Sesame Street: "Farewell, Mr. Hooper"

The Sesame Street episode "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" aired on Thanksgiving Day in 1983 (November 24th) so that the entire family could watch the show that dealt directly with the death of character Mr. [Harold] Hooper (actor Will Lee had died the previous year). Head writer Norman Stiles and his writing staff fashioned a script following extensive research, and the show is most remembered for the scene in which Big Bird comes to fully understand what is meant by his friend Mr. Hooper's death.  The show was aired once and never rerun and is considered a landmark in children's television programming. For the 1983-84 season of the show, performer Carroll Spinney (Bird Bird) and the writers of Sesame Street were awarded the Peabody Award; the show also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing as well.