Snuffy's Parents Get A Divorce - Test Results

Test Results

Staff writer Norman Stiles was assigned to the script, which the Children's Television Workshop scheduled to air April 10, 1992 as episode number 2895. Stiles previously wrote episode 1839, in which the adults on Sesame Street explain Mr. Hooper's death to Big Bird.

As with Mr. Hooper's death, the script received great scrutiny by the show's advisory board and developmental psychologists. The board suggested providing greater emphasis to the fact that arguments do not automatically mean divorce. The episode was taped after a script revision, and the completed episode screened before a test audience of 60 children in four daycare centers. Dulcy Singer still had her doubts: "We were really nervous about the show, and we didn't think it was a shoo-in. When you're dealing with something like death, the approach can be universal. But with divorce, it's so personal. People react differently."

The final episode addressed the advisors' concerns via a conversation in which Gordon reassures Elmo, Big Bird, and Telly that "Just because parents have an argument, or get upset with each other, doesn't mean they're getting a divorce... Or that they don't love each other anymore." He also reassured Snuffy and his sister Alice that it's not their fault, "No, not even if you spill something."

The reassurances had little effect on the test viewers, however, especially taken in conjunction with the rest of the episode. While Mommy Snuffleupagus had appeared irregularly, Snuffy's father has only appeared in the book See You Later, Mashed Potater!. When he does appear in the episode, arriving for a weekend visit, Alice attempts to bring him inside, but he reminds her that "I don't live here anymore." Children were unclear on where Snuffy's parents lived, especially the father, and believed that Daddy "ran away and Snuffy and Alice would never see their father again."

The realistic depiction of the Snuffleupagus children struggling emotionally with the issue also proved troubling. In one scene, as Alice overhears her parents arguing in the next cave, she pounds and kicks her teddy bear out of frustration. Singer weighed in on the reactions, which despite the care taken, revealed both emotional responses and misunderstandings of the very points which the script attempted to clarify:

The kids came away with negative messages ... The kids said she stabbed the teddy bear with a knife. The kids misunderstood arguments. They said arguments did mean divorce. Some thought Snuffy's parents were moving away even though we said just the opposite. A number said the parents would no longer be in love with them.

With the testing results in, research director Valeria Lovelace recommended scrapping the episode and going "back to the drawing board," and the idea was abandoned, at least for the season. Episode 2895, as aired in many areas, instead focused on Oscar the Grouch and a visit from his brother. The Children's Television Workshop internally talked of attempting to broach the divorce issue later on, perhaps in multiple parts. However, as producer Michael Loman recalled, "We ate the cost and never aired it. We feel there are a range of issues that we can deal with in the family that do not go to the extreme of divorce."

To some extent, parental separation or divorce have been covered in a "Sesame Street News Flash" segment about a bird whose parents live in different trees. The song, named "They Live in Different Places, But They Both Love Me", first aired in episode 2837.