KOOOOOOO-KEEEEEEEEEE!

New on the market: DVDs of the early (circa 1969) Sesame Street, with the caveat that “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

So what, exactly, was so child-unfriendly about the old-school Street? Well…

The street itself, a funky, dark urban landscape…

Instead of computer graphics, some good old fashioned hand-drawn animation (along with clips of cows – lots of cows)…

Ernie a puckish foil to the curmudgeonly Bert…

Cookie Monster as pure walking id…

Oscar as, well, a grouch…

And best of all…none of that insufferable treacle-mouth, Elmo.

Yep – the old Sesame Street was, at times, downright subversive.

Subversive is cool.