Would they do a storyline about death now?

[ISNorden]

I'd say that a death storyline would come up again only in a situation like Mr. Hooper's: the actor playing a major human character would have to die before he could leave the show. (A Muppet would be less believable, since they're not realistic characters and tend to get involved in fanciful stories.) Sesame Workshop has never killed anybody off just to teach about death, and I doubt that will change any time soon.

 

[salemfan]

Well why do you think that's the case?

Isn't there a major difference between cartoons and the PBS shows?

Well, the purpose of showing adults crying was to show the viewers that children aren't the only ones who are sad(Big Bird sees that the grownups are sharing the same loss as he is).

The major difference between cartoons and PBS is that PBS tends to be more educational than cartoons, which means PBS shows have to be serious when it comes to subjects like death.

 

[Drtooth]

I'd say that a death storyline would come up again only in a situation like Mr. Hooper's: the actor playing a major human character would have to die before he could leave the show. (A Muppet would be less believable, since they're not realistic characters and tend to get involved in fanciful stories.) Sesame Workshop has never killed anybody off just to teach about death, and I doubt that will change any time soon.

I have a question. Wasn't the only reason that they didn't go into David's death because he was leaving the show anyway? I'm still confused about that.

Death is a very dramatic event in reality and fiction. What I don't understand is why parents feel they have to shield their kids from death. And then, what's the point of letting them dress as ghosts on Haloween?

I feel that SW would want to do a death episode when the time comes when another cast member has passed on. But then, I could see a hundred angry parental groups (the same ones that make darn well sure action cartoons can't be dramatic) would raise a stink and just say that they moved to a farm and somehow will NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN or something.

What they did with Mr. Hooper was bold. In this overly censored, ultra antiseptic climate of Children's TV, I don't think ot could be too possible.

 

[salemfan]

I'd say that a death storyline would come up again only in a situation like Mr. Hooper's: the actor playing a major human character would have to die before he could leave the show. (A Muppet would be less believable, since they're not realistic characters and tend to get involved in fanciful stories.) Sesame Workshop has never killed anybody off just to teach about death, and I doubt that will change any time soon.

You mean like if the actor/actress who played Luis or Maria died, they would do another death episode?

 

[CensoredAlso]

Personally, I don't think they should do it again. As harsh as this sounds, it would be anti climatic after having already done such a bold move before. From a slightly different position, I don't think it would work now anyway, the emotion on the show isn't quite as mature as it used to be.

 

[RyGuy]

they would probably do an episode centered on death if Bob died

 

[ISNorden]

I have a question. Wasn't the only reason that they didn't go into David's death because he was leaving the show anyway? I'm still confused about that.

Northern Calloway left the show (due to health problems) a few months before he died; the writers had already decided to have David move away to live with his grandmother, and weren't trying to cover up a death that hadn't happened yet.

Death is a very dramatic event in reality and fiction. What I don't understand is why parents feel they have to shield their kids from death. And then, what's the point of letting them dress as ghosts on Halloween?

I feel that SW would want to do a death episode when the time comes when another cast member has passed on. But then, I could see a hundred angry parental groups (the same ones that make darn well sure action cartoons can't be dramatic) would raise a stink and just say that they moved to a farm and somehow will NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN or something.

I see your points; then again, it would make less sense to do a death episode for a character whose actor had died after he left the show.

What they did with Mr. Hooper was bold. In this overly censored, ultra-antiseptic climate of children's TV, I don't think it could be too possible.

I'm not too sure about that--Sesame Street is still trying to deal with real problems children face, even though competition and a younger audience make their recent fare look "dumbed down" sometimes.

 

[ISNorden]

You mean like if the actor/actress who played Luis or Maria died, they would do another death episode?

That's a perfect example of what I was getting at: it would take the death of another long-time cast member who hadn't already left the show. The people who play Luis and Maria have been part of Sesame Street since Season 2, so having the characters die with them is perfectly reasonable.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I could be going out on a limb here, but I think part of the reason the original episode involving death made sense was because Mr. Hooper was clearly playing an "old man." We never see him as anything else. Unfortunately, it made sense that he would eventually pass away. (Even if they didn't outright say it; they didn't need to.) Even young children do see that their grandparents are older and unfortunately pass away.

Now I know the current castmembers are getting older (not to be insensitive ), but they aren't really playing the part of "old people." Doing the same sort of scene with one of them wouldn't have the same context. You would have to explain why they passed away, which would be an entirely different situation.

It's the same with David. If they had mentioned that he'd died, they'd have to find some way of explaining why. Otherwise kids would wonder why someone so young had died so suddenly. Now if they want to try doing that, that's fine. I'm just saying.

 

[salemfan]

Yes, but if one is going to teach young children about death, they should teach that sometimes young people die, too, it's not just old people.