Countdown series

The Countdown series was a recurring animated segment during the early years of Sesame Street. Each clip began the same: a wide-mouthed launch director (perched atop a podium) stands next to a button, ready to trigger a rocket (proudly displaying the letters "USA" on its side). A group of people closely standby, awaiting the launch. The director counts backwards, from ten to 1|one, but when he's finished counting, some kind of disaster often occurs. In some early episodes, Carol Burnett would appear at the end of one or more of these segments in a filmed tag, where she laments, "Well, back to the ol' drawing board."

The first three Countdown films appeared on the Sesame Street Pitch Reel and This Way to Sesame Street.