| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Gordon goes cycling | |||||||
| Air date | November 30, 1976 | ||||||
| Season | Season 8 (1976-1977) | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Gordon practices playing his guitar (a pastiche of "What's the Name of That Song?") on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street, attracting the discriminating ear of Oscar the Grouch. Oscar thinks that Gordon can help him practice for his act at the Grouch talent show. ("You should see me in my sequin jumpsuit," Oscar brags.) Oscar whips out his ratty guitar and manages to play a complex flamenco tune perfectly, which shocks Gordon. Oscar explains that's his trouble - he plays too good and would be laughed off the stage. Gordon helps him practice sounding worse and worse, and Oscar eventually perfects his technique by smashing the guitar and playing the wreckage. ("Pete Townshend, eat your heart out!") |
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Cartoon | Monster in the dark (finding a light switch) (First: Episode 0493) |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — When Bert can't sleep, Ernie suggests that he imagine himself doing something he likes. Since Bert likes ice skating, he imagines himself doing so. A full-bodied version of Bert is used in the ice skating sequence, in a clip from the Ice Follies show. (First: Episode 0796) |
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Film | Kids compete in a speed skating competition. (version one) (First: Episode 0412) |
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Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — John-John wants to count backwards. Grover tells him to count backwards from 10, but he has a little trouble. (First: Episode 0547) |
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Cartoon | Two kids find different uses for a cooking pot. (First: Episode 0795) |
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Cast | David sings "Wet Paint" as Gordon and Maria ignore the WET PAINT signs around them. |
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Cartoon | 3 song (butterflies, birthday presents, waving pennants etc.) |
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Celebrity | Tennis star Arthur Ashe plays slow and fast. (First: Episode 0781) |
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Film | Number Three Ball Film: A red ball follows a rollercoaster-like track through checkpoints (each, a set of three) that are counted in voiceover. At the end, the ball is ground up into a powder. (First: Episode 0254) |
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Cartoon | What if a frog and a fly switched bodies? What do you think would happen? Artist: Cliff Roberts (First: Episode 0406) |
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Muppets | Sesame Street News Flash: Aladdin and His Lamp — Kermit helps Aladdin bring light to the Genie's lamp. |
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Cartoon | The great Alphonso and his trained X's (First: Episode 0299) |
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Celebrity | Tennis star Arthur Ashe says the alphabet. (First: Episode 0775) |
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Film | A male frog hops around and bulges his throat. (First: Episode 0469) |
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Cartoon | The letter X (First: Episode 0482) |
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Insert | During a downpour, Bob sings "I Don't Always Like the Rain." (First: Episode 0905) |
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Cartoon | The Story of Cowboy X, with the voices of Jean Shepherd (First: Episode 0325) |
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Film | A gemsbok runs fast, then faster. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0416) |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie approaches Bert in a harried manner, talking rapidly. Bert tells him to talk slower so he can understand him. Ernie says, slowly, that Bert's bread is burning in the oven, which causes Bert to speak in the same rapid, harried manner. (First: Episode 0323) |
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Cartoon | 5s go through a space-shredder and produce 5 objects. (First: Episode 0864) |
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SCENE 2 | David and the kids (including Debo) invite Maria for a bike ride, but she has to stay and work at the Fix-it Shop. David invites Gordon to take Maria's place, but Gordon claims he's waiting for Susan. Maria informs him that she called earlier and will be arriving late, so Gordon comes up with another excuse. Maria catches on with Gordon's real problem when she offers her bicycle to him and he claims the wheel is loose. When the others leave, Gordon confesses to Maria that he doesn't know how to ride a bike. She tells him that grown-ups don't always know what kids do and teaches him how to ride. Eventually he gets the hang of it, and Maria tells him to return after riding around the block. |
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Animation | Sand X/x (First: Episode 0638) |
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Muppets | Harvey Kneeslapper: X Marks the Spot! (First: Episode 0456) |
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Film | The making of a jumpsuit, from the initial design to the finished product. |
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Cartoon | A girl uses her imagination while sitting on a sofa. (First: Episode 0765) |
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Song | "Cow Dog Song" (First: Episode 0783) |
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Cartoon | A magician tries to pull a rabbit out of his hat, but instead finds the numbers 1-20, which the rabbit repeats at the end. (First: Episode 0337) |
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Muppets | Biff hangs numbers under Salvador Dada's paintings in an art museum. (First: Episode 0707) |
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Cartoon | A man talks about going to the city, without noticing he's walking right through it. (First: Episode 0770) |
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SCENE 3 | Gordon returns, having got the skill of cycling licked now. He decides to take the bike for a ride around the neighborhood... |
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Film / Cast | Gordon rides his bike around the city. |
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Cartoon | The Typewriter: I for Ink (First: Episode 0847) |
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Muppets | A group of female Anything Muppets sing about the many things "Women Can Be." (First: Episode 0773) |
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Cartoon | A boy and a dog fight over a letter "I." (First: Episode 0143) |
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Insert | In a parody of the 120 Music Masterpieces commercial, Milton Crust (Luis) promotes a wonderful new opportunity being offered by the Long John's Rhyming Word Society: for only $9.98, the customer will get a key and a pea. In addition, anybody that calls right at that very second will receive other items (and even more items 6 months later) that rhyme with "key" and "pea," free of charge, all of which are brought in by Milton's assistants (David and Maria) until he gets dragged away. |
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Cartoon | Abierto: Ali Baba arrives a bit late and gets run over by the 40 thieves leaving. (First: Episode 0467) |
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Cartoon | The letter X (repeat) |
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SCENE 4 | Big Bird is amazed at how quickly Gordon has learned to ride a bike and wishes he could do the same. "I've tried and I've tried, and I know if I can't do something I can't, and two wheels - I'm a flop," he says before riding off on his unicycle. The others stare in bewilderment and applaud him as David announces the sponsors. |
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CLOSING SIGNS | Maria holds the Sesame Street sign, while Oscar holds the Children's Television Workshop sign. |
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