THE ELMO ATTACK: An Expert Weighs In 

Elmo has been 3 longer than Ash has been 10

This honestly feels like a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode. Susie: "Larry, you choked a child on national TV." Larry: "Its a sock with a grown-man's hand in it! If anything, I shook his hand!"

Larry David attacking Elmo and getting backlash for it is the most Larry David thing that has ever happened

When you said “attack” I thought it was like a rude verbal comment. But he literally physically assaulted a muppet on live television 😂😂

Elmo: "The attempt on Elmo's life has left Elmo scarred and deformed."

"Old man beats toddler on live television."

Why do I feel like Arlo has a huge video essay on the Muppets percolating in his head, and he saw this as an opportunity to test the waters of how a Muppet video would do? Make the Muppet video essay Arlo! Do it!

I'm grateful that almost all Muppet performers are masters of improv, and never break character for anything. It's easy to forget this, but if you've seen Muppet outtakes, you know how true it is.

Honestly, I could see this being a Seinfeld episode Jerry: “you attacked Elmo on national television?” George: “It was a heat of the moment decision, alright. Why are people even so worked up anyway, I mean he’s made of felt! I was there sitting listening to felt and I couldn’t take it anymore.”

It's good to see Arlo stand up for his fellow monsters. He truly cares for his kin.

You see, you couldn't pull this stuff with Kirby. Elmo and Kirby share many similarities: both cutesy, small, the embodiment of naivety and kindness, yet they have one key difference... *Kirby fights back.*

I'd argue that Larry David did go along with the bit - the bit of being Larry David. Larry getting into a fight with Elmo on live TV sounds like a Curb Your Enthusiasm plot.

Larry David the type of dude to not answer a toy phone when a kid hands him the receiver.

"Elmo doesn't hold grudges" unless you're a rock 🪨

What Arlo is describing at 6:29 is called Double Vision. I took a puppetry course at my college and it’s the idea that you accept the fact that a puppet is being manipulated, and you register and also accept that there is the puppet and the puppeteer.

Who’d think that Larry David chocking Elmo would be the thing that FINALLY gets Arlo to talk about the Muppets for a full video after SO MANY years!

8:55 "Elmo does not hold grudges." Looks like someone's forgotten about Rocco.

I like how you took the time at the end to explain why it was correct to refer to Elmo as a Muppet. Like that’s such a specific thing someone could complain about.

I did not have “the Curb Your Enthusiasm guy attacks a Sesame Street muppet” on my 2024 bingo card, but here we are. In all seriousness, I agree with you on all fronts, especially the bits about the kids watching and the puppet actors having to figure out how in the world to play this off. Larry is supposed to be a comedian; he could have just come out and riffed on Elmo, been creative and ad-libbed with the puppet actor over it. Or done nothing at all. But I’m all for more videos on muppets, puppets, and puppeteering. I didn’t know the Avenue Q puppets were so expensive. It’s interesting stuff.

Arlo accurately described why Larry is the perfect foil for Elmo. Only someone like him and the person he's portrayed as in Curb Your Enthusiasm would do something like this and reject the message that Elmo's trying to send. I think it was a brilliant piece of performative social comedy that has the ability to cause anyone who relates to Larry to reconsider themselves.

Everyone is talking about Larry David attacking Elmo but no one is talking about Elmo’s hippy dad who just stood there and fuckin watched. Sad very sad.

Elmo was canonically assaulted on live television by Larry David. You can't make this stuff up.

Poor kid didn't deserve this. We didn't need this man on muppet violence in front of who knows how many kids, especially in the middle of discussing such a serious topic. I'm glad Arlo is standing up for his fellow monsters. Honestly, this sounds like something George would actually do on Seinfeld.

Larry David the type of dude who would tell his grandchildren that santa doesnt exist just to avoid getting them presents and waste it on alcohol instead

Elmo asked us how we were doing. Now we need to ask Elmo how he is doing.

If this video takes off I would love to hear you discuss more Muppet stuff in the future

This Larry reminds me of an old man I met on a walk, retreat. He and I were talking together, and when asked what I do for a hobby, one of the things I say I do is play video games. Later on though, he makes a, "joke," to my brother saying my brother should smash my games with a sledgehammer. He wasn't making a joke, he was telling my brother and I what he really thinks. I was a perfect stranger to him too. Some people don't know how to behave in certain situations.

If elmo is 3 then why is he allowed on Twitter?

"Elmo doesn't hold grudges." Zoe: Rocko says for me to hold his grape juice

Are people really mad at Elmo for discussing mental health? There is nothing even objectionably wrong with the idea of a children's show teaching children about mental health.

For how many years has Elmo been 3? Ash Ketchum isn't as powerful as we thought.

"I grew up in the 90s, so I've seen more... Cartoons about Elmo doing drugs and getting blown up than anyone." Arlo, I was not at all prepared for that 😅

The Incident happened two days before Elmo's birthday which Is even more tragic.

Arlo talking about Elmo is surreal.

Larry David assaulting Elmo is the most Larry David thing ever. It would make a great episode of Curb.

I would unironically watch the hell out of more "Arlo commentates on current Muppet happenings" videos and I don't care what the algorithm does to them. Your passion for the medium and the universe is always bubbling just under the surface and you deserve to let it out on your biggest platform every once in awhile.

Glad to see Arlo stick it for his fellow muppet.

Muppet Abuse: “an offensive action or attack on a muppet by the abuser”

Caroll Spinney was known for only doing the Big Bird voice on set if he was in costume, or if you weren't looking at him. Because it's true, you gotta go with the bit. And his character is one of the handful that is fully worn, so I can understand wanting to keep the immersion.

I've heard the excuse that Larry David plays a character himself all the time and that this is totally in character for him, but I just don't think it's a great thing to randomly choose this is the bit you're going to do without asking if it's fine or that they're going to be ok with it. Seeing a few bits from Larry David in Curb your Enthusiasm, yes I do think this is within character to who he portrays, but I don't see why he felt the need to just randomly do it. He's not using it to advertise the next season of his show, and interviews after make it seem like he's very uncomfortable with people questioning why he did it. I've seen a lot of his fans say it was funny and that people should hold his character to the same standard they hold elmo, but I don't think that is possible, especially when one is a puppet beloved by kids for decades while the other is an older guy "playing" an out-of-touch character. Regardless it was a dumb bit that obviously got way more attention and backlash than he had anticipated.

Maybe it's just because I made that transition from Seasame Street to Muppet Show/Muppets Tonight as a kid, but I feel like random acts of wanton violence are completely normal for Muppets.

Honestly I would love to see Arlo talk about non-video game stuff. You can tell he is super passionate about talking about stuff like this

6:07 Hard agree on "not going with the bit." If a child hands you a fake phone, _you answer the dang phone._ I haven't watched the whole thing, but it seems like David did not "answer the phone." And I don't think it's excusable for any professional performer to be a bad "teammate" and leave your fellow cast member out to dry.

I cannot express how much I love this video. As a 34 year old father and lifelong diehard fan of the muppets, I love your channel, I love that Sesame Street still exists, and I love showing my son these characters who have been a big part of my life. I’m getting married next month and my fiancé loves the muppets too. They’re awesome. Thank you for your service, Arlo.

That was Actually Elmo. Like canonically. Larry, what the heck exactly? That's a children's puppet right there. An extremely pricey puppet, and certainly not yours.

