Matthew Wrather hosts as he, Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and John Perich reveal their favorite animated movies, give advice to a college student, debate tokenism and ethnic stereotyping, and think back to the good old days of Sesame Street.

In this episode, we also lay out a challenge for your mom.

Tell us what you think! Email us or call 20-EAT-LOG-01—that’s (203) 285-6401. If you haven’t yet, take the very short survey! And… spread the overthinking by forwarding this episode to a friend.

Download Episode 48 (MP3)

Jean-Paul Sartre once said “Hell is other people,” but his characters were just stuck in a plain old room with some other folks and no exit.  None of them was the lone existentialist trapped in a children’s television program.

Here’s a tribute to those top five hapless souls who, though depressed, distraught, or just plain angry, are doomed to live in saccharine-filled worlds where cotton candy lines the streets and the power of friendship is always, always the answer.

5. Oscar the Grouch: Poor Oscar.  Even if he weren’t grouchy, “the Grouch” is still part of his name and his species.  He lives in a trashcan, he has no legs, and his only friend is a worm.  I’m fairly sure he became a grouch back in ‘Nam and at some point lived in a van down by the river.  To add insult to injury, the only way he can make enough money to scrape by is to teach dumb kids the letters of the alphabet.

Oscar can’t be too high on this list, however.  After all, he’s not the only one of his kind like those poor saps below.  Then again, even having kindred spirits in the wonderful land of Sesame Street isn’t too much help for Oscar.  If this clip from the Sally Messy Yuckayel show is to be believed, even other grouches hate Oscar because he once had his heart melted by an adowabul kitten.  The fellow just can’t win.

Wanna know 4, 3, 2, and 1?  Well, you’ll have to click, won’tcha?