| Sesame Street | |||||||||||||
| Maria's pregnancy — Birth of Gabriela | |||||||||||||
| Air date | May 12, 1989 (season finale) | ||||||||||||
| Season | Season 20 (1988-1989) | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Sonia Manzano | ||||||||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Big Bird tells the viewer that last night, Maria had gone into labor and is now at the hospital with Luis to have their new baby! He wants to know if it has arrived yet, and if it's a boy or a girl. Big Bird calls out to everyone, and David, Gina, Bob, and Linda arrive to tell him that nobody knows any of the details yet. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd |
Meanwhile at the hospital, Luis tells Oscar (who had used his Sloppy Jalopy to get them there) that Maria hasn't given birth yet. He tells Oscar to call Hooper's Store to update everyone back home on the status. He does so using a nearby pay phone... |
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SCENE 1 cont'd |
... but when the phone rings, there's no one to pick up. Gordon, with Susan, tells Big Bird that Luis would call Hooper's if something were to happen. Everyone rushes to the store, but it stops ringing by the time they get there. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd |
At the hospital, Oscar is about to call again but has a conflict: he realizes he's doing Luis a favor, which he debates on following up on because Grouches aren't supposed to be nice. |
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Song | Joe Raposo sings "Little Things." (First: Episode 2485) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: The Feelings Game — Bert doesn't want to play "The Feelings Game" with Ernie. (First: Episode 2356) |
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Cartoon | The Bellhop has to bring 8 steamer trunks down 8 flights of stairs. (First: Episode 2511) |
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SCENE 2 | Telly walks by Susan and Gordon reading a book to Miles on the stoop. He wonders how they can nonchalantly do this while everyone else on Sesame Street is excited about the arrival of a new baby. Susan explains that having a new baby around will change a few things, but many things will still be the same. |
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Muppets | The Two-Headed Monster takes turns reading itself a story. (First: Episode 2590) |
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Cartoon | Letter B/b (bouncing circles) (First: Episode 2222) cut from the Noggin version |
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Film | Close-ups of animals. Kids try to guess what they are. (First: Episode 0326) |
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Cartoon | A conductor conducts a choir to hum his music ("My Music"). Artist: Paul Fierlinger (First: Episode 1207) |
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Muppets | Monsterpiece Theater: The Sound of Music — Grover's hill comes alive with the sound of music. (First: Episode 1814) |
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Video | Fay demonstrates addition by placing 3 balls on a table. Artist: William Wegman |
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SCENE 3 | The phone rings at Hooper's - could it be Luis? No, it turns out to be someone ordering lunch. |
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SCENE 3 cont'd |
Luis tells Oscar that the baby still hasn't arrived yet before making his own call to the store. The line is still busy so he hangs up, and Oscar informs him of his dilemma: he's at odds with himself about doing nice things for Luis and Maria. He even admits that he's happy the baby is coming! Luis explains that babies make everybody happy, and tells Oscar to keep reminding himself that he's still a Grouch no matter what. This doesn't help when a passing couple wheel their baby from the maternity ward and confuse him for a fellow father. Oscar can't take it anymore and decides to go back home before he feels worse. |
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Cartoon | AMOR, amor, amor ... amoramor ... amoramor (First: Episode 2116) |
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Film | A baby messes around (literally) with a chocolate cookie, as Cookie Monster (in voice-over) wishes it were for him. (First: Episode 0407) |
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Cartoon | B for banana and ballerina (First: Episode 2515) |
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Muppets | Kermit sings about his youth, or as he calls it, "My Polliwog Ways". (First: Episode 1443) |
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Cartoon | How do frogs make more frogs? The birth and growth of a frog is documented. At the very end, the fully-grown frog hops in the middle of a field and calls out, "Hey, Kermit!" Artist: Cathryn Aison (First: Episode 1232) |
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SCENE 4 | Someone calls Hooper's again but it's a wrong number. Telly says it's exciting when a new baby is about to show up, and that pretty soon, Linda and Bob will get married and have a baby of their own! Gina prematurely gets excited, but Linda and Bob vehemently deny that they have any plans for such. Telly is relieved to hear this, but Bob is taken aback and asks what he means. Telly explains that after the birth of Luis and Maria's baby, he can't handle any more excitement! |
