Sesame Street: Let's Play School

Let's Play School is a 1988 Sesame Street interactive home video released for the View-Master Interactive Vision video game system. The system came with a simple controller which included a joystick and three colorful buttons. As the video plays, the characters address the player directly, and ask the player to make a choice by pressing one of the buttons. The video has a number of different soundtracks recorded, and the player's choices toggle back and forth between the soundtracks, giving the impression that the player has changed the course of the story.

Gameplay

 * Scene 1: Big Bird greets the player and informs them that today, they'll be playing pretend school. Gina has set up a classroom in Big Bird's nest area, where Big Bird, Telly and Elmo are the students. First, Gina plans on telling them a story, with the help of a special friend. The player picks specific elements they want to hear in the story and Gina introduces their special guest...
 * Scene 1 (continued): ...Buster the Horse, who recites the finalized story.
 * Cartoon: A little boy asks his big brother questions about what happens at school. · Artist: John Korty
 * Song: "School Song" Wiggling the joystick in the schoolroom shows special, school elements.
 * Scene 2: Elmo wants to learn about letters and numbers. Gina instructs the player to choose a specific letter from their special grid. She then plays a film that will include their letter...
 * Film: Fireworks Alphabet
 * Muppets: A shark sings about his "Perfectly Pearl-White Teeth." Wiggling the joystick brushes the shark's teeth.
 * Scene 3: Telly points out that in real school, they can draw on the blackboard. Gina instructs the player on how to use their joystick to draw on their own blackboard.
 * Muppets: Cookie Monster comes to the bakery looking for something delicious that rhymes with BUY. He tries the I (from the MIKE'S BAKERY sign) and the baker's TIE, both of which aren't that delicious. Finally, Guy Smiley comes in and loudly announces that he would like to BUY a PIE. Cookie then knows what he can get in the bakery that rhymes with BUY and is delicious: it's GUY! A chase ensues, and Cookie asks the baker to send him the bill. The player can press the green button when they hear the rhymes.
 * Scene 4: Gina reminds the player to remember the letter they chose before and tells them to press the green button when they see it in the next segment.
 * Cartoon: Madrigal Alphabet · Animation by Jeff Hale
 * Muppets: "Doin' the Pigeon" (intro verses cut) Pressing the red and green buttons brings some animated pigeons on-screen.
 * Scene 5: Gina continues her lesson, when they're disrupted by the sounds of Oscar and the Grouchketeers, who have formed their own school (The Ebenezer Scrooge Elementary School). Oscar tells the player that they will be planning their school day. First, the player picks a story to hear - either "Speedy the Happy Garden Slug" or "Louie the Lucky Lobster."
 * Scene 5 (continued): The Grouchketeers boo the story and move onto lunch. The player's options are either the Grouch Tomato or Potato Surprise. The surprise turns out to be that the food (which turns out to be alive) is inedible.
 * Scene 5 (continuted): The last part of school is show and tell. Oscar gives the player the option of hearing about Ralpie's pet dog, Junkyard or Malika's shark, Sullivan. Oscar then declares recess. Gina and the gang, who've been listening the whole time, are appalled by Oscar's school and want to return to their own lesson plan. Gina points them toward the following...
 * Muppets: Grover sings to Prairie Dawn about "Sharing." The player can press their buttons to bring up graphics of the food items.
 * Scene 6: Telly recalls his friend, who attends real school, has a role called "blackboard monitor" and queries what that means. Gina explains it's someone who erased the blackboard at the end of the day and has the player erase their virtual blackboard. Everyone looks forward to playing school again tomorrow and waves the player goodbye.

No Graphics

 * "Please check to see if your View-Master Interactive Vision System is on. If not, slide the green switch to the on position. If it is already on, let the tape play, and enjoy the show."

Rendered Graphics

 * "The yellow stripes on the side of your screen, are starting points for some interactions in this program. To replay an interaction, rewind or fast-forward to leave yellow stripes, then start play again."

Opening Logos

 * View-Master Interactive Vision
 * Children's Television Workshop

Opening Titles

 * "Sesame Street"

Ending Credits

 * Directed by: Ted May
 * Executive Producer: Jon Stone
 * Producer: Sonia Rosario
 * Interactive Development: Glenda Revelle
 * Segments Directed by: Jon Stone
 * Written by: Jon Stone
 * Segments Written by: Jeff Moss
 * Starring Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppets: with Caroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch · Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Martin P. Robinson, Kevin Clash, Pam Arciero, Cheryl Blalock, Ed Christie, Brian Muehl, Kathryn Mullen, Caroly Wilcox and Jim Henson
 * Cast:
 * Alison Bartlett as Gina
 * Songs by: Gary Belkin, Bruce Hart, Jeff Moss, Joe Raposo, Jon Stone, Dan Wilcox
 * Special Thanks to: Rob Madell, Al Hyslop, Cher Jung, Seth Meyers, Emily Swenson and Frank Biondo, Dave Conner, Danette DeSena, Victor DiNapoli, Yvonne Doughty, Dave Driscoll, Danny Epstein, Craig Evans, Allison Glass, Lee Halls, Andres Henriquez, Ruthie Hiatt, Gabrielle Howard, Bill Kellard, Paul Lacy, Tim Lester, Frieda Lipp, Valeria Lovelace, Dick Maitland, Eleanor McIntosh, Ralph Mensch, Pat Mielke, Nat Mongioi, Thelma Moses, Grisha Mynova, Chet O'Brien, Mortimer J. O'Brien, Martha O'Connor, Eulogio Ortiz, Jr., Mike Pantuso, Leslie Raicer, Arlene Sherman, Karen Specht, John R. Tierney, Larry Rackley
 * "Sesame Street" and the "Sesame Street" sign are trademarks and service marks of the Children's Television Workshop.
 * © 1988 Children's Television Workshop · Muppet Characters © 1988 Muppets, Inc. · All rights reserved.

View-Master Interactive Vision Television System Credits

 * Available Interactive Programs for use with your View-Master Interactive Vision Television System
 * Sesame Street
 * Let's Learn to Play Together
 * Magic on Sesame Street
 * Let's Play School
 * Oscar's Letter Party
 * View Master Video System Production
 * VMIG Executive Advisor: Gary Evans
 * Head of VMIG Interactive Video Development: Tina Eden
 * Head of VMIG Video Production: Greg Martinelli
 * Head of Computer Graphics: Jogene L. Kapell
 * Senior Computer Graphic Artists: Doug Johnson, Frank Lam
 * Computer Graphic Artists: Donna David, George Eden, Jessica Kantor
 * Head of Computer Programming: Ernie Cormier
 * Computer Programmers: Jonathan Eiten, Andrew Frank, Mark Garvin, Stuart Ross, Luc Selis, Dirk Van Mieghem
 * Production Associates: Richard Brous, Dan Klass, Jim Kohn, Matt Morrissey
 * View-Master® Interactive Vision™ Television System and Program Software View-Master Ideal Group, Inc., Portland, OR 97207
 * The View-Master® Interactive Vision™ is based upon concepts developed by ACTV, Inc. US Patent Pending
 * Licensed for private home exhibition only. Any public performance, copying or other use is strictly prohibited. All other rights reserved.
 * View-Master Interactive Vision