Is Elmo Damaged Christmas Goods?

TV Guide asks this question after the Kevin Clash sex scandal inside Sesame Street: "Is Elmo a No-Go?" They noticed that Hasbro's mid-November press release on its "must-have" toys only has a new "Flying Super Grover 2.0" doll, and no Elmo merchandise.

"This motion-activated Super Grover 2.0 character comes to life when kids pick him up and 'fly' him around the room," Hasbro promised. "His arms will rise as if he's flying and he will let children know whether he's 'Going up' or 'Going down!' Complete with soaring sounds and silly phrases, little ones are sure to fall in love with this furry superhero."

Hasbro's lucky they don't have a new Elmo toy that says "Going down!"

Then again, a few pages later, in the December 10 TV listings, singer Michael Buble promised Elmo would be one of the guests on his NBC Christmas special....which was surely taped before the Clash scandal broke.

Also in the new TV Guide, in an article titled "When Stars Attack," Michael Schneider painted Angus T. Jones speaking out against his show "Two and a Half Men" as a "whoops" moment, as a "stunt." Trashing a hotel room and proclaiming your Christian faith are both silly things that actors do.

Producers not involved with "Men" say that's the way to go. "You have to blow past it, acknowledge it, and apologize," says Chernin Entertainment's Katherine Pope. "Everybody has their 'whoops' moment." As long as Jones doesn't pull a stunt like this again, Moss things all will be forgotten: "As the studio and network, you take the high road and move on without ever mentioning it."

Oh sure, "Two and a Half Men" always takes "the high road."