I appreciate that you acknowledged the performers. One of the bigger points I'm surprised you didn't bring up was the fact Larry David was more than likely attempting to "expose" Elmo on live tv. By the way he kept cupping his face, I can only assume he was thinking "enough of this crap, people shouldn't talk about this stuff let alone with a doll" so he tried to violently detatch Elmo from Ryan's arm. Not only was he not going with the bit, he was attempting to destroy it. Big shame. That's the sort of thing you have to be outrageously bitter to attempt.

locking down your feelings, bottling it up, and expecting everyone to do the same because "everyone is stressed" "everyone is depressed" "that's just life" is prime boomer mentality.

Elmo has a dad? Does Elmo have a mom? How do they...? That traumatizing thought aside, I love this new potential era of video thumbnails!

I hope this experience wasn't too traumatic for Elmo. If I was Elmo's dad I would have thrown hands. No way I'd be able to sit there and watch someone rough up my boy like that. I think most muppets are pacifists, though.

Looked like Elmo was about to be reunited with his Uncle Jack for a second there.

I like how this has nothing to do with his main content by literally ANY way This was purely fun content for him and i love that for him It probably wont do well compared to his other videos(although id love to be wrong) but i bet he had so much fun with it

As an European, I'm glad to finally see an American controversy that doesn't look completely crazy for once. I hope Elmo is safe now.

“They are likey in therapy as we speak” They have been Arlo And Will be for YEARS

This channel is my favorite place to get both Nintendo and Muppet news, specifically.

Would genuinely love to hear Arlo go on about puppetry stuff, like, I wanna hear his take on Avenue Q, The Muppets, all that stuff, he seems very interested in it and I bet he'd give the most in-depth looks at this kind of stuff

The fact that this happened in a segment on mental health makes it so much funnier wher Larry snaps.

When you attack a puppet made to explain mental health to children, you ironically give the best demonstration of EXACTLY what happens when you don't have that important conversation.

I would love a new subseries where Arlo just talks about Muppet history and Muppet news every now and then

"I get to make a video talking about muppets" I really loved listening to a muppet fan talk about muppets, If you come up with some other ideas Id love to see more videos like this (muppet themed)

I think Larry was absolutely "going with the bit" both the Muppet bit and the Larry David bit. He "attacked" the puppet not the puppeteer and it was an over dramatic but actually gentle "attack". I'm still no totally convinced it wasn't planned.

I haven't seen such drama since Elmo's rage attack against Rocko.

This sounds like a bit that should be in Curb's final season.

Definitely didn’t have Elmo gets attacked on national television on my 2024 bingo card What a time to be alive.

Arlo’s getting worried he’s on a hit list.

Larry curbed stomped our enthusiasm

I know this video is kind of a joke, but this is an actually pretty thoughtful and insightful essay. Good video. 👍

So I haven't watched the original, this is the first I'm hearing of it, but from what I'm seeing I'm a little disappointed that Elmo didn't go to get a hug from his dad or that Louis didn't go to hug him. Seeking safety and comfort from a trusted adult is one of the most important survival skills kids have (and is something they need to bring with them into adulthood) and this would have been a top tier moment to show it. I'm sure that's something they cover in Sesame Street, and that they talked about the situation, but physical comfort hits different. I don't know, maybe it's hard to make the muppets hug, and they really had to improv that situation, so it's not really a critique, just a missed opportunity.

"Larry David was annoyed by Elmo talking about mental health." That's bad, and I disagree with him, but sometimes I feel we _can_ talk a bit too much about.... "He broke the muppet magic." ... ... ... I know you included a content warning, but I had no idea his depravity sank so deep

Aside from the whole "he comes from a different time" angle, I think we need to keep in mind that slapstick violence is in the Muppets' DNA. Look up the old Wilkins Coffee commercials, essentially the Muppets origin story. A proto-Kermit uses a variety of violent methods to punish people for not drinking Wilkins coffee. To be clear, I pretty much agree with everything that Arlo said in this video about how Larry shouldn't have done that, I just think that this aspect of the story needs more attention, especially when speaking to an audience that also loves the Muppets. tl;dr it was inappropriate, but we are allowed to admit that it was also kinda funny in a very Muppet-appropriate way.

