Episode 0702

Sesame Street
Maria gets a job as a construction worker
Air date	December 24, 1974
Season	Season 6 (1974-1975)
Written by	Joseph A. Bailey
Production August 22, 1974 Sponsors Q, U, 5

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	Maria tells Luis that she's recently applied for a job on her days off from school and is expecting them to call the Fix-It Shop any minute regarding it. Luis assumes it's a babysitting gig or something, when he answers a call from the X.Y.Z. Construction Company. He's surprised that the call is for Maria, who has been hired as a construction worker. Luis remains surprised, having never heard of a female construction worker before. Maria asserts that women can do anything they want and heads off.
	Muppets	Sesame Street News Flash: The Pig's Straw House — Kermit interviews the pig who built the straw house. (First: Episode 0551)
	Cartoon	A man jumps up onto an UP. (First: Episode 0546)
	Film	Penguins take a bath. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0233)
	Film	U, for Underpass (First: Episode 0494)
	Muppets	Waiter Grover: Grover brings Mr. Johnson a bowl of alphabet soup. Mr. Johnson complains that some of the letters are missing, and makes Grover run back and forth to the kitchen to bring the missing letters. When all the letters are there, Johnson complains that the soup is cold, and makes Grover take it back. (First: Episode 0276)
	Film	People of all ages ride bicycles. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0616)
	Cartoon	Capital letter U for up (First: Episode 0401)
	SCENE 2	Big Bird and the kids (including John-John and Shola) sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad," then Maria steps out of 123 Sesame Street in her new construction uniform. She's on the defensive after Luis's reaction, but finds that Bob is very supportive of her new venture. However, Big Bird worries about the heights (something Maria didn't think of).
	SCENE 2 cont'd	As she walks down the street, she stops in front of the Fix-It Shop where Luis is reading the paper. Having had some time to process new information and cool down from the excitement of a new job, they apologize to one another and agree that working people need to stick together. The dialogue is present in the script, but the scene in the final cut of the episode breaks away as soon as Maria confronts Luis in front of the Fix-It Shop.
	Muppets	"Five People in My Family" (First: Episode 0008)
	Film	Film (stop-motion) - 'Beginning/End' - A man paints a picture. (First: Episode 0411)
	Cartoon	Hypnotic "Q" rainbow (First: Episode 0440)
	Film	Film (stop-motion) - 'Beginning/End' - A barber gives a boy a hair cut. (First: Episode 0387)
	Cartoon	"Poverty Q": A figure demonstrates Q words, despite the unruly stem of his letter Q that keeps detaching itself. Artist: Cliff Roberts (First: Episode 0048)
	Film	Film (stop-motion) - 'Beginning/End' - A man eats a hot dog. (First: Episode 0387)
	Muppets	Ernie & Bert — Ernie stacks cups and saucers in order to count them, making Bert quite nervous. Luckily, they're glued together. (First: Episode 0586)
	Animation	Counting 6 red balls (First: Episode 0278)
	Film	Flamingos Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0450)
	Cartoon	A man weighs himself to demonstrate how a scale works. (First: Episode 0572)
	SCENE 3	Maria arrives at the construction site, rising up on a girder to section 27. A foreman (Jerry Nelson) assigns her in the apprentice riveter program. Maria reveals she's a bit afraid of being up so high; the foreman confirms everyone on the job feels the same, but thinks fear helps them be more careful.
	Cartoon	U for uniform.
	Muppets	Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School: Roosevelt Franklin tells the story of an old king named Morty Moot Mope, from the kingdom of Boebitty Bope, who loves to hear words that sound the same. Morty has trouble finding words that rhyme with his name, so he calls upon Same Sound Brown to do it. (First: Episode 0534)
	Film	A turtle swims in a tank. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0283)
	Cast	Luis tries to open a door marked with a "CERRADO" sign. He gets a running start, when Maria changes the sign to read "ABIERTO." She opens the door and Luis runs right through it, crashing. (First: Episode 0596)
	Song	"1-2-3-4-5!" (First: Episode 0144)
	Film	Traffic lights (First: Episode 0131)
	Cartoon	U for Ugly: A man removes his mask, revealing a hideous monster face. (First: Episode 0468)
	Cartoon	A dog learns about U. (First: Episode 0131)
	Muppets	Fran Brill narrates two Anything Muppet hands who argue over a piece of cake before they decide to share it. (First: Episode 0189)
	Cartoon	La palabra cerrado (First: Episode 0481)
	SCENE 4	Bob talks with John-John and initiates a round of "Here Are Some Things." Bob switches things up by having them swap roles for the game, where John-John plays the knowledgable adult and Bob plays the child. "Bob" explains to "John-John" how all the construction vehicles belong together and the bus doesn't.
	Cartoon	Donnie Budd sings about animals in groups of five on a farm. Artist: Bud Luckey (First: Episode 0323)
	Cartoon / Film	A cartoon man climbs a live-action boy. (First: Episode 0494)
	Animation	Sand U/u (First: Episode 0624)
	Film	A clown (Dennis Allen) takes off his make-up. Which face do you like better? (First: Episode 0461)
	Cartoon	Speech Balloon: U for UP (First: Episode 0624)
	Film	George the Farmer demonstrates beginning and end. (First: Episode 0265)
	SCENE 5	Biff comes by to see the site's new hire, annoying Maria by calling her "little lady" as he always does. Biff passes on his knowledge of working a rivet gun, though Maria tries to let him know that she already knows how to use it. He gets so involved in his demonstration that he doesn't notice he's riveted his lunch pail to the girder.
	Cartoon	Simple Simon meets some strange-looking animals, all of whom have their parts switched around. Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0540)
	SCENE 6	On her way home at the end of the work shift, everyone congratulates Maria on her first day. She tells them they'll never guess who she met "up there" as the scene cuts to Biff and Sully who are trying to pry the lunch pail off the girder. Sully hits Biff's hand with a hammer by accident, and Biff loses his cool with Maria's voiceover announcing the sponsors.
	CLOSING SIGNS	Maria and Luis hold the Sesame Street sign, and Bob holds the Children's Television Workshop sign.

Notes

• Maria briefly recalls the events of this episode later in Episode 2059.
• This episode prompted a letter to Bob Hatch in CTW's public relations department from a Missouri mother who took issue with depicting Maria as a "he-woman" with a "mixed up personality" that she decided most Americans would find intolerable.

Sources

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