Muppet Wiki

READ MORE

Muppet Wiki
Muppet Wiki
50,196
pages
Sesame Street News Flash
First Appearance Episode 0916
Broadcast May 17, 1976
Additional Appearances

Kermit interviews the father of George Washington. Kermit reports that the young George had chopped down his father's cherry tree, but since he told the truth about it, his father did not punish him. Young George Washington continues to chop down cherry trees and say "I cannot tell a lie, I chopped your cherry tree," working in a lesson on subtraction when Kermit asks the father how many trees he has left. The father believes that one day, George will grow out of this tree-chopping phase and make something of himself someday, suggesting "father of our country." Kermit says that the father must be proud of his son, but he says what would make him more proud - if he would stop chopping down cherry trees!

Supporting characters[]

Notes[]

  • Script title: "Washington's Father"
  • The sketch was part of the bicentennial curricular focus for Sesame Street Season 7.
  • Scripted dialogue not used in the final sketch has Washington's father note how George could have said someone else did it. He could have blamed Tommy Jefferson, Benjie Franklin, or "Buttons" Gwinnett (referencing Button Gwinnett, one of the more obscure Founding Fathers who was part of the Georgia delegation at the Second Continental Congress).

Releases[]

Video
Online