Episode 3845

Sesame Street
A garden on Sesame Street
Air date	April 9, 1999
Season	Season 30 (1998-1999)
Written by	Tony Geiss
Directed by Ken Diego Production January 5 & 6, 1999 Sponsors O, 4 Syndication 123 Sesame Street PBS Sprout

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	In the yard, Elmo shows Maria the book he wrote with Big Bird, Gabi and two kids. Maria agrees to read it to them (and the viewer), and Elmo reveals that there's a surprise at the end. Maria starts by reading the front cover of the book, then begins reading the story of "How They Built a Garden on Sesame Street."
	SCENE 1 cont'd	In the story, Gordon tries to read a story to Big Bird, Elmo, Baby Bear and the two kids, but are bothered by Oscar's elephant, Fluffy, who is tap-dancing so loudly that they get easily distracted. Fluffy does the old soft-shoe, which sounds much better to them, but then Biff and Sully show up and start their loud construction work. Big Bird wishes that Sesame Street had a tiny, quiet garden.
	SCENE 1 cont'd	Just then, The Amazing Mumford appears.
	Cartoon	Jerry Nelson sings "In My Book." (First: Episode 2983)
	Muppets	Ernie's Show and Tell Sankarj shows Ernie his book about dinosaurs.
	Animation	A girl reads a book, a magazine, a newspaper, and a letter. (First: Episode 3142)
	SCENE 2	Maria continues reading the story ...
	SCENE 2 cont'd	... in which The Amazing Mumford uses magic to make a picture of a garden, which only the group can make if they all cooperate and work together to clear out all the trash in the patch of land behind the fence ("I'm a magician, not a contractor!"). Before Mumford leaves, he gives them his website URL, www.alapeanutbuttersandwiches.com. They look behind the fence, and are disgusted by the big mess they see (except for Oscar, who thinks it's perfect).
	Song	"Litter Rap" (First: Episode 2646)
	Muppets	Ernie and Rubber Duckie introduce the letter of the day. (First: Episode 3813)
	Cartoon	O for open, off, owl, ocean (First: Episode 3091)
	Animation	Fans reveal the letter O. (First: Episode 2905)
	Animation	Planting Letters: O (First: Episode 3010)
	SCENE 3	Maria is now at the part of the story where Oscar agrees to give the group some building supplies, in exchange for the trash at the back of the fence.
	SCENE 3 cont'd	As they gather trash, Gordon leads them in singing "Great Big Beautiful World." Gina, Zoe and Telly have joined them by now.
	SCENE 3 cont'd	After the song is done and all the trash is collected, Gina remembers that there was a great big rock underneath it all, and they're not quite sure how to remove such a heavy thing from the area ...
	Cartoon	Two men push two large bird eggs on top of two hills. (First: Episode 0773)
	Celebrity	Ray Charles sings the Alphabet Song, and various celebrities join in, including Michael Jeter, Patrick Stewart, Tony Bennett, Shari Lewis, Lamb Chop, Harry Belafonte, Grover, David Robinson, and Ellen DeGeneres. (First: Episode 3526)
	Muppets	Ernie asks Rubber Duckie what he wants to see next. (First: Episode 3786)
	Film	In sign language, a boy reads his poem, "My Tree." cut from the Max version
	SCENE 4	Maria continues reading the story ...
	SCENE 4 cont'd	The group is now faced with a challenge: how do they move the rock? They all try to pull it with a rope, but none of them are strong enough. Herry Monster on the other hand, is stronger than all of them, and is willing to lend a helping hand. They can't decide where to put the rock, so they let him have it ("It'll look great in my mommy's rock garden.").
	SCENE 4 cont'd	Maria gets to the part where Snuffy offers to help them make a stone floor, but first he has to get his grass skirt ...
	Cartoon	Leanna Williams tells a story of how she traveled to Hawaii and bought a Hawaiian shirt. Artist: ArtistMike (First: Episode 2745)
	Muppets	Ernie and Rubber Duckie introduce the number of the day. (First: Episode 3786)
	Cartoon	The Quadratic Equations (from the Lunar Lounge) sing about 4 and their four heads. (First: Episode 3712) cut from the Max version
	Film	Four Chinese acrobats do stunts with giant spools.
	Cartoon	Four construction workers build a number 4. (new music added) (First: Episode 0507)
	SCENE 5	Maria continues where she left off ...
	SCENE 5 cont'd	... which is the part where Snuffy dances the famous Hawaiian "floor installation hula" dance, which helps put the stones further into the ground, making it nice and flat.
	SCENE 5 cont'd	Maria has reached the part where the group assembles the garden together, and Elmo reminds us of the surprise at the end ...
	Film	Some kids talk about a garden they have in the middle of the city. (First: Episode 2889)
	Muppets	Even though Rubber Duckie didn't like the previous segment, he doesn't have to like everything.
	Animation	Sand O/o (First: Episode 0621)
	Film	A gymnast twirls ribbons to form the letter O. (First: Episode 3136)
	Animation	Characters on a quilt form the letter O. Artist: Karen Aqua (First: Episode 3375)
	Muppets	Grover sells long and short hot dogs at the park. Mr. Johnson wants a hot dog, but Grover finds that he is out of both long and short hot dogs. To solve this, he switches clothes with Mr. Johnson.
	Cartoon	Christopher Clumsy jumps over a hole and says that he fooled the viewer. He then walks into a wall. (First: Episode 0439)
	Muppets / Cast	Ruthie and some Anything Muppets sing "The Sneeze Song."
	Animation	A girl plays in, on and under a sculpture. (First: Episode 2898)
	SCENE 6	Maria is almost finished with the story. By now, everyone is so glad to have their new garden, and Elmo wishes that everyone on Sesame Street could see it. Mumford poofs into view again, and is amazed at the amount of hard work they've all done, which he considers magic. They all reprise the "Beautiful World" song and congratulate each other.
	SCENE 6 cont'd	At the end of the story, Gordon is now ready to read a story to Big Bird, Elmo and the kids, but first they want to write their own story about how they built the garden ... which is the very story that Maria has just finished reading in the garden. They also reveal the surprise is that they're now in the newly-built garden. Elmo then runs off to feed Dorothy...
	Muppets	Elmo's World: Books (First: Episode 3817)
	SCENE 7	In the garden, Gordon makes sure there is no noise around, and finally reads the story to the group. Maria announces the sponsors, and the credits follow.

