Episode 0001

Sesame Street
First Season Premired
Air date	November 10, 1969 (series premiere)
Season	Season 1 (1969-1970)
Production October 21, 1969 Sponsors W, S, E, 2, 3 Syndication Sesame Street Unpaved Releases Old School: Volume 1 40 Years of Life on the Street Sesame Street Classics Paley Center Archive HBO Max

In the first episode of Sesame Street, Gordon takes a girl named Sally on a tour of Sesame Street, introducing her (and the viewers) to the various characters on the show. On the street, Sally meets the human cast -- Gordon, Susan, Bob, and Mr. Hooper -- as well as two Muppet characters, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

Ernie and Bert appear for the first time and Kermit the Frog gives a lecture on the letter W, interrupted by an early version of Cookie Monster.

Also featured in this episode are the first installments of the "Number Song Series" and "Jazz" cartoons, the first appearance of a group of Anything Muppets, and the first performance of "One of These Things". Carol Burnett is the first celebrity guest to appear on the show.

In this episode, many sketches are introduced by the characters, even within the inserts. This reflects the fact that the show was initially conceived as a children's version of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. For example, Gordon asks Kermit to give his W lecture, and when the sketch begins, Kermit says that Gordon asked him to talk about the letter W.

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	"Sally, you've never seen a street like Sesame Street. Everything happens here. You're gonna love it," says Gordon as he introduces his new neighbor, Sally, to Sesame Street, where she meets Susan, Bob, Mr. Hooper and some kids in the courtyard. When Gordon tries to introduce her to Big Bird, however, Sesame Street's tallest resident has trouble finding her, because she's so small. But when Gordon lifts Sally up so that she'll be easier to see, Big Bird mistakenly thinks that she is eight feet tall and gets scared, thereupon claiming that he nearly laid an egg. Gordon and Sally then hear singing coming from the basement apartment in 123 Sesame Street, which Gordon explains is where Ernie and Bert live. He also tells Sally that, if she can hear Ernie singing, it most likely means that he is taking a bath.
	Muppets	Ernie & Bert — Ernie tells Bert that he calls his bathtub Rosie, because after his bath, he leaves a ring around Rosie. Bert then tells Ernie to get out of the tub, because other people are waiting to use it: Solomon Grundy, for instance.
	Cartoon	Poor Solomon Grundy washes a different part of the left side of his body every day, but at the end of the week, "he's still half dirty!"
	Film	You can clean almost anything. Music: Bach's "Gavotte" performed by the Swingle Singers. cut from the DVD version
	Song	Ernie leads the cast in "Everybody Wash."
	Cartoon	Dot Bridge #1: Dots appear uniformly
	Film	"Three Song (Song of Three)."
	SCENE 2	Sally drinks milk and eats cookies in Gordon and Susan's apartment.
	Film	How milk is made, featuring the song "Hey Cow."
	Cartoon	Dot Bridge #1 (repeat)
	SCENE 3	Gordon tries to introduce Sally to Oscar the Grouch, who refuses to come out at first. After the second time, Oscar says to Sally that he is glad that she doesn't bang on his can, or "bug me in general... which is more than I can say about some people I know!"
	Cartoon	Clay animation: Sam the Snake-and other things that begin with S
	SCENE 4	Gordon introduces Sally to Jennie, who uses her knitting to teach about over, around and through.
	Film	A group of kids play follow the leader and go over, around and through various obstacles, but one of them takes a while to catch on. When this episode aired as part of the Sesame Street Unpaved series, Noggin removed everything after the initial "around" part. The HBO Max release cuts the segment entirely.
	Cartoon	Dot Bridge #2: Last dot is late and travels through the others
	Cartoon	Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes teaches about through.
	Cartoon	Dot Bridge #3: Last dot shows up early
	Muppets	Gordon puts some features on some Anything Muppets, forming them into a family. They all sing "Consider Yourself". The song "Consider Yourself" was removed from DVD releases of the episode. As a result, the scene fades out after Gordon finishes dressing the family.
	Cartoon	Dot Bridge #4: Third dot wants to be red
	SCENE 5	Ernie and Ronald are at Hooper's Store; Susan needs two quarts of milk.
	Film	"Two Song (Song of Two)"
	SCENE 6	Susan and Ronald look at film clips with pairs of zoo animals.
	Cartoon	"Jazz #2"
	SCENE 7	Ernie cries because he loves the number 2 so much. Bert snaps Ernie out of it and introduces a letter E film...causing Ernie to cry again, since E happens to be his favorite letter.
	Cartoon	E Imagination Artists: The Hubleys
	SCENE 8	Bob hangs a picture for Gordon. Gordon mentions Buddy and Jim offered to hang it for him and they imagine the disastrous results...
	Cast	Buddy and Jim hang a picture.
	Cartoon	Dot Bridge #5: All the dots turn red
	SCENE 9	Bob shows how to fold a dollar bill into a letter W. Kermit then leaves to do his famous W lecture.
	Cartoon	"Wanda the Witch" Animation by Tee Collins
	Muppets	Kermit's Lectures: Kermit talks about the letter W. Cookie Monster eats the W.
	Cartoon	"Wanda the Witch" (repeat)
	Celebrity	Carol Burnett: "Wow, Wanda the Witch is weird."
	Cartoon	W is for Worm cut from the Noggin version
	Muppets	Kermit's Lectures: Kermit tries to start his W lecture again, but the W comes to life and attacks him.
	Cartoon	Dot Bridge #6: Dot blows raspberry
	Cast	Susan plays "One of These Things" with the number 2 and the letter W.
	Cartoon	W is for Worm (repeat)
	SCENE 10	Gordon asks Sally about her day; Ernie cries when he thinks about 2. Susan gives him a 2. Then, Gordon mentions the letter E. Ernie cries again because Susan doesn't have an E. Gordon tells the viewers to come back again soon. Mr. Hooper announces the sponsors.
‎	CLOSING SIGNS	A group of Muppet hippies (including a bearded hippie) hold up the Sesame Street sign, while Mr. Hooper holds up the Children's Television Workshop sign.

