves in a sweet, genuinely funny and perfectly paced romp.