| Sesame Street | |||||||||
| Bolo learns the alphabet | |||||||||
| Air date | April 1, 1999 | ||||||||
| Season | Season 30 (1998-1999) | ||||||||
| Written by | Tony Geiss | ||||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Telly finds a parrot (Joey Mazzarino) at the Fix-It Shop with Maria and Rosita. He's told that Rosita is training the parrot, named Bolo, to sing "The Alphabet Song" as a surprise for her cousin Tito's birthday party today. Maria is sure it won't be easy, but Telly thinks it'll be a snap, noting how well Bolo repeats today's sponsors and that he's had experience training Chuckie to do tricks (sort of). |
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Song | "See Like a Bird" (Pigeon) (First: Episode 3670) |
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Muppets | Zoe, in her Zoemobile, introduces the letter of the day. (First: Episode 3819) |
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Song | "J, Just How Jazzy Can You Get?" (First: Episode 3396) |
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Animation | J / j Gregorian chant (First: Episode 3345) |
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Film | Girls jump rope and sing playground rhymes. (First: Episode 3280) |
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Muppets | Ernie's Show and Tell: Devon shows Ernie his robin's nest. |
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Cartoon | A baby bird tries and tries again to fly from its nest. (new music and sound effects added) Artist: Don Duga and Irra Verbitsky (First: Episode 1510) |
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Insert | "Professor Television" (Bill Irwin) tries to demonstrate near and far, with help from Maria's voice. (First: Episode 3617) cut from the Noggin version |
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Muppets | Grover, on a surfboard, demonstrates near and far. (First: Episode 2859) |
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SCENE 2 | Telly and Rosita sing "The Alphabet Song" to Bolo, who instead sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in a deep crooner's style. Telly notes the two songs have the same tune and they continue singing the alphabet over and over. Telly is confident Bolo will learn, saying, "Even pigs can sing the alphabet!" and points to the following... |
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Muppets | The Oinker Sisters sing "The Boogie-Woogie Piggies." (First: Episode 2922) |
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Film | A girl's grandmother teaches Spanish to her parrot Kuka. (First: Episode 3101) |
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Muppets | Zoe points out her Zoemobile wheels are round, leading to... |
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Film / Animation | Circles of all kinds are displayed as funky rap music plays. (First: Episode 3126) |
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SCENE 3 | Telly and Rosita finish singing "The Alphabet Song" again, and Bolo begins singing... but instead of letters, the lyrics are about the numbers 1 through 23. Telly is impressed with how intelligent the parrot is, but thinks they need help and calls for Maria. (Bolo: "Maria, Maria, Mariaaaaaaaa!") |
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Cartoon | Edgar Turtle plays the banjo as some kids sing the "Bird Song." (First: Episode 2415) |
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Muppets | Zoe, in her Zoemobile, introduces the number of the day. (First: Episode 3819) |
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Cartoon | A bus driver counts 11 of each necessity for a bus trip camping. (First: Episode 3151) |
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Cartoon | Rubber Stamp #11 (First: Episode 2885) cut from the Noggin version |
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Animation | Counting up to 11 (African masks) (First: Episode 3151) cut from the Noggin version |
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Film | Using sign language, a boy reads his poem, "The Hawk." (First: Episode 3806) cut from the Noggin version |
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SCENE 4 | Maria suggests they teach Bolo the song one part at a time instead of the whole thing. It seems to work, but Bolo instead starts singing one of his favorite words, "hasenpfeffer," in place of the letters. Rosita thinks another bird could help them out, and they know just the one... |
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Cartoon | Bud the Bird flies above and below in a bumper car. Artist: Lisa Crafts (First: Episode 2901) |
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Film | J, for jiggle, juggle, jump, joy. (First: Episode 3396) |
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Animation | Planet J/j (First: Episode 2833) |
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Film | A man in a J costume jumps at the beach. (First: Episode 3527) |
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Cartoon | What if a frog and a fly switched bodies? What do you think would happen? Artist: Cliff Roberts (First: Episode 0406) |
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Muppets | Kermit says his "ABC's of the Swamp." (First: Episode 1960) |
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SCENE 5 | "Even frogs could sing the alphabet!" Telly remarks following the previous segment. Big Bird and the Birdketeers have joined them, attempting to get Bolo to join the flock and sing the correct song. While they sing "The Alphabet Song," Rosita, Telly, and Maria all chant "Sing! Sing! Sing!" prompting Bolo to lead everyone in a performance of "Sing." |
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Animation | Can you find the birds in this picture? (First: Episode 3514) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bernice Plays Checkers — Ernie is amazed that Bert's pigeon Bernice can play checkers. (First: Episode 1227) |
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Animation | Ten masked dancers are counted in Spanish. Artist: Karen Aqua (First: Episode 3079) cut from the Noggin version |
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Song | "It's a Long Hard Road, But I'm Gonna Get There." (Vocals by Jerry Nelson) (First: Episode 3398) cut from the Noggin version |
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Muppets | Zoe presents the word of the day in her Zoemobile - "STOP." cut from the Noggin version |
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Film | Kids make the city traffic "stop" and "go." (First: Episode 3310) cut from the Noggin version |
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Cartoon | A snake is on, in, under, and stuck in a tree branch. (First: Episode 2967) cut from the Noggin version |
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SCENE 6 | Maria wonders why Bolo keeps singing different songs, so Big Bird communicates bird-to-bird with him. After some back-and-forth squawking, Big Bird explains that Bolo says he's not like some parrots and doesn't just repeat what other people says; he likes to sing what he wants. Rosita politely asks if he wants to sing the alphabet, and this time he makes it all the way through and earns some cheers and applause from the group. |
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Muppets | Elmo's World: Water (First: Episode 3831) |
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SCENE 7 | Bolo announces the sponsors with Telly and Rosita, though he can't help throwing in a "hasenpfeffer" here and there. |
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