Speech Balloon

During the first season of Sesame Street, several animated inserts were produced called Speech Balloon, in which a character says a letter and a word that begins with that letter. The word appears in a word balloon, accompanied by an image.

According to the book Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street, these segments were inspired by the Muppet piece "Visual Thinking" as performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

As part of the show's bilingual project, certain segments also aired on Sesame Street in Spanish.

Season 1 (1969-1970)

Picture	Segment / First	Description
	A - Ape Episode 0006	An ape appears with a menacing expression. Later, the ape wears a wig and plays "Tiptoe Through the Tulips"' on his ukulele.
	B - Butterfly Episode 0006	A man catches a butterfly in a net, only to find himself captured into another net.
	C - Cat Episode 0029	After a dog trots into the balloon, a cat angrily boots him out. Also in Spanish (gato).
	D - Dog Episode 0016	The roles between dog and master are reversed. Included in Sesame Street Test Show 1.
	E - Egg Episode 0002	A cow hatches a chick, which says, "Moo."
	F - Fly Episode 0032	A man attempts to dislodge a fly with a swatter, but ends up smacking himself in the face instead.
	G - Gorilla Episode 0085	A man appears instead of a gorilla, but then he unzips his costume, revealing himself to be a gorilla, which growls. Video: Learning About Letters
	H - Hole Episode 0080	A boy gets a pie in the face when he looks out of his speech balloon.
	I - Ice cream Episode 0033	An ice cream scoop scoops up a bowl of ice cream, runs away with the ice cream container leaving ice cream on the boy's face.
	J - Jam Episode 0012	A little boy gets jam poured all over him from within the balloon. But he doesn't mind -- it's strawberry, his favorite flavor.
	K - Key Episode 0040	A man puts a key into a keyhole, but instead of just opening a door, he opens the entire front of his house. His wife calls to him from the bathtub, "Close the house, Leonard!" Video: Learning About Letters
	L - Lunchbox Episode 0031	When the box is opened, a jack-in-the-box head pops out.
	M - Mailbox Episode 0013	A hand reaches out of the mailbox, attaches a stamp to the man's forehead, and pulls him into the box. Online: (YouTube)
	N - Nail Episode 0040	A man pulls a nail out of his speech balloon which deflates.
	O - Open Episode 0014	After the man steps into the bubble through a door on the side, the bubble slams shut and cannot be opened. Also in Spanish (abierto).
	P - Pin Episode 0054	An abstract woman pushes a pin into her balloon, bursting it.
	R - Rabbit Episode 0014	A stage magician looks humiliated as a rabbit pulls him from a gigantic top hat.
	S - Snake Episode 0063	A snake charmer plays a tune on his recorder; the snake doesn't enjoy the tune and decides to play another tune on the recorder. Also in Spanish (serpiente).
	T - Train Episode 0022	A railroad engineer catches a ride on a train. Also in Spanish (tren).
	U - Umbrella Episode 0046	A gust of wind fills a woman's umbrella, pulling her upward through the top of the balloon.
	V - Violin Episode 0052	A musician plays a violin, which makes a sawing noise and instantly breaks in two.
	W - Water Episode 0062	A man's speech balloon becomes a water cooler. He attaches a faucet to the speech balloon and climbs up to the balloon and gets water in the face.
	X - X-Ray Episode 0064	A bald man steps behind an x-ray machine. When he steps out, his whole mid-section is gone!
	Y - Yo-Yo Episode 0036	After snipping a boy's yo-yo with scissors, a man becomes the boy's makeshift yo-yo.
	Z - Zipper Episode 0025	The balloon unzips and falls onto the speaker.

Later Seasons

Picture	Segment / EKA	Description
	A - Agua Episode 0510	The Spanish version of "W - Water". Video: El Alfabeto de Montoya
	B - Bug Episode 0137	A woman sprays an insect, which fights back with a cannon.
	C - Cap Episode 0153	A man puts on an oversized cap.
	C - Carrot Episode 0203	A gigantic rabbit eats a man's speech balloon.
	C - Cowboy Episode 0703	A cowboy strings up his identical twin.
	E - End Episode 0460	A man falls off of the end of his rope.
	H - Horse Episode 0474	The horse rides on the cowboy.
	I - Iron Episode 0314	An iron irons the word.
	I - Island Episode 0314	A man discovers that he is standing on the head of a crocodile.
	L - Light Episode 0147	A man turns on a light, interrupting another man's sleep. Also in Spanish (luz).
	L - Lips Episode 0198	A large pair of lips smooches a man.
	L - Loud Episode 0783	A man complains that a musician's muted trumpet isn't loud enough; the musician retaliates with a deafening honk on his instrument ("Now that's loud!")
	P - Pack Episode 0504	A woman (inside the speech balloon) packs a suitcase and packs her husband in the suitcase, too.
	Q - Quiet Episode 0675	A man yells for a woodpecker chopping a tree to be quiet. The tree then falls down on the man.
	S - Sing Episode 0824	A woman puts her hat down on an off-key man.
	U - Up Episode 0650	Two men demonstrate "up" on a teeter totter; one man ends up crashing through the ceiling.
	W - Wash Episode 0485	A man watches a woman (inside the speech balloon) hand-wash and hang clothes; she ends by grabbing the man, washing and hanging his clothes while he's still wearing them.