Sesame Street Season 7 aired from December 1, 1975 to May 28, 1976.

Overview[]

Several new topics are added to the Sesame Street curriculum this season, with a focus on children with learning disabilities. Based on research by the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation, the segments were usually presented each Wednesday during the first 20 minutes of the program, preceded by a short musical bridge with children running across a computer generated background. Many of these focus on physical activities mixed with some simple cognitive skills. Examples include Ernie encouraging kids to clap along with his rhythms, Herry Monster inviting them to partake in his exercise class, and Bob playing "Follow the Leader."

The Sesame Street cast visits Luis's family in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico in a seven-part story arc, and are the show's first episodes to take place on location. Jon Stone said, "By presenting children in the settings where they live we add realism and dramatic impact to our goal of teaching about different culture."^[1] During the visit, Big Bird learns about different Native American groups, Oscar deals with homesickness (and general sickness involved with the beautiful landscape), and everyone (besides Oscar) helps Luis' family in building a new home out of adobe.

The country's bicentennial is also celebrated in select episodes and segments. On two different occasions, Big Bird and Cookie Monster attempt to run for president. In another episode, Maria, Mr. Hooper and others discuss where their ancestors originally came from before moving to the United States. Kermit the Frog also reports on a young George Washington as he demonstrates subtraction by chopping down his father's cherry trees. In another segment, the frog aids songwriter Don Music in rewriting "Yankee Doodle" so it makes more sense.

Characters and segments[]

Buffy Sainte-Marie makes the first of multiple appearances throughout the series this season as a guest cast member, continuing to appear until season 12. She teaches the others about her Cree heritage, as well as the importance that Native American history has made. Linda Bove also begins to make more frequent stops to the street before becoming a full-time cast member next season. Toward the end of the year, future cast member Alaina Reed performs two songs before being cast as Gordon's sister Olivia.

In Episode 0845, storekeeper Mr. Hooper reveals that he didn't finish high school. This year he returns to school, studying for his many GED exams in order to get his high school diploma. Despite being an older person, his friends never ridicule him for his lack of education and instead encourage his work over the course of season 7. Maria also expands her opportunities as she becomes a full-time worker at the Fix-It Shop alongside Luis; the two would end up forming a loving relationship and eventually start a family.

The Muppet cast is slightly expanded. One episode focuses on a very unique cow character who desperately tries to find work on Sesame Street, especially by impersonating other animals. Roosevelt Franklin and his group of friends have left the classroom in favor of playing a sport called "Headball," in which they practice logical thinking. Sports announcer Showered Rozelle (a not-too-thinly veiled parody of Howard Cosell) narrates the action. This season also marks the first appearance of Muppet sheep and the series' first in many Muppet chickens.

Grover begins his job of a traveling salesmonster, attempting to sell either useless or destructive items to Kermit at his home. A series of animations called the "Pinball Number Count" series would also be produced this season, though they wouldn't air until the following year.

Episodes[]

Episodes 0796 - 0925 (130 episodes)

• Episode 0796 -- 7th season premiere; Headline Howie gets the scoop on Snuffy
• Episode 0797 -- Big Bird runs for president
• Episode 0798 -- The Count loses his voice
• Episode 0799 -- Oscar and the kids pretend to be in the Old West; Big Bird is sick
• Episode 0800 -- Herry Monster decides how to wake up Luis
• Episode 0801 -- Oscar trains kids to be Grouches
• Episode 0802 -- Buffy arrives on Sesame Street, and makes friends with Oscar
• Episode 0803 -- Big Bird tries bowling, and gets a present from his aunt
• Episode 0804 -- Cookie Monster shows what he loves to do with cookies
• Episode 0805 -- Herry and Oscar become friends
• Episode 0806 -- Herry and Maurice Monster are afraid of the dark
• Episode 0807 -- The Count forgets a number
• Episode 0808 -- Sam the Robot tries to prove he has feelings
• Episode 0809 -- Oscar sets up a toll booth
• Episode 0810 -- Luis and his friends leave for New Mexico
• Episode 0811 -- Big Bird arrives at the ranch in New Mexico and makes friends with the animals
• Episode 0812 -- Oscar tries to get comfortable at the New Mexico ranch
• Episode 0813 -- At the New Mexico ranch, Big Bird misses Mr. Snuffleupagus
• Episode 0814 -- Big Bird, Maria and Buffy visit the Taos Pueblo
• Episode 0815 -- Big Bird wants to help build the new house at the New Mexico ranch
• Episode 0816 -- Big Bird wants to know what he's best at
• Episode 0817 -- Herry thinks that the only way he can get attention is by lifting heavy things
• Episode 0818 -- DIAL-A-BIRD
• Episode 0819 -- Big Bird worries that Susan and Gordon will forget about him
• Episode 0820 -- Luis yells at Herry Monster
• Episode 0821 -- Jerry Monster comes to visit
• Episode 0822 -- Mr. Hooper accuses Oscar of littering all over the street
• Episode 0823 -- Mr. Hooper goes to the hospital for a checkup
• Episode 0824 -- Big Bird lets Duane's cat loose
• Episode 0825 -- Rodeo Rosie and the "horse thief"
• Episode 0826 -- The Count counts early in the morning
• Episode 0827 -- Grover climbs up a lamppost
• Episode 0828 -- A day with Big Bird
• Episode 0829 -- Biff tries to remember …
• Episode 0830 -- Mr. Hooper is angry to hear Big Bird mispronounce his name
• Episode 0831 -- A toucan flies north to visit Sesame Street
• Episode 0832 -- Luis hires Maria to work in the Fix-It Shop
• Episode 0833 -- Big Bird makes wooden snowflakes
• Episode 0834 -- Big Bird plans for snow
• Episode 0835 -- It snows on Sesame Street
• Episode 0836 -- A Muppet is hired to shovel snow
• Episode 0837 -- Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus make a snowman, and name it Gordon
• Episode 0838 -- David puts up a bulletin board
• Episode 0839 -- Sesame Street is frozen
• Episode 0840 -- Snow continues on the street
• Episode 0841 -- Oscar joins in a hopscotch game
• Episode 0842 -- Buffy visits again
• Episode 0843 -- Two flies drive Oscar crazy
• Episode 0844 -- Luis shows Oscar his tape recorder
• Episode 0845 -- Mr. Hooper goes back to school
• Episode 0846 -- Herry loves Susan / Some, more, and most
• Episode 0847 -- The Wicked Witch of the West loses her broomstick
• Episode 0848 -- Mr. Macintosh and Willy cooperate
• Episode 0849 -- Cookie Monster raises money for endangered species
• Episode 0850 -- Oscar decides to make Grover angry
• Episode 0851 -- Oscar has an argument with a recording of his own voice (repeat)
• Episode 0852 -- David has the Count find words that rhyme with "tree" (repeat)
• Episode 0853 -- Sam the Robot wants to go to the movies (repeat)
• Episode 0854 -- Waldo Woodpecker visits Big Bird (repeat)
• Episode 0855 -- Oscar plays "Simon Says" with the kids (repeat)
• Episode 0856 -- Oscar moves into a dirtier trash can (repeat)
• Episode 0857 -- David and Luis swap jobs. (repeat)
