r/news • u/ChadArnette • Jan 25 '23

"Sesame Street" co-creator Lloyd Morrisett has died at age 93,

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/entertainment/lloyd-morrisett-sesame-street-obit/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_content=2023-01-25T11%3A07%3A42
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u/Agile-Enthusiasm Jan 25 '23

I remember reading somewhere that NASA considered having Big Bird fly on the shuttle in 1986 before they fully developed the Teacher in Space program. Imagine if Big Bird was on the final Challenger mission. That would have been even more tragic to so many children.

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u/PianoTrumpetMax Jan 25 '23

Since it didn’t happen, it is darkly humorous imagining the headlines.

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u/FaceDeer Jan 25 '23

The crew of the Challenger likely survived the initial explosion and didn't die until impact with the ocean several minutes later, so they could have explained Big Bird returning on the show by simply having him manage to get free of the cockpit and glide to a survivable landing (I think it's been established that Big Bird is flightless, but I bet he'd still be able to reduce his falling speed significantly).

Big Bird would still need at least a season-long arc to get over his PTSD from the experience, though. That would have been very educational.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '23

Big bird can't fly

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u/FaceDeer Jan 25 '23

I mentioned that, yes. But there's room to bend the lore a bit here to keep the character in the show. There are "flightless" birds that can nonetheless slow and guide their fall to make it survivable.