Episode 2755

Picture	Segment 	Description
 	SCENE 1 	Mr. Handford welcomes the viewer when Maria finds out in the newspaper that the mayor is going to award someone the "City Helper's Surprise Prize" today, and the winner happens to be someone on Sesame Street. The prize will go to someone who comes up with great new ideas to help make the city a better place to live. She and Telly think it will be Mr. Handford, who put some color-coded recycling bins outside of Hooper's Store. Mr. Handford knows for sure that he's not the recipient, because the mayor asked him to present the award. And he will not tell Telly and Maria who it is, because then it wouldn't be a surprise. Telly becomes determined to find out who it is.
 	Cartoon 	A paranoid bird doesn't like to be surprised ... unless it's a surprise party.Artist: John Korty
center 	Muppets 	Spaceship SurpriseThe crew lands on the Planet CH, where they are greeted by Chunky Cheese.
 	Cartoon 	Geometry of Circles #1 "Circle with Flower"
 	Animation 	A rock does somersaults for its peers, but gets little applause.
 	Cartoon 	J family jamboree
 	SCENE 2 	Big Bird presents the letter J to the viewer, and Mohamed, Travis, and Vanessa display things they have that begin with J, such as jeans, a jacket, and a jump rope. Snuffy emerges, and presents his J thing: a joke. ("Why did the Snuffleupagus cross the road?")
 	SCENE 2cont'd	From Hooper's, Telly laughs at Snuffy's joke and thinks Snuffy will win the City Helper's Surprise Prize for it. Mr. Handford tells him he isn't the winner, but is still keeping the secret under wraps, no matter how much Telly begs to know.
 	Cartoon 	'j' minuscula
 	Song 	Joe Raposo sings "Water Baby" over footage of seals and kids swimming.
 	Cartoon 	Animals walk.
 	Muppets 	Grover sells newspapers in the street. He thinks they are for making paper hats, but a customer shows him they are actually for reading. The customer wants to buy a newspaper, but Grover won't stop reading the paper that the customer wants to buy. Grover reads about construction of a new building, a parade, and an expected rain shower, all of which occur as Grover reads.
 	Cartoon 	Number factory 1-10
 	Film / Cast 	Gordon joins a class for some exercises.
 	Cartoon 	A map of Africa morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.
 	SCENE 3 	Big Bird gathers Maria, Snuffy, and the kids in the yard to reveal the number of the day: 16. Maria points out that there are only 7 of them there, and they need 9 more to make 16 people. However, Big Bird points out that there are enough feet to count - 6 of them have 2 feet, making 12, and Snuffy's 4 feet make 16 feet altogether! They all decide to use their feet to play soccer.
 	SCENE 3cont'd	Telly is impressed with Big Bird's logic, and thinks he will win. According to Mr. Handford, Big Bird is not the winner.
 	Cartoon 	I've Got the "Sixteen Blues"
 	Film 	In stop-motion, a boy makes landscapes out of sand and water.
 	Muppets 	Annette Monster and Frankie Monster sing "Love the Ocean" to urge others to "show respect for the sea" and refrain from throwing trash in the water.
 	Animation 	A/a (Gordon voice-over)
 	SCENE 4 	Telly's goal is still to find out who will win the City Helper's Surprise Prize today. Just then, Sydney comes by with some empty soda cans for Mr. Handford. Mr. Handford points him to the recycling bins, and he almost makes the mistake of putting an aluminum can in a plastic bin. He arranges his recyclables on a table and sings "One of These Things" to help himself (and the viewer) figure out that the plastic cup doesn't go with the cans. He remarks, "You gotta have a sharp eye to get into recycling!" Telly is sure Sydney will win the prize, but Mr. Handford disagrees - though he admits it will go to someone for recycling.
 	Cartoon 	A story of a cat who hated rain, wished for it to stop, and witnessed the disastrous effects of no rain.Artist: ArtistMike
 	Animation 	Teeny Little Super Guy: Robert W. Shipshape gets a hat for his birthday, and it blows into the street. R.W. remembers not to cross the street without an adult; Teeny Little Superguy helps him across.Artist: Paul Fierlinger
 	Celebrity 	John Moschitta, Jr. has a baby who has a name beginning with every letter of the alphabet.
 	Cartoon 	I am dry, he is wet. (dog washing)Artist: Cliff Roberts
 	Muppets 	"Long Time, No See"
 	Cartoon 	A for Acorn
 	SCENE 5 	Oscar and Grundgetta are about to have lunch, and wonder why there is a crowd (including Mr. Macintosh and Jelani) gathering near Oscar's trash can. Mr. Handford conducts the ceremony from the stoop, and awards the City Helper's Surprise Prize to...
 	SCENE 5cont'd	... Oscar! He gets the prize because he is always coming up with uses for what others call "trash." Even his eating arrangement makes use of an old hubcap, shampoo bottle, and scarf. Oscar is outraged that he's been doing a good deed by using others' discarded items, and thus does not want the award. Mr. Handford says that's fine - they'll just recycle it to give to someone else next time!
 	Film 	Old paper, new paper Music: "Blue Nosed Gopher" by Graham Preskett
 	Cartoon 	Consonant Sound: J, jaguar
 	Muppets 	Cookie Monster and The Beetles sing "Hey Food."
 	Cartoon 	Number creatures #16
 	Song 	Joe Raposo sings "Pretty Baby."
 	Muppets 	Ernie's lost the nickel he was going to use for candy, so Shola gives him another one.
 	Cartoon 	A baby cries whenever he gets a beso.
 	SCENE 6 	Mr. Handford approaches Oscar with a small tree, which the mayor said Oscar could have instead of the medal. Oscar agrees to plant the tree inside his trash can - though he has Mr. Handford do it by dropping it down there, where it falls a long way and hits the dirt. Telly announces the sponsors, and the credits follow.
==Notes==
*This episode marks the debut of David L. Smyrl as Mr. Handford, who continued to play the role through Season 29.
*Grundgetta appears in this episode not wearing her dress, fully nude like Oscar and most Grouches.
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 2755
 2755
Category:Environmentalism
Category:Sesame Street Episode Season 22