| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Oscar writes a play about trash | |||||||
| Air date | January 19, 1984 | ||||||
| Season | Season 15 (1983-1984) | ||||||
| Written by | Tony Geiss | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Muppets | Big Bird and Snuffy make up a story about a castle under the sea where a deep-sea diver prince lived. (First: Episode 1797) |
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Cartoon | F for fire, fountain, face, farmer, etc. (First: Episode 1614) |
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Muppets | Guy Smiley hosts "Dialing for Prizes Movie." (First: Episode 0629) |
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Cartoon | F - Face Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 1162) |
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Film | Joe Raposo sings "Dressed Up." (First: Episode 0302) |
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Muppets | Simon Soundman sings to his date about the "Sounds That Remind Me of You." (First: Episode 1432) |
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Cartoon | A man assembles the word LOVE, and a bird pecks the O into the shape of a heart. (First: Episode 0768) |
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SCENE 1 | Bob finds Oscar typing away in his trash can. Oscar, wearing a writer's outfit, tells him that he's working on a play about trash to be performed today on Sesame Street. Bob asks to read it and Oscar allows him, just as long as he leaves him alone afterwards. He points Bob to the crumpled pieces of paper below, which are the pages of the script - "When I write trash, I write trash." Bob uncrumples the pages and finds there are no sequential pages in the pile. He asks to see the whole script, and Oscar dumps all the crumpled pages into his arms. |
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Cartoon | A flea circus performs feats beginning with the letter F. (First: Episode 0309) |
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Muppets | Cookie Monster discovers Cousin Monster doesn't want cookies and would rather eat Ernie's healthy food. (First: Episode 1240) |
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Cartoon | A football player talks about his favorite sport. Artist: John and Faith Hubley (First: Episode 0135) |
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Celebrity | Itzhak Perlman and a little girl observe their strengths and weaknesses. (First: Episode 1563) |
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Cartoon | A boy sits in a forest and plays the flute along with the birds' songs, but becomes sad when woodsmen demolish the forest. He plants more trees for the birds to live in. Artist: Richard Condie |
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SCENE 2 | Gordon, Susan, Linda, and Bob are going about their business, when Oscar is carried in by Bruno the Trashman, with the Grouchketeers in tow. He tells them about his play, titled "The Romance of Trash," and asks the adults to line up. He asks the Grouchketeers to study the faces of the adults, which he finds are all too pleasant. It's not until Linda, whose face is smudged up from working on her bike, joins the group that Oscar finds the perfect person to play the role of "Dirt" in the play. He tells Linda not to wash her face and assures her, "I'm gonna send you out there a mess, but you're gonna come back a star!" |
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Cartoon | Things that are same and different. (First: Episode 0300) |
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Muppets | Mother Goose tries to write a nursery rhyme for the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe, while her many children wreck havoc on her office. (First: Episode 1328) |
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Cartoon | "I've Got a Mind" -- bouncing a ball (Spanish version) (First: Episode 0279) |
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SCENE 3 | Telly Monster is feeling disappointed as Oscar has yet to include him, Oscar's self-titled best friend, to participate in his play. He gets Oscar's attention and begs for a role. Oscar has one, small part left and auditions Telly for the role. Telly reads the line, "My dog has fleas," in a variety of emotions. Oscar thinks it over and decides to cast Telly as "Waste Paper." Telly runs off with joy, as Oscar chides him for acting happy; it's a Grouch play after all. |
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Cartoon | A man finds many ways to "EXIT", which slowly irritates him. (First: Episode 1301) |
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Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Kermit asks Alphonso what the word EXIT means. (First: Episode 1395) |
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Cartoon | A honking orange ball follows signs to the EXIT. |
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Cast | Maria, David, and Olivia compete to see who can jump the farthest. (First: Episode 1497) |
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Cartoon | Various demonstrations of DOWN and UP (First: Episode 0847) |
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SCENE 4 | Telly tries to employ some method acting to prepare for his role as Waste Paper. He tries to crumple himself up and lays on the sidewalk. He realizes that people don't like seeing crumpled paper on the street, since it makes a mess. He wonders where he can effectively practice and runs off, inspired. |
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SCENE 4 cont'd | Gordon comes down the street and notices some movement in the wastebasket. Telly pops up, having found a great place to pretend to be waste paper. |
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Cartoon | A moving truck takes the number 8. (First: Episode 1446) |
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Muppets / Cast | "Singing in the Shower" - Olivia, Ernie, Oscar, and Big Bird sing about how they like to sing in their various modes of cleaning (shower, bathtub, mudbath, and birdbath, respectively.) (First: Episode 1834) |
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Cartoon | 8 Bats Artist: Owe Gustafson (First: Episode 1552) |
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Film | George the Farmer uses barrels to count to ten. (First: Episode 0293) |
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SCENE 5 | The adults and kids gather in the audience to see the world premiere of "The Romance of Trash." Grundgetta pulls the curtain down and Oscar begins to sing (to the tune of the typical pageant song) an intro. First, Grundgetta sings about being a tin can, followed by another Grouch (Richard Hunt) as a broken umbrella; they both toss their trash into the crowd. |
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SCENE 5 cont'd | Linda comes out in an elaborate dirt costume and signs the lyrics as Oscar sings. She closes her verse by spraying dust on the crowd. Telly comes out to sing about being waste paper, but regrets having to toss old newspapers at the audience. |
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SCENE 5 cont'd | Oscar takes the final verse about trash cans, cueing the Grouchketeers to throw trash inside his can. At Oscar's encouragement, the crowd boos the show. |
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Cartoon | A boy puts together the word "MOM." His own mom comes out to thunderous applause and gives him some milk. Artist: Tom Gabbay (First: Episode 1465) |
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Muppets | Two-Headed Monster: One head wants to play the trumpet, but the other head wants to sleep. (First: Episode 1390) |
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Cartoon | Me and My M Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 1545) |
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Film | EXIT (First: Episode 0935) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Ernie Cleans Up Part 1 — Bert demands that Ernie cleans up, or he's moving out. (First: Episode 0010) |
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Cartoon | Two kids argue over a cat and a dog, who chase each other around the fence. (First: Episode 1210) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Ernie Cleans Up Part 2 — Ernie has made the place spotless, as promised, but he still has his toybox to go through. (First: Episode 0010) |
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Cartoon | Dot Bridge #2: Last dot is late and travels through the others (First: Episode 0001) |
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SCENE 6 | Everyone cleans up the large mess made after Oscar's play. He's offended at first, until everyone brings it over to him and starts stuffing it in his can until he's hardly visible. Bob announces the sponsors. |
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