Best Sesame Street Parodies, From “Game of Chairs” to “30 Rocks”


A recent development in the HBO Max rebranding was the cancelation and removal of streaming shows and movies on their platform. While the cancelation of the upcoming show Batgirl garnered a lot of attention and pushback, a group of friendly city monsters and friends received the same treatment. Almost 200 episodes of Sesame Street have been removed in addition to the cancellation of and erasure of other popular shows. There is no internal analytics for the value of Sesame Street to HBO viewers, but external studies show that Sesame Street is HBO Max’s biggest performer with 62% of HBO Max only watching one program: Sesame Street. This decision hurts young viewers looking to learn from Sesame Street and the creative ways they teach important lessons. This creative way of teaching is a huge part of what makes Sesame Street so special and holds up after all these years.



Airing for the first time in 1969, Sesame Street has always had the mission of talking up to children and creating programming that made children feel like they were the focus of conversation, not an accessory to it. Part of the way they have achieved these goals is by making modern references. In recent years, Sesame Street has made a point to have famous people on that kids may have seen in their own shows or even in the shows their parents watch. These celebrities interact with the puppets and help teach viewers while making subtle references to their work. Not only is this fun for parents possibly watch with their children, but it is also fun for kids to feel in on the shows and celebrities their parents know. But aside from celebrity guest appearances, Sesame Street also incorporates direct references to television shows and movies through parody. Bridging the generational gap, these parodies bring not-so-kid-friendly shows and movies to children in every home.

If there’s an iconic television show moment, you can expect there will be a version of it on Sesame Street. For a while now, Sesame Street has been delighting viewers with recreations of popular television moments adding their own special Muppet twist on them. No show is too violent, too risqué, or too complicated to be referenced on Sesame Street. From Downton Abbey to Game of Thrones, anything is fair game for Cookie Monster to show up in a parody version teaching a lesson about sharing. Here is a list of the top five best Sesame Street parodies.

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1. Upside Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey became a world-wide phenomenon back in 2010, and Sesame Street did not waste any time hopping on the bandwagon of expressing love for the show. This parody didn’t really make fun of Downton Abbey, it mostly just put the characters viewers love from Downton Abbey who would never be seen doing anything even the slightest bit improper in the silliest of situations. In Upside Downton Abbey, The Dowager Countess and her butler must overcome losing all their food because of being upside down by figuring out they need to be (you guessed it) right side up. What is so great about this parody is that even if you don’t have kids and there is no excuse to be watching Sesame Street, if you like Downton Abbey you’ll love this parody. It is universally funny both for those who appreciate the subtle nods to exaggerated formal language and the very specific costuming and for those little ones who just like seeing a fancy lady with a steak and kidney pie on her head.

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2. The Hungry Games: Catching Fur

The Hungry Games: Catching Fur was a very direct parody of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. In it, Cookie Monster must work through pattern puzzles to win the games. The comedy here comes from Sesame Street making fun of The Hunger Games series as a whole. There are little jokes scattered throughout the lesson that tease the series for having an unrealistic plot and going on for multiple movies. A child watching Sesame Street would love the traileresque way in which the show sets up this parody, but a Hunger Games fan would see the ways in which Sesame Street has encapsulated everything silly about the franchise and made them all blatantly obvious through hyperbole.

Including a parody of When Harry Met Sally in Sesame Street may seem strange for children’s television. It seems especially strange when the parody happens 26 years after the movie comes out. But that’s the magic of a Sesame Street parody. Sesame Street parodies are a trademark of the show where they reimagine television in movies. Not only is Sesame Street bringing modern adult television and film to children and their parents in an entertaining and educating way, but they are also providing a new generation with references to the classics. When Harry Met Cookie takes Cookie Monster and Sally to the infamous deli where Cookie Monster learns a lesson in waiting his turn. In this lesson, however, there is also exposure to a fabulous romantic comedy from the ’80s. The Sally puppet captures the complete essence of Meg Ryan in that same role. The parody really shows just how amazing the puppet design on Sesame Street really is. These throwback parodies further the shortening of the distance between generations, giving parents and children something to look back on and interests they have in common. Even if the parody provides a more sanitized version, the essence of the original is still there giving young audiences an early appreciation for an old movie.


4. 30 Rocks

In 2009, The Muppets at Sesame Street took a trip to 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Making a lovely parody of the hit show 30 Rock. The beloved character Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is an actual lemon wearing glasses and running an SNL-type show just like in 30 Rock. This parody teaches a lesson about counting from 1 to 30 one rock at a time. The real genius of this parody was in their character work. The Liz Lemon and Jack Donahue (Alec Baldwin) Muppet counterparts were expertly acted showing great respect for the original source material. The puppets perfectly capture and poke fun at the ways in which Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey play their characters. This lesson in counting was more of a parody of the acting styles used in 30 Rock and the relationships between the characters.

5. Game of Chairs

With the first episode of House of the Dragon out now, Game of Chairs was a delightful throwback. In 2015, Sesame Street released Game of Chairs, a parody of Game of Thrones where Grover must learn to play musical chairs to win the title of king. This parody had expertly written references to the very adult subject matter of Game of Thrones and incredible puppet design, similar to that of When Cookie Met Sally, with Peter Dinklage and Sophie Turner puppets that were truly their doppelgängers. Game of Thrones is a complicated and hard show to parody. Especially hard to parody for a child audience. But through subtle references and the chaotic nature of Grover as a character, the Sesame Street show was able to create a silly, goofy segment that gave kids something to laugh about that would also raise their parent’s eyebrows and put a smile on their faces as well.



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