| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Telly starts a doo-wop group | |||||||
| Air date | December 31, 1997 | ||||||
| Season | Season 29 (1997-1998) | ||||||
| Written by | Ian Ellis James | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | At Hooper's Store, Telly and Mr. Handford listen to a record he and his old singing group, "The Handford Five," put out. In a flashback, Mr. Handford is seen in his youth as his group sing their hit, “You Are the Only 1 for Me” on a street corner, with Handford providing the bass vocals. Back in the present, Telly gets inspired and wants to create his own singing group, with the name “Telly and the Triangles” already in mind. |
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Animation | A group of 1s chant, "We're the number 1!" (First: Episode 3238) |
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Song | "We're Talking 'Bout the Number One" (First: Episode 3154) |
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Muppets | Elmo explains the importance of sleep, but the audience won't stop applauding and let him sleep afterwards. (First: Episode 2985) |
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Cartoon | The moon listens to everyone say "Good night" in different languages. (First: Episode 2243) |
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Film | Wegman's dogs form numbers from 1 to 9. (First: Episode 3272) |
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Cartoon | An elephant, a zebra, a hedgehog, an ostrich, a frog and a ladybug create a rhythm with their footsteps. Artist: Karen Aqua (First: Episode 2794) |
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Song | "It's the Shpritzer Honker Splasher Sprinkler Tweeter Squirt," the wettest musical instrument. (First: Episode 3408) |
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Cartoon | Campers don't want to play ring toss with Zork, until their counselor reminds them about being judgmental. (First: Episode 2761) |
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SCENE 2 | Telly dings his triangle outside Oscar’s trash can, bringing him outside. He asks Oscar if he’d like to join his band, but he declines ("It sounds a little three-sided to me, Telly."). He reveals he’s already in his own band: Four Grouches Named Moe and Oscar. When the four Moes arrive, they sing “Big Bad Mess” for Telly. They invite him to be in the band, but Telly also declines and sets off as the band continues rehearsal. |
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Cartoon | An opera house is full when an operatic tenor sings, but it becomes empty when his partner (of lesser musical talent) attempts to sing. On their way home, the tenor and his partner become stuck on the freeway, where the lanes are full - but all it takes to make them empty is some bad singing. Artist: Gene Barretta (First: Episode 3556) |
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Film | "Simple Pleasures" by Bobby McFerrin is played over footage of a girl trying to play frisbee with a dog on the beach. (First: Episode 2876) |
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Cartoon | A lady receives a letter O in the mail, which promptly rolls around her living room. Artist: ArtistMike (First: Episode 3348) |
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Film | A gymnast twirls ribbons to form the letter O. (First: Episode 3136) |
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Cartoon | Soul O (First: Episode 3375) |
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Muppets | Cookie Monster and Zoe demonstrate "inside" and "outside"; Cookie takes a cookie outside of the box, and puts it inside his mouth and tummy. (First: Episode 3593) |
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Cartoon | A red scribble demonstrates out and in. Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 3128) |
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SCENE 3 | Big Bird, Gabi, and Baby Bear are about to play baseball when Telly rushes to them and gives them his pitch: "We'll wear great costumes, and we'll travel all over the world and sing for kings and queens, and build up lots of frequent flyer mileage!" He has them envision the group performing one of their hits, “Mary Had a Triangle”: Telly (wearing a big purple pompadour) sings lead with the others providing back-up, all wearing glitzy outfits with triangles all over them. However, in reality, his friends would rather play baseball. |
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Film | The floating kids form a triangle. (First: Episode 3122) |
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Muppets | Ernie sings "Imagine That" about things that he sometimes imagines to be: first a knight in shining armor who battles a dragon, then a sailor, and finally, himself. (First: Episode 2142) |
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Cartoon | Gerald's dog Sparky likes to pretend he's an alligator. (new sound effects and music tag added) (First: Episode 1519) |
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Film | A zydeco band plays "Allons a Lafayette" while people dance. (First: Episode 2498) |
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Animation | Fans reveal the letter O. (First: Episode 2905) |
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Cartoon | O for open, off, owl, ocean (First: Episode 3091) |
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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) |
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SCENE 4 | Telly tries to convince his friends to be in his band, but Baby Bear, Big Bird, and Gabi have no interest in just singing about triangles. They would rather sing about the other things they love: porridge for Baby Bear, birdseed for Big Bird, and caterpillars for Gabi. The group then argues over their problem. |
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Cartoon | Hands embrace the words LOVE. (new music and sound effects added) (First: Episode 0926) |
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Muppets | Grover and Rosita explain the concept of "love" in 15 seconds. Grover exasperates about the assignment, but Rosita intervenes just in time. (First: Episode 3527) |
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Cartoon | Madrigal Alphabet Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0615) |
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Song | Kevin Clash sings "Skin." (First: Episode 2749) |
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Muppets / Celebrity | Elmo thinks that Whoopi's skin is a very pretty brown. Whoopi likes Elmo's soft red fur. Elmo admires Whoopi's bouncy hair, too. Elmo suggests that they trade, but Whoopi says that they can't -- it doesn't come off. But even if she could trade, she wouldn't want to. She likes her skin and her hair, and she wants to keep it. Elmo says that he wants to keep his fur, too. (First: Episode 2746) |
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Cartoon | Esme's wooden clown breaks, and she is about to throw it away, when it suggests she use glue to fix it. Artist: Lisa Crafts (First: Episode 2843) |
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Song | "Papermaking Song" (First: Episode 3563) |
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SCENE 5 | Mr. Handford inspects the yelling from outside the store, and Telly blames him for the idea of starting a singing group. Mr. Handford says that they can still sing by cooperating and has them repeat a "doo wop doo wop" melody, each one coming in with a solo about what they love, and soon the group is singing in perfect harmony. |
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Cartoon | A seal and a bear fight over a circus ball, but learn to cooperate. Artist: Frank Gresham (First: Episode 3282) |
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Muppets | Two-Headed Monster: Hat — After sounding the word "hat," the monster shares one giant straw hat. (First: Episode 1349) |
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Cartoon | Song: AT words (First: Episode 3291) |
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Film | A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce, Mexican bread, is made. (First: Episode 3015) |
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Animation | Counting from 10-0 (Latin rhythm) (Spanish dub) (First: Episode 3048) |
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Cartoon | Wilma Wiggins makes the very best of a very silly situation by hiccoughing her way through an opera. (First: Episode 2963) |
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Song | Leon Redbone sings "Have You Ever." (First: Episode 3274) |
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SCENE 6 | In the yard, before a crowd of street patrons (including Elmo, Papa Bear, Bert, and Ernie), Mr. Handford presents the singing group, who quickly scramble together to come up with a new group name: “Telly and the Triangle-Porridge-Birdseed and Caterpillar-Lovers!” They sing their new song about the things they love as Mr. Handford announces the sponsors. |
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COMING SOON | Coming soon on Sesame Street: Baby Bear struggles to describe his nightmare to Telly. |
Notes[]
- In addition to performing one of the Moes, Kevin Clash voices the announcer in Telly's fantasy in scene 3.
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