Sit a kid in front of a TV for an hour a day and a parent is bound to find something that offends them, other than the fact that plopping impressionable minds in front of a TV unsupervised is considered "good parenting."

Sesame Street is no stranger to controversy. Critics, cynics and crybabies have called out the show on everything from questionable behavior to the ambiguous situations...of puppets. Of course, all of these complaints and cackling criticisms just scratch the surface of a much bigger issue that has largely gone unaddressed: the total loss of our sanity and grasp on reality.

So as we look back at the last 40 years of television's greatest children's show, we see some speed bumps along the way. These are the ones that caused the greatest loss of tire pressure.

Get ready to see Grover in a tight suit and fedora, and Cookie Monster scarfing down glass after glass of (spiked?) milk. According to Miranda Barry of the Sesame Workshop, Sesame Street will parody Mad Men during the show's 40th anniversary season.

Barry appeared here with Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, who is in charge of the show's curriculum. They talked about the show's landmark season and what kids and their parents should expect to see. Among them: A new segmentized format, a new host, Murray Muppet, who will take kids through the various segments of the show, and a new segment featuring Abby Cadabby that's the program's first foray into CGI. The curriculum will emphasize science and nature along with the usual cornerstones this year.

Now onto the Mad Men parody. When asked how they would be able to pull it off, given the drinking, smoking, and womanizing that's a big part of the AMC show, Barry said, "You may have seen our parody called 'Desperate Houseplants.' It was about a houseplant not getting its needs met by the gardener. So it always works on two levels."

Move over, Elmo, and step aside Zoe; there's a new girl on the street. For the first time in over 13 years a new female Muppet will join the cast of Sesame Street as it enters it 37th season (dang, I'm just as old as Sesame Street) on August 14th.

The Muppet's name is Abby Caddaby and she will be a pink F.I.T. (Fairy in Training) whose catch phrase will be 'that's so magic'. According to Sesame Workshop, Abby will use rhyme and magic to express herself to her new neighbors. She will also be attending school with Baby Bear and sit  in a class taught by Mother Goose (Shirley Jones).

In addition to this new character, Sesame Street will be shifting some of its focus this year to teach children how to live healthy lifestyles by eating right and exercising. Look for Cookie Monster to munch on more carrots this year than cookies. Also look for appearances by Jamie Foxx, the Today show's Matt Lauer, and T.R. Knight from Grey's Anatomy.