Alterations

Picture	Segment	Description
	Song (DVD release)	Joe Raposo sings "A Little Bit (at the Beginning)" along to a film of "good things growing better." This segment was not in the original broadcast of the episode. It is currently on the episode's 2006 DVD release, where it replaces "You can clean almost anything." It was shown after Oscar's debut.
	Insert (2019 YouTube livestream)	Big Bird tries to play jump-rope with the kids as the credits roll. This scene, originally from episode 0010 was shown after Mr. Hooper announces the letter and number sponsors. Afterwards, no CTW mentions are shown.
	Insert (HBO Max release)	The closing scene from Episode 0005, with the book mention intact, is shown after Mr. Hooper announces the letter and number sponsors. A 1971 copyright screen replaces the funding credits.

Cast

Matt Robinson - Gordon Loretta Long - Susan, Mother (singing) Will Lee - Mr. Hooper Bob McGrath - Bob, Brother (singing) Brandon Maggart - Buddy James Catusi - Jim Jada Rowland - Jennie

Caroll Spinney - Big Bird, Oscar, Purple Mother Jim Henson - Ernie, Kermit the Frog, Father, Uncle; Juggler (on-camera); voices of Sam the Snake, Soldier, Baker Frank Oz - Bert, Cookie Monster, Sister, Brother

Alex Stevens - Baker (uncredited) Joan Gerber - voice of Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes (uncredited) Flo Ayres - voice of Sissy the skunk (uncredited) Brian Henson - Boy at restaurant in "Number 3" segment (uncredited)

Notes

• This episode can be viewed in its entirety at the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives.

Sources

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1961	Episode 0002