| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Merry scares people / Chicago visits the library | |||||||
| Air date | January 16, 1992 | ||||||
| Season | Season 23 (1991-1992) | ||||||
| Written by | Belinda Ward | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Merry Monster pops up shouting "Wubba wubba wubba!" at the viewer. Being a monster, she's practicing scaring people today. She tries scaring Maria inside the Fix-It Shop, who's merely surprised. Maria tells her she needs to concentrate on her work, so Merry decides not to practice on her; instead, she begins to practice scaring herself. |
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Animation | Luxo Sr. examines a box. Luxo Jr. pops out of the box, demonstrating "surprise." (First: Episode 2851) |
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Muppets | At the beach, the Twiddlebugs notice that only Thomas has a beach umbrella, which they decide to share. They soon notice that they have no idea where the ocean is. (First: Episode 2641) |
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Animation | Abstract count to 13. (First: Episode 2809) |
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Film | A blind boy narrates his day. He reads braille, adds with an abacus, and plays in the playground with his friends. (First: Episode 1757) |
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Cartoon | A gorilla outgrows his toy fire truck, and is about to throw it away, when he decides to pass it on to his little brother. (First: Episode 2840) |
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Muppets | The Two-Headed Monster demonstrates surprise. |
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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) |
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SCENE 2 | Merry attempts to scare Prairie Dawn, who doesn't even flinch. She encourages Merry to keep trying though, and offers some suggestions on how to scare someone. Prairie's suggestions in trilling and waggling her arms around succeeds in scaring Merry off. "Hmm, maybe I have discovered a brand new talent," Prairie comments. |
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Cartoon | A cat follows its ears to a squeaking noise, which he thinks is coming from mice, but it's coming from swings. Artist: Irra Verbitsky (First: Episode 1518) |
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Song | "Rollin' on the River" (First: Episode 2783) |
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Cartoon | A real Indian boy tells two boys who are playing Cowboy and Indian that Indians don't say "ugh". The other kids tell him that they heard the expression on TV. (First: Episode 0771) |
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Muppets | Kermit sings "The Frogs in the Glen." (First: Episode 1786) |
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Film | A girl draws a picture of her friend Amelia. (First: Episode 2784) |
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SCENE 3 | Merry uses Prairie's advice on Barkley, who leaps onto Linda's lap, whimpering. Gordon and Linda don't think that was very nice and Merry apologizes. She starts speaking softly to him and he calms down and begins to lick her face. Merry begins to warm up to the idea of being a friendly monster rather than a scary one. |
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Cartoon | A poem about dogs of different sizes, feelings and colors. Artist: Deanna Morse |
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Muppets | Hammy Swinette sings "Stand By Your Can." (First: Episode 2796) |
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Cartoon | A dinosaur demonstrates up and down with a pull-down window shade. (First: Episode 2887) |
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Animation | The word ICE is formed with ice cubes, which melt. (First: Episode 1177) |
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Cartoon | Dr. Nancy Einstein learns about ice cubes. Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 2582) |
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Film | Sesame Street Animal Films: Elk feeding. Music: Robert Dennis (First: Episode 0793) |
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Cartoon | I for Iron (First: Episode 0314) |
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Celebrity | James Taylor performs "Jellyman Kelly" with a bunch of kids. (First: Episode 1800) |
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Cartoon | Shooting stars form the letter I/i. (First: Episode 2218) |
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Muppets | Waiter Grover: Grover serves Mr. Johnson a bowl of chicken soup. Johnson says that he can't eat the soup, and Grover can't guess why. "That settles it," Johnson sighs. "From now on, I'm bringing my lunch to work in a paper sack." He finally explains to Grover that he can't eat the soup because he doesn't have a spoon. (First: Episode 0358) |
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Animation | Growing Numbers #13 |
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SCENE 4 | Chicago the Lion visits the library for the first time and Linda suggests he look around for a book he might like. He pounces on top of one of the bookcases looking for a book on vegetables, rooting around and knocking books over with his nose. Maria tells him that Linda can help him find the books he's looking for, and remarks that Linda should get a book on lion taming when Chicago jumps down. |
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Cartoon | A snake has a knot in his middle, and he can't find his end. The detective helps the snake find his end ... playing drums in a band. (First: Episode 2600) |
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Muppets | On a rainy day, Ernie watches TV, when Bert suggests he do something else, like write a story. Thus, Ernie sets everything out on the table, including pencils, paper, a pencil sharpener, and a wastebasket (which somehow ended up on Bert's head). Ernie is now ready to write a story, but instead, he leaves everything set out for when he gets an idea. (First: Episode 1293) |
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Cartoon | Letter I (Beep Beep) (First: Episode 0427) |
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Film | Examples of people and animals going down. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0406) |
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Cartoon | Is no one afraid of The Big Bad Wolf? (First: Episode 2405) |
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Cast | Big Bird, Susan and Bob sing "Can Read" while at a newsstand. (First: Episode 2268) |
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Cartoon | CGI sheep graze out I and i. (First: Episode 2896) |
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Film | An I-beam is molded at a steel factory as heavy industrial-type music underscores the action. The segment ends on a video freeze of the finished beam, which is shaped like the letter "I." (First: Episode 1077) |
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Cartoon | A shy girl wants to join a group bouncing a ball. (audible dialogue) Artist: Joanna Priestley (First: Episode 2849) |
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SCENE 5 | Chicago spies Gordon reading The Broccoli from Another Planet. He stealthily sneaks toward Gordon before pouncing on the book, claiming it's the law of the jungle. Gordon tells him that at a library, he must wait his turn. Chicago waits patiently until Gordon finishes the book, then asks Gordon to put the book on the table so he can properly "catch" it like it's prey. |
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Cartoon | Jerry Nelson sings and counts thirteen turkeys. (First: Episode 2711) |
 
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Muppets | The Count's main jumping-over-the-bed flock of sheep quits on him, so he calls the "24 Hour Emergency Counting Service". A reluctant deliveryman in sheep's clothing laments, "It's not an easy way to make a livin' ..." (First: Episode 2122) |
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Cartoon | A kid tries to push his toy house through the front door without the door closing. Artist: Paul Fierlinger (First: Episode 0914) |
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Animation | A poem about oranges. (First: Episode 2881) |
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Film | A scuba diver collects shells, which some kids count in voice-over. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0474) |
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Cartoon | Jim Thurman sings "Calcutta Joe." Animation by Buzzco Associates, Inc. (First: Episode 2492) |
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Muppets | Harvey Kneeslapper approaches a man and says, "Knock, knock!" The man asks, "Who's there?". Harvey says, "Dion." The man asks, "Dion who?" Then Harvey slaps a letter D on the man's chest and says, "D on you!" (First: Episode 0292) |
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Cartoon | D for danger, dragon, doctor, dinner, and dessert (First: Episode 2235) |
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SCENE 6 | Chicago's roars of laughter from reading start frightening the other patrons, and Maria asks that he keep his laughter to a dull roar. He becomes so happy when he learns he can take the book home with him he roars with joy, causing all the patrons to run out afraid. Gordon announces the sponsors, while Chicago wonders where everyone went. |
Notes[]
- Muppeteer Gabriel Velez and producer Tim Carter are among the patrons of the library.
- This episode was later repeated in Season 25 as Episode 3188.
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