Can You Tell Me How to Get, How to Get, to Sesame Street?

Volumes 1 and 2 of my beloved childhood television show, Sesame Street is now available on DVD. Granted, there was not anything else on back in the day (mid - 70's) except a healthy dose of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood that I was allowed to watch. Unless you count my mother's addiction to M*A*S*H. So needless to say I am kind of excited to watch it and let my kids see what life was like for Momma before digital animation and i pods. Yet there is a hiccup in my plan.

Volumes 1 ('69-'74) and 2 ('74-'79), “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child”, according to the "warning label".

Could it be that Gordon and Maria had a torrid affair? Mr. Hooper was really part of an underground Jewish mafia selling weapons in the back of the store? Ernie was planning an evil plot with Super Grover to take over the world? Nope. Imagine this sheer horror. Mr. Snuffleupagus was initially the invisible friend of Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch was actually a grouch and Cookie Monster... well he ate cookies. Not the "PC correct" veggies you can see him munching on these days.

These are really some of the reasons that they do not think the old school shows we all grew up on are no longer appropriate. Granted, I would rather have my kids munch on carrots vs. cookies and not take social cues from Oscar, but come on... it is just a show. My generation survived the evils of Sesame Street back in the day perhaps because the show was just fun and not our only source of education and training. Our parents were relied upon for that.

I will admit however that I can live without the segment (pick clip 6) when a young Jesse Jackson is empowering a group of children by chanting, "I am somebody" followed by, "I may be poor, I may be young, I may be on welfare, my clothes are different, my hair is different... yada, yada, yada." Maybe because I was young, poor, with funny hair and funny clothes in the 70's. Or maybe because I cannot stand the "me messages" of the 70's. Regardless, I would let me kids watch this any day. Maybe just to spite the warning label.

Besides, tell me you could watch “Sesame Street: Old School” without singing "I Love Trash" with Oscar. Come on, I double dog dare ya...