Katy Perry's 'Sesame Street' video with Elmo pulled for being too suggestive - watch now!

09/23/2010 by Corinne Heller

A suggestive Sesame Street segment featuring Katy Perry trying to coax Elmo to play with her will not air in the PBS children's show's upcoming 41st season because its production company says viewers of a promotional online video of it complained.

In the video, Perry, a 25-year-old California singer who shot to fame with the 2008 pop hit "I Kissed a Girl", dons a green dress that shows her cleavage and a veil.

She sings her pulsing dance hit "Hot N Cold" with different lyrics as Elmo runs away from her and around her legs, later explaining he thought they were playing "Tag".

The lyrics go: "How am I supposed to play with you? / You're up and you're down / You're running around / You're fast and you're slow / You're 'Stop' and you're 'Go / You're hot and you're cold / You're 'Yes' then you're 'No' / You're in then you're out / I'm starting to doubt."

"Sesame Street has always been written on two levels, for the child and adult," Sesame Workshop, which produces the series, said in a statement. "We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or care-giver. We also value our viewers opinions and particularly those of parents."

"In light of the feedback weve received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on YouTube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers," the statement said. "Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on YouTube.

Perry Tweeted early on Thursday: "Wow, looks like my play date with Elmo has been cut short! Tag you're it, Elmo!"

Sesame Street has often featured celebrities, even those more popular among adults, such as rock singers Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons of KISS, Sopranos actor James Gandolfini and rapper Ice-T, and parodied more mature shows such as Twin Peaks.

Sesame Street's 41st season returns on September 27 and will feature stars such as actors Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Jim Parsons, Michael McKean and Ryan Reynolds; actresses Jennifer Garner, Kyra Sedgwick and Idina Menzel; NFL players Reggie Bush and LaDainian Tomlinson; musicians Will.i.am and Usher.

The 41st season will also feature parodies of the HBO adult-oriented vampire series True Blood (see a video of the "True Mud" segment), the comic book character and action film franchise Iron Man. Reynolds will star as big "A" in a spoof of The A Team.

Check out the video of Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" video with Elmo of Sesame Street: