Episode list

As the show's seventh season begins, Mr. Snuffleupagus walks down the street, counting the people who fail to glimpse him (yet again). He counts ten in all. Later on, a journalist visits the street with the scoop on Snuffy, coming up with a few rhyming headlines in the process. Sesame Street is brought to you today by the number two and the letter P. Meanwhile, a cow dog sings a song about his job, while practical joker Harvey Kneeslapper is up to another of his tricks, this one involving a pogo stick. Kermit reports on yet another fast-breaking news story, this one involving the putting together of Humpty Dumpty. Judy Collins sings about the life of a fisherman, and Herry and his friend John-John demonstrate the difference between loud and soft. There are a few memorable cartoons in this as well. A boy talks about the "zoo" inside of him, an old woman sets up a picnic of P foods, unaware of the activity displayed by the ants, and a disembodied hand draws a telephone booth, which a man doesn't reach in time to answer the ringing phone.

Upon hearing a speech from the president on the radio, Big Bird is inspired and considers becoming chief executive himself. His friends, however, give him second thoughts when they show him what the job is really like.

On her way home from work, Susan encounters The Count who's having trouble speaking. She inspects his throat and reiterates what his doctor has already told him, but figures out that without his voice, he's also having trouble counting. Susan offers him her notebook, which he uses to write down numbers, one on each page which he tears out for her.

Big Bird gathers a bag of cabbages for a visit from Mr. Snuffleupagus today. Luis, Susan, and Gordon don't believe him as usual. When Snuffy arrives at Big Bird's nest, he jumps for joy upon seeing the cabbages. This shakes the whole street, rattling the adults. As Snuffy eats, he asks for some pepper, which causes him to sneeze. This sends a large gust down the block, making everyone else think a storm is forming. Snuffy heads home and Big Bird finds the adults cowering in the doorframe. They tell him about the storm and Big Bird remarks, "You guys sure have some imagination!"

Big Bird has been told to wake up Luis in the Fix-It Shop, but he's busy practicing bird calls, so he asks Herry Monster to do it. Just before Herry knocks on the door, he realizes his strength could accidentally put a hole in the door. He considers other items he could use to knock with a leaf, which is too light, then a tomato (which could make a mess). Herry leans against the door and sobs that he's failed. This wakes up Luis, who thanks Herry for his helpfulness. Herry goes to tell Big Bird about what he's done, knocking his front door off the hinges in the process. "I'm six years old today!"

Oscar the Grouch decides to train some kids to be Grouches. The kids have a lot of fun yelling, which makes Oscar happy, until the adults join in the commotion, and no one pays attention to him. "Imagination V" -- A surreal segment involving the Venus de Milo statue, a violin, a vampire, and vigilantes. Artist: Jeff Hale. Hippos. Music: Joe Raposo. Cookie Monster introduces the word "AMOR". What if a turtle and rabbit switched appearances?

Buffy walks down the length of Sesame Street wearing a backpack. She takes her time, stopping to push a kid on the tire swing in the arbor and taking in her surroundings. She stops to rest at Oscar's trash can, leaning on some crates, when Oscar the Grouch pops up demanding to know what's going on. Buffy explains that she doesn't have any friends around here, she likes being alone sometimes, and that she was a rotten kid. Oscar tells her they could be pals and introduces himself, extending a hand with an unwelcome to Sesame Street. Cookie Monster and Ernie: Ernie and Cookie Monster discuss hope. Ernie has something in a brown paper bag, and asks Cookie Monster what he hopes it is. Cookie Monster hopes that it is a cookie. It turns out that Ernie has ten cookies in the bag.

David encounters Big Bird carrying a bag with a bowling ball. There are ten bowling pins set up outside of Hooper's Store, and David realizes in horror that Big Bird is rolling the ball towards the store. The ball knocks down seven of the pins, but also several items inside Hooper's. Madrigal Alphabet and Artist: Jeff Hale. Time-lapse of seeds growing. Music: Joe Raposo. Scanimate kids intro and Muppet and Kid Moment featuring, Ernie and the kids play a hand-clapping game.

