Seriously?!?, part 1

Early 'Sesame Street' Deemed Unfit for Today's Kids
http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2007-11-19/

DVDs of early seasons of Sesame Street bear a warning to parents that they may not be appropriate for small children, the New York Times observed today (Monday). Carol-Lynn Parente, executive producer of Sesame Street noted that in the early days of the show, a regular feature was a parody of Masterpiece Theater, featuring Alistair Cookie, played by Cookie Monster, who appeared with a pipe. "That modeled the wrong behavior," Parente observed. Oscar the Grouch appeared too grouchy. "We might not be able to create a character like Oscar now," she said. The Times also noted that in the DVDs (Volumes 1 and 2) Cookie Monster can be seen "in his former inglorious incarnation: a blue, googly-eyed cookievore with a signature gobble ('om nom nom nom')."

This is sooo beyond ridiculous! I had heard that the Cookie Monster's eating habits were sent to the health spa (read: fat farm) in the sky, but seriously! I remember Allistair Cookie, and he may have once or twice blown soap bubbles. Both Lunanshee and I were big Sesame devotees, but neither of us have ever smoked in our lives. While bingeing on cookies has likely occurred to both of us, it is likely the yumminess of cookies to blame, not a furry blue monster! And kids; they get grouchy. Why can't there be at least one person who gets to say what they are thinking without getting censored? Grouchiness was part of Oscar's charm, particularly when he sang a song to Santa on the Christmas special!

In my opinion, this is an over-sanitization of kids' lives, and utterly ridiculous! And even better yet, this article was considered bigger news than:

Kidnapped Iraqi TV Reporter Released

What is this world coming to? This is my rant for today; thanks for reading along.

PS- 'om nom nom nom'? Classic; sheer brilliance in onomonopoetic form. (How is that for a 25-cent word?!)