The show Sesame Street has got to be one of, if not the, most popular children’s shows out there today. The first episode aired in November of 1969 and it is still going strong today. In fact, there probably isn’t a single person out there who has not seen at least one episode of this cute little show. It is a show about big yellow bird named Big Bird who leads an entire cast of characters to teach children everywhere their numbers, shapes, letters, and important life lessons in a fun way. For ages now parents everywhere have relied on this show to not only teach their children things before they enter into school, but also to keep them quiet for at least a half-hour. There is no doubt about how truly loved this show is, and it’s ratings speak for themselves.

However, it turns out that cute and innocent children’s show is harboring some off-putting secrets that might be a bit much for its target audience. We leave no stone left unturned in this tell-all article. This might leave some viewers unable to look at this classic show in the same light. Who would have guessed that a show so widely known could be hiding so many things? Here are 25 secrets about Sesame Street that will leave you wanting to hide like Oscar The Grouch.

20/20 The Cracker Monster

A shocking little tidbit about this show that not very many people know is that the popular Cookie Monster actually was not designed Sesame Street. In fact, he was originally made for a cracker commercial, this is honestly mind-blowing, knowing that the infamous Cookie Monster was supposed to be a cracker monster is some pretty interesting news there is no doubt about that. However, when the commercial never aired the Cookie Monster was up for grabs, and they thought that he would be a perfect for this popular kids show.

19/20 Katy Perry And Elmo Have A Duet

If you watch this show in the modern era, you've no doubt noticed their appeal to modern audiences (including references to HBO shows and other pop culture icons). One of these recent attempts to modernize the program included a lovely duet between Elmo and pop star Katy Perry. However, this episode was pulled because of some concerns over the pop icon's outfit. That being said, it can be found today on YouTube. Apparently, there were quite a few people out there who had a big problem with Katy Perry's dress, saying that it was too revealing for a children’s show.

18/20 Elmo Testifies

Let us ask you this, if you were a judge and you had to hear out a testimony completely done by cute little puppet Elmo, would you take it seriously? Probably not, and judging by the giant smiles on everyone's faces in that courtroom, they didn’t take it very seriously either. That did not, however, stop Elmo from testifying in front of Congress in support of music education programs. This certainly is not something you see every day in a courthouse, and surely it had to have brightened up some peoples day.

17/20 The Wonderful Sesame Street YouTube Channel

YouTube seems to be more popular than ever, especially among small kids who only seem to calm down when their parents finally give up on saying now and hand them their phone to watch videos for just a moment of peace. When you put your child into a restricted mode on YouTube, allowing them only to watch things like Sesame Street, you expect that they will be fine. However, all was not fine back in 2011 when the Sesame Street YouTube channel was hacked and someone decided that it would be hilarious to upload a ton of inappropriate content on their page. Looks like a lot of parents must have had to have the birds and the bees talk a little early.

16/20 Oscar The Grouch Goes Through Some Changes

We all know Oscar The Grouch as this green animal that lives his life inside of a trash can, but prepared to be shocked, because Oscar has apparently gone through some changes during his time on the show. In fact, when the show first aired, Oscar was actually orange, we are unsure as to whether they creators thought he looked better in orange, or maybe it was just all of that time he spent inside of a trash can that started to wear off on him. Who knows, maybe a good bath would take care of this “change” that he went through.

15/20 The Forgotten Character

Roosevelt Franklin, a character from Sesame Street that not a lot of you will recall, was dropped from the show following complaints of him being a prejudice character. This character appeared in Sesame Street in the 1970s and he was supposed to help teach kids some very valuable lessons, as well their letters and numbers. However viewers were quick to ask that this character be removed because they felt as though he was a bad rolemodel, and reenforced antiquated ideas.

14/20 Parents Parting Ways On Sesame Street

Splitting up is a messy subject to talk about, there is no denying that, but unfortunately it is also something that happens in many homes these days. No one really wants to talk about it, or how it affects the kids whose parents are parting, but Sesame Street thought that it needed to be talked about. In 1992 there was an episode made where Mr. Snuffleupagus’ parents were going through a separation. The creators thought that this might help some kids who are struggling with this situation themselves, however, when the episode tested very poorly with kids they decided not to air it.

Since Cookie Monster is after all the most popular character on Sesame Street, and probably one of the most meme'd Sesame Street characters ever, you might be wondering what his real name is. That’s right, Cookie Monster actually has a first name, which is not something that a lot of people know about. Sid, is the common first name of our beloved binge eating monster, and now you know. Although we have to admit, Cookie Monster sounds way cooler than Sid in our book.

12/20 Oscar Falls In Love

For those of you out there who have had your heart broken, or weren’t able to be with the man or woman of your dreams, don’t feel so bad because it turns out that you are not alone. In fact, Oscar The Grouch seems to have also lost the woman that he loved. Who you ask? Well, in one episode Oscar fell deeply in love with none other than The Wicked Witch Of The West. Of course, the episode ended up getting banned, so we can’t enjoy it today. However, we are unsure if losing her is why he is so grouchy, or maybe his love for her is why he suddenly turned green when he was originally orange. The world may never know.

