Just days before it celebrates its 40th birthday, Sesame Street has angered some of its obviously-conservative viewers with a sketch that parodies cable news.

In the sketch, Oscar the Grouch is trying to cover a story for “GNN,” his “Grouchy News Network.”  After his interview, an angry viewer calls to complain and pulls the classic (and badly-thought-out) Angry Viewer Strategy™: telling him that she’s not going to watch the channel anymore:

“That is it.  I am changing the channel. From now on, I’m watching Pox News.  Now there’s a trashy news show.”

Get it?  GNN and Pox News?  Of course you do.  We all get that.  It’s a cute little play on words based on current events, which is what parody is all about.

But a few adult viewers of Sesame Street who favor Fox News, an organization that few can say is absolutely fair and balanced with a straight face, were pretty steamed and wrote to PBS’s ombudman.  Even one of the letter he publishes contains that same Angry Viewer Stategy™:

“I will never watch Sesame Street again and find it pathetic that you would use it as a platform for pushing the White House message and apparent conflict with Fox.”

It’s bad strategy, incidentally, because you’re telling the show that you believe intentionally is siding against you that you, one of their viewers smart enough to be able to spot their “dark agenda” is no longer going to be around to do so, and that they should therefore just carry on with their plan.  In essence, you’re rewarding them for the “bad behavior” you believe is so intentional by promising that they’ll have one less viewer that needs “brainwashing” so that they can move on to more important aspects of their agenda.

And there’s little motivation for a show to change things for a viewer who’s already promised that they’ll never be back.

The ombudsman actually sided with the angry viewers, though I’m sure he was speaking to those who haven’t “sworn off” the program for life:

“I don’t know what was in the head of the producers, but my guess is that this was one of those parodies that was too good to resist. But it should have been resisted. Broadcasters can tell parents whatever they think of Fox or any other network, but you shouldn’t do it through the kids.”

Good answer.

Of course, when I was that age, such a joke wouldn’t have brainwashed me in any way.  I doubt seriously that most of the kids in the “target demographic” for Sesame Street are big news consumers.  I mean, really, do we really want four-year-olds watching Glenn Beck or listening to Rush Limbaugh?