| Sesame Street | |||||
| Brave Bessie by Brave Gabrielle | |||||
| Air date | May 23, 2024 (HBO Max) November 18, 2024 (PBS) | ||||
| Season | Season 54 (2023-2024) | ||||
| Written by | Monique D. Hall | ||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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COLD OPEN | To introduce today's theme of jobs, Elmo and Big Bird discuss the professions of Alan and Nina. |
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SCENE 1 | Elmo and Gabrielle are discussing their future job aspirations. Elmo wants to be a cook, a teacher, or a cooking teacher and doesn't know which one to choose. Gabrielle suggests he be all three, but Elmo is skeptical, having never met a monster who's done so before. Gabrielle says he could be the first one, just like Gabrielle will be the first African-American woman Formula 1 race car driver. Gabrielle was initially unsure if she could do it, but Grandma Nell assured her she could do whatever she wants, just like Bessie Coleman. Gabrielle explains who Bessie Coleman was to Elmo; she was the very first African-American and Native-American woman to fly an airplane. She shows a picture of Coleman to Elmo, explaining that she was given the nickname "Brave Bessie." To teach Elmo more about Coleman, Gabrielle takes him to the yard... |
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SCENE 1 cont'd | ...in which Gabrielle is putting on a show all about Coleman. Grover arrives with a very heavy chair to watch and reveals Coleman is the reason he became a pilot. In the play, Gabrielle plays Bessie Coleman. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd | Bessie really wants to learn how to fly an airplane (such as one propped up by Tamir), but she is not allowed to (at least according to characters played by Charlie and Ji-Young). Ji-Young's character points out that no one who looks like Bessie has flown a plane before, but Bessie says she's gonna be the first. Grover interjects, saying that it's wrong to treat people differently because of how they look. This leads to a song by Bessie about her aspiration to learn to fly. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd | Bessie is determined to learn to fly, and as such sails all the way to France to find a school that'll teach her. In France, she meets two characters (also played by Charlie and Ji-Young), who agree to let her learn to fly. Bessie is then seen flying a cardboard plane. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd | Bessie declares herself as the first African-American woman and first Native-American woman to fly a plane. She did all kinds of cool tricks (like loop-de-loops and figure-8s) and made sure all the people could see her flying the plane in airshows (especially people who look like her). It didn't matter what she looked like, and she didn't let anyone or anything stop her. When she got back home, she was a hero. She then sings a reprise to finish her show. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd | Elmo, Tango, and Grover loved it! Gabrielle says that just because she's the first person to do something, doesn't mean that she can't do it. She vows to never give up, and gets Elmo to do the same. Elmo's gonna be the first monster cook, teacher, and cooking teacher. |
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Insert | Celebrating Me, Celebrating You, Celebrating Us! Nia shows Jeehoon her poster about a famous first: Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the United States. Nia shares that Obama was born in Hawaii and that he loves dogs and basketball. Jeehoon relates, loving dogs and basketball too. Nia further shares that Obama has had a lot of jobs; he was a teacher, a senator, a writer, and the president. |
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Muppets | Elmo and friends sing and clap as they find out the letter of the day - J. (First: Episode 5305) |
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Celebrity | First lady and teacher Jill Biden teaches Elmo, Abby, and Tamir about all different types of jobs. (First: Episode 5305) |
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Muppets | Elmo and Big Bird hear the sounds of the next segment coming up... (First: Episode 5102) |
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Cartoon | Abby's Amazing Adventures Basket takes Abby and Rudy to an African plain. They pretend they're veterinarians and give a baby elephant a check-up. (First: Episode 4901) |
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Muppets | Elmo and Abby pose as astronauts and sing about finding the number of the day by counting Martians. Today, there are 5. (First: Episode 5002) |
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Cartoon | Dog walker Mei takes five dogs for a walk in the park. |
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Cartoon | Elmo & Tango's Mysterious Mysteries Elmo and Tango go on a walk where they meet Farmer Grover. Grover demonstrates that his straw hat is what makes him a farmer, but a second after he places it down, it disappears. (First: Episode 5224) |
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SCENE 2 | Loving her show, Grover asks Gabrielle to sign his pretzel wrapper. |
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