Saturday, February 27, 2010

Sesame Street Saturdays: Season 40 - Week 7


Shane Keating - Here’s yet another rundown from the shows from this week and a couple of weeks ago. Vamos!

EPISODE 4208 – THE COUNTING BOOTH


STREET SCENE
The Count has to leave on a counting emergency and needs someone to watch his counting booth. Elmo and Abby happen to be the only willing ones around and are given the job. With Maria’s help, they learn how to count by 2s, 5s and 10s when The Three Little Pigs, Old MacDonald, Baby Bear, Big Bird, Snuffy and the Birdkateers show up with things that need to be counted. The Count comes back and complements them.

Hidden Gem: Maria’s scrapbook features many old Sesame images, which she makes while humming “Proud to be a Cow."

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Christina Applegate and Elmo show the various kinds of booths
  • An animated pig sings “Bein’ a Pig” (using Joe Raposo’s original vocal track)
  • Ernie sings “Adding, Adding, Adding”, filling the apartment with cows, Cookie, Grover, an elephant and a Martian (while Bert tries to read)
EPISODE 4209 – NUMBER SEVEN TRIBUTE

STREET SCENE
Zoe, Rosita and Abby are hosting a tribute show for the number 7. Their first act is Zoe singing about counting 7 chickens. Rosita and Maria then perform “The Number Siete Rumba.” A sad letter S wanders by, who feels he can’t help with the tribute. The girls musically help him out by finding 7 things that start with S. Finally, Abby performs some magic tricks with Elmo assisting. One trick involves her making one pumpkin into seven ones, but instead makes 6 more Elmos (making seven all together). She makes them disappear and makes seven pumpkins. They all perform a closing number.

Hidden Gem: Harvey Kneeslapper runs by at the end, slapping a 7 onto Wolfgang’s beach ball.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Hugh Jackman and Elmo try to concentrate to explain the word.
  • Cookie Monster sings about the letter S.
  • A song about the word, ME.
  • Ernie sings about what he does in his room, which is Bert’s room too.
  • An animated segment where two different kinds of creatures make a rhythm.
EPISODE 4210 – ABBY’S TRICYCLE

STREET SCENE
Elmo rides by Abby and sees she has her own tricycle. However, she can’t go riding with him, since she doesn’t know how to ride it yet. Elmo says Gordon helped him and he could help her. She uses a magic spell to make Gordon appear. However, Gordon was taking a bathtub and is poofed on the street, bathtub and all. After getting changed, he helps her learn how to ride and her trike magically begins flying around the street. Once back on the ground, Elmo and Abby ride off together.

Hidden Gems: Gordon is seen reading “Dialogue with Dirt” by Solomon Grundy. The sandwich board outside Hooper’s also reads “SPECIAL – Loaf of bread, container of milk, stick of butter”

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Judah Friedlander explains what spectacular is, and gives his “SPECTACULAR” hat to Telly.
  • A cartoon about M words that have to do with music.
  • Kevin Clash sings a song about how pasta is made.
  • Abby accidentally conjures up a penguin and she, Zoe and Rosita try to guess where it lives.
  • The Twiddlebugs find several uses for a paperclip. (CGI segment)
EPISODE 4211 – JACK NEEDS HELP

STREET SCENE
Telly and Leela meet Jack, from “Jack and the Beanstalk”. He is sobbing because he must trade his cow for something to make a beanstalk, but he doesn’t know what (and he must figure it out alone). They give him clues to indirectly help him. His first clue is something that grows in the ground. He trades his cow for a duck, which doesn’t fit their clue. They say the item rhymes with “jeans”. He trades the duck for some tambourines. His last clue is the item is small. He trades the tambourines for the magic beans! He plants them and instantly gets a beanstalk, which he then sings about. Going against his story, he finds his plant so beautiful, he’s not going to harm it by climbing it. Instead, he’ll be growing more for a beanstalk farm!

Hidden Gem: John and Cheryl Henson make cameos at the beginning.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Cartoon ants look for Z words
  • Debi Mazar looks for “humongous” things.
  • Miles raps about the number 1. (from season 38)
  • Super Grover helps Sarah Jessica Parker, who’s waiting for “Big”. He brings her a big pumpkin, a bigger drum, then the biggest boulder he could find. However, none of them are the “Big” she wants. Her “Big” then arrives – Big Bird!
EPISODE 4212 – THE PRINCE AND THE PENGUIN

STREET SCENE
Abby, Rosita and a penguin are playing princess today. They each take a princess leap, which sends the penguin onto a high balcony. Suddenly, the handsome prince (played by Paul Rudd) from such stories as “Cinderella”, “Rapunzel” and “Sleep Beauty” arrives to save her. He asks her to let down her hair, like Rapunzel would, but sees she has none. While he runs around distraught, Abby uses her wings to fly to the penguin and save her. Next, they try rollerskating, but the penguin is missing one. The prince shows up again, with a class slipper for her. Rosita discovers the missing skate, saddening the Prince again. As they skate, the penguin sends herself into a mailbox. The prince shows up once more to save her by kisser her, but learns to save the penguin, they need to cooperate. After freeing the penguin, they make friends with the prince and play football.

Hidden Gem: An ad for “Northern Reality” is seen in a store window and features a picture of Northern Calloway (David).

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Eva Longoria and Elmo explain “exquisite”
  • A film about the letter P, for princess.
  • Cartoon ants look for P words.
  • A claymation remake of Bud Lucky’s classic “Ten Turtles” cartoon.
  • Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures: While in East Africa, Ernie and Bert find a baby elephant lost from the heard.
Stay tuned for a full-season wrap up!