| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Inspector Bird and the balloons | |||||||
| Air date | April 19, 1984 | ||||||
| Season | Season 15 (1983-1984) | ||||||
| Written by | Gary Belkin | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Big Bird narrates a story à la a film noir that recently happened on the street, which he calls "How I Solved the Case of the Balloons That Fell on Sesame Street by Just Using My Brains." All seems like a regular day as Big Bird, Olivia, Maria, Luis, and Telly Monster mingle around the stoop. Suddenly, balloons start falling from the sky (scored by "Also sprach Zarathustra")! Nobody seems to know where they come from but watch as Big Bird counts the 10 balloons on the ground, which impresses Telly. Gordon casually comes out of 123 Sesame Street and suggests somebody find out where they came from, and Big Bird volunteers himself ("Well, it's a silly job, but somebody's got to do it."). "Inspector Bird" suggests nobody leave town, and his investigation will begin right after the following... |
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Cartoon | Pinball #10 Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0990) |
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Film | Kids dancing. (First: Episode 0409) |
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Muppets | As ominous music plays, The Count walks around his castle, checks out the mirror (he has no reflection), and greets his bats. The mailman (Jim Henson) arrives, with a bunch of letters for Count. The mailman wonders why there are so many letters. The Count says that he wrote them all himself, so he could count them... and then he does. (First: Episode 0420) |
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Cartoon | An old woman goads a man into guessing who she met today. Through the clues she gives, he soon finds out she's referring to him. Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 0798) |
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SCENE 2 | Inspector Bird studies the balloons with his magnifying glass, which doesn't help him identify the source at all. Gordon proposes they all imagine where the balloons might have come from. Telly thinks there was a party behind the sky, and the balloons wanted to visit him afterward. Big Bird thinks they're exotic creatures who are dressed as balloons. Gordon thinks they're really colorful stars from the sky that are stripped from their twinkly outfits, and wanted to visit Sesame Street to play a game about them. Olivia eyes Gordon, having the suspicion that a man on the roof of 123 Sesame Street dropped them while playing some music. Although Big Bird thinks his story was better, he starts examining the balloons again. |
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Cartoon | S for sing (First: Episode 0824) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Fish in the Cowboy Hat — Ernie tries to put a pot on Bert's head. (First: Episode 0305) |
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Cartoon | A voice asks a face if it's aware of the letter S, and it is revealed that the face belongs to a snake. Artists: The Hubleys (First: Episode 0278) |
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Film | George the Farmer demonstrates over and under. (First: Episode 0230) |
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Cartoon | K for keyhole, ketchup, and kitten (First: Episode 0489) |
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Film | Olivia (in voice-over) identifies different vegetables. (First: Episode 1612) |
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Muppets | Sesame Street News Flash — Dr. Nobel Price invents golashes. (First: Episode 1465) |
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Cartoon | K for Kite (First: Episode 0489) |
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Muppets | A monster sings "Comb Your Face." (First: Episode 1851) |
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SCENE 3 | Telly comes by the Fix-It Shop, and fills Maria and Luis about Big Bird's progress: "He knows less about the case than Dr. Nobel Price knows about galoshes!" He then shows the two his radio, thinking it's broken. He turns it on and a Spanish news broadcast about the balloon-dropper plays; Luis and Maria assure him his radio is fine, and that he had it tuned to a Spanish-language channel. Telly feels proud that his radio knows two languages and becomes prouder when he learns the Spanish word for "radio" is the same in English - "I knew more Spanish words than I thought I did!" |
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Cartoon | A monster sees a box that keeps opening and closing, saying "Abierto" and "Cerrado." (First: Episode 0771) |
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Muppets | Herry Monster sings "Two Heads Are Better Than One." (First: Episode 1447) |
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Cartoon | HEN / PEN / TEN / MEN Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 1881) |
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Cast | Linda signs the word "pie", and David anticipates getting hit with one ... but it happens to Linda instead. (First: Episode 1325) |
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Song | "Garbageman's Blues Song" (First: Episode 1875) |
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Insert | Scanimate Films #10 (First: Episode 0134) |
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SCENE 4 | Inspector Bird has had no breaks in his case, but then has a great idea - quitting. Olivia and Gordon encourage him to keep trying and remember what happened earlier. Big Bird recalls Gordon being with the group when the balloons dropped, but Olivia remembers not seeing Gordon there, as well as seeing some string hanging from his pocket. As Gordon leaves to tend to something inside 123 Sesame Street, Big Bird and Olivia both remember music playing. Suddenly, they hear the music playing once more as 10 more balloons fall from the sky! Inspector Bird starts examining Gordon upon his return, as Olivia has deemed him a clue in the case. |
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Cartoon | An elephant (voiced by Marshall Efron) asks Nesbitt (voiced by Don Arioli) for directions to the zoo, but won't listen to him long enough. Artist: Janet Perlman (First: Episode 1631) |
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Muppets | Captain Breakfast unsuccessfully encourages a little girl to eat breakfast, the most important meal of the day. (First: Episode 1492) |
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Cartoon | The Pink Panther - K For Karate (First: Episode 0241) |
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SCENE 5 | As Big Bird's narration explains, the balloon story has made big news, even with Robert MacNeil on The NewsHour. After putting away his game of Cat's Cradle, Robert addresses the audience with what the viewers want to know: "Did the second ten balloons come from the same place as the first ten balloons, or was the second balloon-dropping a copycat balloon-dropping?" Via satellite, Big Bird describes everything that has happened so far in excruciating detail until Robert brings attention to the "ABIERTO" sign in the Fix-It Shop window behind him. Big Bird thinks it might be the name of an alien planet responsible for the balloons, but Telly (who's continuing to learn Spanish) knows it means "OPEN." |
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Muppets | Kermit sings "The Frogs in the Glen." (First: Episode 1786) |
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Cartoon | Billy Jo Jive and Smart Susie Sunset teach Wrong Way Willie how to dance. (First: Episode 1394) |
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SCENE 6 | Inspector Bird is running out of time to solve the case and assembles the suspects. Gordon defensively tries shifting Big Bird's attention to the others (including Robert MacNeil, who does a dramatic take to the camera), but Big Bird puts all the clues together and charges Gordon with being the balloon-dropper. Gordon admits it was him, thinking it would just be a fun thing to do. Big Bird complains that he's wasted all day over this silly investigation, listing all the things Gordon's joke kept him from doing when 10 more balloons fall from the sky! Since Gordon's on the street, everyone wonders who's responsible for them this time. Big Bird has no patience for solving this case and suggests calling the FBBI (Federal Bureau of Balloon Investigation). Robert MacNeil announces the sponsors. |
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