Remember the days, when you waited for a new sesame episode to air? We all have gone through a phase of life where we were introduced to our all-time favorite kids’ show Sesame Street which makes us delighted to see our favorite muppets back to their action.

Brief on “Sesame Street”

The show debuted in 1969 and still is running to the present with the same positive viewerships. It was produced by Sesame Workshop known as the Children’s Television Workshop and aired on the National Educational Television Network (now known as Public Broadcasting Service). The main founder and creators of the show are Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrissett along with the popular muppets creator Jim Henson, who have designed all the muppets for the show.

Apart from engaging the children in academic learning and skills, it also teaches them other important aspects of life like positive socialization, friendship, family, and helping grow their self-esteem.

The show is run in about 130 countries with different international versions in production and has won more than 100 Emmy Awards. At the present, the show has a total of 52 seasons running and with 4,591 episodes.

Grover’s Death Episode in “Sesame Street”

The episode about Grover’s death on Sesame Street has many of us confused. The episode back from 2017 was about toxic shock syndrome, a bacterial infection that is caused by poor hygiene, and Grover got infected by it. 

It was another educational episode related to teaching the good habit of staying hygiene. Some have said that the blending of personal hygiene with the concept of death is going too far for a kid to get to the points, but other than this the show has offered a successful delivery of life lessons.

Concept of Death and Grief

Sesame Street is known for its unique but simple ways of teaching children about important parts of life as they grow. Sesame Street is known for its rich educational resources and a motto to help kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. It deals with many life aspects relating to different emotions from love, happiness to friendship but the emotions that we afraid to let a child know is the sorrow, sadness, and grief. 

Taking this as a challenge the show has episodes where it deals with the concept of life and death, which sounds complicated for a child to understand and most of the parents are unable to guide them in this matter properly.

In this regard, Sesame Street comes up with a simple and gentle way to explain and answer the question of grief to the children through its muppets character with whom the children can relate themselves. In the long run, the show has various episodes where it has focused on the topic of lost loved ones.

“Goodbye, Mr. Hooper”

The first time when Sesame Street brought the topic of death was in its episode aired in 1983 when the actor who played Mr. Hooper, Will Lee actually died of a heart attack. This incident has a real effect on the show and the members, this is when it first introduced the children to the concept of loss and sorrow. 

In the episode, Big Bird draws pictures of all his friends and when it comes to Mr. Hooper’s drawing he says that he is missing and asks where he is. Now big birds need to be explained the tough concept of death, which is not easy to answer.

About Uncle Jack

A special episode of When Families Grieves (2010) shows the subject of death and grief through the Elmos family who lost their loved one. Uncle Jack, Elmo’s uncle and Jesse’s father whose death has the two children question loss and the meaning of death that are still new to them.

How Elmo gives the reaction “oh” when Louie tells him that, when a person dies their body stops working, they don’t eat or talk on the phone anymore. 

“When Families Grieves”

It’s a special episode aired on April 14, 2010, featuring Katie Couric and the Sesame Street muppets. The show was an initiative to help military families by providing them with resources and emotional support. It presents real stories about how families are coping with the death of their loved ones and also an approach to help them move forward in life. 

Jesse’s Memory Box

Jesse’s memory box is where she is keeping all the important things that reminded her of her dad, from photos, drawing to letters that they exchanged. She keeps all these things as a memory of her father, whom she has lost and so that she can go through it whenever she is reminded of him. Here it tells us that a child may seem not to understand the complexity of life but they know to take care of their loved ones in their own ways.

Sesame Street tries to bring light to these emotions in a more comfortable, caring, and compassionate way for a young mind to understand death and grief. Hence helping the parents to approach them in a way that won’t trigger any negative emotions in their mental health.