| Sesame Street | |||||
| Sesame Street Gets Through a Storm | |||||
| Air date | November 9, 2012 (season finale) | ||||
| Season | Season 43 (2012-2013) | ||||
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This episode is compiled from a series of 2001 episodes about the aftermath of a hurricane that hit Sesame Street, and Big Bird coping with the loss of his nest. In place of the regular "What's the Word on the Street?" segment is an introduction by Roscoe Orman. There are no letter or number sponsors, or individual segments from previous broadcasts of the episodes. Aside from the opening and closing sequences, the segments are presented in the original aspect ratio, resulting in the episode being letterboxed.
This episode aired and was uploaded to SesameStreet's YouTube Channel in November 2012 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. It later re-aired in September 2018 after Hurricane Florence.
| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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COLD OPEN | Roscoe Orman recites a message about the emotional effects a natural disaster may have on children and encourages parents to watch the program with their child. |
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SCENE 1 | The episode opens with a view of the human cast sweeping and cleaning outside the day after the hurricane has hit. The camera pans to the stoop of 123 Sesame Street, where Big Bird and Gordon comment on the damage. Big Bird wonders what has happened to his nest. |
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SCENE 1, cont'd | Big Bird walks with Gordon over to his nest. The doors have been blown down, and debris is scattered everywhere, with only Radar and Mr. Hooper's picture left intact. Big Bird mourns the loss of his nest and cries, and Gordon comforts him. "You're right, Big Bird, it's not all right... but it will be all right." |
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SCENE 2 | The scene fades to the human characters congregated in Big Bird's nest, surveying the damage and helping clean it up. Big Bird remains mournful, reminiscing about "my nest, my home." He is assured that his nest can be fixed, but time and effort will be required for that to happen. |
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SCENE 2, cont'd | Snuffy walks by and discusses the hurricane with Big Bird. He is sad about the damage, but happy that the storm couldn't blow away his friends. |
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SCENE 2, cont'd | While sifting through the debris, Maria comes across a large feathered hat. Big Bird lets her know that it isn't his, but an Anything Muppet woman walks by and gratefully claims it as her own. |
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SCENE 2, cont'd | Big Bird says that it is time to sing "The Alphabet Song." Gabi and Miles find Big Bird's alphabet sign, albeit in two pieces. They reassemble it, and everyone sings the song in accompaniment. Snuffy goes home afterwards to get a Snuffle Snack. Big Bird is hungry himself, but cannot go to his nest for a birdseed snack. Fortunately, Alan invites him over to Hooper's to make him a birdseed snack. |
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SCENE 3 | Big Bird explains the day's occurrences indoors to Gordon and Susan. He then moves to the window to see how the work on his nest is progressing, but is disappointed. To feel better, he decides to draw a picture. |
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SCENE 4 | We fade to Big Bird finishing his picture, which depicts himself sitting in his nest. Big Bird remarks that it's like two pictures, "the way it used to be, and the way it's going to be." |
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SCENE 5 | While the cast is fixing Big Bird's nest, Telly comes by prepared for future hurricanes; wearing a raincoat, carrying all sorts of equipment on him, and has devised an "early-warning system" whereby a hurricane is anticipated whenever his pinwheel turns. Gina is skeptical, especially about the fact that Telly is carrying a triangle among his equipment. |
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SCENE 6 | The cast decides to take a break. Big Bird remains emotional: He expresses anger at the hurricane for wrecking his home (yelling back in the process), and is still sad about the damage. Luis and Maria invite him to stay with them for the night. |
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SCENE 6, cont'd | Telly soon walks into the scene, hysterical in anticipation about another hurricane. Gina explains that his "hurricane-detecting" pinwheel moves only because he waves it around, and there is no such storm coming. |
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SCENE 7 | Big Bird reminisces about his nest at Luis' and Maria's dinner table, leading to a flashback to the time when Ernie sung him a lullaby. Luis gets him a hot plate of sunflower seed souffle. |
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SCENE 8 | As Big Bird gets ready for bed, he talks to Luis about more memories they've had, like the time when Luis hatched a baby Honker in his nest. |
