| Sesame Street | |||||||||
| Gina graduates from high school | |||||||||
| Air date | May 11, 1990 (season finale) | ||||||||
| Season | Season 21 (1989-1990) | ||||||||
| Written by | Nancy Sans | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
  |
SCENE 1 | Everyone dresses like a cheerleader, as Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats sing "I Go to School." |
 |
Cartoon | Cap'n Feenie asks, "What is it?" It's the ocean. Artist: ArtistMike (First: Episode 2710) |
 |
Muppets | Ernie & Bert — On a boring day, Ernie suggests some ideas to Bert, but then Bert has an exciting idea of his own. He shows off his bottlecap collection to Ernie, who remembers that he found a Figgy Fizz bottle cap -- the very one that Bert needed to complete his collection. (First: Episode 0240) |
 |
Film | Chimps running around (piano music) (First: Episode 2493) |
 |
Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Cookie Monster and Zelda have a discussion about cookies. (First: Episode 2601) |
 |
Cartoon | An alligator and an elephant chat about how to remember their names. (First: Episode 1301) |
 |
SCENE 2 | Ruby tells the viewer how great asking questions is and demonstrates by asking Gina several of them, all about her upcoming high school graduation. Gina explains her attire, what graduation means, how the ceremony will go, and what diplomas are. Ruby asks one final question - can she come? Gina allows this, and invites the viewer along too. |
 |
Cartoon | Number creatures #17 |
 |
Film | Kids talk about how many things they can do now that they're five years old. (First: Episode 1403) |
 |
Cartoon | A man teaches his dog Rover how to read the word SIT. (First: Episode 0304) |
 |
Muppets | Super Grover: "Dial S for SuperGrover" - A little girl had plans to play with a friend, Bobby, but she has too much homework and has to cancel. Super Grover arrives to help her figure out how to tell him, but while Super Grover is busy coming up with ridiculous ploys, the girl decides to just telephone him. |
|
Cartoon | Z for zebra and zoo (First: Episode 0281) |
 |
SCENE 3 | Telly and Ruby watch as Gina and her fellow seniors (including Thelma, Charolette, Rodney, and Jack) write in each other's yearbooks in the yard. The monsters learn what a yearbook is and the graduates read some of the messages they've written before heading over to the library, intending to get Gordon (their favorite teacher) to write something. |
 |
SCENE 3 cont'd | Telly asks Ruby where Gina will go if she won't go to high school anymore. Ruby states that Gina could go to college, work, or even the moon (which she is the most certain of). Telly starts to panic, worrying that if Gina takes her yearbook to the moon with her, she'll only have memories of her high school friends, not her Sesame Street ones. Ruby proposes they make their own "Sesame Street yearbook." But they must hurry - Gina's ceremony is this afternoon (and she may leave for the moon immediately after). |
 |
Cartoon | A boy's friends bring him flowers to cheer him up, not knowing that he's allergic to them. (First: Episode 1524) |
 |
Film | Children on a playground form the letters of the alphabet. (First: Episode 1966) |
 |
Muppets | Over the Top, a ZZ Top-like band, sings "ZZ Blues". (First: Episode 2317) |
 |
Cartoon | Leanna Williams tells a story of how she traveled to Hawaii and bought a Hawaiian shirt. Artist: ArtistMike |
 |
SCENE 4 | Telly and Ruby prepare Big Bird's page in the yearbook and have him write something that rhymes. They help him come up with a rhyming message and Ruby creates her own rhyme for "yellow" ("swell-o"). |
 |
Cartoon | Rap #17 (First: Episode 2488) |
|
Muppets / Celebrity |
"Pretty Great Performances" features Placido Flamingo singing "Italian Street Song" with the All-Animal Orchestra, led by conductor Seiji Ozawa (First: Episode 2485) |
 |
Cartoon | A man explains to a girl what a surprise is. (sound effect added to ending) Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 1358) |
 |
Film | Letter O hoist Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0338) |
 |
Cartoon | La letra O - opera, oeste, orquidea, ojos, ocho, y el orquestra de orangutanes. (First: Episode 0338) |
 |
Muppets | "Wet and Dry": the sailors on the Good Ship Wet love when it rains, but the Arabs like living in the dry desert. |
 |
Cartoon | Once there were two men. Each had his own idea. One man told his thought to the other man, then the other man told his idea to the first man. Now both men knew twice as much. (First: Episode 0268) |
 |
SCENE 5 | Telly and Ruby assemble the rest of their friends for a photo, the last one their camera will allow. After getting everyone in place so they'll fit, Telly wipes some dust from the lens, inadvertently taking a photo of himself instead. |
 |
Cartoon | Birds pop balloons of all the letters of the alphabet, making them lowercase. (First: Episode 2552) |
 |
Song | "Take Care of That Smile" |
 |
Cartoon | Boy and the UP balloons (First: Episode 0364) |
 |
Muppets | Sesame Street News Flash: First Day of Monster School — Cookie Monster is afraid of kindergarten. (First: Episode 1628) |
 |
Cartoon | Two men push two large bird eggs to the top of two hills. (First: Episode 0773) |
  |
SCENE 6 | The graduation ceremony is underway. In the audience, Telly frets over what he should write on his page. Ruby urges him to hurry, as Gina will be receiving her diploma any second. As Gina and the remaining graduates cross the stage, the principal gives a heartfelt speech about their parting of ways; Telly complains that she stole his message. |
 |
SCENE 6 cont'd | Gina's mother invites everyone to her graduation party, when Ruby and Telly present their yearbook. She is baffled by Telly's message - "Please don't go to the moon." Gina assures them that she's not going to the moon and will keep her job at Hooper's Store until she decides what direction to take her life in. Even though she won't be going to the moon, Gina still wants to keep the yearbook. |
 |
Cartoon | A song about a rolling O Animation by John and Faith Hubley (First: Episode 0011) |
 |
Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie tries to use a scale to divide the cherries evenly, but he characteristically eats them all. Bert screams and faints. (First: Episode 1386) |
|
Film | A film insert of kittens playing, with child voiceovers in English and Spanish. (First: Episode 0429) |
  |
SCENE 7 | Ruby shows Gina her makeshift mortarboard and practices graduating, feeling she'll be very prepared when her time comes. Big Bird announces the sponsors and declares, "Congratulations, Gina!" after the credits roll. So ends the 21st season of Sesame Street. |
Notes[]
- Kevin Clash, Noel MacNeal, and Danette DeSena make onscreen cameos among those in attendance to the graduation ceremony.
- The recording of "Pomp and Circumstance" heard during the ceremony previously appeared in a season 3 animal film segment about an octopus. It had also been used for a street scene in Episode 2565.
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 2744 | Episode 2746 |