Whether or not you're happy with the changes made to Sesame Street in its recent move from PBS to HBO, the 46-season strong children's program's untarnishable reputation and strong fan base will most likely make this show survive the storm.
What's even more surprising than the longevity of a show that took three years to develop and a $1 million grant to get off the ground is its more recent history of poking fun at the very network that it now calls home.
That's right: Sesame Street has parodied some of the most NSFW cable shows within the last decade and turned them into family-oriented, educational, and often hilarious pastiches. Take a look at a few below.
Birdwalk Empire (Boardwalk Empire)
With web feet-shaped wingtips and his bowler hat, Nucky Ducky (Steve Buscemi's Nucky Thompson) and his duckbill crew face off against Clucky Luciano's slick chicken gang over their Atlantic City turf, swapping quacks and clucks for tommy guns. Mandatory cameos made by wingman "Mallard Capone" and Agent VanCooCoo sweetly tie up a lesson about sharing and accepting those who are different. As Nucky Ducky would say, "Let's talk a walk on the birdwalk."
Game of Chairs (Game of Thrones)
The most shocking thing about this parody is how Sesame Street could turn one of the bloodiest, carnage-strewn shows on television into a hilarious kid-friendly parody set in the land of Jesteros. The sketch puts Muppet fan-favorite Grover Bluejoy, a tantrum-throwing Joffrey, and Daenerys, a "mommy of dragons," in a primer on how to play an enduringly popular party game. A musical chairs-themed Sesame Street/GoT mashup is essentially the mashup we never knew we needed. Major props also go to the person who recreated the clockwork-like opening credit sequence, with three thrones instead of one made out of iron.
Oh, and best line? "Get me a sweater ... I think winter is coming."
True Mud (True Blood)
Swapping mud for blood in this rhyme-centric pastiche of Alan Ball's True Blood, Sesame Street's take on the vampire drama makes sure to keep the Southern Gothic atmosphere intact, along with an excellent take on Jace Everett's theme song ("I want to find true mud with you").
The Bill-character puppet (known as a "grouch" instead of an undead bloodsucker) is on point with that moody veneer, and Anna Paquin's Sookie stand-in once again leads the charge. Calling it "the muckiest show in television" and the premium cable program that housed it "Grouch BO" is some pretty serious shade, though. Good thing the network didn't take it too much to heart.
