Sesame Street | |||||||||||
Oscar tells the story of the "Knights of the Broken Table" | |||||||||||
Air date | December 24, 1990 | ||||||||||
Season | Season 22 (1990-1991) | ||||||||||
Written by | Luis Santeiro | ||||||||||
|
Picture | Segment | Description |
---|---|---|
SCENE 1 | In today's Grouchketeer meeting, Oscar will read the story of Grouchelot. As the story begins, King Oscar and his Grouch court hold a meeting. King Oscar is tired of their square table and insists on a round table instead. One knight, Sir Complain-a-lot, prefers the square table. They argue until both tables collapse. Princess Grungeviere arrives and suggests they call themselves the Knights of the Broken Table instead. King Oscar is pleased with this. Back on the street, Oscar teases the next part of the story, then goes into his can while Telly and the kids beg him to finish the story. | |
Cartoon | Christopher Clumsy demonstrates shapes. Artist: Cliff Roberts (First: Episode 0416) | |
Muppets | Bert sings "The Paperclip" (First: Episode 2578) | |
Film | A Navajo boy who lives in the desert talks about how his family has to pump water from the ground. (First: Episode 2646) | |
Cartoon | Rap #19 (First: Episode 2560) | |
Cast / Celebrity | Maria interviews Martina Navratilova about her victory against Luis, but the replay tapes show she had trouble going over the net to shake hands. (First: Episode 2610) | |
Cartoon | A flame burns through a capital letter F, ultimately revealing a lowercase letter f. (First: Episode 2288) | |
SCENE 2 | Oscar returns to tell the rest of the story: Sir Worry-a-lot (Telly) wishes to join the King's court, but first, he must pass some tests. For the first test, he must show he can be Grouchy for a long time. After being grouchy for two short times, he manages a long flash of grouchiness. King Oscar and the knights are pleased and announce the next test, administered by Princess Grungeviere. She states that while he may be ready to take the test, she's not ready to give it. Worry-a-lot begs her to reconsider, as we fade back to the street. Oscar puts the story on hold once more, needing to answer his phone. | |
Cartoon | A hand draws a telephone booth. (First: Episode 0791) | |
Film | A film insert of kittens playing, with child voiceovers in English and Spanish. (First: Episode 0429) | |
Muppets | Spaceship Surprise The crew lands on the Planet SH, where they are greeted by Sheriff Shrimp, and meet a shouting shovel and shopping sheep. (First: Episode 2468) | |
Film | A boy draws a picture of his friend, Kerry. | |
Cartoon | The Typewriter: Z for Zoo (First: Episode 0776) | |
Muppets | Telly is shocked to see Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats at the library. They explain that in addition to being rock stars, they're also "Rock 'N Roll Readers." (First: Episode 2612) | |
Animation | Can you find the animals in the painting? Artists: The Hubleys (First: Episode 2705) | |
Film | In stop-motion, assorted furniture places themselves in a classroom. (First: Episode 0647) | |
SCENE 3 | One child had to leave during Oscar's absence and he continues with the story. The princess, in lieu of making Worry-a-lot climb a cactus or skate down a volcano, has him sing a yucky song, but he must remember the words. Worry-a-lot sings "Princess Grungeviere's Test" along with her and passes the test. However, before he can become a knight, there's one more test - he must find the HOLY PAIL! "It's a pail with a lot of holes in it," King Oscar notes. Before Oscar can continue, the phone rings again and he leaves to answer it. | |
Cartoon | A mouse tries looking for his pet, describing to his friend what they did yesterday. (First: Episode 0764) | |
Film | Alphaquest: F A faucet finishes a fire, and flood of freaky fish. (First: Episode 2759) | |
Muppets | Clementine and some cowboys sing "I'm a Real Cowboy" to Forgetful Jones to remind him of what he is. (First: Episode 1965) | |
Cartoon | An alien lands on Earth, looking for a Z to eat. He snatches one off a policeman's uniform, eats it, and rests. (First: Episode 1481) | |
Film | A male frog hops around and bulges his throat. (First: Episode 0469) | |
Cast | Gordon hosts "The Crossing Zone," in which a boy named Jonathan has to find a way to cross the street. Susan helps him across. (First: Episode 2729) | |
Cartoon | A clam tells a fisherman why he's not catching any fish: he pulled all the plants out of the pond. (First: Episode 0408) | |
SCENE 4 | Just for Telly, Oscar removes his phone line from the wall, preventing any further calls. As the story continues, Worry-a-lot sets out to find the Holy Pail. He returns instead with the Scrunched-Up Pail and the Missing Handle Pail. He ventures out once more and finds the Holy Pail! Instead of knighting him, King Oscar instead hides it for Worry-a-lot to find again. This happens several times over, until Telly, fed-up with the repetitive story, leaves until something else happens. | |
Cartoon | Two dots play hide-and-seek amongst different shaped blocks. (First: Episode 0780) | |
Cartoon | A kid voice-over says, "Ocean," as a fish is seen swimming in the ocean. (First: Episode 2670) | |
Muppets | Waiter Grover: Simon Soundman wants a chicken sandwich, which he orders as a "cluck-cluck" sandwich. Grover has trouble figuring out what his customer wants. Simon Soundman says that his brother always eats at that restaurant, implying that Mr. Johnson might be his brother. (First: Episode 0449) | |
Cartoon | F stands for flower, forest, fox, frog and fantastic. (First: Episode 1102) | |
Cast | A voiceover instructs Maria as Chaplin where to put the shirts and the towels. (First: Episode 0541) | |
Cartoon | What if I looked like George Washington... (First: Episode 0586) | |
Film | Kids talk about building sand castles and sand structures at the beach. (First: Episode 1122) | |
Animation | Number creatures #19 (First: Episode 2718) | |
SCENE 5 | The cycle ends and finally King Oscar inducts Worry-a-lot into the Knights of the Broken Table. The ceremony ends with the singing of the Grouchelot national anthem. With the story over, Oscar tells all the Grouchketeers to scram. He then (begrudgingly) announces the sponsors. |
Notes[]
- This episode was repeated in Season 24 as Episode 3034.
- Additional performers include Jerry Nelson (as Sir Complain-a-lot), Jim Martin (dark grey knight), and Rick Lyon (green knight).
Previous episode: | Next episode: |
Episode 2775 | Episode 2777 |