But Elmo isn’t without opposition. In a piece that ran in mid-August called “Elmo Is an Evildoer,” Los Angeles Times editorialist Joel Stein took the character to task for ruining the “Sesame Street” he remembers as a child, writing that the character is vapidly cute, needy and self-obsessed. Judging from the response he got, he’s not the only one who thinks so. “I’ve written plenty of columns before and I usually get all hate mail, but the reaction to this was almost totally positive,” Stein says. “There’s a whole nation of people that hate Elmo who were just thrilled that I wrote this. Parents can’t stand Elmo.”

But Elmo isn’t without opposition. In a piece that ran in mid-August called “Elmo Is an Evildoer,” Los Angeles Times editorialist Joel Stein took the character to task for ruining the “Sesame Street” he remembers as a child, writing that the character is vapidly cute, needy and self-obsessed. Judging from the response he got, he’s not the only one who thinks so. “I’ve written plenty of columns before and I usually get all hate mail, but the reaction to this was almost totally positive,” Stein says. “There’s a whole nation of people that hate Elmo who were just thrilled that I wrote this. Parents can’t stand Elmo.”