In the race for who is the most popular puppet of all out of these characters, there is no doubt about the fact that it comes down to Elmo and The Cookie Monster. Most people would probably assume that Elmo is the most popular, seeing as how he has so many toys made after him and even has his own show, but a lot of people consider Elmo the downfall of Sesame Street. Who knew there was so much debate about the authenticity of the children's franchise.

10/20 Special Characters For Special Places

Most people would probably assume that the characters in Sesame Street are all the same all across the world, but it turns out that this show got pretty smart when it came to making shows more relatable depending on where it was airing. For instance, in South Africa, Sesame Street has incorporated a character that is positive for an immune system problem. They did this in order to help educate kids on this disease, which is more common in that area of the world, so that they can be aware. This honestly sounds like a genius idea, because they are able to make the show relate to people from all over the world.

Sesame Street is supposed to be a show that we introduce to our children at a very young age to encourage them to learn things like shapes, numbers, and letters. So you would think that the characters would be nothing less than good role models. As it turns out though, some of the characters on this show are not the positive role models that we once thought that they were. The cookie monster, for instance, appears to be a cute little monster who just loves his cookies, but is he sending subliminal messages about how food can take over your life? It might sound like a reach to some, but it became enough of an issue that his slogan was changed to "cookies are a sometimes food." 

8/20 Bert And Ernie - More Than Just Friends

Bert and Ernie are two muppets that not only live together, but seem to be the closest of friends, even though they do have the occasional conflict with one another. However, people were convinced that these two were secretly a couple. When watching Sesame Street as an adult, it is easy to see this connection now, but for kids, it probably just seems like a totally normal friendship. Of course, in today’s world is it hardly shocking to imagine them being a married couple. However, the Sesame Street eventually came out and stated that they were not together, because quote: "They are puppets, not humans."

7/20 The Man Behind Elmo

When it comes to creepy secrets that make us want to hide like Oscar The Grouch himself, this one surely takes the cake. There is no doubt about the fact that kids, toddlers especially, love Elmo. Parents on the other hand can’t seem to stand his high pitched voice and the theme song of Elmo’s World more than likely haunts them in their dreams. Apparently, parents' might want to trust their instincts when it comes to this character, at least if they are watching the later episodes, because the man behind Elmo was actually found being inappropriate behind-the-scenes. Kevin Clash was let go from the show when the news broke out, but it's hard to look at the character the same way knowing the truth about the actor.

6/20 Ban Sesame Street

It is probably safe to say that this show has come a long way since the 70s, so it might be a little hard for us to totally understand why, but it turns out that there was actually a group of people who tried to get the show banned. Obviously they failed in their mission to put a stop to the show, and there is not a whole lot of information on why they tried to have in banned in the first place, but if you continue to read on in this article, it might start to become clear to some people why this show isn’t exactly as innocent as it originally seemed to be.

5/20 Telly And His Anxiety

The character Telly is one that always comes off as nervous, unsure about himself, and hates having to talk to people. In fact, he even begins to shake when it comes to social interaction with other cast members. This might be something that sounds familiar to a lot of people reading this, and the reason that it sounds so familiar is because it is actually Telly displaying some social anxiety. Social anxiety is very common these days and is becoming more and more prevalent among kids, so it is no wonder why they would want to incorporate a character that kids with this condition can relate to.

4/20 Mr. Snuffleupagus

There is absolutely no debate about the fact Mr. Snuffleupagus is totally adorable, but it turns out that he has a secret of his own as well. It turns out that this cute-as-a-button wide eyed creature was actually supposed to be Big Bird’s imaginary friend, which would make sense for a kid’s show because many kids create imaginary friends for themselves to play with. However, Sesame Street thought that making him invisible to adults would be bad for the ratings and so they made him visible.

3/20 That Darn Theme Song

We are sure that just about every parent ever will be able to understand this next one. It turns out that the theme song to Sesame Street is way more annoying than we ever thought that it was, in fact, it is so annoying that in some circumstances soldiers put it on repeat at full volume as a method to annoy the inmates. It has been proven to be successful when used this way, so we are starting to feel sorry for the parents of the kids who are obsessed with this show.

2/20 What's In A Name

Sesame Street is such an interesting name for a show to have, it is a show that has blossomed so much over the years that anyone who hears that name automatically knows what you are talking about. Would the show have done as well as it has over the years though, if perhaps it were called something different? Well, it turns out that they originally wanted to name this popular kids show, 123 Avenue B. We totally understand the 123 part, because they do teach kids their numbers, but this is not nearly as catchy as the name that they went with.

1/20 How Big Is Big Bird

The face of Sesame Street, even though he is not the most popular character, is without a doubt Big Bird. His name truly does speak for itself too, because he is in fact, a very big bird. How big, you ask? Well, it turns out that this big yellow thing that they call a bird is actually eight feet, two inches tall. This might seem like a pretty useless piece of information, and to be honest, it really is, but now you know. He truly is living up to his name after all.