'Mad Men,' other kid-inappropriate shows with 'Sesame Street' parodies

Sesame Street premiered on television 45 years ago today, and has been teaching kids valuable lessons with the help of colorful, funny puppets and likable human guest stars ever since. It’s perfectly appropriate for kids of any age—but some of the material the show parodies isn’t. (Think Mad Men and True Blood).

To celebrate the show’s 45th birthday, here’s a list of spoofs based on the most kid-inappropriate shows Sesame has ever tackled, ranging from political thriller Homeland to motorcycle gang drama Sons of Anarchy.

Mad Men (AMC)

Real show includes: Violence, drug use, sexual content

Sesame Street version: Mad Men on EMC, the Emotional Movie Channel

The conference room is free of whiskey and cigarettes in the Sesame Street parody: Instead, Don Draper meets with two copywriters who presents advertisement ideas to him that make him mad, sad, and finally, happy. So that’s why it’s called Mad Men.

Homeland (Showtime)

Real show includes: Violence, drug use, sexual content

Sesame Street version: Homelamb

What if the cast of Homeland were made up of… sheep? That’s the premise of Homelamb, which replaces Brody with Baaaa-rody and Carrie with Caaaa-rrie—and features a ton of sheep-related puns, as well as a mystery (Is Baaaa-rody is a sheep in wolf’s clothing, or a sheep in wolf’s clothing in sheep’s clothing?) Confusing? Yes. More entertaining than some of Homeland’s recent episodes? Also yes.

Sons of Anarchy (FX)

Real show includes: Violence, drug use, sexual content

Sesame Street version: Sons of Poetry

The Sons of Anarchy are all about breaking the system, but Sesame Street‘s Sons of Poetry just care about rhyming—and are careful to specify that reciting poetry is not a crime. Breaking the law is bad, kids—no matter what Sons of Anarchy says!

True Blood (HBO)

Real show includes: Violence, drug use, sexual content

Sesame Street version: True Mud on GrouchBO

Much like Sons of Poetry, True Mud is told almost entirely in rhyme. Sticky brown mud replaces blood in this parody, but some things remain the same: Sookie works at Merlotte’s and all the characters have thick southern accents.

Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Real show includes: Violence, drug use, sexual content

Sesame Street version: Birdwalk Empire

Birdwalk Empire mimics the us-versus-them mentality of Boardwalk Empire, but without all the violence and profanity—and with much cuter names. Nucky is called Nucky Ducky. Lucky Luciano becomes Clucky Luciano. Al Capone is Mallard Capone. There’s also music (sample lyrics: “waddle waddle waddle, flap flap flap”) and a bird-themed historical references (“speakeasy” becomes “beakeasy”).

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

Real show includes: Sexual content

Sesame Street version: A’s Anatomy

While viewers don’t usually learn much from Grey’s Anatomy,besides what new symptoms they shouldn’t be checking out on WebMD and who’s sleeping with who this week, Sesame Street’s version teaches kids the alphabet. Grover is an alphabet specialist in this parody. His job is to fix the broken letter “A,” who gets rushed into the emergency room. Most words used in the skit begin with the letter “A,” and by the end, the letter “A” is fixed and sent home—no LVAD wires required.