Episode 3866

	Sesame Street
	Telly celebrates Oscar's birthday
Air date	January 24, 2000
Season	Season 31 (2000)
Written by	Sonia Manzano
Production	October 18, 1999
Sponsors	Y, 1
Syndication	123 Sesame Street; PBS Sprout

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	A Grouch postwoman (Alice Dinnean) delivers a letter to Oscar; it's from his mother, wishing him a happy birthday. Telly overhears and wishes to celebrate, but Oscar says he doesn't want a happy birthday like most people enjoy. Telly proposes a "grouchy birthday" instead, but Oscar bets him that not one person on Sesame Street can do something grouchy for his birthday. Telly makes it his goal to prove Oscar wrong.
	Cartoon	An elephant tries to remember Nigel (a cat's) birthday, succeeding after stringing together a series of clues. Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 3806)
	Muppets	Kingston Livingston III sings "A Cat Had a Birthday." (First: Episode 3331) cut from the Noggin version
	Film	Using sign language, a boy reads his poem, "The Hawk." (First: Episode 3806)
	SCENE 2	Maria has written a birthday poem for Oscar. He becomes annoyed at first as it's in Spanish, which he doesn't understand much. Maria reads it and Oscar catches her being nice: the poem contains the words "feliz" and "día," the Spanish words for "happy" and "day." Oscar is surprised by how awful the full message is when translated to English: "Happy greeting to you, irritating Grouch. Have a rotten day from here on out!"
	Muppets / Celebrity	Gloria Estefan and Rosita perform a duet rendition of "Sing," alternating between English and Spanish lyrics. (First: Episode 3841) cut from the Sprout version cut from the Noggin version
	Animation	Pencil box Y / y (First: Episode 3043)
	Film	Jaws spoof with the letter Y. (First: Episode 3323) cut from the Noggin version
	Animation	Y: Yuri, a yellow yak, eats yams and yogurt. (First: Episode 3381)
	SCENE 3	Big Bird (Matt Vogel) presents a grouchy gift to Oscar, which involves holding his beak closed. Telly explains that Big Bird's gift is that he will not bother or say anything to him all day.
	Cartoon	Number Guy sings "How Many Birds Can Fit on This Wire?" One bird provides the answer. (First: Episode 3338)
	Muppets	Monsterpiece Theater: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — A winged number 1 flies over a cuckoo's nest. (First: Episode 2674)
	Cartoon	A girl's mom gives her a 1 from the shelf. "My 1 and only!" Artist: Fred Garbers (First: Episode 3469) cut from the Noggin version
	SCENE 4	Gina secretly gives Oscar a birthday present concealed in a box, and she and Telly hide when Oscar finds it. He admires the ratty box, thinking it's from Grundgetta, and opens it to see what's inside. The gift turns out to be... nothing! Oscar is impressed at such a grouchy gift when Gina reveals that she's the one who thought of it.
	Song	John Pizzarelli sings about feeling "happy and proud" on your birthday. (First: Episode 3421)
	Muppets	Sesame Street Goes to Day Care Big Bird and Veronica say the alphabet. (First: Episode 3806)
	Film	A visual representation of the nursery rhyme "Pat-a-Cake" with Wegman's dogs. (title added) (First: Episode 3467) cut from the Noggin version
	SCENE 5	Alan delivers Oscar the special birthday cake he made: a multi-layer cake made with chicken and mint, with sardine frosting! Oscar laments that it's the same kind of cake his mother used to make.
	Song	"It's Fido's Birthday" - a song about a birthday party for a goldfish. (First: Episode 3609)
	Animation	Characters on a quilt form the letter Y. Artist: Karen Aqua (First: Episode 3381)
	Film	Y for yell, yellow, yodel (First: Episode 3456)
	SCENE 6	Luis, Gabi, and Rosita let Oscar play a game: he tries to crack open a trash can-shaped piñata. He succeeds, and is buried by a pile of small junk pieces, torn newspaper, and fish bones. As much as he enjoys it, Oscar still thinks that at least one person will do something sweet and nice for him, while Telly gives a suspicious-sounding chuckle.
	Song	"We're Talking 'Bout the Number One" (First: Episode 3154)
	Cartoon	Kids count one duck in the pond (First: Episode 3095) cut from the Noggin version
	Muppets	Zoe finds Elmo pretending to be a duck, and he shows her how to act like one. A real duck shows up, and mistakes Zoe for its mama. cut from the Noggin version
	Song	"Papermaking Song" (First: Episode 3563)
	Animation	Stop-motion representation of "Happy Birthday," with balloons, gummi bears, glitter, etc. (First: Episode 3358)
	SCENE 7	Oscar finds everyone (now joined by Bob, Miles, and the Grouchketeers) on the steps of 123 Sesame Street, and thinks that they're going to sing "Happy Birthday to You." Instead, they shout "Grouchy Birthday to You!" Oscar is almost brought to tears and admits that he was wrong; everyone knew how to celebrate a Grouch's birthday properly. Telly then arrives to give him his present: hugs and kisses! He yells for everybody to get away from his trash can, telling the viewer in private, "You know, they're not half bad... for nice people!"
	Muppets	Elmo's World: Dogs (First: Episode 3852)
	SCENE 8	Oscar finishes the cake and announces the sponsors, saying that the best thing about having a birthday is you have to wait a whole year until the next one.