Open Sesame!

It’s the most recognisable TV series of all time, beloved by children who’ve tuned in for more than 50 years. A new documentary reveals the surprising journey behind Sesame Street, a show that set out to change the world.

- TIFFANY DUNK

On Thanksgiving in 1983, families across America crowded around the television together, ready to take in a history making moment. It was an occasion that would bring tears, but also understanding. And the four-and-a-half-minute segment resonates just as strongly today as it did when it aired close to four decades ago.

Will Lee, who originated the role of Sesame Street’s gruff grocer Mr Hooper, had passed away from a heart attack at the age of 74. But rather than write the character out of the show or recast, producer Jon Stone decided that – just like all other segments of the children’s series – it would become a teachable moment.

“We decided Will would really like to have his death used in an educational way that might help kids cope with that,” he explains in archival footage in the upcoming documentary Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street. “We carefully and thoroughly researched what children’s normal reactions to a death are and we tried to deal with it in the form of Big Bird’s reaction to Mr Hooper’s death. It’s hard to watch. It was a difficult show to do.”