| Category | Hyper-Specific Details & Data Points |
| Series | Sesame Street |
| Season | Season 44 (2013-2014) |
| Episode Number | 4413 |
| Original Episode Number | Repeat of Episode 4174 (Season 39) |
| Episode Title | Big Bird's Nest Sale |
| Air Date | November 14, 2013 |
| Primary Theme | Deductive Reasoning, Bartering, and Following Directions |
| Word on the Street | Curly |
| Word on the Street Cast | Elmo and Neil Patrick Harris |
| Main Muppets | Big Bird, Snuffy, The Count, Elmo, Murray, Ovejita, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, Ernie |
| Human Cast Members | Mando, Segi, Kaitlyn (child actor) |
| Suspect Description | A tall, thin monster with curly hair |
| Radar's Origin (Trivia) | Big Bird's bear is named after the character Radar O'Reilly from MASH* |
| The Count's Payment | 1,000 birdseeds for the entire nest inventory |
| Letter of the Day | Q |
| Letter Q Items | Quart, Quilt, Queen |
| Number of the Day | 19 |
| Number Segments | Finding items in groups of 19; Counting 19 toys; Counting to 19 using Indian imagery |
| Bilingual/Cultural Song | "I Love My Hair" (Sung by Mando and Segi to promote self-love and cultural pride) |
| Emotional Coping Song | "Belly Breathe" (Sung by Common, Colbie Caillat, and Elmo to teach self-regulation) |
Facts
Getting by when you're totally broke
This show is a heavily edited version of episode 4174, which originally aired five years earlier during the thirty-ninth season. To deal with big budget problems before switching to premium cable, the production company put a vintage street story into brand-new Murray Monster interstitial segments. This legally classifies the package as a "new" syndication episode while cutting down on the weekly filming schedule and overall budget.
Making a Viral Internet Phenomenon Even Bigger
The show's got a bilingual version of the song "I Love My Hair" with the character Segi and the new human cast member Mando. The original solo version of this song became a massive, unexpected viral phenomenon online in 2010. The curriculum department used this cultural impact to their advantage by recording a new Spanish-English version to promote self-esteem and body positivity across a wider demographic.
Honouring a classic TV sitcom
The featured street story is all about Big Bird's beloved teddy bear, Radar. The prop has a lot of history behind it. The writers originally named the bear after the character Walter "Radar" O'Reilly from the classic 1970s war sitcom MASH*, who also slept with a teddy bear. The legendary actress Carol Burnett officially gave the stuffed toy to Big Bird during a guest appearance way back in the show's tenth season.
Capturing A Sitcom Star At His Peak
Actor Neil Patrick Harris appears in the cold open to show us what "curly" means. The casting directors originally filmed his appearance in 2008, right in the middle of his run on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The network relies on securing these big-name, high-profile primetime television stars to keep adult viewers hooked while they're co-viewing the educational block with their kids.
Making fun of a series of British spy films
Cookie Monster stars as "Double Stuffed 7" in a cinematic parody called The Spy Who Loved Cookies. The writers based the segment on the classic James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. The curriculum team came up with a big lesson about executive function and listening comprehension, and they did it as part of a 1970s espionage thriller that looked really cool.
Keeping Jerry Nelson's Voice Alive
As the street story was originally filmed for the 39th season, it features the real voice of the famous puppeteer Jerry Nelson as The Count. Nelson stopped performing live in 2004, but kept on recording his vocals in an isolated studio until he died in 2012. By repackaging these older segments, the network was able to keep Nelson's original vocal performances in active syndication long after his death.
A musical strategy for emotional regulation
Rapper Common and singer Colbie Caillat perform the song "Belly Breathe" alongside Elmo. The curriculum department brought in some big-name musicians from all sorts of genres to work on emotional regulation anthems together. They designed the music to make sure the song's breathing techniques would work for both preschoolers and their parents, who they knew would have different musical tastes.
Educational Context and Viewer Guide
Primary lesson
Developing deductive reasoning and valuing cherished possessions.
Pedagogical goal
To teach kids how to categorise objects based on spatial rules and how to use descriptive physical traits to solve problems.
Parental note
Big Bird's having a sale to get rid of his old toys. He tells Snuffy that only the items inside his nest are for sale. Big Bird accidentally knocks his beloved teddy bear, Radar, into the nest with his tail. The Count buys the whole pile of toys. Big Bird and Snuffy have to use physical descriptions to track down the bear. They're on the lookout for a tall monster with curly hair during a game of freeze tag. They finally get the bear back after a smart swap. Kids sometimes want to give away their toys, but then quickly change their minds. You can help your child sort their toys into specific piles before giving anything away. Ask them to set aside their most special items in a safe room first. This stops them from losing stuff by accident and teaches them to be more careful with their personal belongings.
