Today in 1969, producer Joan Ganz Cooney and psychologist Lloyd Morrisett’s educational children’s television show Sesame Street premiered on the Public Broadcasting Service. It was the first children’s show to be modeled on contemporary child psychology. The format and pacing of the original series was carefully crafted to keep children’s attention. Research has continued to be a major part of Sesame Street’s evolving presence, perhaps most notably in December 1982 when longtime cast member Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) passed away. Rather than explain away his absence, the writers consulted numerous child psychologists so they could tackle the issue of death in an effective and non-damaging way. It is this “educational approach to education” that has helped Sesame Street endure as one of, if not the, most popular and critically-acclaimed children’s TV series.