Yes it's true. I had a really hard time with this and it disturbed me for years as a child. Here's a little back story....
I grew up without cable as it wasn't a high priority on our families expenses list (which I totally understand!). That was a good thing as I spent much more time playing outside and enjoying my childhood versus spending countless hours rotting by brain in front of the 13" Hudson's Bay crappy little t.v. we had. Needless to say though, I really enjoyed the couple of hours in the morning I got to watch Mr. Dressup, Friendly Giant and then Sesame Street. As we only had a couple of Canadian channels, I received the Canadian version of Sesame Street. I watched many episodes of Big Bird's hijinks with his possible imaginary friend Snuffleupagus who never seemed to cross paths with any of the other characters in the show. Gordon would drop by Big Bird's nest and Snuffy had just left! Maria would show up and low and behold, juuuuust missed Snuffy. So they didn't believe he was real. Ok so at my young age, I had come to grips with this scenario and all was fine in the world of Sesame Street. And then everything changed....
My grandparents had cable. This was an extreme luxury and treat when we would visit them. So many more channels and different shows to watch. So I am flipping channels and look what's on!! Sesame Street! Woo hoo! Jackpot!! Little did I know that this was the American version. Looked the same. Had the same characters on the show. Oh there is Big Bird and Snuffleupagus. Wait a minute....here comes Bob. HE'S TALKING TO SNUFFY!!! WHAT THE HECK!!! THIS IS WRONG!!! NO ONE KNOWS SNUFFY IS REAL!!! HOW CAN THIS BE!!! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY!!! I immediately curled up in the fetal position and watched the rest of the show, rocking back and forth trying to come to grips with this discovery. 2 Sesame Streets. One they know him, one they don't. I seriously had a really hard time computing his and rationalizing in my toddler brain. It wasn't until many years later that I realized there were the 2 different versions. I still prefer the Canadian version with the suspense and intrigue of trying to figure out if he is real or imaginary. But at the time it was quite traumatizing when you think of what is a big deal at that age. What's next? Ernie and Bert don't even live together? Oscar lives in a dumpster instead of a garbage can? No Sesame Street news with Kermit the Frog? He was replaces by Grover after he got his Super Grover rights taken away!! Geez. And for the record, I love the Aliens that "Yip yip yip yip yip yip, uh huh, uh huh!!" thing. They were cool!! "Brrrrrrrrring!!!" (phone skit the best). But all this to say, Muppets kick the crap out of Sesame Street anyway and was always my favorite. Can't wait to see the new movie!! Manah Manah!! Doo doo da doo doo....
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