Sesame Street | |||||||||
Big Bird does something original | |||||||||
Air date | January 30, 1987 | ||||||||
Season | Season 18 (1986-1987) | ||||||||
Written by | Emily Perl Kingsley | ||||||||
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Picture | Segment | Description |
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SCENE 1 | David has two problems - he can't stop hiccuping, and the Count's counting of said hiccups is giving him a headache (as the Count has counted over 100 hiccups, cueing his thunder and lightning each time). Maria tells him to hold his breath, then tries surprising him, neither of which works. David tries one final solution - drinking a paper cup of water while putting his fingers in his ears. The plan works, to the Count's disappointment. He perks up when Maria's hay fever starts acting up, allowing him to count her sneezes. |
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Cartoon | Y is for Yo-Yo (First: Episode 0036) |
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Film | Kids narrate a tortilla contest in English and Spanish. (First: Episode 0456) |
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Muppets | Grover, Herry, Cookie Monster and Frazzle sing "Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)." (First: Episode 1644) |
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Animation | "¡Él juega fútbol!" (First: Episode 2104) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bed Making Cooperation — Ernie and Bert attempt to make a blanket even on both sides of the bed. (First: Episode 1388) |
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Cartoon | The Ringmaster displays 12 fluttering finches. (First: Episode 1295) |
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SCENE 2 | Maria, Luis, Bob, and the kids gather for Oscar's Special Exercise and Number Show, where he'll call out a number and Herry Monster will do that many of some exercise. Herry gets excited when reminded that today's number is 12. However, Oscar keeps asking Herry to do zero exercises. Herry gets fed up and leaves, as does the audience. |
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Film | George the Farmer demonstrates in and out. (First: Episode 0293) |
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Cartoon | A troll draws different faces on herself in front of a mirror. (First: Episode 0800) |
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Muppets | A baby Honker hatches from an egg and learns to honk like all the Honkers. (First: Episode 1616) |
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Cartoon | I - ice cream. (First: Episode 0033) |
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Song | "Rainy Day Song" (First: Episode 1644) |
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Cartoon | Y for yawn (First: Episode 0301) |
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Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Grover and Katie think of rhymes. (First: Episode 1644) |
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Cartoon | Can you see the car, frog and bird in the picture? (First: Episode 1479) |
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SCENE 3 | Big Bird wishes he had a heavy rock or book to keep his many papers from blowing away. Sherlock Hemlock enters, bringing his large "Detective's Dictionary" to help. Big Bird finds the dictionary is just what he needs as a paperweight, but Sherlock instead consults the dictionary on what a book is. Big Bird finally points out he needs the book to put on his papers, which blow away when he points to them. |
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Cartoon | A colorful, rhythmic demonstration of the word IN (First: Episode 0337) |
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Film / Cast | Gordon joins a class for some exercises. (First: Episode 1098) |
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Cartoon | "Pinball Number Count" (#12) Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0985) |
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Muppets | Ernie sings about "The Insects in Your Neighborhood." (First: Episode 1887) |
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Cartoon | Speech Balloon - I: An iron irons the word. (First: Episode 0314) |
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Film | In time-lapse footage, a construction crew builds a house and paints it green, and a family moves into it. (First: Episode 1171) |
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Cartoon | A ball goes up and down a musical staircase. (First: Episode 2151) |
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Celebrity | George Benson plays some "happy" chords on his guitar. (First: Episode 1401) |
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Cartoon | A boy can yell and yodel, and his dog can yelp and yowl. They can both yawn. (First: Episode 0353) |
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Muppets | Old West: Sinister Sam announces that someone has bought the last box of crayons, and he wants to know why. It turns out that he just wants a crayon so he can learn how to write the letter Y. (First: Episode 1288) |
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Song | Joe Raposo sings "Kangaroo Blues." (First: Episode 0277) |
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Cartoon | "The Story of Princess Twelvia". Artist: Irra Verbitsky (First: Episode 1676) |
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Muppets | Kermit describes the times it is appropriate to use the in and out doors. To his dismay, a group of monsters keeps going out the in door. (First: Episode 2220) |
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Cartoon | Two ducks look the same height when they're in the bathtub, but one duck (Joe Flynn) is short and the other is tall. (First: Episode 0303) |
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SCENE 4 | Big Bird tells Maria he wants to do something original, which Maria claims won't be easy. Big Bird finds everything he suggests has already been done - including trying to hide a parrot, as Maria points to... |
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Cartoon | Find the camouflaged parrot. Voice: Paul Dooley (First: Episode 0516) |
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SCENE 4 cont'd | Big Bird is upset his idea has been taken. He thinks something original would be organizing some kids to form a triangle and square, but Bob claims that's been done too... |
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Film | The kids form a triangle and a square. (First: Episode 0300) |
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SCENE 4 cont'd | Big Bird thinks he has a sure-fire, original idea - getting a bunch of zebras to slide down into a pool. Maria points out that while the idea is original, there aren't any zebras around to execute such an idea. Big Bird thinks he can substitute the zebras for penguins, which Luis unfortunately tells him has already been done... |
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Film | Kids count 20 penguins going down a slide. (First: Episode 0232) |
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SCENE 5 | The grown-ups and kids gather on the stoop so Big Bird can read them a poem he's written about his futile attempts to be original. They point out that his poem is an original work, making him feel much better. Maria escorts him to bed as Herry announces the sponsors, and the credits roll. |
Note[]
- Scene 3 would later be used as a stand-alone Muppet segment on international co-productions such as Sesamstrasse.
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