David sits down with Cookie Monster to show everyone what he loves to do with cookies. Cookie responds with counting cookies, stacking cookies, and various other activities, before revealing that he loves to tease David - and proceeds to eat the cookies. Jasper thinks that he has lost his elbow, but Julius shows him his elbow by bending his arm. Artist: Cliff Roberts.

Herry Monster shows Oscar the brick tower he's built, which is in the middle of the street, blocking the steps of the 123 building. Oscar doesn't like the nice gesture at first, but changes his mind when he sees David and Maria nearly injure themselves when they pass the tower. Noticing that they yell at Herry just like they yell at him, he comes to Herry's defense when they yell at Herry, then tells Herry they're going to be real Grouch pals. At the beach, the Bee Bee and the Barker family greet each other while saying their names that begin with the letter B. Artist: Bruce Cayard. Twin Anything Muppets find they're identical, except for their voices. Big Daniel Boone looks for a bear. Artist: Bruce Cayard. Song: "Here Come the Beans".

Mr. Snuffleupagus describes his friend the Wheelermonster to Big Bird who draws it on an easel. When Luis comes by, Big Bird explains to him that he thinks the Wheelermonster is Snuffy's imaginary friend. Grover asks Frazzle about his day, and Frazzle responds with growls to demonstrate how he felt.

Maria holds up a "NO" sign because it's Oscar's favorite word, and she's going to get him to say it. Instead, he says "Yes" to drive Maria crazy. A man chases a runaway "no." Herry Monster holds a sign with the word "NO" on it and tells Ernie that he can make him read his sign. Ernie replies "Oh no you can't!", and eventually gets the joke. He tries it on Bert, but the gag backfires when Bert bets he can get Ernie to read the sign. A mouse tries looking for his pet, describing to his friend what they did yesterday.

Sam the Robot greets Susan and the kids, asking how they're feeling. After a beat, he expects to be asked how he's feeling, but Susan says machines don't have feelings. To prove her wrong, Sam laughs, but he gets stuck laughing. Maria, Big Bird and Mr. Hooper pass by, and start laughing as well. Finally, Sam blows a gasket and stops laughing, then offers to demonstrate crying. A man (voiced by Jack Dodson) describes places that begin with U and what you can do with the letter U.

Oscar has set up a toll booth near his trash can; everybody's supposed to pay a jar of mud before he lets them go through. Maria warns him that he'll have to manually lift the arm, which he does, since everyone has a jar of mud to give him when they want to cross. "Poverty H". Harvey Kneeslapper is bouncing on a pogo stick. He asks a man if he'd like to try it, and the man replies, "I'd love to!" Harvey then slaps a big number 2 on the man's chest. Oscar, worn out from pulling the toll arm, decides to hire David as a toll taker, Jay as a mud storage supervisor, Maria as a policewoman to make sure everyone pays who crosses, and Luis as a repairman to fix the arm. Oscar then decides he'd rather dig some mud by himself, and closes the booth.

Luis gets a call from relatives in New Mexico where he grew up, asking him to come back to help build a house. Luis agrees, and Big Bird, Maria, Bob, Gordon, and Oscar accompany him. The Count excitedly counts the six people going.

The gang arrives in New Mexico and meets Luis's family. They learn how to make houses of bricks and mud and the creative ways they recycle. Big Bird makes friends with the animals on the farm- and calls Hooper's so his new friends can say hi to his old ones.

This morning in New Mexico, Oscar, after trying unsuccessfully to settle in a brick oven, relaxes in a compost heap to be surrounded by rot. Also, the Count calls the house multiple times- just to count the long distance calls.

Buffy stops by the New Mexico ranch, and tells Maria that she's heading out to Taos Pueblo. Maria offers to take her there in the pickup truck. Big Bird says that he'd like to come along, although he doesn't know what a pueblo is. Maria explains that it's a town where Indians live, and Big Bird likes the idea at first, but then becomes frightened. Buffy drives Maria and Big Bird to the pueblo. Along the way, she sings "I'm an Indian." When they arrive at the pueblo, Maria confesses to Buffy that she's worried about intruding in the community or making a mistake. It must be easier for Buffy because these are her people. Buffy explains that she's a Cree Indian, from Canada. There are about 300 different kinds of Indians, all with their own languages and customs. They're all visitors together. Buffy introduces Maria and Big Bird to her friends. Big Bird instantly makes friends with the kids, and holds a little girl's hand. Poem about T words, and voice: Bob Arbogast.

