Sesame Street is a neighborhood in crisis. Last week, Big Bird got turned small, which was existentially horrific. Then, Elmo innocuously tweeted, “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?†and all of Twitter collectively decided to trauma dump on him even though he is only 3 and a half and his intentions were only good. Something finally snapped when Elmo went on the Today show to discuss his viral fame and promote his birthday party. As Savannah Guthrie tried to throw it over to Al Roker with the weather, Larry David stormed the set and did the Iron Claw on Elmo. Craig Melvin and Hoda Kotb could only look on in fear, cowering from Larry David’s famous Hulk-like strength. When Guthrie took on the typical Susie Essman role of telling David, “You’ve gone too far this time, Larry,†his defense was, “Somebody had to do it.†He later apologized.
What disturbs me most about this clip, besides Larry David going full Will Smith on morning television, is how Elmo’s dad, Louie, was standing right there, and he did nothing to intervene. After the attack, he sort of mumbled, “I’m gonna sue him for assault,†but what about parental negligence? Playing the clip back in slow motion, it’s clear that David takes a swing at Louie, but doesn’t appear to make contact. Why couldn’t this deadbeat Muppet dad with a soul patch on top of his existing fur leap into action? Sesame Street has done movie parodies before, but I never expected it to take on Force Majeure. Do better.