Episode 2718

	Sesame Street
	Henry Wadsworth Wrongfellow visits
Air date	April 4, 1990
Season	Season 21 (1989-1990)
Written by	Judy Freudberg
Production	Nov. 9, 14, & 16, 1989
Sponsors	J, X, 19

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	Linda tries to get Oscar's attention, but he refuses to come out from his can believing she's got something nice to say. Gordon relays her messages by yelling into the can, when Oscar finally emerges wearing a blindfold so he can't see Linda's signs. Her news regards famous writer of Grouch poetry Henry Wadsworth Wrongfellow, who will be doing a special reading at the library today in a few hours. Upon hearing this, Oscar springs from the can and rushes over to get a good seat.
	Song	"Elbows and Knees" (First: Episode 2641)
	Cartoon	The great Alphonso and his trained X's (First: Episode 0299)
	Muppets	Ernie & Bert — At night, Ernie gets creative inspiration to write a poem about what he likes but has trouble with finding a word that rhymes with "dirt." (First: Episode 2399)
	Cartoon	Sign Sounds: Coffee (First: Episode 1169)
	SCENE 2	Several Grouches and Grouchketeers already have gotten their seats for the poetry reading, which has yet to start. Count von Count is also in attendance, not to hear any poetry but to count the seconds until Wrongfellow arrives ("Time flies when you're having fun."). He then counts all the different insults and complaints shouted at him from the others.
	Animation	Number creatures #19
	Muppets	The Two-Headed Monster finishes a bag of popcorn, and almost leaves it on the brick wall, but then argues over which trash can to throw it in. Finally, it rips the bag in half to "share" the trash.
	Cartoon	A small man tries to use a seesaw, but can't get his associate (a very large man) to go up. (First: Episode 1121)
	Film	Swimming and flying pelicans. (First: Episode 0322)
	Muppets	Guy Smiley hosts "Mystery Guest," where the blindfolded panel of Cookie Monster, Don Music, and Sherlock Hemlock must guess the identity of a special guest - the letter X. (First: Episode 1447)
	Cartoon	The wind blows one hat after another off a pig's head, onto the heads of birds. "The wind is very, very strong." (First: Episode 2378)
	SCENE 3	While waiting for Wrongfellow to arrive, Oscar, Gordon, and the Grouches imagine what he must look like: Oscar believes he'll have green fur and a scraggly beard (for holding his pencils). They're all taken aback when Wrongfellow arrives - he's not a Grouch at all, but a handsome, sophisticated man.
	Cartoon	Eight spiders subtract themselves. Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 1510)
	Muppets	Camp Wannagohoma: Grover tries to teach his campers (including Roosevelt Franklin) about what an island is, but he gets his vocabulary mixed up. He also fails to notice when the campers board the motorboat for lunch, leaving him stranded. (First: Episode 2656)
	Cartoon	The Typewriter: J for jump (First: Episode 0772)
	Film	Exploring on the ocean rocks (First: Episode 1414)
	Muppets	Telly is shocked to see Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats at the library. They explain that in addition to being rock stars, they're also "Rock 'N Roll Readers." (First: Episode 2612)
	Cartoon	Do you know what it's like to be scared? (First: Episode 0547)
	SCENE 4	Oscar doesn't believe Henry Wadsworth Wrongfellow is truly who he claims he is and puts him to a test. Oscar lists various words and Wrongfellow effortlessly comes up with grouchy rhymes for each of them. Oscar is excited to be meeting his favorite poet in person, but can't stand the fact that he's a nice guy.
	Cartoon	"Poverty X": A peanut-shaped figure lists the words that the letter "X" can be found in. (First: Episode 0006)
	Song	Gina and Maria sing The Word is "No". (First: Episode 2548)
	Cartoon	'j' minuscula (First: Episode 1451)
	Muppets	On a cold day, the Twiddlebugs try to figure out what they should close to make themselves warm. After they try closing a book, a lunchbox and their mouths, Tina sees they must close the door. Once they're warm, they decide to go outside, but can't find what they should open. (First: Episode 1621)
	Film	"Pig's Love Song" (live-action version) (First: Episode 0572)
	Cartoon	An orange ball tries to pet a green ball, which growls, scaring him away. (First: Episode 2118)
	SCENE 5	Wrongfellow, assisted by a sign language interpreter, appears before the audience and recites a brand-new poem he's written (based on the famous soliloquy from Hamlet). He recites it calmly at first but belts out the last verse in a very grouchy fashion. The crowd applauds, while Gordon and Linda stare blankly at what they've just witnessed.
	Cartoon	A poem about changing seasons. (First: Episode 0962)
	Muppets	Ernie and Bert: Picture of Bert — Ernie tells Bert to stand still in front of the camera so that he can trace Bert's face on the screen. (First: Episode 0536)
	Cartoon	A man tells a confused boy that he saw a bird on a tree, with both of their thoughts appearing on the screen. (First: Episode 0565)
	Film	A woman holds a painting of five chickens. (First: Episode 0769)
	SCENE 6	Wrongfellow recruits Oscar to help with the recitation of his next poem - "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy, Windy, Horrible Evening." Oscar's role is to simulate the wind with some electric fans and provide the snow (and lots of it).
	Cartoon	A minstrel sings about a fox who outsmarts a crow. Artist: Etienne Delessert (First: Episode 0631)
	Muppets	Kermit attempts to demonstrate how to use a telephone with the help of Forgetful Jones. (First: Episode 1977)
	Cartoon	A spider refuses to give up spinning a web, no matter how badly injured he becomes. (First: Episode 1652)
	Film	A girl goes to school somewhere in Africa. We see the girl getting ready to go to school, as she washes herself and brushes her teeth, puts on her clothes, brushes her hair, and takes her lunch, all with some help from her mother. We see her walking past her neighbors and watching her classmates play outside as she arrives at school. The bell rings, and the girl enters the school, where the teacher is passing out chalk to her students. We see the teacher teaching the students the English words: "a boy," "a girl," "a man," "a woman," which she has written on the board, along with a drawing for each word. The students repeat the words, then write them down on their individual chalkboards as the girl remarks, "We are learning to read and write." The students then jump up and down, as the teacher looks on, smiling. Next, we see the students jumping outside excitedly, now that school has finished. (First: Episode 2658)
	Cartoon	Ralph asks Marvin what would happen if he didn't have a mouth, a nose and ears. (First: Episode 0468)
	SCENE 7	Wrongfellow thanks Oscar for his assistance on what he considers the finest day of his life. Oscar can't stand hearing any more pleasantries from him and begs for another poem. Wrongfellow recites a grouchy poem to announce the day's sponsors, lashing out that it doesn't rhyme at the end ("Who do you think you are, anyway, John Simon?").