--- description: Elmo, arguably the most successful Sesame Street character in recent years — he has a vibrating doll, people — can do sarcasm and irony just... title: Elmo Schools Ricky Gervais image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf46a16d56dfa435/698a4b16096a942eda6af554/360_gervais_elmo_0312.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # Elmo Schools Ricky Gervais by [Frances Romero](/author/frances-romero/) Mar 13, 2009 4:00 AM CUT  Ricky Gervais with Elmo on Sesame Street. Scroll down for the video. Ricky Gervais with Elmo on Sesame Street. Scroll down for the video. by [Frances Romero](/author/frances-romero/) Mar 13, 2009 4:00 AM CUT Elmo, arguably the most successful [_Sesame Street_](https://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341%5F1659196%5F1652654,00.html "undefined") character in recent years — he has a vibrating doll, people — can do sarcasm and irony just as well as any British comedian. So when [Ricky Gervais](https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1840580,00.html "undefined"), creator and star of the [U.K. version of _The Office,_](https://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341%5F1659196%5F1652622,00.html "undefined") showed up to perform with the furry little Muppet, he nearly met his match in hilarious banter. The biggest lesson here is: don’t ever question Elmo about his pajamas. If the lovable little monster wants to wear night clothes when he goes to bed (even though he typically parades around in the buff) then, who the hell are you to question that, Ricky? Elmo: “It’s acting. It’s called acting, Mr. Gervais. _Act_ing!” Diva alert! [See a video interview with Ricky Gervais](https://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1334407033%5F1721837,00.html "undefined") [See TIME’s 1970 _Sesame Street_ cover.](https://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19701123,00.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6909796/elmo-schools-ricky-gervais/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6909796/elmo-schools-ricky-gervais/"},"headline":"Elmo Schools Ricky Gervais","datePublished":"2009-03-13T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-22T15:53:18.553Z","description":"Elmo, arguably the most successful Sesame Street character in recent years — he has a vibrating doll, people — can do sarcasm and irony just...","url":"https://time.com/archive/6909796/elmo-schools-ricky-gervais/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf46a16d56dfa435/698a4b16096a942eda6af554/360_gervais_elmo_0312.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Frances Romero","url":"https://time.com/author/frances-romero/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf46a16d56dfa435/698a4b16096a942eda6af554/360_gervais_elmo_0312.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"360_gervais_elmo_0312.jpg","caption":"Ricky Gervais with Elmo on Sesame Street. Scroll down for the video.","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/6909796/elmo-schools-ricky-gervais/","name":"Elmo Schools Ricky Gervais"}}]}] ```