Bears on the Road

During preproduction on Season 32 of Sesame Street, writer Tony Geiss proposed a potential new recurring segment, "Bears on the Road." The segments would star the Three Bears (Baby Bear, Papa Bear, and Mama Bear) as they take a road trip to Yellowstone Park. However, they instead find they've driven to some other exotic locale and meet a native animal to the area.
Some of the proposed segments included trips to Red Square (with a Russian bear), the South Pole (a penguin), Carnival (a parrot), The Eiffel Tower (a pigeon), Mount Everest (a yak), and Times Square (a dray horse).
Season 32 instead featured a different Baby Bear-centric segment - Hero Guy. Another global-awareness segment, Global Grover, debuted in Season 34.
The following is a transcript for the main pitched installment, where the Bears wind up in Egypt. The segment is based on the curricular goal of "Asking Questions: Reasoning."
 	GRAPHIC: STILL SLIDE SHOT OF YELLOWSTONE PARK - PINE TREES, BLUE SKIES, BEARS, GREEN OUTDOORS NATURESUPER: GRAPHICS: LOGO "BEARS: ON THE ROAD TO YELLOWSTONE PARK"MUSIC: YELLOWSTONE PARK
BABY BEAR 	(VO, ANNOUNCERISH) Bears on the road to Yellowstone Park!!!
BABY, PAPPA, MOMMA	(SING, VO) YELLOWSTONE PARKYELLOWSTONE PARK,WE ARE GOING TO YELLOWSTONE PARK
 	(DISSOLVE TO: THROUGH WINDSHIELD SHOT, THE BEAR FAMILY. PAPPA IS DRIVING, MAMA HOLDS A MAP, BABY BEAR LOOKS AHEAD ANXIOUSLY. A TINY TELLY ON A SPRING BOBS ON THE WINDSHIELD)
 	SFX: MOTOR
 	TECH: CAMERA SHAKE
BEARS 	(SING, CONT'D) LOTS OF BEESLOTS OF BEARSLOTS OF TREESLOTS OF AIRGOSH, I HOPE WE'RE NEARLY THEREYELLOWSTONE, YELLOWSTONE PARK!
 	SFX: SCREECH OF BRAKES. THEY ALL MIME SHARP STOP. MUSIC; OUT.
PAPPA 	Here we are!
BABY BEAR 	(PEERS AHEAD, WORRIED) We are?
 	CUT TO: EXTERIOR SHOT. PYRAMIDS AT GIZEH, IN THE DESERT.
 	MUSIC: AUTHENTIC DANCABLE UPBEAT EGYPTIAN MUSIC UNDER (OUDH, ETC)
MOMMA 	(VO) It's all sand!
BABY BEAR 	(VO) I have a feeling we're not in Yellowstone Park!
 	CUT TO; CAR INTERIOR
MOMMA 	Let's look at the map, pappa!
PAPPA 	Bears don't use maps. They know the way. They travel hundreds of miles without maps! It's Yellowstone Park!
 	CUT TO: EXTERIOR, MOVE ON SCENE..
BABY BEAR 	(VO) Then where are the forest rangers??? Where are the bears??? Where are the pine trees???
PAPPA 	(VO) What are those tall things?
BABY BEAR 	(VO) Those are pyramids, Pappa! Buildings with triangles for sides!
 	AM CAMEL SLOWLY CROSSES, HUMMING. IT SPOTS THE CAMERA TAKES, AND SHAMBLES TOWARD IT AND THROUGH IT AS:
PAPPA 	(VO) Y'call that a bear???
BABY BEAR 	(VO) It's a camel, pappa! A ship of the desert! They can go for days without a drink of water...
MOMMA 	(VO) Amazing!
PAPPA 	(VO) They've really changed Yellowstone Park!
BABY BEAR 	(VO) Frankly, I think we're in Egypt; a country in Africa!
 	CUT TO: CAR. THE CAMEL IS AT THE WINDOW, CHEWING ITS CUD.
PAPPA 	(TO CAM) Guess I took another wrong turn!!!
MOMMA 	Ask the camel, Daddy.
BABY BEAR 	You gotta ask questions to get answers!
PAPPA 	Oh, camel!
CAMEL 	(IN WINDOW) M'yes?
PAPPA 	I got a question for you....Would you take our picture in front of them pyramids?
CAMEL 	(TO CAM) They always ask that!
 	CUT TO: EXTERIOR. CAMEL HAS THE INSTAMATIC. THE BEARS POSE IN FRONT OF THE PYRAMIDS. THE EGYPTIAN MUSIC HAS BUMPED UP, THE RHYTHM IS IRRESISTIBLE. THE BEARS START MOVING TO IT, SOON WITH REAL ABANDON AND AS MUCH LUMBAR MOTION. AS POSSIBLE.
CAMEL 	Hold still and say kofteh! Hold still! Hold still!
PAPPA 	(DANCING) Can't! It's this music!!!
MOMMA 	(DANCING) Gotta dance!
BABY BEAR 	(DANCING) It is very catchy!
PAPPA 	(DANCING) I love Wyoming!
MOMMA 	(DANCING) It's Egypt, pa!
 	THEY DANCE. CAMEL JOINS THE DANCE.
CAMEL 	(DANCING) I love Egypt, too!
 	THEY DANCE.
PAPPA 	What about the picture?
 	SFX: TIMER ZIP.
 	FX. FLASH. FREEZE FRAME OF SNAPSHOT, THE BEARS DANCING WITH THE CAMEL IN FRONT OF A PYRAMID.. (EGYPTIAN MUSIC: OUT)
 	MUSIC:
THREE BEARS 	(SING, VO) YELLOWSTONE, YELLOWSTONE PARK!
 	(MUSIC: WHOMP!)
==Sources==
*Tony Geiss papers at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Unfinished Sesame Street Projects
Category:Transcripts