| Sesame Street | |||||
| Staring contest (repeat of 3346) | |||||
| Air date | March 26, 1997 | ||||
| Season | Season 28 (1996-1997) | ||||
| Written by | John Weidman | ||||
| |||||
| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
SCENE 1 | Big Bird is tidying his nest area for his playdate with Snuffy, where they plan to play “Snuffle-Tag” all day in the park. Suddenly, he hears some commotion nearby and goes to investigate. |
 |
SCENE 1 cont’d | Big Bird finds Carlo supervising a staring contest between Lexine and Tarah. Carlo explains the rules of the game as they begin another round, which Lexine loses. They invite him to play but Big Bird isn't sure he'd be good at doing it. He gives it a try anyway and faces against Tarah, who loses. Proud and excited of his "newfound skill," Big Bird goes to tell Snuffy about the game. |
 |
Cartoon | A little girl sings "There Is Only One Me." (First: Episode 1942) |
 |
Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Special Day — Bert is curious as to whom Ernie is decorating the room for. (First: Episode 0352) |
 |
Animation | Y: Yuri, a yellow yak, eats yams and yogurt. (First: Episode 3381) |
 |
Film | Y for yell, yellow, yodel (First: Episode 3456) |
 |
Cartoon | Y for yawn (First: Episode 0301) |
  |
SCENE 2 | Snuffy tells the viewer how excited he is to play Snuffle-Tag when Big Bird arrives and tells him about staring contests. However, Snuffy still wants to play tag, so Big Bird suggests they take turns and play Snuffle-Tag after they have a staring contest. Although he is sure he will win, Big Bird blinks and loses the game. He insists they play again, but loses a second time. Snuffy starts to find the game fun and they start a new round. |
 |
Cartoon | "Letters in the Body" Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 3339) |
 |
Film | At the harbor, kids learn about dolphins, and how to communicate with them using signals. (First: Episode 3010) |
 |
Cartoon | AMOR, amor, amor ... amoramor ... amoramor ... (First: Episode 2116) |
 |
Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Grover and Jesse talk about love. (First: Episode 2420) |
 |
Cartoon | "Alphabet Jungle" (First: Episode 2733) |
 |
SCENE 3 | As the pair continues staring, Big Bird blinks and loses for the nineteenth time in a row. Snuffy is growing weary of the game, but Big Bird insists they keep playing until he scores at least one game. Snuffy then gets an idea and lets Big Bird win during the next round, but Big Bird sees through it. He's grateful that Snuffy was trying to be a good friend, but Big Bird is still determined to win. He promises they’ll play Snuffle-Tag once he wins before going off to find help. |
 |
Song | "It's a Long Hard Road, But I'm Gonna Get There." (First: Episode 3398) |
 |
Muppets | The Two-Headed Monster shares a pair of headphones. (First: Episode 1628) |
 |
Cartoon | S for scribble, scrub, scrunch, splash, spring, spin, stomp, scream, stop, sorry Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 3504) |
 |
Film | Kids hold an S and a square (First: Episode 3278) |
 |
Cartoon | The letter S grows on a vine. (First: Episode 3278) |
  |
SCENE 4 | Big Bird enlists Carlo to help him, reading a book called Staring Made E-Z that he got from the library. The first practice method builds his concentration skills. He opens and closes his eyes, looks at the sky, looks at the ground, looks under his wing, and turns around. After doing these actions so much, he spins around and crashes. The book thinks he is now ready and Big Bird calls Snuffy in to play a rematch; Big Bird loses again. The book then suggests he watch the following segment... |
 |
Animation | Space frogs count to 10. (First: Episode 3109) |
 |
Muppets | Kermit sings "On My Pond." (First: Episode 2328) |
 |
Cartoon | "Water Conservation": Frank the fish calls Carl and tells him not to leave the water running while brushing his teeth, otherwise the lake will be dry. Artist: Peter Chung (First: Episode 2689) |
 |
SCENE 5 | The next exercise requires knowledge of the alphabet, a nest, a tennis racket, and a monster. Zoe happens by and is commissioned into the exercise, which has him recite the alphabet while staring at the nest, then at the racket, and finally at Zoe while she hops. Zoe’s hopping makes him dizzy and crash once more. Big Bird calls Snuffy in for a rematch, but loses again. The book then advises him to relax and watch a song about Sammy the Snake... |
 |
Muppets / Celebrity | Carol Channing sings a spoof of "Hello, Dolly!" with Sammy the Snake, praising his ability to look and sound like an S. (First: Episode 1951) |
 |
SCENE 5 cont'd |
For the next exercise, Big Bird must stare at the letter S without blinking. |
 |
Film | Kid jungle explorers sight a wild letter S. (First: Episode 3504) |
 |
Muppets | Kingston Livingston III sings "Just Happy to Be Me." (First: Episode 3178) |
 |
Animation | Counting 8 harvesters (First: Episode 2981) |
 |
SCENE 6 | Next, he must stare at a number 8. |
 |
Video | Eight children dance in a colorblock grid. (First: Episode 3115) |
 |
Film | Wegman's dogs form the numbers 1-8. (First: Episode 3293) |
 |
Muppets | "Some Enchanted Lunchtime" (First: Episode 3230) |
 |
Cartoon | I Love You, in American Sign Language Artist: Steve Finkin (First: Episode 1170) |
 |
Song | "The First Time" - Children try various activities (riding tricycles, tying shoes, etc.) and progressively improve. (First: Episode 2950) |
 |
SCENE 7 | Big Bird has completed all the exercises and is ready to take on Snuffy. Once they play again, Big Bird loses. The book suggests he quit staring and find something else he’s good at, like Snuffle-Tag. They both begin playing the game as they head down the street, which Big Bird proves to be an expert at. He thinks a book on the game would help Snuffy, but Carlo leaves when he brings up the idea to him. |
 |
Cartoon | A girl explains why she likes the poet Grubby Groo. Artist: Mo Willems (First: Episode 3225) |
 |
Muppets | Captain Elmo Cousteau searches for the treasure of the missing soap, with the help of a policeman fishy. (First: Episode 2637) |
 |
Song | Joe Raposo sings "Take a Breath." (re-filmed version) (First: Episode 2518) |
 |
Cartoon | A spider refuses to give up spinning a web, no matter how badly injured he becomes. Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 1652) |
 |
SCENE 8 | Savion dances a little and is about to announce the sponsors when Big Bird rushes to him and asks him to say them without blinking. He announces them, but Big Bird thinks he blinked and has him start over. |
 |
COMING SOON | Coming soon on Sesame Street: Zoe expresses to Celina her efforts to make Elmo talking during the "No-Talking Game." |
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 3617 | Episode 3619 |