• Episode 0858 -- Mr. Hooper loses his glasses, and mistakes Mr. Snuffleupagus for a fur scarf (repeat)
• Episode 0859 -- All the lights on Sesame Street go off (repeat)
• Episode 0860 -- Maria acquires an old rocking chair (repeat)
• Episode 0861 -- Big Bird and the Kids draw Mr. Snuffleupagus (repeat)
• Episode 0862 -- Oscar writes a poem about crocodiles (repeat)
• Episode 0863 -- Big Bird tries to remember how to pronounce Mr. Hooper's name (repeat)
• Episode 0864 -- Big Bird learns about what other birds eat (repeat)
• Episode 0865 -- Big Bird is proud of riding a unicycle / Oscar sabotages David and Maria's date (repeat)
• Episode 0866 -- Big Bird is jealous of the Count
• Episode 0867 -- The Count wants to count everybody in the world
• Episode 0868 -- Buffy visits
• Episode 0869 -- Big Bird tries to hang a picture upside down
• Episode 0870 -- The Sesame Street Bake-Off
• Episode 0871 -- Mr. Hooper stays up all night studying
• Episode 0872 -- Buffy stays with Maria
• Episode 0873 -- Snuffy leans against Big Bird's door; Biff and Sully build a subway tunnel
• Episode 0874 --
• Episode 0875 -- A Martian explores Sesame Street
• Episode 0876 -- Oscar wants the leftover eggshells
• Episode 0877 -- Oscar waits for the bus
• Episode 0878 -- David and Big Bird say a tongue-twister
• Episode 0879 -- Oscar makes mud
• Episode 0880 -- Maria imagines that she's as strong as Herry Monster
• Episode 0881 -- Oscar starts a fire in his trash can
• Episode 0882 -- Big Bird finds a lost boy / Winnie Wiggins introduces herself
• Episode 0883 -- Maria's cousin Ada visits from Puerto Rico
• Episode 0884
• Episode 0885 -- Oscar joins the Grouch Club; Buffy joins the Sesamettes
• Episode 0886 -- The Amazing Mumford uses magic to make Sesame Street disappear
• Episode 0887 -- Gordon and the Kids identify all the things they can see in a building
• Episode 0888 -- Big Bird takes the bus
• Episode 0889 -- David's grandmother comes to visit
• Episode 0890 -- Big Bird opens the Sesame Street Pretend Zoo
• Episode 0891 -- Buffy finds a part-time job
• Episode 0892 -- Luis and the kids play the "Feely Box" game
• Episode 0893 -- Big Bird plans to go on vacation
• Episode 0894 -- Super Grover helps David close Hooper's Store
• Episode 0895 -- Oscar's animal films
• Episode 0896 -- The Little Theatre of the Deaf visits
• Episode 0897 -- Big Bird imagines that he's married
• Episode 0898 -- Big Bird invents the letter Y
• Episode 0899 -- Big Bird records the alphabet on tape
• Episode 0900 -- Ernie disrupts Bert's bath with a sing-along
• Episode 0901 -- David leaves Linda in charge of Hooper's Store
• Episode 0902 -- Big Bird wants to play, but everyone is busy
• Episode 0903 -- Bob and the kids play "Follow the Leader"
• Episode 0904 -- Oscar takes a photo of Mr. Hooper and Bob
• Episode 0905 -- Cookie Monster cheers up Oscar
• Episode 0906 -- Oscar's magic stoplight
• Episode 0907 -- David and Maria spend some time together; Snuffy's rocking chair
• Episode 0908
• Episode 0909 -- A day with Linda
• Episode 0910
• Episode 0911 -- David gives away a rug
• Episode 0912 -- A cow looks for a role to fill
• Episode 0913 -- Oscar's washing machine/Gordon and Susan invite Big Bird for a trip
• Episode 0914 -- Linda's dad visits for her birthday
• Episode 0915 -- Bob, Ernie, and the kids sort
• Episode 0916 -- Big Bird helps Grover get his kite down from a tree
• Episode 0917 -- Mr. Hooper studies with a friend
• Episode 0918
• Episode 0919
• Episode 0920
• Episode 0921
• Episode 0922 -- Sam the Robot disguises himself as a tree
• Episode 0923 -- President Cookie Monster
• Episode 0924 -- Oscar's home movies
• Episode 0925 -- Maria asserts she can do anything a male can; Herry helps Oscar move his piano

