Guest written by our friend Trent Horton
It occured to me recently that Public Television and the modern Children’s Television Workshop have sure strayed far from the magical days of their creator, Jim Henson. This New Year saw the most politically incorrect judgement call in PBS history when they pulled the Katy Perry Sesame Street appearance both on the show, and apparently from up under her yellow perky outfit to some viewers. Parents thought the remake of her song ‘Hot N’ Cold’, in a duet with mega puppet star Elmo was risque?
It seems to this author, that Katy and Elmo would be stars on the Muppet Show.
Jim Henson had creative vision with the original Sesame Street; his innocent little puppetry hour was educational, while also tackling subjects like homelessness, poverty, street problems, racial issues, and such problems in three decades. The fact is, until this recent Katy Perry controversy Sesame Street never had a complaint in all its time on air.
Had the very intelligent and child friendly cameo been on the Muppet Show, I am sure that Henson would have taken it even further. What bothers me, is wondering who actually saw the show and was afraid for their child enough to get it banned. I saw it live on Satellite TV, that I got after seeing these direct.tv, that morning and found myself giggling like a kid.
Well Katy and Elmo, thank goodness for YouTube.
