In celebration of forty years of Sesame Street, some of the early-season episodes are being released on DVD - just don’t show them to your kids. A disclaimer on the packaging explains: “These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

But don’t get it wrong - from the very beginning, Sesame Street was designed just for kids. So, what gives?

It seems that even Sesame Street has to think about being politically correct. You see, in those incredibly ancient days of the Street, Cookie Monster smoked a pipe (which he would later eat). Human characters might invite some of the Sesame kids into their homes for milk and cookies. Kids would ride through the alleyways on their bicycles, sans helmets. And there was no Elmo.

Today, Cookie Monster has to think about child obesity. Kids are fully padded before the ride on any type of vehicle. And it’s absolutely unacceptable for a child to go into an adult’s home without the proper supervision. Things have changed a lot in forty years. And though these older episodes of Sesame Street might not be PC enough for today’s tots, at their heart they still offer the genuine warmth you’d expect from PBS.