Episode 0899

Sesame Street
Big Bird records the alphabet on tape
Air date	April 22, 1976
Season	Season 7 (1975-1976)
Sponsors B, Q, 6

Picture	Segment	Description
	SCENE 1	Big Bird enters Hooper's Store and is surprised to see Buffy singing a song without moving her mouth. She explains that what he heard was a recording she just made on her tape recorder, and shows how the machine works. She hands Big Bird the microphone for him to try it out and he says the alphabet, pausing nervously in-between some letters while Buffy, David, and Mr. Hooper quietly hint at the letters he forgets. When he hears the recording played back, he feels he has to cue his own voice whenever he pauses on the recording, thinking the machine doesn't know the alphabet.
	Muppets	Grover tells Herry's secret (which is actually the alphabet) to Pamela, who tells Fenwick, who tells Rosemary. Herry says to Grover, "You're very good at reciting the alphabet ... but you're lousy at keeping secrets!" (First: Episode 0360)
	Cartoon	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 (First: Episode 0627)
	Song	"B is for Bubble" (First: Episode 0008)
	Animation	Sand B/b (First: Episode 0627)
	Film	While watching her goldfish, a girl wonders what the world is like from her goldfish's perspective. (First: Episode 0288)
	Muppets	Kermit the Frog counts six happy little Twiddlebugs, and when he is finished, the Twiddlebugs have a party. (First: Episode 0280)
	Cartoon	"I'm six years old today!" (First: Episode 0357)
	Film	"Six Song (Song of Six)." (First: Episode 0011)
	Muppets	Muppet & Kid Moment — Herry Monster asks Kimberly to identify geometric shapes.
	Film	Circles in everyday objects. (First: Episode 0464)
	Muppets	Simon Soundman goes to Marvin's Music City to buy a nice shiny trumpet. However, Marvin keeps bringing the wrong instrument. (First: Episode 0458)
	Cartoon	"Mad Goat Song" Artist: Derek Lamb (First: Episode 0771)
	Muppets	Harvey Kneeslapper sets up a bucket of confetti above a door, so that whoever pulls the rope attached to the bucket will get the confetti dumped on them. Instead, a little girl walks by and pulls the rope, so that the confetti lands on Harvey! (First: Episode 0353)
	SCENE 2	Buffy sings "Worrying Blues" with the kids.
	Cartoon	A painter paints all around the screen, eventually painting over himself. Music: Joe Raposo (First: Episode 0243)
	Film	Russian nesting dolls 10-1 (First: Episode 0563)
	Film	Ten hats on a hatrack (First: Episode 0439)
	Cartoon	Big Daniel Boone looks for a bear. Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 0627)
	Film	Kids paint various things that begin with the letter B on a window (edited version) Full edit--(First: Episode 0008)
	Celebrity	The Pointer Sisters sing "Hush Little Baby." (First: Episode 0793)
	Muppets	Ernie & Bert — Ernie wants Bert to pretend to be mad, but Bert says that he can't, because he has nothing to feel angry about. Ernie asks Bert to pretend that he borrowed Bert's paper clip collection, and lost his favorite paper clip. The thought makes Bert really mad. Bert gets tired out, and tells Ernie that he can't get mad anymore. Ernie makes a confession -- he really did lose Bert's favorite paper clip. (First: Episode 0216)
	Cartoon	A black cat chases after a white bird, until a white lion steps in. Artists: The Hubleys (First: Episode 0255)
	Film	A boy talks his observations and experiences with the rain as he and his father go for a walk in it. (First: Episode 0149)
	Cast	Surgeons Maria, David, Susan and Luis "operate" on a motorcycle. (First: Episode 0484)
	Cartoon	A man learns that it's better not to pick the flowers. (First: Episode 0416)
	Muppets	Ernie & Bert — Ernie is thirsty, and imagines that he's drinking nice cold water. Irritated, Bert tells him to go get a real glass of water. Ernie does, but then he annoys Bert by saying that now he's hungry. He then proceeds to eat an imaginary peanut butter and banana sandwich. (First: Episode 0459)
	Cartoon	A little girl imagines what would happen if she dropped her bag of ping pong balls. (First: Episode 0583)
	Film	Apples grow on a tree. (First: Episode 0093)
	Song	"Four Seasons" (First: Episode 0276)
	Cartoon	"I'm six years old today!" (repeat) (First: Episode 0357)
	Muppets	Sesame Street News Flash: Christopher Columbus — Kermit catches Christopher Columbus before his historic voyage. (First: Episode 0578)
	SCENE 3	The Count looks around for things to count, pestering David and Mr. Hooper as they read and study in the yard. Maria sneaks up behind the Count, covers his eyes, disguises her voice and says "Guess who?" The Count's not sure what's going on until he realizes that it's a game that somebody's playing with him. More importantly, the Count has finally found something to count: wrong guesses! He starts guessing wildly, much to the annoyance of everyone else.
	Cartoon	A blue man (voiced by Casey Kasem) explains that “Q” starts the word “quarter.” (First: Episode 0046)
	SCENE 3 cont'd	The Count has reached over 35 wrong guesses as Mr. Hooper and David manage to escape the game (to Maria's detriment).
	Cartoon	Q for Quiet Artist: John Korty (First: Episode 0441)
	SCENE 3 cont'd	The Count has come to over 80 wrong guesses when Maria gives up. The Count wants to finish the game though, so Maria reluctantly stays.
	Muppets	Two brothers, First and Last, sing about how their names affect how they do things. (First: Episode 0134)
	SCENE 3 cont'd	It's nighttime and Maria begins to fall asleep, still closing the Count's eyes as he surpasses 200 guesses. Mr. Hooper announces the sponsors.
	CLOSING SIGNS	Mr. Hooper, Bob, and a kid hold the Sesame Street sign, and Ernie and Bert hold the Children's Television Workshop sign.

Notes

• The song Buffy sings for her tape recording is "I'm an Indian," the same one she sang while in New Mexico in Episode 0814.
• Among the Count's wrong guesses are Rose Ann Scamardella, Rita Moreno, Norman Stiles, Aretha Franklin, Catfish Hunter, Pancho Villa, Mr. Rogers, Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, Gerry Ford, Pearl Bailey, Yoko Ono, Totie Fields, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Mary, Queen of Scots, Susan Saint James, Ella Fitzgerald, The Flying Nun, Sara Teasdale, Edith Bunker, Supergirl, and Rhoda.
• Names guessed by the Count in the script but not the aired episode: Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, Helen of Troy, and Lily of the Valley (the name of a flower).

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