Big Bird finds out that everybody on the New Mexico ranch gets up early because they have work to do. He tries out the chicken feed that a woman is throwing to the chickens, and says it's pretty good. Big Bird wanders around, and finds Gordon and some kids feeding alfalfa to a bunny. He then walks over to Maria and Roberta, and they show him how they make adobe bricks. Then he passes by Bob building a window. Oscar is tending to his morning chores, too -- helping Señor Romo feed slops to the pigs. Capital I, he's quite a guy. Old West: A cowboy who needs a dentist comes to see Adam T. Glaser, who is such a jack-of-all-trades that he forgets what a dentist does.

At Hooper's Store, David welcomes the viewer, wondering out loud when Maria will return from New Mexico. She sneaks up on him and covers his eyes, and the two have a happy reunion. She recalls the fun she had, adding that there was just one thing missing: David. O for orange; Artist: Bruce Cayard. Bert tells Ernie not to eat cookies in bed, because he might get crumbs in the bed. Ernie decides to eat cookies in Bert's bed instead.

Herry Monster tries to get the attention of Gordon, Luis and Susan by lifting a barbell, but they're busy, and besides, they've seen him do that already. He tries lifting the 123 building, but fails. He breaks down in tears, thinking no one will like him if he can't lift heavy things. Luis and Susan reassure him that he would be liked even if he could only lift a feather. Gordon arrives, having just fixed a tricycle, and Herry gives him the same speech. C is for clipper - and captain, crew, cargo, cookies, cantaloupe, cabbage, candy, cake, and corks that the crew eats (some by mistake). A girl narrates a film of her grandpa putting a horseshoe on their horse. Ernie approaches Bert in a harried manner, talking rapidly. Bert tells him to talk slower so he can understand him. Ernie says, slowly, that Bert's bread is burning in the oven, which causes Bert to speak in the same rapid, harried manner.

Little Jerry and the Monotones sing "Telephone Rock." D is a very useful letter -- there are animals, jobs and hobbies that begin with D. Kermit's Lectures: Kermit counts four eggs. A chick hatches out of one egg, so he counts the three eggs -- then two, then one. Then he counts the four chickens. D-dart. David opens Hooper's Store late after a morning of everything going wrong and breaks some glass when he gets inside. When Maria stops by to say hello, David snaps at her, and she turns to leave. Realizing his temper has gotten the better of him, he apologizes and rambles on in apology. Maria kisses him to shut him up. Scanimate kids intro.

Oscar the Grouch paints a sign in which all the words are pushed together ("GOAWAYLEAVEMEALONE"). Gordon, Susan, Bob and Mr. Hooper each annoy Oscar when they give their opinions about how the sign should look. Sand Y/y. Super Grover tries to stop a fight between Sammy and Frankie, who are fighting over an apple. Donnie Budd sings about three trios of animals who live on a fat lady's lap. Artist: Bud Luckey. Three Ball Film: A red ball follows a rollercoaster-like track through checkpoints (each, a set of three) that are counted in voiceover. At the end, the ball turns into a cherry which is devoured by a girl.

At Hooper's Store, Luis accidentally spills grape juice all over his shirt. Noticing this, Herry Monster tries to cheer him up by giving him a slap on the back, but Luis reacts angrily to this and storms off. Bob and Maria notice Herry starting to cry, but he denies it. They reassure him that it's okay to cry, that even grownups cry, so Herry lets it all out. The letter X. Herry, holding an ice cream cone, now feels mad at Luis. Luis comes over and apologizes to Herry for yelling at him, then they shake hands and make up, but in doing so, Herry spills his ice cream on Luis' shirt. People of all ages ride bicycles. Music: Joe Raposo.

