(Dec 1) LOVABLE children characters or corrupt creatures?

It doesn't matter how innocent the muppet, people always manage to see something evil on their screens.

SESAME STREET

Gay agenda? Bert and Ernie may be friends but they share the same bedroom and have no wives.

The talk got so rampant that the producers released a statement saying the duo are not lovers.

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

He's a talking sponge. Conservative church groups have criticised the character for being rather too close to his friend Patrick.

They sometimes hold hands.

His creators insist he is asexual.

BARNEY & FRIENDS

Is Barney just a purple, singing, anthropomorphic, cheerful dinosaur, or is he simply evil?

A proliferation of spoof sites so incensed Barney's owners they sued a website for copyright infringement when it called the dinosaur 'the anti-Christ'.

Barney lost.

TELETUBBIES

Tinky Winky, unlike Dipsy, La La and Po, is a special Teletubby. Because he is purple and carries a handbag and straight boys don't do that. Or so critics insist.