Episode 1839 Background . When actor Will Lee died in 1982 , it left the producers of " Sesame Street " with the question of how to deal with the loss of Mr . Hooper , a beloved character who had been on the show since the first episode . Dulcy Singer , executive producer at the time , said that " if we left it unsaid , kids would notice . " One way out was to avoid the issue of death entirely . Producers toyed with the idea of telling viewers that the character had gone away . Caroll Spinney said that " we didn ' t know what to do . [ We ] thought perhaps he could just retire , move to Florida or something , but then the producers thought that the best thing to do would be to actually deal with death . " After much discussion and research , the producers decided to have the character of Mr . Hooper pass away as well , and use the episode to teach its young viewers about death as a natural part of life and that it is okay to grieve and feel sad when a loved one passes away . After consulting with numerous child psychologists , Norman Stiles , the head writer for the show , prepared a script designed to deal with the issue of death on Sesame Street . The cause of death was not discussed on the show , nor is the process of growing old . Valeria Lovelace , director of research at the show ' s production company , the Children ' s Television Workshop , said " We were advised to take the direct approach . . . Children don ' t understand words like ' passing away . ' " The show took an honest and direct approach . Show producer Fran Kaufman said that the goal was to avoid " sugar - frosting " the message . That message , according to the producers , was " [ Mr . Hooper ] died , he won ' t be coming back , and we are all going to miss him . . . Another message of the segment was that children have to understand that they will continue to be cared for . " In the episode , Big Bird thinks that Mr . Hooper will return later , but is told about the irreversibility of death . Although being reminded of already being told Mr . Hooper died , Big Bird , like many kids , shows his initial inability to comprehend this concept . But Big Bird ' s concern soon switches to his own needs . " He ' s gotta come back , " Big Bird exclaimed , " Who ' s going to take care of the store ? Who ' s gonna make me birdseed milkshakes and tell me stories ? " The other adults reassure him that everything will be okay and he will be taken care of . Big Bird gets frustrated by these comments exclaiming " but it won ' t be the same " . Bob addresses Big Bird ' s concern head - on saying " You ' re right , Big Bird . It ' ll never be the same without him . But you know something ? We can all be very happy that we had a chance to be with him and to know him and to love him a lot , when he was here . " Big Bird then adds that he still doesn ' t like it and that it makes him feel sad , to which David replies sympathetically " We all feel sad , Big Bird . " Big Bird eventually cannot take anymore of his emotions over what has happened and angrily yells out " Well , I don ' t understand ! You know , everything was just fine ! Why does it have to be this way ? ! Give me one good reason ! " After a pause , and in a callback to a previous scene , Gordon stands up and says to Big Bird , " Big Bird , it has to be this way , because " , to which Big Bird asks " Just because ? " and Gordon replies " Just because . " Finally , Big Bird thinks it over for a while , and , in a nod to a previous running gag , says to Mr . Hooper ' s picture , " You know , I ' m gonna miss you , Mr . Looper " prompting Maria to reply giddily but through tears , " That ' s Hooper , Big Bird , Hooper " and her and everyone else to laugh . Big Bird replies sadly " You ' re right " and the adults gather around him for an embrace . The farewell episode aired November 24 , 1983 ( Thanksgiving Day ) . Loretta Long noted , in an interview on " The Tavis Smiley Show " , " We were very careful to do it over the Thanksgiving holiday , where there would be a lot of adults in the house to help the children . " The filming of the scene was very emotional for the cast and crew , whom had worked closely with Will Lee for 14 years . Genuine tears were present in almost all on set . " We barely got through that show , " said Bob McGrath in a 2006 interview . " Any emotions you saw were real . We tried to do a pickup and we got about a minute into it and we all fell apart emotionally . It crossed over not only from PBS , but all of the networks . They all felt it was such an important show that they took the time to highlight it . " Mr . Hooper ' s death received a lot of press and drew many viewers . Reports stated that the episode was used to stimulate discussion of death in many homes . Valeria Lovelace commented , " It was a relief to us all that the segment worked as we hoped it would . It was really scary beforehand ; we didn ' t know for sure how it was going to turn out . " The episode was soon selected by the Daytime Emmys as being one of the 10 most influential moments in daytime television . Aside from receiving critical acclaim , the episode garnered success with its target viewers . Loretta Long explained , " People come up to us and say , ' Thank you . Now we can explain what happened to grandma , what happened to grandpa . ' " The episode was later adapted into the book , " I ' ll Miss You , Mr . Hooper " by episode writer Norman Stiles . The full , uncut version of this episode is available for viewing as part of the collection at The Museum of Television and Radio . The scene with the adults explaining Mr . Hooper ' s death was released on the DVD " 40 Years of Sunny Days " , while " Sesame Street Unpaved " included a script for the scene , and portions of this scene have appeared in " " , " " , " Sesame Street Unpaved " , " " , and " The Street We Live On " . Sources . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _