| Sesame Street | |
| Plot | A day in the laundry room |
| Air date | November 19, 1990 |
| Season | Season 22 (1990-1991) |
| Written by | Belinda Ward |
| Sponsors | E, O, 12 |
| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | SCENE 1 | Oscar welcomes the viewer and asks if they’d like to hear a good argument. He ducks down into his can… |
 | SCENE 1 cont’d | …and reappears in the basement of 123 Sesame Street, where the laundry room is. He watches as Gordon enters with his laundry. Gordon finds another basket already by the machine, so he moves it for his own. Maria enters, claiming she left her basket there while she went and got soap. Instead of arguing like Oscar hoped, they decide to share the machine. Oscar tries to prevent them by claiming HE had laundry to do first, but they end up putting his clothes in the wash too. |
 | Cartoon | "Pinball Number Count" (#12) Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0985) |
 | Cast | Linda shows a girl how to sign the word EXIT. (First: Episode 2653) |
 | Song | Luis sings "Follow the Arrows" as a man does so. (First: Episode 1642)
|
 | Cartoon | Everything you need to know about cats. Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 1179) |
 | Muppets | Waiter Grover: Grover brings Mr. Johnson a bowl of alphabet soup. Mr. Johnson complains that some of the letters are missing, and makes Grover run back and forth to the kitchen to bring the missing letters. When all the letters are there, Johnson complains that the soup is cold, and makes Grover take it back. (First: Episode 0276) |
 | Cartoon | O is for Open (First: Episode 0014) |
 | SCENE 2 | Maria has finished folding Oscar’s laundry, which makes Irvine cry. Oscar assures her that nothing lasts forever and “It's Gonna Get Dirty Again.” Gordon and Maria finish their loads and head back upstairs, but bump into each other, spilling their clothes on the floor. |
 | Cartoon | The O falls off a man's grocery store sign; he tries replacing it with a donut, then a pizza, neither of which work. Finally, the sign man paints it on. (First: Episode 1242) |
 | Film | A girls' jump-rope team trains for a contest. They end up winning second place. (First: Episode 2510) |
 | Cartoon | Sign Man: TAXI (First: Episode 1136) |
 | Film | Looking for squares in the city (Maria voiceover) (First: Episode 2721) |
  | SCENE 3 | Gordon and Maria have started the wash again. The noise of the washing machine attracts Wolfgang, who thinks there are fish inside the machine. Gordon opens it up and shows him there are just clothes. Maria lures him away, claiming Hooper’s is having a fish sale. A fish then pops out of the machine, asking for directions to the East River. |
 | Song | "Starfish" by Joe Raposo (re-filmed version) (First: Episode 2487) |
 | Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie has Bert play a "Follow the Arrows" game, which leads him to the main camera, looking at the TV viewer. (First: Episode 1697) |
 | Cartoon | The Bellhop must make 12 wake-up calls. (First: Episode 2529) |
 | Muppets | Betty Lou learns some Spanish words from her friend Carlos, including "Amigo." (First: Episode 1966) |
 | Cartoon | A man saws a letter E through the wall. (First: Episode 0370) |
 | Muppets / Celebrity | The Professor (Sid Caesar) explains the laws of physics, which begin with soft and loud (as demonstrated by Fluffy). (EKA: Episode 2375) |
 | Cartoon | Ivy Austin sings about a rabbit's day of eating grapes and swimming with pals. (EKA: Episode 2514) |
  | SCENE 4 | Long John Silver and Long Jane Silver, two pirates, arrive. They think there is treasure in Maria’s laundry basket. She looks at their map, which details the basement and labels the basket with an X, meaning the treasure is there. They dig through the basket and find the treasure – Long John’s missing sock. |
 | Cartoon | O for orange Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 0673) |
  | Insert | While fixing Big Bird's record player, Luis tells him of a story he's reading about Captain Swashbuckle, a pirate. He tells Big Bird a synopsis of what he's read so far, but Big Bird throws several ideas what happens next, such as Swashbuckle having run-ins with a giant fish and bird. Luis reads him the remainder of the story: Captain Swashbuckle is sailing in a storm, when Luis' phone rings, and he must put the story on hold. Big Bird then thinks up the obvious ending - the bad guys call Swashbuckle and call off the fight because of rain. (First: Episode 2173) |
 | Cartoon | A girl talks about imagination. (First: Episode 0353) |
 | Song | "There's a Lot of Different Ways to Get to School" (sung by Jerry Nelson) |
  | SCENE 5 | Maria has now lost one of her socks. As she looks around, the basement lights dim and Vincent Twice appears, introducing today’s episode of Mysterious Theater: “The Case of the Missing Sock.” Sherlock Hemlock and Watson arrive to look for it. Watson quickly spots the missing sock, but Sherlock finds different things for Maria’s clues. Maria finally sees the sock, which Watson swipes. |
 | Cartoon | Slot-machine legs: Cowboy & horse (First: Episode 1702) |
 | Muppets | "Do De Rubber Duck" (First: Episode 2304) |
 | Cartoon | A door opens behind a mouse, who shrieks when she sees the E. Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 0616) |
 | Muppets | Sesame Street News Flash: Young George Washington (First: Episode 0916) |
 | Film | Sounds around the house: chimes, snoring, a boy pretending to be an airplane, a man playing a trumpet, and a motorcycle outside. (First: Episode 1713) |
 | Muppets | Anything Muppets (including Farley) shout "E!" (First: Episode 0408) |
 | Song | "Hot in the City" |
 | SCENE 6 | Sherlock looks around for the sock, while Maria chases Watson behind him. Vincent Twice announces the sponsors. |
Notes
- This episode was later re-aired in Season 24 as Episode 3033.
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| Episode 2750 | Episode 2752 |
