When I watched “Sesame Street” in the ’70s, the human cast and the Muppets were quirky adults who didn’t talk down to me with baby voices. Now the human cast gets almost no airtime, and the show is dominated by Elmo, Baby Bear and, now, Abby Cadabby — preschoolers enamored by their own adorable stupidity.

The lesson they teach — in opposition to Oscar, Big Bird, Grover or Bert — is that bland neediness gets you stuff much more easily than character. —Joel Stein —Elmo Is an Evildoer (L:A Times)

E is for Elmo evil. F is for flamebait.

Is Elmo the Jar-Jar Binks of the Sesame Street franchise?