let there be rock

Today I was lucky enough to find on YouTube a little piece of television history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaXiWgDU4i0

Most kids I knew when I was growing up watched Sesame Street. It was hard to avoid it, really. It was already a legend in children’s programming by the 1980’s, and many of the first books I read were Sesame Street books. When I first started watching it, I’m not sure. Nor can I remember the day when I finally quit watching it full-time (although if I had to guess I’m pretty sure it was about the time that I got hooked on the Ghostbusters and Turtles cartoons). The episode that I’ve linked here I may or may not have seen. It first aired on Thanksgiving weekend (November) in 1983, so even if I did see it there’s no way I can consciously remember doing so (I was only 1 at the time!). However, I was aware of Mr. Hooper when I watched the show growing up, so my memories are pretty fuzy on the whole thing. Regardless, I’ve always known that Mr. Hooper died during the run of the series. This was not a plot contrivance; the actor who played Hooper, Will Lee, did in fact die during the series. The creators of Sesame Street, in a testament to both the actor and to the purpose of the series, decided not to write him out in a plot device. Instead, they integrated Lee’s death into the series as a way for children to understand the concept of death. Big Bird finds out that he can’t give Mr. Hooper the picture he drew of him because he is dead. The human cast then explains to Big Bird about death and the fact that Mr. Hooper won’t be coming back. It is a really well done scene where it is quite obvious the cast itself was still saddened by Lee’s death. Unfortunately, you don’t often see something this powerful on children’s tv today, for whatever reason. But check it out.