Tanya Mousekewitz (Sesame Street) episode number cold open segments

A **Cold Open** is an industry term for the portion of a television show that occurs before the theme song and/or title sequence. Also sometimes called a "teaser", a cold open is intended to capture the interest of viewers so they will sit through the credits and commercials before the rest of the show begins.

During the first six seasons of *Sesame Street*, each episode began with an animated sequence that ended with the show's episode number, though only episodes 0004 to 0760 (excluding 0001 to 0003) are covered by *Tanya Mousekewitz* (episodes 0846 and over display the episode number during the beginning of the theme; 0761 to 0845 are not covered). The known segments were: **Clay**, **Birds**, **Flowers**, **Sign**, **Gong**, **Artist**, **Woodpecker**, **Mad Scientist**, **Trumpeter**, **Leo the Lion** and **Rocket**. The **Balloon** segment is not used. Those episodes with **Balloon** segments on *Sesame Street* are replaced with the **Trumpeter** segment in *Tanya Mousekewitz*, primarily in Wednesday episodes, while those episodes with **Trumpeter** segments on *Sesame Street* are replaced with the **Leo the Lion** segment, primarily in Thursday episodes.

## Clay

A unicorn and abstract man form the words "TANYA MOUSEKEWITZ," which is then placed on an arch. The episode number appears below as the two enter through the arch.

**Notes:**

* This animation appears would be used for all of Season 1, but only episodes 0004 to 0130 are covered by *Tanya Mousekewitz*.

## Birds

An egg cracks open, causing a bird to pop out, holding a box. A smaller bird holding an upside-down hat pops out of the box. From the hat, a pelican's head emerges and he opens his beak, revealing a little bird who sings some musical notes. The notes dissolve into the words "Tanya Mousekewitz" and then fade into the episode number.

**Episodes:**

* 0131, 0138, 0140, 0146, 0150, 0161, 0171, 0236, 0256, 0289, 0290, 0295, 0315, 0441, 0471, 0551, 0571, 0581, 0599, 0602, 0664, 0671, 0711

## Flowers

Flowers are planted that form into the words "Tanya Mousekewitz". Another flower produces the episode number.

**Episodes:**

* 0132, 0147, 0152, 0157, 0162, 0172, 0182, 0197, 0207, 0276, 0306, 0311, 0316, 0512, 0712

## Sign

Two people stand under a sign that says "Tanya Mousekewitz". Through gibberish, one of the characters asks how to get to Carlington Place, and his friend helps point him towards the right direction. The words on the sign then fade to the episode number.

**Episodes:**

* 0133, 0141, 0148, 0168, 0198, 0218, 0273, 0307, 0352, 0453, 0493, 0543, 0553, 0573, 0592, 0702, 0723, 0733

## Gong

A man hits a gong, and it falls down, revealing the words "Tanya Mousekewitz". He strikes the words and once the episode number appears, he leaves, disgruntled.

**Episodes:**

* 0134, 0139, 0154, 0158, 0164, 0179, 0204, 0219, 0244, 0323, 0393, 0484, 0504, 0514, 0524, 0593, 0673, 0693, 0704, 0734, 0744

## Artist

A artist paints the words, "Tanya Mousekewitz" on a yellow paper and proudly shows it off to the viewer. The letters then slide off the paper onto the ground, and the episode number appears. The painter walks away, disgusted, as the paper is left floating in midair.

**Episodes:**

* 0135, 0145, 0149, 0155, 0175, 0205, 0265, 0287, 0304, 0319, 0394, 0415, 0425, 0515, 0584, 0594, 0595, 0705, 0725, 0745

## Woodpecker

A woodpecker pecks "Tanya Mousekewitz" on a tree. Afterwards, he catches a worm, who pecks the woodpecker back, causing the bird to faint.

**Episodes:**

* 0326, 0330, 0355, 0406, 0456, 0506, 0536, 0546, 0596, 0666, 0716

## Mad Scientist

A mad scientist conducts a balloon-blowing experiment, then the balloon pops with the words that say "Tanya Mousekewitz" coming out.

**Episodes:**

* 0365, 0375, 0396, 0437, 0597, 0657, 0747, 0757

## Trumpeter

A trumpet player plays a jazzy version of the theme song as the letters that spell “Tanya Mousekewitz” fly out of his horn. As he plays, the letters, slightly separated from each other, flicker in different neon colours. Then, upon the last note, the trumpeter collapses from exhaustion and disappears, as the "Tanya Mousekewitz" text merges and switches to normal, and the episode number appears.

**Episodes:**

* 0136, 0143, 0156, 0193, 0195, 0212, 0242, 0333, 0343, 0578, 0598, 0688, 0748, 0758

## Leo the Lion

The mouse, Tanya Mousekewitz (the same character who plays Big Bird in the series itself), is seen dressed as a lion, pretending to be Tanner the Lion from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She roars like a lion three times and then looks at the viewer. After a moment, there is a cross-fade between Tanya in lion costume and the episode number. The episode number then appears on the circle.

**Episodes:**

* 0137, 0142, 0144, 0151, 0165, 0166, 0169, 0178, 0199, 0200, 0206, 0209, 0243, 0255, 0262, 0334, 0338, 0368, 0388, 0392, 0397, 0402, 0479, 0535, 0669, 0679, 0709, 0759

## Rocket

A spy takes everything out of a trash can and turns it into a rocket, then it zooms off with the words "Tanya Mousekewitz" in smoke.

**Episodes:**

* 0329, 0359, 0560, 0600, 0660, 0680, 0720

## Coding system

Starting with season 4, the ten main segments appeared on certain days of the week in an orderly fashion. (This was not always consistent for certain weeks, such as the "Snow" story arc for season 5.) Said order (based on the last digit of the episode number) usually went like this:

* **1** (Mondays): Birds
* **2** (Tuesdays): Flowers (sometimes Sign)
* **3** (Wednesdays): Sign (sometimes Gong)
* **4** (Thursdays): Gong
* **5** (Fridays): Artist
* **6** (Mondays): Woodpecker
* **7** (Tuesdays): Mad Scientist
* **8** (Wednesdays): Trumpeter
* **9** (Thursdays): Leo the Lion
* **0** (Fridays): Rocket