The Help-O-Bots
Season 39 (2008)
In Episode 4185 of Sesame Street, Chris welcomes the viewers and counts the pies that were just delivered, totaling 17 pies. Elmo, Telly, and Rosita rush to him and ask him to read a book to them. Chris begins the book, which is about a helpful robot named Rico who loves to help in the morning, afternoon, and night. After the story, Chris goes back to work and remarks that a robot like Rico would be of great use to him, sparking an idea in the monsters' heads.
Chris starts stacking the pies away when he is startled by Telly wearing a robot costume, causing Chris to drop the pie boxes. However, he claims he's not Telly, but one of the Help-o-Bots. He introduces the rest of the crew. They show the things they can do, such as going forward and backward and rotating. They can also pick things up and demonstrate by picking up the boxes Chris dropped. Chris accepts their help.
The Help-O-Bots begin helping stack the pies, but they start going faster, resulting in a big mess (and a pie on Chris' head). The Help-O-Bots offer their help to clean the store with their "built-in" cleaning equipment. They start cleaning, but end up making the mess worse (and sending another pie Chris' way). Chris asks that they stop helping him clean and go help someone else using their talents. They all claim they're good at saying the alphabet, but find it unlikely someone would need help with it.
Until a man rushes into the store, looking for someone to help him find the letter after G. The Help-O-Bots can't help him, but the Alpha-Beta Bots can! They say the alphabet for the man who thanks them and goes off on his way. The Alpha-Beta Bots cheer for their success and go off to find more people with alphabet-related trouble.
Just then, Rico, the robot from the book, enters Hooper's, not to help Chris, but for lunch. He orders a motor oil smoothie and a 9-volt on rye, asking to charge it, please.
In the next scene, the Alpha-Beta Bots introduce the letter of the day, Y. Later, they become The Number Bots to show the viewer the number of the day, 17.
Finally, the Alpha-Beta Bots present the sponsors and say goodbye, or in robot, "Blerg!"
In one animated segment, a boy and a robot are seen sharing lunch together. This is followed by a catchy song about carrots, which was first introduced in Episode 4086.
The Alpha-Beta Bots, who were introduced in the street scenes, present the letter of the day, Y. A film segment showcases a woman practicing yoga and forming the letter Y with her body. An animation titled "His Y, Her Y" from Episode 4002 is also included.
Murray's lamb, Ovejita, takes him to another secret school with clues like un tambor (a drum), pallitos (drumsticks), and tocar el tambor (play the drum). The school turns out to be a drumming school, where Murray learns about different types of drums and how to play each one properly. Ovejita uses the drum mallets to join in. This segment first appeared in Episode 4172.
The Alpha-Beta Bots transform into The Number Bots to showcase the number of the day, 17. An animation featuring ornate 17s swinging by is shown, which first appeared in Episode 3319. In another cartoon segment, seventeen horn instruments emerge from seventeen cases, initially introduced in Episode 3964.
Miles teaches the kids the "Forward Backward Dance." A film segment features DJ Rob Swift from the "Scratch DJ Academy" in New York City, along with an animated character demonstrating forward and backward movements on the turntable. The animation is by Matt Semel.
In "Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures," Bert and Ernie become the world's greatest inventors, creating their latest invention, a robot named Frankie. They command Frankie to perform various tasks, but eventually, Frankie gets carried away, causing chaos in the lab. Bert stops the madness by politely asking Frankie to stop, and they all clean up together.
A live-action film segment shows a man learning how to do the Robot Dance. In the Muppets segment, "Elmo's World: Helping" from Episode 4160 is also featured.
Finally, the Alpha-Beta Bots present the sponsors and say goodbye, or in robot language, "Blerg!"