Mecha Builders

Mecha Builders (also known as Sesame Street Mecha Builders) is an American-Canadian computer-animated children's television series and a spin-off of Sesame Street, that began production in May 2020. The series is co-produced by the United States organization Sesame Workshop and Canadian animation producer Guru Studio, which is known for PAW Patrol and True and the Rainbow Kingdom.

The series focuses on three legacy characters: Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby, all reimagined as mechanical beings with the power to enlarge to giant size in addition to unique built-in tools and gadgets. The trio usually solve a problem using a three-step formula: plan, test, and solve.

Much like the Muppet Babies reboot, the animated nature of the show's visual style allows more expression in the characters besides body language and opening mouths.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The idea of a Sesame Street spin-off, while not the worst idea, is just completely unnecessary considering Sesame Street's status as a classic and that it didn't need a spin-off. As Sesame Street has been running for 53 years and shows no signs of stopping, it would also be easier to just continue that show than to risk making another spin-off.
 * 2) *Not to mention, the show already had five spin-off series, which are Elmo's World (in international markets where it aired as a separate show), Play with Me Sesame, Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures (in international markets where it aired as a separate show like Elmo's World), The Furchester Hotel, and The Not Too Late Show with Elmo.
 * 3) The only Muppets from Sesame Street that appear in this show are Elmo, Abby Cadabby, and Cookie Monster, and the rest of the Sesame Street Muppets are ignored.
 * 4) *Like their Sesame Street counterparts, Elmo, Abby, and Cookie Monster in the spin-off treat the audience like how Barney the Dinosaur, Joe from Blue's Clues (as the main host), Blue from Blue's Room, Dora the Explorer, Diego from Go, Diego, Go!, Kai-Lan from Ni Hao, Kai-Lan!, the Teletubbies, the Tweenies, the narrators and puppets from Baby Einstein, the Little Einsteins, JoJo from JoJo's Circus, mh:besttvshows:Special Agent Oso, the Sensational Six from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Darby from My Friends Tigger & Pooh, and mh:besttvshows:Pinky Dinky Doo do.
 * 5) Elmo says "Mecha" before his name since he's a robot, which can get quite annoying.
 * 6) The episodes are predictable and way too simplistic. Mecha Abby, Mecha Elmo, and Mecha Cookie Monster find ways to solve a problem, they test their ideas to solve the problem, and then they find a solution. The problem is solved and the episode ends.
 * 7) Mediocre to bad grasp of the original source material. The series is also unfaithful to the main show's realism and completely misses the spirit of what made it so special and famous. The main show (at least before Abby Cadabby's debut in Season 37) was pretty grounded and down-to-earth, despite the anthropomorphic animals and monsters. Mecha Builders, however, is about Abby, Elmo, and Cookie Monster as robot superheroes solving problems in the city and teaching kids STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
 * 8) *There are also lots of sci-fi and action elements, which would feel totally out-of-place or wouldn't fit in the street scenes of the main show.
 * 9) *Because of this show and the fact that it was greenlit, HBO has officially turned Sesame Street into a bigger flaw.
 * 10) *The series was made so it could cash in on a nostalgic icon. In other words, it was made to turn a beloved preschool show into a pandering monster that couldn't be escaped.
 * 11) It has its own continuity and barely has any connection to Sesame Street, with the exception of the characters and their designs.
 * 12) It abandons the down-to-earth tone of earlier Sesame Street seasons (the 1969-1990 Jim Henson-era, in particular) and replaces everything special about it with overly age-appropriate junk, as mentioned above. It is a lot more action-oriented to the point of any realism whatsoever being completely thrown out of the window.
 * 13) It tries too hard to modernize Sesame Street and be cool for the current generation of children and suffers heavily from historical inaccuracy, which is unacceptable.
 * 14) None of the new characters are even properly introduced and feel like they were thrown in at the last minute. On top of that, the new characters are not very well-written.
 * 15) This spin-off is hardly worth watching and given any attention. The chance of getting a good or decent episode to come from this spin-off is unlikely at this point, and it goes to show that this spin-off is hard to watch, easy to ignore, and forgettable in general. Giving this spin-off any attention will make Warner Bros. Discovery and Sesame Workshop think this is a good idea.
 * 16) Some people find the theme song is quite annoying to listen to, as it's dance-pop (unlike the Sesame Street theme song, which is a timeless classic) and it's too modern even for Sesame Street standards.
 * 17) The episodes all end with the heroes explaining what they did earlier.
 * 18) Meh redesigns for Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, and Elmo.
 * 19) The show was only made because Sesame Street couldn't be broadcast on Cartoon Network's preschool block Cartoonito, instead premiering new episodes on HBO Max.
 * 20) Barely any originality.
 * 21) Too many bad/mediocre/meh episodes, including:
 * 22) *"They Sent Us a Pie"/"Dust in the Wind"
 * 23) *"Mecha Builders Pull Together"/"Lift Up and Lift Off"
 * 24) *"That Old Time Rock Rolls"/"Make Like a Banana Split"
 * 25) *"Magnet Mayhem"/"Stop That Train"
 * 26) *"Picture Perfect Park Party"/"Sun Block"
 * 27) *"Roll Chickens Roll"/"Ramp Up, Up, and Away"
 * 28) *"Yip Yip Book Book"/"Stick To It"
 * 29) *"The Treasure of Treetop Woods"/"Zee Makes an Amazing Maze"
 * 30) *"That's the Way the Windmill Blows"/"Mecha Machine Makers"
 * 31) *"The Need For Feed"/"The Zipline Sisters of Treetop Woods"
 * 32) *"The Whatsacallit of Treetop Woods"/"Nat in the Dark!"
 * 33) *"Let's Get Rolling!"/"A Bit of a Stretch!"
 * 34) *"Moo-ving Day!"/"Follow that Breeze!"
 * 35) *"Cross That Bridge"/"Knock Knock! Who's There?"
 * 36) *"The Pinecone Palooza"/"Big Footed Cave Bird"
 * 37) *"Yip Yip Tree Tree"/"The Snowman Scarecrow"
 * 38) *"All Mechas on Deck"/"Where There's a Wheel, There's a Way"
 * 39) *"Silly Hat Catastrophe!"/"Zee in a Bottle"
 * 40) *"MacBarm's Day Off"/"Playhouse Problems"
 * 41) *"Can't Stop the Martians"/"Best Nest Test"
 * 42) *"Get in Gear"/"Free Wheelin' Ferris Wheel"

Good Qualities

 * 1) It can make building and solving problems fun for young children.
 * 2) The animation is still colorful.
 * 3) Great voice acting with David Rudman as Mecha Cookie Monster, like with his Sesame Street counterpart, and the minor/supporting characters.
 * 4) Mecha Tango is introduced later on.
 * 5) To most, it's probably better than the original series.

Reception
On IMDb, 3 out of 27 users gave Mecha Builders a 1/10. Upon premiering on Cartoon Network's preschool block Cartoonito in 2022, it was met with abysmal Nielsen ratings.

Comments
Why is this show even called "Mecha BUILDERS" if they don't build a thing?

-- 10:40, 18 August 2022 (UTC)