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SCENE 9 | After Luis and Maria say their good-nights, Gabi checks on Big Bird to see how he is doing. He sings "That Good Old Nest of Mine," with more flashbacks. He looks forward to creating new memories when his new nest is ready, and they turn out the light. |
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SCENE 10 | Transitioning to the next day in the yard, Snuffy comes along and tells Big Bird that Luis says it's okay to go home. |
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SCENE 10, cont'd | Big Bird complements Luis on the new doors to his nest. They believe it to be strong, but Telly has his doubts. The Big Bad Wolf from Huff, Huff, and Puff Construction comes along to test the doors. They hold up very well, but Telly himself gets blown away. |
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SCENE 10, cont'd | After finishing the touches on the mailbox, Luis and Maria show Big Bird his newly-cleaned and repaired nest area. A new crisis arises, however, when Big Bird notices that there's no nest. Maria and Luis were under the impression that Big Bird would build his nest, but Big Bird reveals he doesn't know how. |
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SCENE 11 | Big Bird thinks it over with Radar. Then, I.M. Pig and his two associates from the architectural firm of Pig, Pig, and Pig approach him, and solicit ideas for a nest. They then suggest variously ambitious ideas while leading themselves in a song, but as Big Bird reasons, "All I Really Want is a Home." |
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SCENE 12 | The three pig architects unveil models of three nests, made respectively out of straws, sticks, and bricks. Two of the models are accidentally blown away. Big Bird is dissatisfied by all of them; out of spite, the pigs suggest that he should have a bird design it, and storm out to build a new structure. Big Bird hits upon the idea of calling up his granny. |
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SCENE 12, cont'd | Big Bird calls up Granny Bird. She offers to fly over and build her grandson a new nest, but cautions that it would take three weeks for her to get there. For building a nest of his own, she offers simple advice: "Get twigs." Afterward, he and Maria leave to do just that. |
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SCENE 13 | After enough material has been gathered, Maria asks Big Bird how to build the nest, but he still doesn't think he knows how. Alan suggests that they simply need to take things one twig at a time, and they all join on in "Twig by Twig." Even Oscar contributes by donating mud. |
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SCENE 14 | Big Bird supervises the construction of his nest, which is nearly complete. He calls up Granny Bird to ask when he should stop building. Her answer: "The final twig." Big Bird leads the cast in a song, and a child promptly finds the twig to use. |
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SCENE 15 | Snuffy has arrived, and the cast hold balloons to celebrate the completion of the nest. Just as Big Bird is about to step into it, however, a whistle blows and the Big Bad Wolf emerges on the spot under the guise of "City Nest Inspector."
He inspects the nest and notes that the mud is still wet. As a consequence he cautions that the nest is unsafe, places a "CLOSED" sign on it, and instructs Big Bird to call him back when the mud dries. |
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SCENE 15, cont'd | Big Bird is upset about the prospect of having to sleep out of his nest for yet another day, when Elmo suggests that Snuffy can help. He takes a deep breath, and with a rush of hot air from his snuffle the nest is soon dry. |
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SCENE 16 | Big Bird telephones the Big Bad Wolf, who is surprised by how quickly he is called to reinspect the nest. After blowing his way in (to the unfortunate consequence of Telly), the wolf declares the nest dry, and his hurricane test confirms its safety and wind resistance. After placing a new "OPEN" sign on the nest, he inquires how they managed to dry the nest so quickly. To answer him Snuffleupagus blows him away, highly impressing the wolf, who invites him to join his line of work. Snuffy declines, saying he has to finish Snufflegarden first. |
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SCENE 16, cont'd | With his nest complete, Big Bird is ready to step in. He notes how everyone's friendship and cooperation helped speed the process dramatically, and sings "I Want to Thank You for Being My Friends." His friends, in turn, are equally thankful back. Big Bird notes that Radar is missing, but fortunately his teddy bear is immediately found and presented to him. With the last complications resolved, Big Bird sits in his nest, thankful to be home. |
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Sponsor | Leslie Carrara-Rudolph announces: "Sesame Street is brought to you by the Rhyming Alliance." (First: Episode 4314) |
Notes[]
- This is the last episode to be numbered in chronological order. Starting with the following episode every episode will be numbered in seasonal order.
External links[]
- Full episode on SesameStreet's YouTube Channel
- "'Sesame Street' to air hurricane special Friday" at EntertainmentWeekly.com
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