Notes

Concept art of the new garden

• The episode was originally suggested to serve as the season premiere.

• Some concepts and scenes present in the original script draft include:
  • The framing storybook scenes included some of the other Muppets (including Telly, Baby Bear, Zoe, Rosita, and Snuffy), who share writing credit for the book.
  • In addition to Oscar and Sully's distractions, a pair of human movers would disrupt the gang, having to pass through the stoop to make a delivery to 123 Sesame Street.
  • Mumford's first attempts at granting Big Bird's wish involve poofing up a small patch of grass, then various jungle plants.
  • Stinky the Stinkweed is present throughout the flashbacks, insisting on having a proper place for plants (so he no longer has to live at a hotel). After a scene in which he directs the construction of the boxes, he is dismayed to find himself planted between a pair of baby shrubs, who he cannot relate to. His Fairy Garden-Mother is summoned and she magically grows up all the plant life in the space (with an "A la pussy-willow sandwiches!"). She then leads everyone in a reprise of "Great Big Beautiful World." Stinky is also the one to announce the sponsors at the end of the episode (to the confusion of his dirt-mates).
  • Some additional humans were present as well, including Susan, Tarah, and Bob (who would get to sing the bridge of "Great Big Beautiful World").
  • Snuffy is the first to try and move the giant rock, which even he can't do. When Herry starts to carry it away, he trips and drops the rock on Oscar's trash can, flattening it completely. Everyone worries about the fate of Oscar, who pulls up moments later in the Sloppy Jalopy with the various supplies they need to transform the space (procured from the Dump of America).

• The story Gordon was reading to his friends is The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

• This episode marks one of Biff and Sully's last appearances until making a non-speaking cameo in Episode 4204.

• The music that is played during Snuffy's hula dance was first used in Episode 3295 during his hula performance for the Snuffleupagus-American Day parade.

Sources

Previous episode:	Next episode:
Episode 3844	Episode 3846