| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Susan re-enters the workforce by renewing her nurse's license | |||||||
| Air date | March 23, 1970 | ||||||
| Season | Season 1 (1969-1970) | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Gordon sits in the yard reading a copy of The Daily Tribune featuring a headline that reads NURSE SHORTAGE CRITICAL. He explains that he's been reading an article about how 350,000 years ago (which is a little bit older than he) the ocean floor was covered with millions of shelled worms. He's also learned what today's letters and numbers are, especially the letter Y. |
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Cartoon | The life of a Yellow Yahoo (First: Episode 0043) |
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Cartoon | Y is for Yo-Yo (First: Episode 0036) |
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Muppets | Professor Hastings talks about the letter Y. As usual, he drifts off and Kermit the Frog has to remind him what he's teaching. When the frog's response is "Y", Hastings answers, "Because I forgot." |
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SCENE 2 | Susan walks by Gordon on her way to Hooper's Store asking if he needs anything there, but all he can talk about is shelled worms.
She approaches Mr. Hooper who's looking very distraught as he closes up the store so that he can stay with his sister. She's sick again and he wasn't able to get a nurse for her because they're all busy. Susan offers to look after his sister, explaining that she used to be a nurse before she became a housewife. Mr. Hooper thanks her for the offer, but says his sister is expecting him. Susan heads back home, walking past Gordon again who's just chomping at the bit over details concerning shelled worms. Susan is deep in thought and doesn't hear a word of it. After failing to capture her attention, he realizes that she must have something heavy on her mind. |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bert Explains the Number 4 Part 1 — Bert points Ernie to the following film as a hint about what he's holding... (First: Episode 0006) |
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Film | Four Song (Song of Four) (First: Episode 0006) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bert Explains the Number 4 Part 2 — After the film, Ernie identifies Bert's object as a banana cream pie. (First: Episode 0006) |
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SCENE 3 | Gordon has found an audience with whom to share his facts about ancient worms in Kwame and Anne. Since they're excited about what's in the newspaper, he asks them to find the letter L in the NURSE SHORTAGE CRITICAL headline. |
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Cartoon | L is for Ladder (First: Episode 0036) |
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Cartoon | L is for Lunchbox (First: Episode 0031) |
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SCENE 3 cont'd |
Gordon now asks the kids to find the letter U in the headline. |
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Cartoon | "Poverty U" -- A figure gives a salute to the letter U, and presents the letter with a bouquet of flowers. Artist: Cliff Roberts (First: Episode 0036) |
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SCENE 3 cont'd |
Since they've identified what some of the letters in the headline are, Gordon asks the kids if they can put them all together and read what it says. They read it out and explain what it means by a nurse shortage. Gordon says neither of them need a nurse right now because they're healthy and full of energy, and sends them down the street to play and expend some of it.
Susan returns and sits next to Gordon to talk about what's been on her mind. She knows about the nurse shortage, and had been thinking about returning to the workforce herself. She's a trained nurse, after all, and she thinks that her services could be put to good use. This isn't the first time she's thought about it since being married, but she asks Gordon what he thinks of it. Gordon takes his time to consider his wife's request, but ultimately decides that if it would make her happy, she should give it a try. As Susan heads out to renew her nurse's license at Public Health Services, Gordon notes that she appears to be happy, so he shifts the audience's attention to Bob who's going to sing a song about being happy. |
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SCENE 4 | Bob and Oscar sing "Happiness Is," each with their own interpretation. Oscar observes that being grouchy makes him happy, but he doesn't like being happy, and soon begins repeating himself. Gordon looks up in the sky and sees the Anything People. |
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Muppets | The Anything Muppets sing "Up, Up and Away." (introduction cut) (First: Episode 0049) |
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SCENE 5 | Gordon has a hollow cylinder with both ends open. He asks Chet and Mia if they can tell what's over, under, around, and through the cylinder. He says that one person who knows about such things is Batman... |
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Cartoon | Batman apprehends a criminal thanks to knowing about around, up and through. |
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SCENE 5 cont'd |
Gordon says another person who knows about those things in Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes... |
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Cartoon | Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes teaches about through. (First: Episode 0001) |
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SCENE 6 | Gordon and the kids observe a live crow. It keeps cawing, which Gordon interprets as a story about a real swingin' time he had at a crow convention once.
