Sesame Street 
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| Big Bird takes Oscar's place as the resident Grouch | |||||||||
| Air date | March 16, 1972 | ||||||||
| Season | Season 3 (1971-1972) | ||||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
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SCENE 1 | Oscar tells Molly that he's bothered by the fact that when he's away, there's not any Grouches around to take his place. He's decided to hire a substitute grouch, and has trained somebody to fill his role on Sesame Street while he goes downtown. He won't say who it is, leaving Molly curious. |
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Cartoon | A song about a rolling O Animation by John and Faith Hubley (First: Episode 0011) |
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Cartoon | O limerick (First: Episode 0146) |
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SCENE 2 | Molly is shocked to see Oscar's replacement is...Big Bird! He does a very good job at being grouchy to everyone he meets: he gets upset when Jay bumps into him, sneers as Susan walks Mrs. Anguilla's dog, and refuses a piece of chocolate cake offered by Rafael. He asks Molly for his mail, and she proceeds to deliver it the way she would for Oscar - by throwing them on the ground, stepping on them, and crumpling them up. Big Bird breaks character when he starts to have doubts about this new role, but wants to do a good job for Oscar. |
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Muppets | "Would You Like to Buy an O?" |
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Film | Footage of a leopard in the plain. |
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SCENE 3 | Big Bird grouchily orders some ice cream at Hooper's Store. Since he's a Grouch today, Mr. Hooper doesn't provide him with some strawberry ice cream with birdseed sprinkles. Instead, he tops it with sardines and pickles. Big Bird takes a taste and is disgusted. He admits being a Grouch isn't all it's cracked up to be. |
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Song | "Doll House" (First: Episode 0131) |
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Cartoon | Donnie Budd sings a two-step for pairs of animals. Artist: Bud Luckey (First: Episode 0342) |
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SCENE 4 | Big Bird demands Rafael turn off a radio playing loud, but sweet music. Rafael does so, then provides him with various bits of unfixable junk from the Fix-It Shop. Big Bird has had enough of being a Grouch and resolves to do something about it. |
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Cartoon | Vitamins give vim, vigor and vitality to a droopy V Artist: John Hubley (First: Episode 0311) |
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Animation | 3 balls + 1 = 4. (First: Episode 0278) |
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SCENE 5 | Big Bird calls everyone around to announce he is going to remain himself. Oscar returns from downtown and tells everyone to scram. Rafael remarks that nobody can take Oscar's place. |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie brings an umbrella, a flashlight, and Bert's bowling ball to the bathtub, just in case the electricity goes out, the roof leaks, and somebody shows up asking to borrow a bowling ball. Bert thinks that Ernie is being ridiculous -- but everything happens, just as Ernie predicted. (First: Episode 0269) |
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Cartoon | A cowboy tries to lasso a rolling letter O. (First: Episode 0286) |
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Cartoon | Olga y la letra O (First: Episode 0338) |
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Cartoon | More and more moths appear, and devour a man's clothes. Artist: Bob Kurtz (First: Episode 0294) |
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Cartoon | The more a man inflates a balloon with a tire pump, the less room he has. (First: Episode 0294) |
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Cast | Mr. Hooper, Bob and Brian help Susan set the table. Now that's what I call cooperation. (First: Episode 0276) |
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SCENE 6 | Jay and the kids want to shoot some baskets, but find they can't do it all at once. Rafael instructs them to take turns, then gets in line himself. |
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Muppets | Five balls get together to play basketball. It takes them awhile to count themselves, but then they realize they don't have a ball. (First: Episode 0267) |
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Film | Kids identify pairs of animals in a zoo. |
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Animation | 4 red balls minus 1 equals 3. (First: Episode 0278) |
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Film | Letter O hoist Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0338) |
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Cartoon | La letra O - opera, oeste, orquidea, ojos, ocho, y el orquestra de orangutanes. (First: Episode 0338) |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie and Bert have pizza and grape juice. Bert complains that Ernie has more of each, so Ernie tries to make it even by eating some of his pizza and drinking some of his grape juice, but then Bert has more. And so on. (First: Episode 0256) |
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Celebrity | Flip Wilson counts from 1 to 20. (First: Episode 0147) |
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Animation | Counting six red balls (First: Episode 0278) |
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Film | New Bridge #1 - Panel Drop (First: Episode 0105) |
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SCENE 7 | Molly and the kids make animal noises, then she introduces the following... |
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Film | Seals make noise. (First: Episode 0279) |
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Muppets | Grover, Herry Monster, and Billy rearrange themselves in different ways and count to three, until they get exhausted and faint. (shown in English, then Spanish) (First: Episode 0186) |
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Cartoon | A man pushes up a lazy UP. (First: Episode 0316) |
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Cartoon | A cat chases a mouse into a mouse hole. The cat and mouse make music as they hit the wall, until the cat breaks through the mouse hole. Artist: The Hubleys (First: Episode 0244) |
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Celebrity | Listen My Brother sings "You Gotta Learn." (First: Episode 0002) |
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Cartoon | Small v ... for voom, voice, violin, etc. Artist: The Hubleys (First: Episode 0167) |
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Animation | 6 dots - 1 = 5 dots (First: Episode 0302) |
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SCENE 8 | At the Fix-it Shop, Rafael gets the kids to clap, segueing to... |
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Muppets | Grover, Big Jeffie, and a Lavender girl have fun scatting to handclapping. (First: Episode 0294) |
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Cast | Wally and Ralph: Wally tries to figure out how to properly sleep in his new sleeping bag. |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie asks Bert to go play in the park with him. When Bert says no, Ernie wonders if he isn't feeling well and starts to examine him. (First: Episode 0124) |
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Cartoon | An O rolls over and over a horse. The horse eats the O. Artist: John Paratore (First: Episode 0173) |
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SCENE 9 | Susan plays "Here Are Some Things" at the playground with some kids, using triangles and other shapes. |
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Cartoon | A cowboy tries to lasso a rolling letter O. (repeat) |
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Cartoon | Boy and the UP balloons |
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Transition | A circle appears on screen, expanding like a balloon until it pops. (First: Episode 0105) |
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SCENE 10 | Goodbye |
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| Episode 0363 | Episode 0365 |