The 10 best ‘Sesame Street’ TV parodies

Who says Sesame Street is just for kids? The educational program turns 45 this week and shows its adult taste in some of the parodies Big Bird and co. have taken on to teach preschoolers the alphabet and vocabulary. 

They’ve covered a lot of primetime favorites from Grey’s Anatomy to Sons of Anarchy, and even ventured to premium cable for takes on True Blood and Homeland. The best part is each of them is pretty amazing. Celebrate Sesame Street officially hitting middle age with a list of their best parodies below. 

1) Homelamb (Homeland)

The most amazing thing about this parody is puppet-ized opening credits that follow so closely to the real Homeland opening sequences—minus Carrie’s crying face. 

2) G (Glee)

It is incredible how well the puppets capture the personalities of the real-life Glee characters from Rachel to Mr. “Gooster.” 

3) Sons of Poetry (Sons of Anarchy)

Need a little help with rhyming but don’t want all of the torture and death that comes with a real episode of Sons of Anarchy? Here you go. 

4) True Mud (True Blood)

This parody is just as dirty as the real True Blood—but the real kind of dirty that involves dirt instead of topless scenes. The only thing missing is if they could have fit a “Sookeh” somewhere between all the words that rhyme with mud. 

5) A’s Anatomy (Grey’s Anatomy) 

The doctors on A’s Anatomy are doing a lot more actual learning than the interns on its adult counterpart. Maybe if the Grey’s medical team spent more time studying like this than hooking up, there wouldn’t be so much drama in the ER. 

6) Upside Downton Abbey (Downton Abbey) 

Puppets have manners too, even if they are living in an upside down world. Just because you’re sipping from the ceiling doesn’t mean you can forget “pinkies up.”

7) The Voice (The Voice) 

Who needs more of The Voice? Everyone? Great. Puppets test out their vocal prowess to try and get judges to turn their chairs. Cee-lo, Christina, and Blake look-a-likes all make a puppet appearance. 

8) Birdwalk Empire (Boardwalk Empire)

Somehow mobster wars become funny and educational when you turn the gangsters into puppet birds and have them go “beak to beak.” 

9) 30 Rocks (30 Rock)

Your toddler may be too young to understand the lightning speed jokes of Tina Fey’s 30 Rock, so the great people at Sesame Street gave you a puppet Liz Lemon (whose head resembles the fruit) to watch during the daytime. You should love her just as much. 

10) Mad Men (Mad Men)

Don Draper may have a heart of steel on AMC’s advertising drama, but the “Mad Men” of “Sesame Street” are much more open about their feelings, allowing you to adequately express how you feel about the end of the adult “Mad Men” coming to an end. 

What is your favorite “Sesame Street” TV parody?

Screengrab via YouTube