Episode 2519

Sesame Street
The "My Best Friend Game Show" (repeat of 2274)
Air date	December 29, 1988
Season	Season 20 (1988-1989)
Sponsors H, M, 3

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	Bob welcomes the viewer to Sesame Street, and says something exciting is happening today: Big Bird, Elmo, and Grundgetta are going to be contestants on TV's "My Best Friend Game Show." Bob is especially excited because Elmo asked him to be his best friend, which means he'll mention Bob on TV.
	SCENE 1 cont'd	He is about to head over to the yard to watch it on TV with everyone else, but Oscar stops him along the way, because he needs a favor: he needs someone to hold his Grouch TV antenna in a different position because he wants to make sure Grundgetta doesn't say anything nice about him on TV. Bob almost gets hit by a car while doing so, and Oscar decides he doesn't mind getting poor TV reception - he is a Grouch, after all.
	Cartoon	Hortense counts 3 peas. Artist: Michael Sporn
	Muppets	Grover the lumberjack thinks he is the first to arrive for supper, but he gets trampled by a gang of French-Canadian lumberjacks who get to the food table before he has a chance to get his snow boots off. By the time he finally gets them off, a grizzly bear grabs the last plate of food. (First: Episode 1343)
	Cartoon	Snacks on Parade: Peanut Butter Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 1301)
	Song	Joe Raposo sings "Somebody Come and Play." Snow leopards version
	SCENE 2	Maria takes Big Bird, Elmo and Grundgetta over to the TV studio, and they look around in awe at the setup, amazed to be in a world they're used to seeing in a small box.
	SCENE 2 cont'd	Elmo looks into a funny-looking thing, which turns out to be a TV camera. Charlie, the camera operator, shows them how the camera works, and what the sound man does as well. The impatient Grundgetta wonders when the show will start, and the director (whose duties are also explained) announces over the loudspeaker that it's just about to begin. "One minute to air. Places, everybody."
	Cartoon	A caterpillar dances in ten socks. (First: Episode 2246)
	Muppets	Ernie & Bert — Ernie wants to go outside and play catch, but Bert gets him interested in watching his goldfish. (First: Episode 1422)
	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)
	Song	"Four Seasons" (First: Episode 0276)
	SCENE 3	Bob, Gordon, Susan, Snuffy, David, and some kids get excited as they turn the TV on in the yard, and the "My Best Friend Game Show" comes on. Sonny Friendly, the host, introduces the first contestant, Elmo, and tells the audience to stand by. Each of the adults waits in anticipation, revealing through their thoughts how honored they are that Elmo chose each of them to be his best friend, oblivious to the fact that he picked more than one person.
	SCENE 3 cont'd	The show comes back on the air, and Elmo proceeds to talk about his best friend, giving clues about what his best friend does: reads him stories (Susan), sings to him (Gordon), gives him good things to eat (David), and plays games with him (Bob). Who is it? Elmo's answer is all four of the aforementioned adults, and everyone else on Sesame Street! The adults clear up the confusion amongst themselves as the show goes to commercial.
	Film	College students volunteer at the San Francisco Children's Zoo, which has such animals as ferrets, opossums, and chinchillas. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 2227)
	Celebrity	Linda Ronstadt sings a special rewritten version of "Y Andalé" with a mariachi band. (First: Episode 2487)
	Cartoon	Pistons push a capital H through a tunnel, where it breaks and turns into a lowercase h. (with voiceover by Roscoe Orman) (First: Episode 2217)
	Muppets	Sesame Street News Flash: London Fog — The fog in London dissipates before Kermit can report on it. (First: Episode 2360)
	Cartoon	H for hello (voice of Gary Owens) (First: Episode 0020)
	SCENE 4	The show returns from commercial, and the next contestant, Big Bird, describes his best friend, Snuffy. He displays a blanket that they used when they went on a picnic in the park and got ice cream - Big Bird dropped his cone on the blanket, so Snuffy gave him his. He also brought a "few" notes which say why Snuffy is his best friend, but doesn't have enough time to read them all. The show goes to commercial again, and David decides to set up some lanterns and have a party in the yard.
	Cartoon	M is for Marvelous Martha (First: Episode 0013)
	Cast	Maria as Chaplin looks in a mirror and sees "ME." Maria's reflection is played by Linda. (First: Episode 1032)
	Film	A man and a little girl perform small aerobic workouts. (First: Episode 1710)
	Animation	An orange pops out of a basket of fruits and gets "made up" as the face of Carmen, the role in the opera of the same name. While singing "Habanera," the famed aria from the opera, Carmen loses her "face" and can't resume singing until the wig returns. (First: Episode 0277)
	SCENE 5	The show comes back from commercial, and the last contestant, Grundgetta, goes into detail about her best friend, Oscar. She likes him because he's a Grouch like she is, and he would never be caught on a yucky show with a bunch of nice people. Sonny thinks it's the most unusual story he's ever heard, and proclaims her the winner, which disappoints her.
	SCENE 5 cont'd	Meanwhile, Oscar is still struggling to get good TV reception with no success. He hears Sonny signing off and turns off the set, curious as to what Grundgetta could've said about him.
	Cartoon	Melvin the Moving Man has magnificent muscles. Music: Dick Lavsky and Alan Cagan, Narrator: Allen Swift (First: Episode 0207)
	Muppets	"Long Time, No See" (First: Episode 1698)
	Cartoon	A runner leaps over letter H hurdles.
	Film	How Crayons are Made Music: "Water Course A" and "Exchange" by Richard Harvey (First: Episode 1579)
	Muppets	Kermit's Lectures: Kermit the Frog demonstrates to the viewer how your neck moves to different positions without moving your body, and how you'd have to move your body at different positions without your neck. In the process, he falls off his mushroom. "All in all, I'd say it's a good thing we have our necks," he says. (First: Episode 1956)
	Song	"Mom and Me" (First: Episode 2462)
	Cartoon	"Jazz #3" (First: Episode 0002)
	SCENE 6	At night, while everyone else is at the party in the yard, Oscar tells Grundgetta she should be happy that she won because it brings out the grouchiest in her, which he likes. When she thinks of it that way, she is happy that she won and is glad to have a best friend like Oscar, whom she can argue with. They announce the sponsors, and bicker as he tries to get her to tell him what she said on the show.

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