Susan returns with news that her nurse's license is in good standing, she just has to take one refresher course. She's headed inside to find her old uniforms. Once she's gone, Gordon laughs and says he sure likes seeing her happy. |
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Cartoon | Y is for Yo-Yo (repeat) |
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Cartoon | The life of a Yellow Yahoo (repeat) |
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SCENE 7 | Susan finds Big Bird outside Hooper's Store and tells him that it's closed right now. Big Bird says he's just looking at the signs to practice learning words. He mentions some of the other ones he's read around the neighborhood, but says that he got caught up on one earlier that he couldn't figure it out.
After pronouncing the word for Susan, he leads her over to the yard where he sings "ABC-DEF-GHI." After the song, Susan explains that that's the alphabet. She arranges some of the letters to make the words CAR, CAT, and HAT. She finally spells out HAIR, which Big Bird says Kermit the Frog is going to tell us all about... |
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Muppets | Kermit's Lectures: Kermit talks about hair. According to Kermit, "Hair is a part of you. It is not a part of me, because I am a frog." He points out that some people have hair on their heads, while others have it on their faces. But if you have hair all over your body -- like Beautiful Day Monster, who emerges brushing himself and singing "A pretty girl is like a melody ..." -- then you're a monster! (First: Episode 0028) |
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Cartoon | A boy counts while erasing things and people. (First: Episode 0008) |
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SCENE 8 | Bob and the kids care for and talk about a live rabbit and her bunnies. He asks them how they'd like to see some other babies and mothers... |
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Song | Joe Raposo sings "What Babies Are Called." |
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SCENE 9 | Gordon and Kwame are arm wrestling on the steps when Susan emerges wearing her nurse's uniform. She says that most people expect them to be white, but she's wearing the uniform of a visiting nurse. She's brought out a book to read, but realizes she should change first. Gordon says he can read the book, so he starts in on Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats. After the story, the kids demonstrate their own whistles, while Gordon whistles for some fish... |
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Cartoon | While fishing one day, a boy catches the letters of the alphabet. Frustrated at not having caught any fish to eat, he decides to use his catch for alphabet soup. (First: Episode 0004) |
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Cartoon | A boy counts while erasing things and people. (repeat) |
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Cartoon | Y is for Yo-Yo (repeat) |
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SCENE 10 | Susan is telling Big Bird about her plans to return to work as a nurse when she hears her phone ringing inside. She asks him to hold a paper bag for her while she goes to answer it. Big Bird is happy to help even though sometimes people think he's clumsy. As he brags about how good he is at holding bags, he swings it around and loses his grip, dropping the bag to the ground with a shatter. He guesses that it might have been a glass cookie jar that Susan was going to gift to someone like her grandmother. He's got to think of something quick. |
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Cartoon | Jazz #5 (First: Episode 0005) |
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SCENE 10 cont'd |
Big Bird, feeling guilty for having broken Susan's cookie jar, decides to pack up and run away from Sesame Street and take up a new life in some strange place. Susan encounters him, and he dodges the topic, but eventually gives a tearful confession. Susan reveals that it wasn't a cookie jar that broke — it was an empty pickle jar that she was throwing out in the trash. Big Bird feels relieved, and Susan invites him to play a game. Can he guess what this is?... |
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Film | Close-ups of a tomato are shown. Music: Peter Schickele (First: Episode 0006) |
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SCENE 10 cont'd |
Big Bird guesses right, but he pronounces tomato incorrectly. Now, what about this?... |
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Film | Skin is shown in close-ups. Music: Peter Schickele (First: Episode 0010) |
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SCENE 10 cont'd |
Big Bird was going to guess skin, but didn't see any feathers on it. Susan explains that he was right, but that it was people's skin.
Susan has to go bake a pie for Gordon, so she asks Big Bird to say goodbye to everyone for her. He proceeds to announce the sponsors (which slide through the cracks of the construction doors rather than pop up onscreen) and the book read on today's show. |
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CLOSING SIGNS | Ernie and Bert hold the Sesame Street sign, while Kermit the Frog holds the Children's Television Workshop sign. |
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