the buzz log
"Mad Men": Brought to You by the Letter M
You gotta love a children's TV show that takes on the very adult-themed series "Mad Men." But that's exactly what "Sesame Street" says it will be doing.
"Mad Men" as Muppets? Minus the martinis? "Sesame Street" officials were quick to add that the parody would dump the boozing, the womanizing, and the smoking of the series about an ad agency in the 1960s. Which leaves, well, not much of a show. But even the cleaned up version got lots of bloggers thinking about who to cast in the various roles.
Jezebel thought fuzzy red Elmo would be a ringer for Pete Campbell, the eager, young upstart. Flavorwire figured Big Bird for Betty Draper, the picture-perfect wife of the ad man Don Draper. Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch suggested other shows the muppets could re-enact in the future: "So You Think You Can Dance" and "In Treatment," natch.
The Buzz Log will put its money on Kermit the Frog (in his trench and fedora, of course) as Don Draper and Miss Piggy as the curvy head secretary, Joan. What's not to like?
But "Sesame Street" is way ahead of all of us: They already did a sendup—"Desperate Housewives." Dubbed "Desperate Houseplants," the show was described by an official as "about a houseplant not getting its needs met by the gardener." Riiiiiiight, very cleaned up.
Filed under: TV, Sesame Street
Counting with Feist
Feist, the singer-songwriter who sold a million iPods with her hit song "1234," is back in the Buzz after taping an appearance on "Sesame Street."
Bloggers, most of whom probably aren't regular viewers of the classic children's show, are gushing over the delightful video. TrendHunter notes that the clip is "officially moving quickly toward becoming viral, on its way to being huge."
In the remixed version of the song, Feist teaches viewers how to count to four with the help of monsters walking across the floor, penguins answering the door, and chickens just back from the shore. The word "cute" hardly does it justice.
Rolling Stone, TV Guide, and Radar Online all picked up on the story. Check it out for yourself, but heed this warning from TV Envy—if you already had a hard time getting the original song out of your head, "this may not be the best clip for you to watch."
Filed under: Music, Sesame Street
Sunny Days in Search
Quite a few of us here at Buzz HQ grew up in the '70s. When it came to pivotal education experiences, not much compared to Sesame Street. Thanks to a DVD set released this week called "Sesame Street Old School" many of those memories can now become a permanent part of our entertainment library.
What exactly is old-school Sesame Street? Stevie Wonder, chanting "a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter," and an orange Oscar the Grouch—that's old-school.
On a nostalgia kick, we combed through our Search library to find some of our more interesting old-school Sesame Street searches...
Of course, today's Sesame Street is a consistent presence in Search. Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and all the rest of the Sesame Street characters (+172%) spread their fuzzy goodness all over our lists of popular searches. And we hope there'll be many more sunny days for kids of all ages.
Filed under: TV, Sesame Street
Tickle Me Buzz
Perhaps the world's most famous fuzzy and red three-year-old inspired a monster-size spike in Search yesterday. Searches for "Sesame Street" mainstay Elmo gained a 3,547% jump in the Buzz, hopping merrily into the top 20 searches of the day.
Granted, news of a new 10th anniversary Tickle Me Elmo (+1,986%) doll earned placement on the Yahoo! front page, which can inflate search statistics. But T.M.X. Elmo, as the new toy is called, also had promotions at Wal-Mart and Toys R Us, and got a spotlight on "Good Morning America." All in all, searches for "elmo tmx" made the toy the top mover in Search, rising 3,865%. The world is, indeed, Elmo's world.
And who can forget the first Tickle Me Elmo? Released in 1996, the giggling little monster had parents brawling in toy store aisles like a bunch of grouches. Elmo has his haters, too: those who can't stand that he always refers to himself as "Elmo" in the royal third person, those who can't stomach a happy, curious, ebullient little being. Yet, if history repeats itself, the $39.99 doll should have Mattel, "Sesame Street" (+26%), and kids everywhere singing "Elmo's Song" all the way through holiday season.
Filed under: Toys, Elmo, Sesame Street
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nidal Malik Hasan | Breakout! |
| 2 | Fort Hood Shooting | Breakout! |
| 3 | Tyrannosaurus Rex | Breakout! |
| 4 | Fort Hood | 43518% |
| 5 | Tropical Storm Ida | 4377% |
| 6 | Willie Aames | 3325% |
| 7 | Shannon Dedrick | 3299% |
| 8 | Gretchen Rossi | 2702% |
| 9 | Epic Mickey | 2583% |
| 10 | Lee Harvey Oswald | 1907% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danica Patrick | +194 | 207 |
| 2 | Fort Hood | +185 | 185 |
| 3 | Angelina Jolie | +114 | 164 |
| 4 | Rihanna | +39 | 157 |
| 5 | New York Yankees | +54 | 154 |
| 6 | Alicia Keys | +139 | 153 |
| 7 | +1 | 153 | |
| 8 | NFL | +6 | 138 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.