In the arbor, a bespectacled monster wearing a hat reads a letter from his brother Herry Monster who has invited him to visit on Sesame Street. The letter is addressed to Jerry who explains that he's not much like his brother, except in the way he looks. Indeed, a number of locals mistake him for Herry, and ask Jerry to assist in activities that his much stronger brother could handle with ease. Gordon asks him to lift a large crate onto a wagon, Maria asks him to cheer on the kids with his loud voice, and Luis wants him to chop a plank in half with his bare hand. Jerry laments over everyone expecting him to act like his brother, insisting instead that he's not Herry, "I'm me!" Donnie Budd sings about animals in groups of five on a farm. Artist: Bud Luckey.

Mr. Hooper accuses Oscar of littering all over Sesame Street, but he later apologizes when Oscar tells him the story of how the Street actually got dirty: David gave him a bag of rusty cans, then spilled them as he rushed over to the phone; Maria gave him a box of dirt which broke at the bottom, then rushed off to fetch a shovel; Gordon left his newspapers and trash by Oscar's can while he tended to his roast in the oven. Back in the present, when Maria and Gordon and David arrive to clean up their messes, Mr. Hooper realizes his assumption was wrong. R is for Rooster, Robber, and Rake - Artist: Fred Calvert. Mr. Hooper accuses Oscar of littering all over Sesame Street, but he later apologizes when Oscar tells him the story of how the Street actually got dirty: David gave him a bag of rusty cans, then spilled them as he rushed over to the phone; Maria gave him a box of dirt which broke at the bottom, then rushed off to fetch a shovel; Gordon left his newspapers and trash by Oscar's can while he tended to his roast in the oven. Back in the present, when Maria and Gordon and David arrive to clean up their messes, Mr. Hooper realizes his assumption was wrong. R is for Rooster, Robber, and Rake.

Mr. Hooper is getting a check up at the hospital.

Count von Count plans to count all the people going into Hooper's Store. Since it's lunchtime, he assumes there will be many. However, everyone passing by (Big Bird, Bob and the kids) have other plans. The Count shifts gears and plans to count people not going into Hooper's. Maria defies this when she has to run errands inside the store. Two kids find different uses for a cooking pot. Joe's Lap (limerick). Baby animals nurse. Music by Joe Raposo. On a snowy day, a cold man desires firewood. He carries a huge log up the hill multiple times, but it rolls down each time. Using his "wits", he pushes his house down to the bottom of the hill to be closer to the giant log.

The Count counts early in the morning. Gordon and Maria both warn him not to wake everyone up, so he tries counting more quietly - but his thunderclaps wake everybody up. A letter "P" sits on an island before a rotating sunset. The ridges of the letter "P" moves along the letter and flash in different colors. A boy paints a picture of a porcupine on glass. P is for Pillow . The Twiddlebugs get a new postage stamp portrait of George Washington, but have trouble getting it to stick to the wall. They finally get it to work, but it is upside down.

Grover greets the viewer from atop the Sesame Street sign post, and drops down to talk about circles. He points out a bicycle tire, the clock Bob is carrying, and the frisbee Angela is playing with. To show one more, he climbs up the sign post again and points out the street light's globe at the top of the post. A boy imagines staying in the jungle at night when he goes to sleep. Artist: Bruce Cayard.

Bob encounters Big Bird, watching the season change to Fall. He looks through his binoculars at the birds flying south, then waits for the leaves to change colors, but Bob tells him that will take awhile - three months, to be exact. Big Bird is worried that he'll miss Fall like he did last year, but Bob assures him he won't. A man displays the capital and lowercase A, and explains what an alligator is.

At Hooper's Store, Debo asks David for 100 marbles, which he'll pick up later. David asks The Count to count them, but the Count is taking the day off today, because tomorrow he's going to the country to count grass (and grasshoppers). David tries counting them multiple times, but loses count each time. The Count points out that the quantity of marbles is listed on the jar he has, so there's no need to count them. An Anything Muppet teaches another to count by singing "Beep." A magician tries to pull a rabbit out of his hat, but instead finds the numbers 1-20, which the rabbit repeats at the end. A gazelle runs fast across a plain. Music: Joe Raposo.