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Cartoon | Dr. Annie Eyeball, PhD., looks at breathing. Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 2586) |
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Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Grover and Zelda look above and below. |
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Cartoon | A lizard sings about how she likes to be "Above it All", as well as below. Artist: Sally Cruikshank (First: Episode 2559) cut from the Noggin version |
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SCENE 5 | Oscar is back home in his trash can, hoping to feel like his old self again. The gang at Hooper's spot him, and David, Gordon, and Bob go to ask him what's going on. Worried he'll be nice, Oscar refuses to tell everyone whether or not the baby has been born yet. This makes them grow furious as he talks with each person individually, with Bob reassuring him that his stubbornness right now may be the grouchiest thing he's ever done in his life. Oscar still won't talk, but rather than stay upset, the others decide to go to the hospital themselves. When he's alone, Oscar revels in his grouchiness... but wonders if the baby has arrived yet. |
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Video | Ann Marie DeAngelo and Skeeter Rabbit do their dance routine. The frame freezes whenever the word STOP comes on. (First: Episode 2600) |
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Cartoon | Melvin the Moving Man (First: Episode 0207) cut from the Noggin version |
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Muppets | Ernie and Bert: Teaching Ernestine Names — Ernie can't seem to get Ernestine to say his name, but Ernestine has no trouble saying Bert's name. (First: Episode 2586) |
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Cartoon | The Four Squares sing "It's Hip To Be a Square." Artists: Vincent Cafarelli & Candy Kugel |
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SCENE 6 | At the hospital, Luis tries calling Hooper's once more. No one answers, but suddenly the whole gang (minus Oscar) shows up behind him! Luis tells everyone, "It's incredible, it's fantastic, it's beautiful, it's wonderful, it's awesome, it's..." "What?! It's what?!" exclaims Big Bird. "... It's a girl," Luis answers, and the Sesame Street gang celebrates. |
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Muppets | Three Honkers teach a newly-hatched baby Honker to honk. (First: Episode 1616) |
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Cartoon | The 8 Brothers Circus displays 8 elephants. Artist: Paul Fierlinger (First: Episode 1645) cut from the Noggin version |
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Song | Joe Raposo sings "There's a Bird On Me." (First: Episode 0416) |
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Cartoon | B for boats, bouquet, baby, bonnet, etc. (First: Episode 1703) |
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SCENE 7 | Everyone visits Maria in the delivery room, where she recalls how the experience of giving birth was quite an adventure. She and Luis share a kiss while Big Bird looks around the room, wondering where the baby could be. |
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SCENE 7 cont'd |
The nurse arrives with the newborn and places her in Maria's arms. The others admire the new arrival, and Big Bird begins to greet the baby until he wonders what her name is. "Gabriela," the proud parents respond. Big Bird continues: "It's nice to meet you, Gabriela. Welcome to Sesame Street... and the world." |
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Cartoon | Madrigal Alphabet Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 0615) |
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Muppets / Celebrity | On a rainy night, the Count brings Susan Sarandon to a locked castle. He knocks on the door just for the sake of counting the knocks, until it's revealed that the castle is his own. He then proceeds to unlock the numerous locks, counting them in the process. (First: Episode 2528) |
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Cartoon | A man counts 40 stars at night. (First: Episode 2243) |
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SCENE 8 | At night, Luis returns home and knocks on Oscar's trash can to tell him that the baby came, and that it's a girl. He gets no response, but once Luis leaves, Oscar gives Maria a call at the hospital to see how she and the baby are doing. Gordon announces the sponsors, and the nighttime credit crawl from Episode 2255 follows. So ends the 20th season of Sesame Street. |
Notes
- This was Northern Calloway's final episode as David. After the episode aired, Calloway left the show due to medical reasons with the explanation that David moved away to live with his grandmother and ownership of Hooper's Store was turned over to Mr. Handford. Calloway died the following year.
- Though the book is missing its dust jacket, Gordon is reading Under the Sunday Tree by Eloise Greenfield to Miles during scene 2. He had previously read from it in Episode 2610.
- Scene 6 and a portion of scene 7 appear on 40 Years of Sunny Days.
- Baby Gabriela is played in this episode by an infant boy: Dick Maitland's son Bryan Maitland.
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