| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Ruthie's birthday | |||||||
| Air date | April 30, 1998 | ||||||
| Season | Season 29 (1997-1998) | ||||||
| Written by | Sonia Manzano | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Ruthie enters Finders Keepers, and is surprised at the amount of mail she has today. She opens a few birthday cards, and remembers to tell the viewer that it's her birthday today. She then decides to close the shop and take some time off for herself. Oscar enters, and upon learning that it's her birthday and she's closing the shop, asks her if he can grab a few things upstairs, just so he can waste her time and make a mess of the place, and then change his mind at the last minute. |
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Song | John Pizzarelli sings about feeling "happy and proud" on your birthday. (First: Episode 3421) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bert Is Locked Out — Bert speculates on why Ernie has asked him to stay out of the apartment. (First: Episode 0461) |
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Film | Girls sing a jump-rope rhyme about naming a puppy. (First: Episode 3279) |
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Cartoon | Three characters try to watch a baseball game over a fence, then cooperate by stacking their blocks. (First: Episode 0478) |
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Celebrity | Big Bird and some kids have run out of ideas for a game to play. Jason Alexander shows them a fun game, causing him to miss his bus. (First: Episode 3557) |
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Cartoon | Three scribbles exercise. Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 1579) |
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Film | Kids dance around at gymnastics to "Rockin' Robin." (First: Episode 3147) |
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Animation | A television reveals many Z words. (First: Episode 3699) |
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Muppets | Telly and Zoe display things that begin with the letter Z. Telly brought such things as a (horse dressed like a) zebra, a zucchini, a zipper, and even a zydeco band, but Zoe only brought herself. (First: Episode 3420) |
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Cartoon | Birds pop balloons of all the letters of the alphabet, making them lowercase. (new music added) (First: Episode 2552) |
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Cast | "Between You and Me" (Gina and Savion) (First: Episode 3133) |
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Cartoon | A mouse demonstrates between by squeezing between two elephants. (First: Episode 2750) |
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SCENE 2 | Oscar notices Miles, Gabi, Gordon, Susan, Maria, Luis, Baby Bear and Papa Bear gathered on the steps, and accidentally informs them that it's Ruthie's birthday today. Luis decides that they should give her a surprise party. Oscar thinks Ruthie closing the shop will make it inconvenient for them to do so, but he's wrong. Everyone divides up jobs (including getting a cake from Mazzarino's Bakery), and Baby Bear learns that his job is to stall Ruthie and keep her in the store. Will he do a good job? |
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Song | "It's Fido's Birthday" - a song about a birthday party for a goldfish. (First: Episode 3609) |
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Animation | Five goldfish, take away 2, leaves 3. (new music added) (First: Episode 2252) |
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Muppets | The Count, dressed up as Elvis, sings "You Gotta Count My Blue Suede Shoes." (First: Episode 3231) |
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Cartoon | Footprints move over to the tune of "Here Are Some Things". (First: Episode 0505) |
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Insert | "Professor Television" (Bill Irwin) tries to demonstrate open and closed, but his efforts backfire. (First: Episode 3637) |
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Cartoon | CLOSED (sheep running through door) (First: Episode 3743) |
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SCENE 3 | Baby Bear approaches Finders Keepers, and is disappointed when he finds the store closed. He sees Ruthie inside the store, and does the best he can to keep her inside the store by asking her to dance, arm-wrestle etc. He then "feels" a hibernating nap coming on, and falls asleep in her arms, which makes it hard for Ruthie to move around. She calls Papa Bear and tells him her problem, but he tells her to make Baby Bear as comfortable as possible. She and Baby Bear lie down on the couch. |
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Song | Joe Raposo sings "Everybody Sleeps" (re-filmed version) (First: Episode 3026) |
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Cartoon | Z doesn't like its sleepy Z image -- Z can also be zany, and zip and zoom. Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 3607) |
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Film | Kid jungle explorers sight a wild letter Z. (First: Episode 3496) |
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Cartoon | The Typewriter: Z for Zoo (First: Episode 0776) |
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Muppets | Snuffy sings "Bubble on My Snuffle." (First: Episode 3338) |
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Film | Jerry Nelson, Roscoe Orman and Fran Brill narrate "Great Moments at the Sink," in which mud-pie champion Sasha Smith washes her hands. (First: Episode 3665) |
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Cartoon | "Big Kid Photo Album" (First: Episode 3441) |
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Song | "Do the Jelly" with Celina (First: Episode 3160) |
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Animation | Amelia likes to pretend she can fly. (First: Episode 2902) |
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Muppets | Kermit explains the importance of listening, using the Two-Headed Monster as an example. (First: Episode 1767) |
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Cartoon | Pinball Number Count #11 Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0988) |
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Film | Milo Counting: 11 (First: Episode 3585) |
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Animation | Clown Honking #11 (First: Episode 3196) |
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Muppets | Zoe, Herry, Grover and Elmo sing "Fur." |
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Animation | Stop-motion representation of "Happy Birthday," with balloons, gummi bears, glitter, etc. (First: Episode 3358) |
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SCENE 4 | Baby Bear wakes up, and notices that Ruthie has fallen asleep. He gives the signal, and everyone quietly enters the store and hides behind the furniture. He wakes her up, and everyone pops out and yells "Surprise!" and then sing "Happy Birthday to You." Ruthie shows them the cards she got from her family, and everyone says they count as her family too. Oscar announces the sponsors and reports the status of Slimey's spaceship (and wishes he would hurry), and everyone treats themselves to cake. |
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COMING SOON | Coming soon on Sesame Street: Gordon offers Alice the choice of either blocks or a puzzle to play with. She chooses the blocks, but right when Snuffy chooses the puzzle, she decides she wants the puzzle instead. |
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