Sesame Street/Tear Jerker

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • I'll miss you, Mr. Hooper.
    • Oh god. Five words, and I am in tears already.
    • We'll all miss you, Mr. Hooper...
    • "You're right, Big Bird. It's... It'll never be the same around here without him. But you know something? We can all be very happy that we had the chance to be with him, and to know him, and to love him a lot when he was here."
    • Big Bird questions why this had to happen, and the only possible answer is both realistic and so very sad: "Because. Just because."
  • Add to that Big Bird singing "It's Not Easy Being Green" to a recently-deceased Jim Henson, and the Muppets win at making hard-hearted hannahs like me cry and cry and cry.
    • The big gut-wrencher is right after he finishes...

Big Bird: Thank you, Kermit.

    • Worse yet, Robin keeping the other Muppets together by singing "Just One Person" during the Tribute the Muppets did as their first show after his death. I lost it when Kermit walked through the door at the end Just... here...
      • I lost it right before that, when, after spending most of the show trying to figure out who Jim Henson was and planning the big production number, Fozzie and the cast find out that Jim Henson is dead when reading fanmail from actual fans.

Gonzo: But we were just getting to know him!

  • This song by Tom Smith, sung by Kermit the Frog to the recently deceased Jim Henson.

Then came Ernie and Scooter and Gonzo,
Doctor Teeth, Cookie Monster, and more.
But now all of those voices are silent,
And I want to go on... but, what for?

    • For this troper, the quiet little "I'll miss you dad..." gets her every single time. *Sniff*
  • The scene where Big Bird tells Snuffy that he has to go away, as he has been convinced by his friends that Snuffy doesn't exist... until he starts wiping away Snuffy's tears, and realizes that Snuffy must be real, as he's crying real tears.
    • After shooting the scene, the puppeteers removed their masks to reveal that they were both actually crying.
  • Some of the songs.
    • Well, I'd like to visit the moon...
    • It's not that easy bein' green...
    • This frog has to go his own way...
    • I'm a blue bird...from The Movie. Has been determined to be one of the top childhood-destroying moments in all of fiction.
  • The "Gift of the Magi" Plot with Ernie, Bert and Mr. Hooper in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.
  • Cookie Monster having a sad nightmare in which he meets the giant talking Monster Cookie, who tells Cookie Monster a sad story on how he became that way: he used to be a blue fury monster, too. But his cookie-only diet caused him to become a cookie, and he tearfully regrets not eating healthier foods. When Cookie Monster woke from this nightmare, he whines "What a nightmare! Oh, very sad!" He then was about to eat a cookie but scolds himself to never eat cookies again. Cookie Monster started to eat carrots, fish, and whole wheat bread. He then eats a cookie and remarks, "Well, maybe sometime a cookie!"
  • The Sesame Street Game Show sketch, The Crying Game Show has host Sonny Friendly telling a contestant a very sad story, and whoever cries their best, wins the game. However, the grand prize turned out to be Sonny Friendly's own teddy bear. Sonny Friendly complains "I LOVE MY TEDDY BEAR! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" and cries even harder and wins the game himself. This leaves the poor contestants sobbing in failure as the announcer blurts that there is no consolation prize and Sonny Friendly remarks, "Well, I guess we can't all be winners!" After he signs off he says, "Oh, Teddy! It's good to have you back!" before kissing his teddy bear with joy.