Sesame Street
Plot	Big Bird tells the shortest and longest stories ever told.
Air date	December 21, 1973
Season	Season 5 (1973-1974)
Sponsors	V, X, 4
Syndication
Releases

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	Big Bird gathers everyone around to tell them the "shortest story ever told" -- "Once upon a time there was a little girl, and she lived happily ever after."
	Cartoon	The great Alphonso and his trained X's (EKA: Episode 0299)
	Muppets	Four Anything Muppet cheerleaders give 4 big cheers for the number 4. (First: Episode 0132)
	SCENE 2	Big Bird comes back out with the "longest story ever told" -- "Once upon a time there was a little girl, and she walked and walked and ..."
	Cartoon	Elephants have 4 legs.
	SCENE 3	Big Bird continues the long story: "And then she met a rhinoceros and said, 'I'd like to take a walk.' And they walked and walked and..."
	Cartoon	The Story of Cowboy X, with the voices of Jean Shepherd
	SCENE 4	Big Bird: "And they walked and walked and ..."
	Cartoon	Country Fiddler: Four big lions Artist: Bud Luckey (EKA: Episode 0355)
	SCENE 5	Big Bird: "And they walked and walked and came to the end. And they lived happily ever after."
	Cartoon	"Poverty X": A peanut-shaped figure lists the words that the letter "X" can be found in. (First: Episode 0006)
	Muppets	Guy Smiley hosts "The Trading Game" with contestants Oscar the Grouch and Sally Screamer. (EKA: Episode 0279)
	Cartoon	V in space
	Song	Joe Raposo sings "Everybody Sleeps." (EKA: Episode 0406)
	Cartoon	Three birds enter a cuckoo clock to do their job.
	Cast	Ralph and Wally: Wally needs to borrow a pencil from Ralph, but he writes with the wrong end of it.
	Cartoon	I've got a mind: Wind-up toy
	Muppets	Ernie and Bert: Ernie has a licorice whip that he offers to share with Bert. He divides the licorice in half with a pair of scissors, but then discovers that Bert's half is longer than his. He cuts off a little bit of Bert's half, and eats it. Then he discovers that his own half is longer than Bert's, and that's not fair, so he cuts a bit off of his own, and eats it. Ernie goes back and forth, shaving off more and more, until the licorice whip is gone.
	Celebrity	Stevie Wonder sings 123 Sesame Street. (EKA: Episode 0514)
	Cartoon	Brand X
	Film	Four Song (Song of Four) (First: Episode 0006)
	Cartoon	X is for X-ray
	Muppets	Guy Smiley hosts "Beat the Time". In order to win a cookie, Cookie Monster has to bring in three things that rhyme with the word "rain" before the hand goes around the clock. They turn out to be an old man's "cane", a "chain" (to which Frazzle is attached), and finally a "train" which destroys the set. (EKA: Episode 0494)
	Cartoon	A concert pianist shows up in a construction worker's lunchbox, singing the alphabet.
	Film	Traffic light Music: Joe Raposo (EKA: Episode 0131)
	Cartoon	A story of a man who hates frogs, until his swamp becomes infested with flies. (EKA: Episode 0407)
	SCENE 6	Oscar has David write BUS STOP on a sign for his trash can.
	Muppets	Muppet & Kid Moments: Ernie, Bert, Shola and a letter X
	Film	At the doll factory
	Muppets	Three Anything Muppets (including Farley) wait for a bus at a bus stop. To their surprise, the bus is very small, and two small Muppets get off of it. (EKA: Episode 0239)
	Muppets	Muppet & Kid Moments: Grover and Loren count to twenty. (EKA: Episode 0317)
	Cartoon	Country Fiddler: Four big lions (repeat)
	Muppets	Harvey Kneeslapper: X Marks the Spot!
	Transition	Black bricks are laid on a green wall.
	Muppets	Sherlock Hemlock sings "X Marks the Spot!"
	Transition	The bricks fall.
	Celebrity	Stevie Wonder teaches Grover how to sing loud and soft. (EKA: Episode 0514)
	Video	Counting train cars Music: Joe Raposo
	Cartoon	Commander 0 assembles numbers 1-20. (EKA: Episode 0536)
	Film	George the Farmer's ladder gets taller and shorter; his board does too.
	Muppets	Kermit's Lectures: Kermit and Grover demonstrate short and long -- Kermit sings and hops for short periods, while Grover does them for long periods. Finally Grover asks if he can do the short thing and Kermit do the long thing. To Grover's detriment, it turns out to be tickling!
	Cartoon	Thirty dots (one missing) (First: Episode 0001)
	SCENE 7	Big Bird adds another chapter to his long story: "And they walked and walked and ..." The closing credit crawl follows.

Previous episode:	Next episode:
Episode 0536	Episode 0573