Sesame Street | |||||||
Block party on Sesame Street | |||||||
Air date | November 17, 1969 | ||||||
Season | Season 1 (1969-1970) | ||||||
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Picture | Segment | Description |
---|---|---|
SCENE 1 | Gordon invites the viewer to the block party that's going to be held tonight on Sesame Street. | |
SCENE 2 | Bob sings "One of These Things" while displaying pictures of some strange shapes and thinks of strange names for the shapes. | |
Cartoon | Ten little Greeblies (bug-like creatures) keep getting separated from their group, teaching a lesson in counting backward. | |
Cartoon | A man displays the capital and lowercase A, and explains what an alligator is. | |
Muppets | Ernie and Bert: A-Machine — Ernie invents a machine that makes As, but it doesn't work when it rains. | |
Cartoon | "All right, now that you've eaten everything in sight, would you mind telling me what you plan to have for dessert?" | |
SCENE 3 | Gordon displays some cards with drawings of parts of machines and has the viewer guess what they're parts of. | |
Film | Close-ups of a tomato are shown. Music: Peter Schickele | |
SCENE 3 cont'd |
Gordon asks the viewer how long it took them to figure out that it was a tomato. The tomato film is shown again. | |
SCENE 4 | Susan gives Big Bird a present: an orange and green necktie. She puts it on him, and Gordon gets a mirror so Big Bird can see how the tie looks on him. Big Bird cowers when he sees his reflection for the first time. | |
Cast | Buddy and Jim: Buddy gives Jim a present, which is a mirror, but each one thinks it's a picture of themselves. | |
Film | A group of kids play follow the leader and go over, around and through various obstacles, but one of them takes a while to catch on. (First: Episode 0001) | |
SCENE 5 | At Hooper's Store, Big Bird does Susan a favor by asking Mr. Hooper for four -- but Mr. Hooper doesn't know what he wants four of. Big Bird goes out, then comes back and asks four dinners, which Mr. Hooper thinks is impossible, until he learns that Big Bird got the words "for" and "four" mixed up. This scene marks the first time that Big Bird mispronounces Mr. Hooper's name, calling him "Mr. Tooper." | |
Cartoon | "Jazz #4" | |
Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bert Explains the Number 4 Part 1 — Bert points Ernie to the following film as a hint about what he's holding... | |
Film | Four Song (Song of Four) | |
Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Bert Explains the Number 4 Part 2 — After the film, Ernie identifies Bert's object as a banana cream pie. | |
SCENE 6 | Gordon reads a book, Look At Me by Marguerita Rudolph, about body parts. After reading the book, Gordon points out that one has to know about letters in order to read a book. | |
Cartoon | A man displays the capital and lowercase A, and explains what an alligator is. (repeat) | |
Cartoon | Speech Balloon: A for Ape | |
Cartoon | A boxer explains the letter "B". | |
Cartoon | Speech Balloon: B for Butterfly | |
SCENE 6 cont'd |
Gordon doesn't want to go through the whole alphabet that slowly, so he introduces Burt Lancaster doing it instead. | |
Celebrity | Burt Lancaster says the alphabet. | |
Muppets | Kermit's Lectures: Kermit tries to present a lecture about the letter B, but Cookie Monster eats the bottom of the B and turns it into an R. Kermit talks about the R, but then Cookie Monster snacks some more, and makes it a P. Kermit tries to go on, but the monster keeps eating, making it into an F, and then an I, and then nothing at all. Kermit chides Cookie Monster for ruining his lesson. Cookie Monster gives Kermit a kiss, then exits. | |
SCENE 7 | Gordon plays a (non-singing) "One of These Things" game with tomatoes, shoes, and round things. | |
Film | Four Song (Song of Four) (repeat) | |
Cartoon | "Poverty X": A peanut-shaped figure lists the words that the letter "X" can be found in. | |
SCENE 8 | Susan toils in the kitchen. Gordon comes in with a letter for her, asking her to sing at tonight's block party. Susan comes up with the many excuses why she can't, then changes her mind and leaves for the beauty parlor, leaving Gordon in charge of both dinner and dessert. | |
Cartoon | "All right, now that you've eaten everything in sight, would you mind telling me what you plan to have for dessert?" (repeat) | |
SCENE 9 | Gordon has Bob and Mr. Hooper help him out in the kitchen. Bob leaves, misinterpreting the part of the recipe that says "beat it with a wooden spoon." | |
Cartoon | Speech Balloon: A for Ape (repeat) | |
SCENE 9 cont'd |
Gordon has the other two fetch some garlic, onions and lettuce, put them in a bowl, and toss -- but not like a football! (Silly Bob!) | |
Cartoon | Speech Balloon: B for Butterfly (repeat) | |
SCENE 9 cont'd |
Gordon reads instructions for cooking beans, which say "Soak overnight in cold water." "You'll catch pneumonia," says Mr. Hooper. | |
Film | Five Song (Song of Five) | |
SCENE 9 cont'd |
Susan comes back to find that the men haven't gotten very far in cooking. "Okay, so I can't cook! I'd like to see you teach high school science sometime," Gordon says to her as she leaves. Mr. Hooper asks Gordon what he studied today, and Gordon answers, "Monkeys …" | |
Song | Sesame Street Animal Films: Joe Raposo sings George Gershwin's "Funny Face." | |
Film | "Round": A live-action film set to a lively soundtrack shows circles in every-day life, including Coca-Cola bottle caps, moving wheels, yo-yos, bubbles, and balloons. (First: Episode 0002) | |
SCENE 10 | At twilight, the block party is underway. Tables are set and decked with food and drink, and lanterns align the tops of the buildings. | |
SCENE 10 cont'd |
Gordon walks over to a little Anything Muppet boy, who wonders why everyone's gathered out here tonight. The boy's father answers with a song, "Brotherhood of Man," which the rest of the family joins in singing. | |
SCENE 10 cont'd |
Mr. Hooper announces that Susan is going to sing now. Susan sits on the steps with Eva and sings "Draw Me a Circle" as Eva does so. | |
SCENE 10 cont'd |
Gordon closes the show. Caroll Spinney announces two of the five sponsors (A and 4) and the book read on today's show. | |
CLOSING SIGNS | Gordon and Susan hold up the Sesame Street sign while Cookie Monster holds up the CTW sign. |
Notes[]
- This was the first episode of Sesame Street taped when the series went into production, after five test shows were taped during the summer of 1969.
- Vocal performers for the Anything Muppet family during the block party include Jim Henson (father), Frank Oz (small son, with singing voice by Caroll Spinney), Joe Raposo (Green son), Bob McGrath (Fat Blue son), and Loretta Long (mother).
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