| Sesame Street | |||||||||
| Linda's Birthday | |||||||||
| Air date | January 4, 1999 | ||||||||
| Season | Season 30 (1998-1999) | ||||||||
| Written by | Sonia Manzano | ||||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Today is Linda's birthday, and for a surprise, Bob teaches Maria, Gabi, Alan, Rosita, Zoe, Snuffy and Baby Bear how to sing "Happy Birthday to You" in sign language. Snuffy can't sign, so he will conduct. Everyone suddenly leaves when Linda comes by, but Bob tells her everything is normal. |
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Cartoon | An elephant tries to remember Nigel (a cat's) birthday, succeeding after stringing together a series of clues. Artist: Fred Garbers |
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Muppets | Sesame Street Goes to Day Care Big Bird and Veronica say the alphabet. |
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Film | Using sign language, a boy reads his poem, "The Hawk." |
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SCENE 2 | Maria wants to practice the signs with Zoe, but Zoe is more interested in the concept of surprise. Maria explains that she can't demonstrate surprise to Zoe if she knows in advance. The Honkers bring a toaster to be fixed and surprise them both. |
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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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Song | John Pizzarelli sings about feeling "happy and proud" on your birthday. (First: Episode 3421) |
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SCENE 3 | Snuffy is practicing singing and conducting "Happy Birthday" outside Oscar's trash can. Oscar jokes that Linda is coming, and Snuffy frets. Oscar warns him again because she really is coming, so Snuffy hides in the trash can. |
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Cartoon | A girl practices to roller skate over many days. (First: Episode 3556) |
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Muppets | Kingston Livingston III sings "A Cat Had a Birthday." (First: Episode 3331) cut from the Max version |
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SCENE 4 | Linda jogs by Oscar's can and notices it's shaking and rattling. Snuffy is inside practicing conducting "Happy Birthday." |
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Cartoon | A group of kids' voices sing "Happy Birthday" while the word "happy birthday" and then a cake with animated candles is shown. (First: Episode 3005) |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie won't let Bert into the apartment. At first, Bert worries his friend might be in trouble, or feeling sad, but then he thinks Ernie might be hiding something from him, which makes him mad. He is finally let in, and finds that Ernie has thrown him a surprise party, which makes him happy. Guests at the party include Roosevelt Franklin, Herbert Birdsfoot, Prairie Dawn, Sherlock Hemlock, Grover, Guy Smiley, and a mailman. (First: Episode 0461) |
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Film | How to say "butterfly" in sign language (First: Episode 3341) |
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SCENE 5 | While Maria tries to help Zoe rehearse the signs, Zoe asks her questions about deafness and aging. |
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Cartoon | Planet H / h (First: Episode 2851) |
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Muppets | Worms in Space The worms form the letter H. (First: Episode 3760) |
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Animation | H in space (with astronauts) (First: Episode 3697) |
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Film | A visual representation of the nursery rhyme "Pat-a-Cake" with Wegman's dogs. (First: Episode 3467) cut from the Max version |
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SCENE 6 | The group decides to practice one last time. After that, Snuffy bumps his snuffle and is in pain. |
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Film | Bethany visits the doctor. (First: Episode 3585) cut from the Max version |
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Cartoon | Hs are found on the street. (First: Episode 3368) |
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Film | The floating kids form H. (First: Episode 3118) |
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Song | Soul H (First: Episode 3368) cut from the Max version |
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SCENE 7 | Snuffy is too afraid of having ice put on his snuffle. When Oscar says the surprise would be ruined, Snuffy changes his mind. Everyone thanks Oscar. |
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Animation | "Six Circus Balls" Artist: Jane Aaron (First: Episode 3001) |
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Film | Six children dance in a colorblock grid. (First: Episode 3122) |
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Animation | The numbers 1-6 are carried away and/or demolished by construction equipment. (First: Episode 2270) |
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SCENE 8 | Linda loves the surprise, though Snuffy's snuffle still hurts when he is hugged. She asks Bob if he did this planning and thanks him. |
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Cartoon | In Chardin's classic painting, a boy blows a bubble. It pops, and some kids yell "Surprise!" (First: Episode 3311) |
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Muppets | The Count directs Liam Neeson counting to 20, several times, in "Translyvania 6-5000." The shoot evolves into "Counting in the Rain." cut from reruns |
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Cartoon | Shifty Sid wears a mask to hide his dirty teeth. He goes to the dentist and becomes Smiling Sid. Artist: Fred Garbers cut from reruns |
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Film | "One Thousand Faces" (First: Episode 2894) |
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SCENE 9 | Linda thanks everyone. Linda invites Snuffy to dinner with her and Bob. Bob is shocked and Zoe points out that’s a good surprise. |
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Muppets | Elmo's World: Jackets |
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SCENE 10 | Bob, Linda and Snuffy return from dinner and while Bob thinks this will be their departure from Snuffy, he invites himself over for movies and popcorn. They read and sign the sponsors. |
Alterations[]
| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Muppets | The Two-Headed Monster shares a pair of headphones. (First: Episode 1628) This segment replaced Sesame Street Goes to Day Care during summer reruns. |
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Muppets | On a vaudeville stage, Herry Monster sings "Big Round Nose" with three monsters and a Honker as visual aids. This segment replaced "A Cat Had a Birthday" during summer reruns. |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie has lost his Rubber Duckie and calls Bert, who is out of town, for help. As Ernie get more upset, he starts to jump up and down in the chair, when they both hear Rubber Duckie squeaking. Ernie looks under the cushion, and finds him. He runs off to play with Rubber Duckie, forgetting to hang up the phone. This segment replaced the Ernie and Bert sketch during summer reruns. |
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Muppets | Sesame Street Goes to Day Care Herry and Baxter talk about the letter H, and what words start with it. This segment replaced the Floating Kids sketch during summer reruns. |
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Cartoon | A troll draws faces on herself in front of a mirror. (new music added) (First: Episode 0800) This segment appears right after "One Thousand Faces" during summer reruns. |
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Muppets | Elmo's World: Food (First: Episode 3816) This segment replaced Elmo's World: Jackets during summer reruns. |
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