When we say "PLAY WITH ME", you say "SESAME!"
Play With Me Sesame is a Lighter and Softer (even more than usual) Spin-Off series based on Sesame Street. It was developed for Noggin, a channel co-owned by Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon. Fittingly, the drawings on the show's backdrops are the same ones from Noggin's "Moose and Zee" interstitials.note Play with Me featured classic Sesame characters with their own segments: Ernie playing Ernie Says, computer games with Bert, Prairie Dawn's Art Class, and Move and Groove with Grover. As Grover, Prairie Dawn, Bert and Ernie are the hosts of the show, other Sesame Street characters are Demoted to Extra.
Show format:
- Game of Ernie Says (the third season sees Ernie play a generic game with the viewers)
- Classic Sesame Street moment
- When we say Play with Me, you say Sesame! bumper (usually, the four Muppet hosts would do a variant of the chant after the normal version)
- Classic Sesame Street moment
- Computer games with Bert (Pigeon Pattern, Perfect Pair, Oatmeal Art), or sometimes Ernie (for Ducks in a Row); this segment was removed in season three
- The Play with Art Show with Prairie Dawn (this was replaced in the third season by a music segment starring Prairie)
- Classic Sesame Street moment
- Kids' home-recorded video (this was removed in season three)
- Classic Sesame Street moment
- Move and Groove with Grover
- Closing theme
This show provides the example of:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Bert is a lot more willing to play along with Ernie's games in this show than he is on Sesame Street.
- Art Evolution: Grover's then-current puppet (introduced in 2004) was used during season 3 after two seasons with his previous (and longest-lasting) puppet from the mid-1970s' to 2003. Prairie Dawn is the most prominent: the first season used the puppet that was used from 1995-2002, the second season introduced a different puppet used until 2005, and the final season saw a new puppet that would be used up to 2008.
- Clip Show: As mentioned above, the show features classic Sesame Street moments.
- Every Episode Ending: The hosts do a goodbye version whatever song is used in Grover's Move and Groove segment, which results in them laughing.
- Minimalist Cast: This show has only four characters. Subverted in that on occasion, other characters (like Cookie Monster and Zoe) would make appearances.
- No Indoor Voice: Grover, Prairie, Bert, and Ernie yell a lot of their dialogue more often than they do in Sesame Street.
- One of the Boys: A downplayed example, but still prominent. Prairie Dawn is the only female host of the show, and near the end of each show, Prairie is often seen being silly and having fun with Ernie and Grover, leaving the "straight man" role of the four to Bert.
- Rewritten Pop Version: The show's opening theme song is a rewritten version of Somebody Come and Play.