Mr. Hooper is angry when Big Bird mispronounces his name for the umpteenth time. He tells Big Bird to imagine how he would feel if everyone mispronounced his name. After Big Bird visualizes everyone calling him names like "Rig Rurd" and "Fig Furd", he loudly reminds everyone of his name. Sesame Street News Flash. Kermit stands by a grandfather clock waiting for a mouse to run up it, acting out "Hickory Dickory Dock". Gladys the Cow and a duck show up instead. Finally, a horse comes in and explains that the mouse can't make it. The horse runs through the clock, breaking it.

Big Bird wakes up to a cold morning in his nest where he's greeted by Juan Toucan who hails from a tropical country. Big Bird offers him some birdseed, but Juan is used to eating fruit off the trees. Big Bird explains that they don't have any fruit trees, but he might be able to buy some at Hooper's Store when it opens. When Juan tries to drink some water, he hits his beak against something solid prompting Big Bird to explain what ice is. Elephants have 4 legs. A boy talks about his various moods. Artist: Bob Kurtz. Scanimate Films #4. Juan convinces Big Bird to move to the jungle where it's always warm and the food is free.

Mr. Hooper asks Luis to help him get into his store when he forgets his keys. As Luis begins to work on the door, Rodeo Rosie lassos him to thwart his breaking and entering. Mr. Hooper explains the situation, Luis finishes his work, and heads to the Fix-It Shop where he discovers he's also misplaced his keys. While trying to get the door open, Rosie lassos him again for making another break-in attempt. A cartoon man (Bob Arbogast) is irritated to find that he has a succession of animal noses.

Big Bird, David, and the kids play a game where they match the bottom and top halves of pictures of Big Bird, Mr. Hooper, and Ernie. They match the Big Bird and Ernie pictures, so Big Bird asks David to match the last one. He puts them together and Big Bird gets him to admit that it's a picture of Mr. Snuffleupagus. When Maria comes by and hears what's been going on, she gives David a look of disbelief. A fat man and a small man demonstrate top and bottom.

Kermit at Home: Grover is outside in the snow, freezing. He keeps knocking on Kermit's door, asking how to get warm, and Kermit keeps telling him to come inside. Grover, missing the point, tries ideas of his own to get warm, but they don't work. Finally, Kermit tells Grover that if he wants to get warm, he should come inside. Excited, Grover pulls Kermit aside and slams the door, locking Kermit outside. Grover goes to sleep in Kermit's armchair while the frozen frog scrapes at the window. "Seven Song (Song of Seven)"

Big Bird wakes up in his nest and looks at all the smooth, untouched snow around him. When Bob comes by, Big Bird wonders how he could have gotten into his nest last night without leaving footprints, so he guesses he either flew (Bob reminds him that he can't) or hired a helicopter to parachute him into his nest. Bob begins shovelling snow over the footprints he made on the way in to give him a hint. Big Bird is impressed that he spent all night going around Sesame Street filling in everyone's footprints. Guy Smiley hosts The Weather Show.

Big Bird lures Maria to his nest to show her the snowman he's built. Maria says that it's upside down and that he should have looked at a picture of a snowman to see what one looks like. Big Bird produces a book called "World's Great Snowmen" and says it looks just alike a picture in the book - which Maria notes is upside down. She offers to help fix it, placing the head on the top, etc. Big Bird says he liked it better his first way, and Maria assures him that's fine: he's invented a new way to build a snowman. A mad scientist (voice of Arnold Stang) puts together a capital H.

The Count greets Bob while he's talking to the audience about near and far. He's a little sad and comments on how there are no footprints in the freshly fallen snow yet. Bob excuses himself to continue the lesson, but the Count offers to help. Once he's shown that he's "near" Bob, he asks him to walk away from him to demonstrate "far". They repeat this a few times until the Count says that should be enough. When Bob asks what he means, the Count explains that he now has plenty of footprints in the snow to count. A little horse gets near and far from the camera.

As it snows on Sesame Street, Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus perform a snow pageant. Big Bird recites a poem about what to do when it snows out, and Snuffy dances around dressed as a snowflake. A little man misplaces his J under his hat. The Mad Painter #11.

Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus see that the snow on the sidewalk has been shoveled, and it has frozen over with ice, so they decide it would be fun to slide on it. Big Bird goes first, but when Snuffy tries, he falls shaking the street with him. Big Bird can't get him back up by himself, so he recruits the help of some kids. With much pushing and pulling, Snuffy is back on his feet again. When he tries to slide a second time, he falls again. Big Bird suggests he just try sliding on his tummy - it would be easier for everyone. A girl wonders what would happen if she popped her balloon. She imagines it would scare her sister, who would end up breaking a vase and getting in trouble.

Maria sings "Snow". Ernie comes from finishing his bath, and tells Bert that there's something that he forgot. Bert asks if he's washed behind his ears, his neck, and his elbows. Finally, Ernie remembers that he forgot to turn off the water in the tub -- as the water level rises. A man slips on his daughter's skate, and she points out that it makes him feel angry. A clown (Dennis Allen) takes off his make-up. Which face do you like better? Speech Balloon: C for cat (impostor). C is for clipper - and captain, crew, cargo, cookies, cantaloupe, cabbage, candy, cake, and corks that the crew eats (some by mistake).

Maria encounters Oscar bouncing on a trampoline inside his trash can. He's showing his hippopotamus friend Seymour how to jump, so he can redecorate his can by having Seymour mess everything up. A girl imagines herself as a car that rescues fire victims. Song: "I'm Not a Baby Anymore"

Big Bird has a surprise for Gordon, Luis and Maria. He gives them clues: it makes music, it travels a lot, and wears feathers. The surprise is - Buffy. Everyone gathers around and hugs her. A boy gets lost, and encounters a man with a yo-yo, who tells him to remember everything he passed. Artist: Jeff Hale. Ernie comes up with a way for him to remember to put his basketball away before he goes to sleep: he remembers things with his brain, which is in his head; his head is round, and so is the basketball. His plan works the first time, but not when Bert wants to go to sleep.

Bob encounters Sam the Robot, who is sad because his happiness functions are affected by poor circuitry. Bob tries patting Sam's side to get him working again, but Sam switches to being afraid. David and Maria join Bob in helping, and Sam switches to being angry. Big Bird rides on a unicycle, but accidentally crashes into Sam, making him switch to being happy again. Sand X/x. A young girl mashes away at the keys of a piano. As the years go by, she practices more and more until she's an adult playing at a recital.

Big Bird, Susan, Gordon and Buffy compare the size of their sandwiches during lunch. Susan's is big, Buffy's is bigger, and Gordon's is the biggest - but he's saving his sandwich for a party tonight, and having cottage cheese for lunch instead. Bert has wrapped a surprise present which Ernie thinks is for him. He tries to guess what it is so as not to spoil the surprise. After a few wrong guesses, he unwraps it before Bert can stop him. It is indeed a surprise, a lady's hat with flowers. Bert had wrapped the gift for his Aunt Matilda.

A girl runs home to her CASA. Tina and Clive Thompson of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform a Juba dance together. A girl demonstrates that she is scary-looking to a sleeping monster. Artist: Bruce Cayard. "Five Onstage Dancers". Bert tells Ernie not to eat cookies in bed, because he might get crumbs in the bed. Ernie decides to eat cookies in Bert's bed instead.

Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus try to see if they can sneak down the block without anyone noticing them. They crouch past the Hooper's window to avoid being seen, and pass by Mr. Hooper with his nose in a book. By the time they reach Big Bird's nest, they erupt with laughter over how well it went (even though they've noisily knocked over a trash can). Snuffy goes home, when the adults come by asking what's the deal with the loud laughter. "They'll never know," Big Bird quips to the camera. David arrives for work at Hooper's Store, but doesn't see Mr. Hooper around. He finally sees him out in the arbor with some reading materials, but Mr. Hooper tries to keep them hidden. He does the same when Big Bird arrives before finally admitting the truth. As a youth, he never graduated from high school due to having to work, and he's now taken up night courses to earn his diploma, though he feels foolish being such an old student. Contrary to his belief, David and Big Bird are very proud and supportive of him.