If you watched Sesame Street as a child and remain unscathed, you can breathe a sigh of relief. I mention this because a recently released DVD of the first episodes of the ground-breaking PBS show for preschoolers comes with this warning:  “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” 

Apparently, some characters on The Street in those days (1969) modeled behavior that today is considered inappropriate for preschool TV. For example, the original Oscar the Grouch was too misanthropic and sacrastic for young brains. And Cookie Monster was clearly a sugar addict. Some segments are now thought to be just plain creepy. Case in point: When Big Bird talked to Snuffleupagus, who was not visible to the other characters pre-1985, he swore to his puppet friends that he was not hallucinating.

Virginia Heffernan’s New York Times post on the subject is amusing and a reality check for parents about how times and our standards change.