10 TV Hoaxes That Fooled Everyone
3. Ernie Was Going To Die In The Early 1990s - Sesame Street
Shortly after Jim Henson's untimely 1990 death, a rumour spread like wildfire - as fast as it can in the pre-Internet era, at least - that one of Sesame Street's Henson-voiced characters, Ernie, was going to be killed off in an upcoming episode.
The cited rationale was that nobody could fittingly replicate Henson's Ernie voice, and it would also provide a unique forum for the show to teach children about death.
The scuttlebutt in the press reached enough of a fever pitch that The Jim Henson Company even received panicked calls from fans concerned about Ernie's welfare, and amid rumours that an Ernie memorial episode had already been filmed, college student Michael Tabor even mounted a "Save Ernie" campaign.
As such, The Jim Henson Company and the Children's Television Workshop had to assure fans that Ernie wasn't going anywhere, releasing an official statement to that effect:
"Ernie is alive and well, and we have no intention of anything happening to him or anyone else."
Over 30 years on they've kept their promise, honouring Henson's legacy portraying the character rather than writing out one of Sesame Street's most beloved icons.