Episode 3424

	Sesame Street
	The letter X feels useless
Air date	December 28, 1995
Season	Season 27 (1995-1996)
Written by	Josh Selig
Production	October 10, 1995
Sponsors	X, 2

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	Telly and Kingston Livingston III welcome the viewer and present the letter of the day - X (performed by Fran Brill), who is feeling mopey. She believes she's a useless letter, knowing only two words she starts ("X-Ray" and "Xylophone"). Telly and Kingston want to cheer her up but can't think of any other words she begins. Miles and Gordon come by and learn of the situation, where Gordon accidentally sets off the X's crying again. Kingston gets an idea of how to make the X happy and proud.
	Cartoon	Stamped and painted X animation. (First: Episode 2934)
	Animation	The letter X in various typefaces. (First: Episode 2862)
	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	"Do the Continental" - two kids jump into Africa. (First: Episode 2733)
	Film	Fay Ray moves from far to near the camera. (First: Episode 3401)
	Muppets	Grover, on a surfboard, demonstrates near and far. (First: Episode 2859)
	Cartoon	A boy is drawn, but he doesn't have knees at first. (First: Episode 0954)
	SCENE 2	Kingston and Telly return with a (very heavy) dictionary and read her some of the other words she starts. The X is surprised, but still isn't happy; those words aren't very popular. She continues to complain that nobody cares about her, noting that nobody's ever bothered to write songs about her either. However, Gordon does recall a song he's heard about the letter...
	Celebrity	Patti LaBelle sings "Oh, How I Miss My X." (First: Episode 2168)
	SCENE 2 cont'd	Sadly, the song does not cheer the X up much, who claims now that no one's ever written a story about her either. Kingston and Telly run off with another idea.
	Cartoon	A cowboy sings about "Feelings That Are Real." (First: Episode 0954)
	Film	A girls' jump-rope team trains for a contest. They end up winning second place. (First: Episode 2510)
	Cartoon	Two giraffes Artist: Owe Gustafson (First: Episode 1468)
	Film	A parrot announces dos, or two of everything. (First: Episode 3108)
	Cartoon	Two flies land on a man's nose and take a bite. Artist: Cordell Barker (First: Episode 2364)
	Film	Joe Raposo sings "Dressed Up." (First: Episode 0302)
	Animation	Can you find the elephant in the painting? (First: Episode 2811)
	Muppets / Celebrity	Big Bird and Snuffy dance a minuet as played by the Tokyo String Quartet. (First: Episode 3341)
	Cartoon	A determined little boy makes several attempts to fly and eventually gets his dad to take him on an airplane. (First: Episode 1871)
	Muppets	Sesame Street News Flash: Cinderella's Fairy Godmother — The Fairy Godmother prepares Cinderella's gown. (First: Episode 2442)
	Cartoon	"Alphabet Imagination": A female voice quickly recites the alphabet followed by a male voice narrating each letter in a series of psychedelic vignettes. (First: Episode 0345)
	Song	"What's Inside?" (Cookie Monster cameo) (First: Episode 3134)
	Cartoon	Two people think they hear a BARK in the DARK. Artist: John Korty (First: Episode 1941)
	Song	"It's Time for a Rhyme" (First: Episode 3160)
	SCENE 3	Telly and Kingston return, having written their own story about the letter X: "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About X." Kingston begins to read...
	SCENE 3 cont'd	In a field, a group of letters spell words with each other, but don't allow an X (Brill) to join them because of how few words she starts. A friendly O (David Rudman) comes by and tells them some words X ends, making them all happy.
	SCENE 3 cont'd	The X still isn't happy, suggesting her sadness stems from the fact that no letter X has been featured on a TV game show before. Suddenly, Sherlock Hemlock arrives and recalls such an occurrence from the late 70s...
	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)
	SCENE 3 cont'd	Sherlock deems this case solved and exits, though the X still isn't happy. Even though she has more purpose than ever, she claims that nobody's ever been friends with an X and goes off sobbing. Telly, frustrated with the unsatisfied letter, follows to give her a piece of his mind.
	Cartoon	A boy draws a portrait of himself and calls it ME. (First: Episode 2085)
	Muppets	Grover sings about his furry little shadow. (First: Episode 1810)
	Cartoon	A family of snakes makes shapes, and rolls away. (First: Episode 1506)
	Muppets	Big Bird talks about asking questions and, using Zoe as an example, asks about her banana dance.
	Cartoon	Draw a circle around the bus. Cross out the telephone. (First: Episode 2093)
	Animation	Teeny Little Super Guy finds his friend Jane giving up on learning to ride the eggbeater. He tells her that it takes time and practice to learn things, and gives Jane some training beaters to help her keep her balance. Artist: Paul Fierlinger (First: Episode 1972)
	SCENE 4	Telly and Kingston catch up with the X and Telly lets her know how much he's angry. She sees how much they care about her, realizing they must be her friends. She becomes happy at last, which makes them all happy. Together, they announce the sponsors.
	COMING SOON	Coming soon on Sesame Street: The Count counts kids' boo-boos in song.