Cast[]

Cast

Northern Calloway, Emilio Delgado, Will Lee, Loretta Long, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, Buffy Sainte-Marie

Jim Henson's Muppets

Caroll Spinney, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Caroly Wilcox, Fran Brill (uncredited)

Guest Stars

Arthur Ashe, Judy Collins, The Deadly Nightshade, Rosey Grier, Margaret Hamilton, Edgar Kendricks, Lily Tomlin

Characters[]

Humans

David, Luis, Mr. Hooper, Susan, Maria, Bob, Gordon, Buffy, Willy, Mr. Macintosh

Muppets

The Amazing Mumford, Anything Muppets, Bert, Biff, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Count von Count, Don Music, Ernie, Frazzle, Fred the Wonder Horse, Gladys the Cow, Grover, Guy Smiley, Harvey Kneeslapper, Headline Howie, Herry Monster, Mr. Chatterly, Mr. Johnson, Kermit the Frog, Lance, Lefty the Salesman, Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats, Maurice Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Poco Loco, Prairie Dawn, Rodeo Rosie, Roosevelt Franklin, Sam the Robot, Sherlock Hemlock, Simon Soundman, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Sully, Winnie Wiggins

Credits[]

• Executive Producer: Jon Stone
• Producer: Dulcy Singer
• Directors: Robert Myhrum, Jimmy Baylor, Jon Stone, Emily Squires
• Writers: Ray Sipherd, Emily Perl Kingsley, Joseph A. Bailey, David Korr, Paul D. Zimmerman, Judy Freudberg, Tony Geiss, Norman Stiles
• Music Director: Sam Pottle
• Puppets and Costumes: Donald Sahlin, Kermit Love, Caroly Wilcox, John Lovelady, Rollie Krewson^[2]
• Supervising Film Producer: Edith Zornow
• Associate Producer: Lisa Simon
• Director of Operations: Ronald L. Weaver
• Production Supervisors: Robert Braithwaite, Robert M. Dahl
• Music Coordinator: Danny Epstein
• Post Production Supervisor: Ozzie Alfonso
• Associate Directors: Emily Squires, Jimmy Baylor
• Assistant to the Producer: Amy Hutchings
• Production Assistants: Joseph Catalano, Jane L. Delgado, Selvin Evans, Peggy Fulton, Brenda Huggins, Thelma Moses, Diane Mitchell
• Art Director: Alan J. Compton
• Production Stage Manager: Chet O'Brien
• Stage Manager: Jimmy Baylor
• Set Decorator: Nat Mongioi
• Costume Designer: Domingo Rodriguez
• Graphic Artist: Gerri Brioso
• Senior Scenic Artist: Victor DiNapoli
• Unit Manager: Glenda Jones
• Technical Director: Ralph Mensch
• Technical Supervisor: Walt Rauffer
• Lighting Director: George Riesenberger
• Sound Effects: Barbara Wood, Dick Maitland
• Audio: Bryan Keen, Blake Norton, Larry Stephens, Jay Judell
• Video: Bob Squittieri, Mark Sanford, Bryan Keen
• Videotape Editors: John Hutchison, Vincent Sims, Jack Langan
• Make-Up: Phyllis Grens Sternick
• Hair Stylist: Mickey Lawrence
• Wardrobe: Grisha Mynova
• Curriculum Coordinator: Robert Emerick
• Vice President of Research: Edward L. Palmer, Ph.D.
• Associate Director of Research: Lewis Bernstein
• Chairman, Board of Advisors: Gerald Lesser, Ph.D.
• Vice President for Production: David D. Connell
• Recorded at Teletape 81 St. Studio
• Remote Videotape Facilities by Compact Video Systems, Inc. (0815)

Notes[]

• This is the only season where the episode numbers are not shown at the beginning, although starting with the 900th episode, they now appear on-screen during the beginning of the opening theme.
• This is also the first time since season 2 where Dick Maitland was given a sound effects credit.
• Midway into the season, the closing signs take place in outdoor locations, although some episodes would still use the blue-background shots.

Sources[]