Play-Along Games and Songs is a 1986 Sesame Street video compilation of game and puzzle-themed skits, as well as songs which encourage viewer participation.
In the framing story, Big Bird leads a series of games with Elmo, Forgetful Jones, and a couple of kids (Jesse and Desiree).
The video was originally released on VHS by Random House in 1986. It was first released on DVD by Sony Wonder in 2005. The most recent reissue, by Genius Entertainment, was released in 2008.
Image | Segment | Description |
---|---|---|
FRAME 1 | Big Bird tells Elmo and Forgetful Jones that it's time to play games, but Forgetful refuses, claiming he's "No-Games Jones", until Elmo points out he's "Forgetful Jones." Big Bird calls in two kids who are playing with Oscar the Grouch, and they start the first game: they watch a cartoon of a penguin making beats (EKA: Episode 0272) and Big Bird points to someone who repeats that beat. | |
Muppets | Template:Mkmhm Herry Monster plays a game with a boy named Eric, who closes his eyes and guesses what Herry hands him (a ball, a feather, and his head). The sketch is edited to remove Herry's third round of the game. | |
FRAME 2 | The next game is "The Rhyme Game", where Big Bird says a word, points to a person and they must make a rhyme. His word is "top" and when he calls on Forgetful Jones, they all hop to help him think of a word. He takes so long to guess that they all get tired. Big Bird tells him to play along with the next segment. | |
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) | |
FRAME 3 | Big Bird's next game features him drawing shapes in the air, having the rest of them guess what it is. He makes a rectangle, a triangle and his own creation - a ball of squiggly lines called "Fun." | |
Muppets | Cookie Monster sings "One of These Things." (EKA: Episode 0737) | |
Cast | Gordon sings "I Heard My Dog Bark" as Susan, Bob, Uncle Wally and some kids make the animal sounds. (EKA: Episode 2258) | |
Muppets | Lefty the Salesman wants to sell Ernie a painting of a tree, which he says is a picture of four elephants. Ernie doesn't see the four elephants, so Lefty offers to show him the elephants if Ernie will buy the picture for a nickel. Lefty points out the elephants, which are actually spaces in the tree's branches. Ernie shells out for the picture. Ernie wants to pull the same trick on Bert, but Bert notices the elephants right away. (First: Episode 0278) | |
Animation | Shape organization (EKA: Episode 1090) | |
Muppets | Grover sings "Over, Under, Around and Through." (EKA: Episode 0258) | |
FRAME 4 | The final game is "The Remember the Game Game!" Big Bird asks questions about the games and segments they saw with 60 seconds on the clock, but Forgetful forgets everything—and the "time's up" buzzer sounds when Big Bird gets to the last question about the game they played with the penguin. He then reminds the viewer that they can play the same games with friends and even with their Sesame Street friends again! |
Releases
Characters
Linking Footage
- Big Bird, Forgetful Jones, Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, Jesse, Desiree
Inserts
- Cookie Monster, Ernie, Lefty the Salesman, Herry Monster, Gordon, Susan, Bob, Uncle Wally, Grover, Guy Smiley, Frazzle, Bert, Anything Muppets
Cast
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch
- Jim Henson as Ernie and Guy Smiley
- Frank Oz as Cookie Monster, Bert, Grover, Lefty the Salesman and Fat Blue train engineer
- Jerry Nelson as Herry Monster, Frazzle, Lavender elderly gentleman, and "Beat the Time" announcer
- Richard Hunt as Forgetful Jones
- Kevin Clash as Elmo
- Lorretta Long as Susan
- Bill McCutcheon as Uncle Wally
- Bob McGrath as Bob
- Roscoe Orman as Gordon
Credits
- Writer: Norman Stiles
- Segment Writers: Judy Freudberg, Dan Wilcox
- Director: Jon Stone
- Songs by: Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss