Release Date | 1988 |
Produced by | Random House Home Video |
Catalogue no. | 89885 |
Format | VHS |
The Alphabet Game is a 1988 Sesame Street compilation video released by Random House Home Video under the "My Sesame Street Home Video" label.
Sonny Friendly is the host of "Alphabet Treasure Hunt," a game show where contestants bring in items that start with certain letters of the alphabet. His contestants are Gary Grouch, Dimples the Dog and Big Bird. A video board picks a letter of the alphabet at random, and the contestants must find an item that begins with that letter. When they succeed, a piece of a cookie will light up, and when all three pieces light up, the contestant wins. At random times the board will also pick a number of letters, which then present Sesame Street segments involving those letters.
Segments[]
Image | Segment | Description |
---|---|---|
FRAME 1 | An off-screen announcer (Martin P. Robinson) introduces everybody's favorite game show, Alphabet Treasure Hunt, hosted by Sonny Friendly! He chats with today's contestants: Gary Grouch, Dimples the Dog, and Big Bird, who gives shout-outs to some of his friends. Friendly then explains the rules of the game, which features an electronic letter board that randomly chooses letters. Before the game starts, though, he points out his friend, Kermit the Frog, and leads us to his swamp. | |
Song | "ABC's of the Swamp" with Kermit the Frog (First: Episode 1960) | |
FRAME 2 | The first letter is B. Dimples bites onto Big Bird, not letting him leave the building to find a B item. Gary (who intentionally wants to lose the game) brings in a trash can, which he plans on using to decorate the place. Gary points out that trash can does not begin with B -- but Sonny sees that the can is filled with bugs, which do begin with B! Sonny sees that Dimples "brought in" Big Bird, which begins with B and earns the dog a piece of the cookie. | |
Song | "Dee, Dee, Dee" with Ernie and Cookie Monster (First: Episode 0319) | |
FRAME 3 | The next letter is F -- and once again Dimples bites onto Big Bird, preventing him from finding anything. Big Bird points out that bird doesn't start with F. However, Dimples has pulled off some of Big Bird's feathers, and feathers begins with F. Just as time runs out Gary brings in his lunch, and points out that lunch doesn't start with F. Sonny sees that his lunch is a rotten fish wrapped in newspaper, and since fish does begin with F he is rewarded another piece of the cookie. | |
Cartoon | A mad scientist invents the capital letter H. (First: Episode 0284) | |
Cartoon | "J Folk Jamboree" (First: Episode 0365) | |
FRAME 4 | The final letter is R. Big Bird manages to leave this time and brings in a rabbit (Camille Bonora) -- but Sonny considers it to be a bunny, which does not begin with R. Dimples rests at his podium, and since rest begins with R, he gets one last piece of the cookie. Gary is so angry at getting points by accident that he drills a hole into the ceiling -- but rain falls into the studio, and Gary gets one last piece of the cookie as well. | |
Song | "The Question Song" with Grover and a little girl. (First: Episode 0378) | |
Song | "Sammy the Snake" (First: Episode 0278) | |
Cartoon | Wanda the Witch (First: Episode 0001) | |
FRAME 5 | Before today's winner gets announced, Sonny wants to remind everyone of all 26 letters of the alphabet. The video segues directly into the last segment... | |
Cartoon | Jazz Alphabet: male vocalists shout each letter. (First: Episode 0619) | |
FRAME 6 | Since Gary and Dimples are tied, Sonny asks them a tie-breaker question: "What is the top part of a house called?" and clues them that he's looking for an R word. Gary refuses to answer and leaves, while Dimples barks, which Sonny hears as "roof," and Dimples wins the game! His prize includes a number of dog items, such as doggie cookies and rhinestone studded flea collars, as well as a trip for two to Club Pet in Cancún with the person of his choice. Surprisingly, Dimples chooses Big Bird to accompany him and the two make up. |
Releases[]
Booklet[]
From the original 1988 VHS release.
Cast[]
- Starring Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppets:
Credits[]
- Executive Producer: Jon Stone
- Producer: Sonia Rosario
- Directed by Jon Stone, Jim Henson (archive material)
- Written by Luis Santeiro
- Jerry Juhl, Jeff Moss (archive material)
- Songs by Walt Kraemer, Jeff Moss, Joe Raposo