Episode 2993

Picture	Segment 	Description
 	SCENE 1 	Maria introduces the finalists for the "Best Cat on Sesame Street Contest." Chicago the Lion is finalist #3 and believes he'll be the winner, citing how well he did in the swimsuit and talent sections. A Bert Parks-esque emcee announces the winner - Chicago! The kids bestow a tiara and flowers upon him as the emcee sings a tribute to their tearful winner. "And you thought it was going to be just another plain, old, ordinary day on Sesame Street!" Maria tells the viewer.
 	Cartoon 	Mi kat iz ... gone.
 	Celebrity	Smokey Robinson performs “U Really Got a Hold on Me” with a clingy letter U.
 	Cartoon 	A boy needs a letter U to complete the word UP.
 	Film 	A man (voice of Jim Thurman) finds a magic remote control that makes things go up and down. He tests it on various objects. When he presses "down" for a bridge, it crumbles and falls into the river below, prompting him to abandon the remote and slink away. A girl then finds it and makes the bridge go back up.
 	Cartoon 	Birds appear around the numerals one through twenty as jazz music plays.Artists: The Hubleys
 	SCENE 2 	Oscar makes Maria watch over Irvine while he steps out. She tries to get the Grouch baby to calm down, especially when an AM man complains about the noise while he reads his book (Fun with Grout by Tyler Plasterbaum). Irvine stops crying once an argument ensues between the two and they keep it going to lull her to sleep. Oscar returns and is upset with how Maria's handled Irvine - Grouch babies love crying and he wakes her up to prove it.
 	Cartoon 	A baby and father illustrate up and down.
 	Muppets 	Grover talks to Chelsea about what their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth can do. Chelsea mentions that they both have them and also have hands, feet, bellies, necks, arms, backs, and shoulders. Grover replies they have a cornucopia of parts, which means they have a lot of good stuff.
 	Song 	"Elbows and Knees"
 	Cartoon 	Letter B/b (bouncing circles)
 	SCENE 3 	Big Bird and the Birdketeers are pretending to play school and recruit Gordon to be their teacher since he actually is one. However, as Gordon tries to begin his lesson, Big Bird continuously gives him notes until he pretty much assumes the role of teacher himself. When Gordon decides he has to leave, Big Bird has him stay in class until he is dismissed.
 	Film 	A bulldozer moves dirt up a construction site.
 	Muppets 	The Count's main jumping-over-the-bed flock of sheep quits on him, so he calls the "24 Hour Emergency Counting Service". A reluctant deliveryman in sheep's clothing laments, "It's not an easy way to make a livin' ..."
 	Film 	Trees are very nice places, for animals and for people.
 	Animation	Rubber Stamp #20
 	SCENE 4 	Oscar and Telly demonstrate how to count to 20 as Telly lifts a heavy rock 20 times while Oscar counts. Oscar makes him do it once more, just to be sure the kids watching get it. When he suggests a third time, Telly instead hands the rock to Oscar to finish; the weight sends him falling right down his trash can. When he finally climbs back up with it, Telly counts it as one lift and pushes him back down to prepare him for the next 19.
 	Song 	"Ookyook Song," a Joe Raposo song with the Alaskan words for all the things you need to put on when it's ukiuq (winter).
 	Cartoon 	A man (voiced by Jack Dodson) describes places that begin with U and what you can do with the letter U.
 	Muppets 	Kermit sings to the titular tadpole about the life awaiting it when it grows up to be a frog, but tells it to take its time growing up.
 	Animation	Shake / lake / bake / take / make
 	SCENE 5 	Telly wants Maria to read him a book about baseball. She barely gets through the first sentence, when he suggests she read it while wearing a baseball cap. He then asks her to take it off, then put it back several times until he concludes he'll wear it... or should he?
 	Cartoon 	"Next To Song"Artist: Jane Aaron
 	Film 	A Navajo boy who lives in the desert talks about how his family has to pump water from the ground.
 	Muppets 	
 	Film 	Two kids play drums as animated kid-drawn figures clap with the beat.
 	SCENE 6 	Telly points out how three items related to baseball - the base, ball, and bat - all start with the letter B. A bat flies in with a hat and mitt and declares himself a baseball bat; Telly fails to get the joke. (Bat: "Boy, comedy sure is tough.")
 	Film 	A girl narrates a film about how things are recycled around the world.
 	Cartoon 	Letter B becomes a banana and broccoli
 	Muppets 	Grover appears in a library to tell the viewers about what a library is. The librarian, however, keeps telling Grover to be quieter, until he can barely even be heard.
 	Song 	Everyone has the same feelings, "No Matter What." Kids of all types play with a huge beach ball.
 	SCENE 7 	The bat tries to explain his joke to Telly, who still doesn't comprehend it. After Maria announces the sponsors, Telly finally breaks out into a laughing fit. "There has gotta be an easier way to tell a joke around here," the bat remarks.
==Supporting cast==
*The Kids in cat contest: Mamoon Nawano (with cat #1), Kate Napolitano (with cat #2) 
*The Birdketeers: Claire Santoro, David Kentaro Yoshida, Sarah IrizarryScript identifications.
*Martin P. Robinson as contest emcee
*David Rudman as Fun with Grout reader
*Joey Mazzarino as bat
==Notes==
* This was the first episode scripted by Muppet performer Joey Mazzarino. He recalled years later:
==Sources==
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 2993
 2993
Category:Sesame Street Episode Season 23