Welcome to Muppet Wiki!
| Sesame Street | |||||||||
| Telly reports on nursery rhymes | |||||||||
| Air date | May 6, 1988 | ||||||||
| Season | Season 19 (1987-1988) | ||||||||
| Written by | Christian Clark | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
SCENE 1 | Gordon goes through his mail and shows Snuffy a letter addressed to him from Grover, who's currently working as a camp counselor. Gordon reads the letter, which recounts a "highly unusual" experience Grover had with his campers... |
 |
Muppets | Camp Wannagohoma: Grover tries to show the campers what is alive in the forest, but they keep correcting him. (First: Episode 1791) The segment is edited to remove the "Camp Wannagohoma" opening and cuts back after Grover says "I guess rest period’s over." |
 |
SCENE 1 cont'd | Gordon continues reading as he presents Snuffy a gift that Grover sent with the letter: an official "Camp Wannagohoma" table cloth to use as a handkerchief. Snuffy tries it out and blows his snuffle into it, visibly jarring Gordon. |
 |
Cartoon | Two kids want to use their empty box as a pretend submarine or airplane. They agree to imagine it's a rocketship. Artist: Cordell Barker (First: Episode 2369) |
 |
Song | "Mom and Me" (First: Episode 2462) |
 |
Muppets | Forgetful Jones forgets what he has to do at night. Clementine tells him it involves using a toothbrush, and he remembers that he and Buster the Horse have to brush each other's teeth. Remade version (First: Episode 2068) |
 |
Animation | Seis flores (First: Episode 1591) |
 |
Insert | Big Bird recounts his trip to the circus to Barkley (who doesn't pay much attention). Big Bird was especially enamored by the lion tamer and imagines himself in such a role, with Barkley as his trained animal. Back in reality, Big Bird tries getting Barkley to do some tricks, but he just lays on the ground instead. (First: Episode 1259) |
 |
Film | Joe Raposo sings "Look a Little Closer". The object is a tire. (First: Episode 0147) |
 |
Cartoon | D for danger, dragon, doctor, dinner, and dessert (First: Episode 2235) |
 |
Celebrity | Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing the African Alphabet Song. (First: Episode 2431) |
 |
Cartoon | A bird displays the front and back of a turtle. (First: Episode 0789) |
 |
Muppets | Monsterpiece Theater: Gone with the Wind — Kermit and Ms. Scarlett demonstrate subtraction. (First: Episode 2410) |
 |
Cartoon | A cat makes noise with a telephone, typwriter, trumpet, and piano. When the cat leaves, the devices come to life, and when he comes back, they all sound at once, frightening the cat. (First: Episode 0844) |
 |
Song | David sings "Just Ask" with Susan, Maria, and Olivia on backup. (First: Episode 1909) |
 |
Film | D is a very useful letter -- there are animals, jobs, and hobbies that begin with D. (First: Episode 0367) |
 |
Film | A girl wants to learn a playground rhyme after watching some other girls do it, so one of them teaches her. (First: Episode 2284) |
 |
Cartoon | A goose and gander visit the land of the G's. Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 1141) |
 |
Muppets | Ernie & Bert — Ernie tells Bert about his so-called "boring" day at the zoo. (First: Episode 0020) |
 |
Cartoon | "Pinball Number Count" #6 Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0983) |
|
Insert | R2-D2 falls in love with a fire hydrant. (First: Episode 1396) |
 |
Cartoon | A clam tells a fisherman why he's not catching any fish: he pulled all the plants out of the pond. (First: Episode 0408) |
 |
Song | Joe Raposo sings "Hippopotamus Round." (First: Episode 0413) |
 |
Cartoon | Workmen construct a D building, filled with everything that begins with D. (First: Episode 0406) |
  |
SCENE 2 | Partway through the D cartoon, a voiceover (Martin P. Robinson) announces a Monster on the Spot segment with Telly Monster, who reports on the absence of the spider from "Little Miss Muffet." Miss Muffet claims that the spider is always late and can never remember his appointments. She leaves in a huff, and soon after, the French-accented spider arrives, exhausted from a late night building a web. Luis resolves this problem by revising the rhyme to:
As such, the preceding segment resumes. |
 |
Song | Joe Raposo sings "Everybody Eats." (First: Episode 0407) |
 |
Cartoon | A honking orange ball follows signs to the EXIT. (First: Episode 1879) |
 |
Muppets | The Two-Headed Monster acts out different feelings. (First: Episode 1982) |
 |
Cartoon | A gorilla who knows G words applies for a job. (First: Episode 0131) |
  |
SCENE 3 | The G film is interrupted by another Monster on the Spot report from Telly. He interviews the mouse from "Hickory Dickory Dock," who's ready to run up the clock just like in the rhyme. However, Telly accidentally breaks the clock, and the mouse protests that he can't run up a broken clock ("It's against nursery rhyme union rules!"). The mouse angrily exits, and Luis helps Telly again by changing the rhyme:
Telly thanks Luis and says he should consider a job in the news business, and the previous film concludes. |
 |
Film | A baker decorates a birthday cake to a jazz percussion beat. (First: Episode 1172) |
 |
Cartoon | "Angry Annie": A small girl vents her rage at the world, frustrated by the problems of everyday life, until her younger brother offers her part of his orange. Artist: John Korty (First: Episode 2087) |
 |
Muppets | Herry Monster looks for a triangle. He first spots a rectangle. Grover tells Herry it isn't a triangle, and becomes frustrated. Next he spots a square, Grover tells him it isn't a triangle, and once again is frustrated. Grover suggests that Herry should cut the square in half and make two triangles. (First: Episode 0195) |
 |
Cartoon | A rolling circle becomes a square, then a triangle, and various other shapes. (First: Episode 1465) |
  |
SCENE 4 | Telly gives yet another Monster on the Spot report on Mary and her little lamb. After Telly recites the usual rhyme, the lamb takes the opportunity to promote his autobiography, titled Mary Had a Little Lamb... The Continuing Story. His story picks up right after the rhyme, where he professes that he wants to go to school and become an educated lamb. He graduates, becomes an author and, in his spare time, meets up with Mary for lunch. As Telly wraps up, the lamb (who reveals his real name to be "William F. Lamby") gives away some copies of his book and offers to autograph them. The news announcer reads the sponsors, and the credits roll. |
Notes[]
- Additional performers include Camille Bonora (Little Miss Muffet and Mary), Richard Hunt (spider), and David Rudman (mouse).
- During scene 4, Luis claims that Telly didn't interrupt the final insert as he has been doing throughout the episode. This is incorrect, as the animation was cut short for this episode, and has been shown in full for its other airings.
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 2479 | Episode 2481 |