Arlo please make more videos talkin about muppets. Even if it’s like once every 2 years. They’re incredible and I love them

Arlo, you are truly one truly one of my most beloved and trusted online creators. I rarely, if ever, leave comments on videos. Please. PLEASE more Muppet-related videos. Muppets, Sesame, Fraggle Rock, I want it ALL.

You should talk about Muppets more often, if the algorithm allows it, of course. As somebody who knows of the characters but never really watched any of the shows, it's fascinating listening to someone talk about them so passionately!

elmo is literally only 3 and 1/2 years old. i can't believe he'd attack a M I N O R like this

Hope Larry finds a way to integrate this into the last season of curb .

When you question why Arlo is reporting on Muppets just to realize... wait a minute!

Thank you for covering this Arlo. Really glad Elmo wasn't severely hurt. And wow, forgiving Larry David like that was really emotionally mature for a 3 year old.

Now I'm imagining Larry David as a toddler, getting punished for displaying his emotions. Older generations were raised that way.

Elmo’s long lost brother:

"Elmo isn't real." Talk about violence, how could you do this to me, Arlo?

Arlo, you can make a video about muppets whenever you want. I just today actually took out a biography from the library about Jim Henson, he and his incredible imagination has always inspired me, and one of the things that drew me to your channel was that you clearly share that feeling. Anytime you want to talk muppets, I'm listening.

Remember when Carol Burnett punched Scooter on the Muppet Show? That was honestly more shocking, haha. Oh, and fun fact, Tyler Bunch also doubles as a voice actor in a lot of anime projects - he’s the voice of Incineroar in Smash Bros., among a bunch of other things he’s done.

PLEASE make more videos talking about the Muppets.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I always love when Arlo talks about Muppet things. As someone who loves the Muppets a lot it makes me happy to see them remembered and represented in places you'd never expect them to be, like Nintendo RU-vid.

Okay, usually I say this because I like to support and see more from creators I like, but I had a deeply profound realization that I would enjoy a muppet oriented channel from Arlo so, so, so much.

It’s so surreal to see Arlo make a video about his own kind. I’d love to see more of these unironcally lol

it's like that Wil Wheaton tweet except it's actually in on the joke

I'm definitely on board for more Muppet content from Arlo!

The fact that the puppeteers stayed in character is commitment .

Finally a Muppet related video!!!! NOW PLEASE MAKE MORE!!!

Elmo: "The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed."

Arlo making a commentary video on Larry David committing a assault was not on my 2024 bingo card, but here we are 😂

My mental health normally: 🥳 My mental health when people argue about Paper Mario: 😡😤💀

0:10 "That special connection" One might call it a Rainbow Connection.

Joking aside, the “assault” was such a weirdly unnecessary action to take. It’s not just totally childish, it’s also stupidly selfish to insert yourself into the situation because you hate a little puppet monster FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN. MY DUDE, THIS AIN’T ABOUT YOU.

Your comment on Elmo being the "Element of Love," made me think of the Fifth Element and how much different that movie would have been if Leeloo turned into Elmo after Bruce Willis kisses her.

I love that Arlo is informing us about such news that, honestly, I don’t think I would ever have known about.

this was a welcome sight in my feed~ I'd be happy to hear more of your thoughts on what's going on in the puppetry industry, I know even just Nintendo and video game news keeps you pretty busy, but it's nice to hear your thoughts. and you nailed it 100 percent. fiction aside, it's just plain rude to your fellow performers to pull a stunt like this. it's petulant, and I hope that he can someday be enough of a grown up to really internalize why that was wrong and get to a better place, mentally.

Arlo, please do more non-gaming stuff like this. It's really fun to watch!

Wait! Are you telling me Elmo is a puppet handled by a performer? Good thing you're real Arlo

"Do not Muppet-splain to me" is probably the single funniest thing Arlo has ever said!