| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Linda gets a closed-captioning decoder | |||||||
| Air date | February 13, 1990 | ||||||
| Season | Season 21 (1989-1990) | ||||||
| Written by | Tony Geiss | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Linda is angry because her television set at the Fix-It Shop won't be fixed until tomorrow. After she leaves in a huff, Maria explains to Telly that Linda just got a new closed-caption decoder, which will enable her to understand what they say on television for the first time, but with a broken set she can't use it. Telly doesn't understand how it works, so Maria imitates what TV looks like for Linda with and without closed captioning, using an old TV frame and a written message for the text. Telly sees how important the decoder is for someone who is deaf, and leaves to try and borrow Oscar's television for Linda. |
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Cartoon | Letter U salesman (First: Episode 0202) |
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Muppets | "Ladies and gentlemen, the Starlight Hotel takes great pride in presenting the world's favorite six-year-old entertainer, Miss Prairie Dawn!" Prairie sings "All By Myself" with a backup group of monsters. (First: Episode 1824) |
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Film | Kids in a room full of tables show empty & full. (First: Episode 0415) |
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Cartoon | A mad scientist puts together a capital H. (First: Episode 0284) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Cookie Reminder — Ernie explains to Bert that he placed a cookie on the table as a reminder. (First: Episode 0095) |
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Cartoon | Geronimo 10-0: instead of a parachute, she is carried to the ground by four birds. (First: Episode 2249) |
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SCENE 2 | While Bob balances in strange positions to get the signal, Oscar has the decoder attached to his set and tunes into the NO channel on Grouch Television, on which a Grouch (Jerry Nelson) keeps saying "No." They turn on the captioning machine, and Linda is able to understand what the Grouch is saying! Maria finds the show repetitive and suggests that Linda wants to watch something that she would enjoy; Oscar can't think of a better program, claiming the show has won five Whammy Awards. Bob gives up balancing and loses the signal, so Telly starts looking for another set. |
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Cartoon | Draw a circle around the bus. Cross out the telephone. (First: Episode 2093) |
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Muppets | A little boy explains how he can be a son, a brother, a paperboy, a friend, and a grandson all at the same time. (First: Episode 0691) |
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Film | A percussionist on the beach talks about how rhythm is everywhere, such as in breaking waves, walking and horse galloping. (edited) (First: Episode 0032) |
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Cartoon | A man jumps up onto an UP. (First: Episode 0546) |
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Muppets | Guy Smiley promotes the use of "Air." He leads his marching band through the walls of a barber shop every time someone there says a word out loud that rhymes with "air." |
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Film | Lemurs rest on tree branches. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0390) |
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Cartoon | The Hummingbird Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 1518) |
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SCENE 3 | Maria and Linda talk about watching Edge of Tomorrow, Maria's favorite soap opera, when Telly excitedly rushes in and asks them to come see what the Count has brought. Out in front of 123 Sesame Street, the Count reveals that he has brought 20 televisions! After counting all 20 sets, they are disappointed to learn that each one is broken, and they're only for counting purposes. Big Bird comes to the rescue when he announces that they can use Mr. Snuffleupagus' TV, and he pulls Snuffy's giant-sized portable set into the yard. |
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Cartoon | A mysterious little box on a tightrope entraps a bird, a train, and a cat, which can still be heard. A large frog eats the box, and makes all of the sounds inside. (First: Episode 1518) |
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Muppets | Clementine and some cowboys sing "I'm a Real Cowboy" to Forgetful Jones to remind him of what he is. (First: Episode 1965) |
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Cartoon | HEN / PEN / TEN / MEN Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 1881) |
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Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Grover and Eric observe the differences between fur and skin. (First: Episode 1642) |
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Film | Seashells form various patterns in the sand. (First: Episode 2031) |
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SCENE 4 | Using the decoder, they watch a re-filmed version of Joe Raposo's song "Starfish."(First: Episode 2487) Linda then recites the song in sign language, confirming that the closed captions helped her understand what was being sung. Next, they watch a fast-breaking news story... |
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Muppets | Sesame Street News Flash: First Day of Monster School — Cookie Monster is afraid of kindergarten. (First: Episode 1628) The segment starts on the TV in SCENE 4, and is shown with closed captioning. |
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Cartoon | A dog tries desperately to meow, but can only bark. (First: Episode 0829) |
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Celebrity | Itzhak Perlman and a girl demonstrate their strengths and weaknesses. (First: Episode 1563) |
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Cartoon | H - Horse (First: Episode 0474) |
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Muppets | The Amazing Mumford waves his magic wand over a transparent glass cookie jar and makes the jar become full of cookies and then empty (over and over) as an anxious Cookie Monster watches. (First: Episode 0287) |
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Cartoon | The rooster finds a role on the farm. (First: Episode 1347) |
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SCENE 5 | Snuffy has joined the group as Linda and Maria watch Edge of Tomorrow. Snuffy finds the idea of a soap opera comical: "Soap can't sing!" Maria shushes them as they finish watching today's thrilling episode, where Crystal (played onscreen by Fran Brill) reveals she has been discussing business with Doctor Bob, threatening her relationship with Kimberly. At the episode's conclusion, Linda and Maria discuss what they've witnessed, and Linda is happy to be able to watch TV with her best friend. Snuffy decides he'll let Linda borrow his TV for the rest of the day... even if it means missing Mister Rogers. He and Big Bird then begin a rousing discussion on their favorite parts of that show. |
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Cartoon | Rap #19 (First: Episode 2560) |
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Muppets | Grover's Health Minute: Kermit and Grover talk about teeth. Grover notices that Kermit does not have any teeth at all, so he puts a bridge of teeth in Kermit's mouth. Grover says to see a "tooth checker," to eat crunchy things like bananas, and to clean teeth with a "tooth comb." (First: Episode 1949) |
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Cartoon | Bolt and Nut show how they work together. (First: Episode 0569) |
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Film | City alphabet (Joe Raposo instrumental with kid voiceover) (First: Episode 0132) |
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Cartoon | A runner leaps over letter H hurdles. (First: Episode 2519) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bert Is Locked Out — Bert speculates on why Ernie has asked him to stay out of the apartment. (First: Episode 0461) |
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Cartoon | Geometry of Circles #1 "Circle with Flower" (First: Episode 1393) |
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SCENE 6 | Oscar has a closed-captioning decoder of his own for Irvine to help her learn to read. After learning from the NO channel for a while, they switch to the PHOOEY channel, which consists of nothing but a Grouch (Martin P. Robinson) reading "Phooey!" over and over. Bob announces the sponsors. |
Notes[]
- The closed-captioning on the TV sets were done by the National Captioning Institute Inc. which has been closed captioning Sesame Street since 1980.
- In addition to his characters, Jerry Nelson does the announcer work for Edge of Tomorrow.
- An additional scene in the original script featured Big Bird introducing Bob to a duck who has just learned the alphabet. Big Bird translates as the duck quacks the letters, mistakenly inserting "Z" into the wrong spot. To Bob, however, all the quacks sound the same.[1]
Sources[]
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