‘Sesame Street’ Star Elmo Gets His Own Talk Show, ‘The Not Too Late Show’

Elmo, the red Sesame Street monster famous for his falsetto voice and loud laugh, is following in the footsteps of late-night greats. The children’s show star is getting his own late-night talk show. Okay, maybe it’s not so late.

USA Today reports that late-night kings Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel won’t have to worry too much when Elmo’s chatfest, The Not Too Late Show with Elmo, debuts. The famous muppet’s show won’t be aired as late as most talk shows so there will be no competition.

Production on The Not Too Late Show with Elmo begins next month, but it’s not clear when the program will air. What is known is that Elmo will interview A-list celebrity guests on the show, which comes as part of Sesame Workshop’s deal with HBO Max. The company now has exclusive rights to Sesame Street, the iconic children’s television show that made Elmo a star via his “Elmo’s World” segment that first debuted in the late 1990s.

Too Fab notes that Elmo himself has plenty of talk show experience. The furry red monster has appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon at least seven times. In addition, Elmo has interviewed A-listers including Tom Cruise, Ryan Reynolds, Oprah Winfrey, and even Michelle Obama.

Because Elmo’s talk show will likely air in the daytime, hence the “Not Too Late” title, perhaps he can follow more in the footsteps of Oprah than, say, a James Corden.

When he’s not in the interviewer’s chair, Elmo is a great talk show guest. During some of his past appearances on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show, Elmo even helped make waffle grilled cheese. He’s also been known to team up with The Roots to sing the Sesame Street theme song.

The Elmo character was actually originally known as Baby Monster in Sesame Street episodes in the 1970s. But the Elmo as he is known today was developed in the mid-1980s and was voiced by Kevin Clash starting in 1985. By the 1990s, Elmo was so popular that he spawned the must-have Tickle Me Elmo toy. He also headlined a big-screen film, Elmo’s Adventures in Grouchland, in 1999.

Fans were shocked when Clash resigned from the Elmo role in 2012 after he was embroiled in a personal scandal, as The Inquisitr previously reported. Elmo is currently voiced by Ryan Dillon, who received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his work.

You can see Elmo on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in the video below.