Expert observation
This episode looks at how well people can put things into categories and describe them. Big Bird has a strict rule about where to put things when he's selling them, and he separates everything into sets based on whether it's inside or outside the nest. When a mistake happens, he and Snuffy have to rely on their working memory and physical descriptions to track down a specific person. They use traits like height, build, and hair texture to get rid of the wrong options during a game of freeze tag.
The letter Q and the number nineteen are used a lot to help young viewers learn to read and count.
The second parts of the course introduce really effective ways to control your emotions, as well as some important exercises to help you think more clearly. Common and Colbie Caillat perform a song about belly breathing, explicitly teaching children how to manage severe anxiety and frustration by controlling their physical breath. Cookie Monster gets to be a spy for a bit in this parody, where he's got to pay close attention to tricky instructions and remember them so he can complete his secret mission. This bit is all about getting young viewers to practise active listening and showing them that success is more about having patience and concentrating than just doing something quickly.
The fairy school bit introduces early engineering and spatial navigation ideas through creative drawing. The students have to get through a series of physical obstacles by showing off new tools like doors, sails and wheels. When their magic doesn't open a tiny hole, they realise that the only way to get their classroom pet back is to show real feelings, mixing thinking about problems with being emotionally open.
Segi performs a song in both English and French that celebrates her natural hair, which is all about the vocabulary word of the day. This musical moment is great for promoting cultural pride and positive body image during the formative years of childhood. It's all about celebrating the abstract idea of curly hair and loving yourself, and it's a great way to encourage everyone to be accepting of themselves and appreciate the different looks of their colleagues.
Summary
What's the Word on the Street?: We see the word "Curly" in the section.
Big Bird's Nest Sale, Street Scenes: Big Bird welcomes us at the beginning of the episode. Big Bird wants to sell toys that are old and no longer play with. Big Bird encounters Snuffy and makes him a sales assistant. Radar is not on the sales list.
However, unfortunate events happen when Big Bird leaves to bring in other toys. The Count comes to the sales area and buys all toys, including "Radar", in exchange for a certain amount of birdseeds. The Count walks away by counting the toys.
Big Bird is in shock when she returns because the Radar is missing. They find The Count. But he says he gave the Radar to a monster. The monster also says that he gave the Radar to someone else. Finally, Kaitlyn comes to the sales area and wants to buy a baseball glove in exchange for a teddy bear. This teddy bear is Radar and Big Bird is delighted to see it. So Sesame Street Episode 4413 street story "Big Bird's Nest Sale" ends.
Celebrity: Neil Patrick Harris visits Sesame Street. He is a famous American actor. Elmo and Neil Patrick Harris tell us about curly things.
Insert: Segi and Mando sing "I Love My Hair." They sing this song in bilingual.
Muppets: Murray and Ovejita present the letter of the day: letter Q
Cartoon: We are greeted with "Quincy's Letter Q Song", which we watched for the first time on Episode 4320.
Muppets: "The Sesame Street Alphabet"
Abby's Flying Fairy School Niblet's Wand: Niblet's Wand is the main theme of this episode featuring Abby Cadabby and her friends. Abby and her friends are looking for Niblet. Meanwhile, Blögg's wand was stolen. Abby's Flying Fairy School: Niblet's Wand was first released on Episode 4187.
Celebrity: Colbie Caillat and Common visit Sesame Street. Common is a hip-hop artist and actor. Colbie Caillat is a singer and songwriter. They sing along with Elmo: "Belly Breathe."
Muppets: Murray presents the number of the day: number 19.
Cartoon: Counting to 19.
Muppets: Murray presents the game "Guess what next?".
Muppets: "I Wonder." The song is sung by Ernie.
Elmo the Musical Bird the Musical: Sesame Street Episode 4413 continues with Elmo's musical. The name of this segment: Bird the Musical. Elmo becomes a bird and has some adventures. Elmo imagines himself as a bird. As a bird Elmo, he follows egg of Mama Bird to bring it back. There are five songs that are sung in this episode. The name of the songs are "Flying Song," "Sitting on an Egg," "The Most Unusual Watermelon," "I Feel Ducky," "Play Ball".
Sponsors: Murray announces the episode's sponsors: the number 19 and the letter Q. So the Sesame Street Episode 4413 ends.
