Big Bird had a tough time getting grown-ups to believe him. They dismissed his super-reclusive pal Mr. Snuffleupagus as an imaginary friend — or maybe even an elaborate lie. And after 14 seasons, Big Bird’s insistence otherwise was beginning to call his general credibility into question. One grown-up did believe his stories — Mister Rogers, during a crossover episode in Season 12. But was it too late? Even Mr. Snuffleupagus was a skeptic, doubting Big Bird several times. (“Et tu, Snuffy?” Big Bird moaned). It all made Big Bird question his ability to distinguish fantasy from reality. Finally, though, inspired by a string of high-profile (but ultimately problematic) child sex abuse cases, “Sesame Street” allowed Big Bird to rally support for his claims in Season 16 and prove them in Season 17 — showing kids that grown-ups would believe them when they actually did tell the truth.

Competition

Big Bird always enjoyed friendly competition, but was never sure if he should be happy when he won if someone else had to lose. After a footrace with Mr. Snuffleupagus, for example, he said, “He’s going to be sad he didn’t win, and he might even be angry because I beat him.” (Fortunately, Mister Rogers was still on hand, and helped Big Bird realize that he could be a gracious winner and still let his friend know that he cared about his feelings.) Many years later, Big Bird competed against Jason Schwartzman on “Lip Sync Battle,” and when he won the round, asked the host LL Cool J to make it a tie. “I know you said that you can’t have two winners, there could only be one, but couldn’t just this once, couldn’t we change the rules?”

Dealing with Disaster