Show 10: Passover

Shalom Sesame
Air date	1991
Writer	Louise Gikow
Director	Moti Aviram
Sponsors	pey, tsade, 10

Picture	Segment	Description
	COLD OPEN	On the Aleph-Bet Network, Kippi Ben Kippod announces a block of "Pey TV" programming, celebrating the letter pey (פ), which begins Passover, Pharoah, and pyramids. Due to homonym problems, Moishe Oofnik initially thinks it's "pay TV."
	SCENE 1	In Cooking with Miriam, Miriam (played by Anne Meara) teaches viewers how to make bread. Moishe Oofnik appears as the Pharoah's oofnik, who conveys the message that Pharoah wants the Israelites to leave immediately. Miriam doesn't have time for the bread to rise, and invents matzah.
	Song	The song "Mah Mah Matzah," in Hebrew, praises the joys of consuming matzah.
	Muppets	Kermit the Frog and Anything Muppets perform "African Alphabet."
	Animation	A clay animated segment demonstrates that in Hebrew, flower (perach), cow (parah), and butterfly (parpar) all begin with the letter pey. Artist: Rony Oren
	SCENE 2	Pey TV reporter Peggy Pey (Sarah Jessica Parker) asks one of the traditional four questions, why people eat matzah on Passover. Her interview subjects include Moishe Oofnik, Oscar the Grouch, and a boy.
	Song	The brief song "Don't Pick the Flowers" accompanies film footage of the many flowers indigenous to Israel. Hebrew singing is combined with English dialogue, speaking for the flowers, saying, "Whoever loves me will not pick me."
	SCENE 3	In a commercial break, Alan King appears as the owner of Rega Industries. He explains the Hebrew word rega, meaning "hold on," and proceeds to put all of his callers on hold. The company slogan is "What's the rush?"
	Cartoon	An animated broom and a dustpan clean the house for Passover.
	Film	A video documentary shows how Olga and her brother Igor emigrated from Russia to Israel.
	SCENE 4	The Pey TV movie-of-the-week begins, Jerusalem Jones and the Lost Afikomen. During the seder, Moishe Oofnik hides the afikomen (the piece of matzah hidden for desert), so that the seder cannot continue. Jerusalem Jones (Sarah Jessica Parker) comes to help find the lost afikomen, with assistance from Kippi. Jerusalem is unaware of the history of the seder and Passover, however. Moishe reluctantly gives them a clue, telling them to look in the Haggadah.
	Muppets	Grover sings "Monster in the Mirror."
	Cartoon	"What if a frog and a fly switched places?"
	SCENE 5	As Jerusalem Jones and the Lost Afikomen continues, the Haggadah has transported Jerusalem and Kippi travel back in time. They find themselves in an ancient Egyptian cave, where they meet the Pharoah's Oofnik, who was left bereft by the exodus. He tells them that they are his slaves. They are trapped in the cave, until Kippi says "Open Sesame". She notes that "Sesame is a word that opens a lot of doors where I come from."
	Cartoon	Pinball Number Count #10
	Film	In voice-over, a boy talks about the Red Sea, contrasting its historical significance and present-day status.
	SCENE 6	As Jerusalem Jones and the Lost Afikomen continues, Jerusalem and Kippi find the oldest matzah ball in the world. In a parody of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the matzah ball quivers and threatens to come after the pair, as the entire room crumbles. Suddenly, Kippi and Jerusalem vanish.
	Animation	Clay-animated men say "happy holidays", as flowers fall. Artist: Rony Oren
	Celebrity	Mary Tyler Moore learns to count in Hebrew from a boy names Josh. She struggles a bit, however.
	Muppets	Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats sing "Count It Higher"
	Celebrity	Mary Tyler Moore perseveres, and is finally able to count to 10 in Hebrew.
	SCENE 7	In the conclusion to Jerusalem Jones and the Lost Afikomen, Kippi and Jerusalem Jones find Tutankhamun's crown. They eventually find the afikomen in the pages of the Haggadah.
	SCENE 7 cont'd	In the closing scene, back at the Aleph-bet Network, Oofnik's frogs escape, preparing for Tzadik TV, featuring "Televisia Sha'Tzfardeim (Frog Television)". This highlights the fact that tzadik follows pey in the Hebrew alphabet, and that frogs were one of the plagues that cursed Egypt prior to the Exodus. After signing off, Moishe Oofnik announces the sponsors.

Notes

• The score used during the Jerusalem Jones scenes are lifted from Sesame Street's own Indiana Jones spoof in Episode 2687.

Releases

VHS1991

VHS

DVD2005
Sisu Home Entertainment

See also

• It's Passover, Grover!

Previous episode:	Next episode:
Show 9: Aleph-Bet Telethon	Show 11: Kids Sing Israel