Santa and the Three HOs

When my kids were little I watched Sesame Street with them, and some of the jokes were obivously aimed at adults. I remember Cookie Monster, sitting in a big leather chair in a library, smoking a pipe and announcing, “This Is Alastair Cookie, bringing you Monster Piece Theater.” My kids didn’t know why I was laughing – that joke wasn’t in there for them.

Some of the original shows have been released on DVDs, but according to this article (sent to me by Michael Tighe of thecheapstudent.com) they carry a warning: ““These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

Cookie Monsters pipe was too offensive. According to Carol-Lynn Parente, “That modeled the wrong behavior” — smoking, eating pipes — “so we reshot those scenes without the pipe, and then we dropped the parody altogether.” Oscar was too grouchy. Parente said, ““We might not be able to create a character like Oscar now,” she said.

And the pussification of America continues. . .

Of course, it’s not limited to America. In Australia, Santas are being told to say “ha ha ha” instead of ‘ho, ho, ho” because someone might misunderstand and think he’s calling someone a whore. I’m sorry, if you’re that easily offended, if your brain is so poorly developed that you find that offensive, rest assured that we’re far more offended at your stupidity than you are at this innocuous phrase. And you’re probably a ho too.

3 Comment(s)

  1. Our school had little plastic flags up with a picture of Santa laughing heartily with the “HO!” printed around him three times. Problem was, they were see-through, and from the back it just looked like he was orgasming.

    (See, I can join in the fun, too.)

    Andrew | Nov 24, 2007 | Reply

  2. this: “if your brain is so poorly developed that you find that offensive, rest assured that we’re far more offended at your stupidity than you are at this innocuous phrase”

    is fantastic.

    Johnny virgil | Dec 1, 2007 | Reply

  3. Andrew,
    My wife bought some stick on letters for the door that say “ho ho ho” on one side, and just like you describe it says “oh oh oh” on the other.
    I suggested a two sided ornament, one with santa for the outside, and one with William Shatner for the inside since I associated the oh oh oh with his exclamations along with his famous writhing on the deck of the Enterprise.

    And to stay on topic, I’ve been sharing this with friends and foes alike
    http://www.cruelworldcomics.com/hohohopage.html

    This story from Australia still makes me mad at how stupid people can be

    Neil Russell | Dec 3, 2007 | Reply

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