Episode 1944

Picture	Segment	Description
 	SCENE 1	Big Bird narrates a story à la a film noir that recently happened on the street, which he calls "How I Solved the Case of the Balloons That Fell on Sesame Street by Just Using My Brains." All seems like a regular day as Big Bird, Olivia, Maria, Luis, and Telly Monster mingle around the stoop. Suddenly, balloons start falling from the sky (scored by "Also sprach Zarathustra")! Nobody seems to know where they come from but watch as Big Bird counts the 10 balloons on the ground, which impresses Telly. Gordon casually comes out of 123 Sesame Street and suggests somebody find out where they came from, and Big Bird volunteers himself ("Well, it's a silly job, but somebody's got to do it."). "Inspector Bird" suggests nobody leave town, and his investigation will begin right after the following...
 	Cartoon	Pinball #10Artist: Jeff Hale
 	Film 	Kids dancing.
 	Muppets	As ominous music plays, The Count walks around his castle, checks out the mirror (he has no reflection), and greets his bats. The mailman (Jim Henson) arrives, with a bunch of letters for Count. The mailman wonders why there are so many letters. The Count says that he wrote them all himself, so he could count them... and then he does.
 	Cartoon	An old woman goads a man into guessing who she met today. Through the clues she gives, he soon finds out she's referring to him.Artist: Bruce Cayard
 	SCENE 2	Inspector Bird studies the balloons with his magnifying glass, which doesn't help him identify the source at all. Gordon proposes they all imagine where the balloons might have come from. Telly thinks there was a party behind the sky, and the balloons wanted to visit him afterward. Big Bird thinks they're exotic creatures who are dressed as balloons. Gordon thinks they're really colorful stars from the sky that are stripped from their twinkly outfits, and wanted to visit Sesame Street to play a game about them. Olivia eyes Gordon, having the suspicion that a man on the roof of 123 Sesame Street dropped them while playing some music. Although Big Bird thinks his story was better, he starts examining the balloons again.
 	Cartoon	S for sing
center 	Muppets	
 	Cartoon	A voice asks a face if it's aware of the letter S, and it is revealed that the face belongs to a snake.Artists: The Hubleys
 	Film 	George the Farmer demonstrates over and under.
 	Cartoon	K for keyhole, ketchup, and kitten
 	Film 	Olivia (in voice-over) identifies different vegetables.
 	Muppets	
 	Cartoon	K for Kite
 	Muppets	A monster sings "Comb Your Face."
 	SCENE 3	Telly comes by the Fix-It Shop, and fills Maria and Luis about Big Bird's progress: "He knows less about the case than Dr. Nobel Price knows about galoshes!" He then shows the two his radio, thinking it's broken. He turns it on and a Spanish news broadcast about the balloon-dropper plays; Luis and Maria assure him his radio is fine, and that he had it tuned to a Spanish-language channel. Telly feels proud that his radio knows two languages and becomes prouder when he learns the Spanish word for "radio" is the same in English - "I knew more Spanish words than I thought I did!"
 	Cartoon	A monster sees a box that keeps opening and closing, saying "Abierto" and "Cerrado."
 	Muppets	Herry Monster sings "Two Heads Are Better Than One."
 	Cartoon	HEN / PEN / TEN / MEN Music: Joe Raposo
 	Cast 	Linda signs the word "pie", and David anticipates getting hit with one ... but it happens to Linda instead.
 	Song 	"Garbageman's Blues Song"
 	Insert 	Scanimate Films #10
 	SCENE 4	Inspector Bird has had no breaks in his case, but then has a great idea - quitting. Olivia and Gordon encourage him to keep trying and remember what happened earlier. Big Bird recalls Gordon being with the group when the balloons dropped, but Olivia remembers not seeing Gordon there, as well as seeing some string hanging from his pocket. As Gordon leaves to tend to something inside 123 Sesame Street, Big Bird and Olivia both remember music playing. Suddenly, they hear the music playing once more as 10 more balloons fall from the sky! Inspector Bird starts examining Gordon upon his return, as Olivia has deemed him a clue in the case.
 	Cartoon	An elephant (voiced by Marshall Efron) asks Nesbitt (voiced by Don Arioli) for directions to the zoo, but won't listen to him long enough.Artist: Janet Perlman
 	Muppets	Captain Breakfast unsuccessfully encourages a little girl to eat breakfast, the most important meal of the day.
 	Cartoon	The Pink Panther - K For Karate
 	SCENE 5	As Big Bird's narration explains, the balloon story has made big news, even with Robert MacNeil on The NewsHour. After putting away his game of Cat's Cradle, Robert addresses the audience with what the viewers want to know: "Did the second ten balloons come from the same place as the first ten balloons, or was the second balloon-dropping a copycat balloon-dropping?" Via satellite, Big Bird describes everything that has happened so far in excruciating detail until Robert brings attention to the "ABIERTO" sign in the Fix-It Shop window behind him. Big Bird thinks it might be the name of an alien planet responsible for the balloons, but Telly (who's continuing to learn Spanish) knows it means "OPEN."
 	Muppets	Kermit sings "The Frogs in the Glen."
 	Cartoon	Billy Jo Jive and Smart Susie Sunset teach Wrong Way Willie how to dance.
 	SCENE 6	Inspector Bird is running out of time to solve the case and assembles the suspects. Gordon defensively tries shifting Big Bird's attention to the others (including Robert MacNeil, who does a dramatic take to the camera), but Big Bird puts all the clues together and charges Gordon with being the balloon-dropper. Gordon admits it was him, thinking it would just be a fun thing to do. Big Bird complains that he's wasted all day over this silly investigation, listing all the things Gordon's joke kept him from doing when 10 more balloons fall from the sky! Since Gordon's on the street, everyone wonders who's responsible for them this time. Big Bird has no patience for solving this case and suggests calling the FBBI (Federal Bureau of Balloon Investigation). Robert MacNeil announces the sponsors.
__NOWYSIWYG__
 1944
 1944
Category:Mystery
Category:Sesame Street Episode Season 15