Love in the Fix-It Shop, Part 5: A Baby Makes Everyone Happy

At some point during the 20th season, Maria became pregnant.  It's unclear when she discovered this, though, because the earliest known episode to feature a reference to her pregnancy occurs 2 months before the baby is born (which seems a little late, until you consider every episode of I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant).

Well, I think we've discovered the reason you've been hallucinating and seeing giant yellow birds.

While the birth of a child is a significant event in anyone's life, the story of Maria and Luis's new baby doesn't really focus on them.  Obviously they are important to the story, as they go into full-on panic mode when the baby starts to come.  But, being a children's show means that there is only so much that can be shown and discussed before getting too...medical.  What follows is an exercise in shielding the painful realities of childbirth from a viewing audience under the age of 6.

The baby is ready to come out now.  Don't ask us how it works.

By using vague language, the episode only conveys the idea that a birth requires a trip to the hospital as soon as possible.  Maria, despite her state, remains very calm compared to the other adults running around like goons.  But since we aren't going to be able to follow her into the delivery room, the story actually becomes about Oscar the Grouch.

A baby is going to be born soon.  Let's get the rude monster who lives in the filthy trash can!

You see, Susan and Gordon's car has been parked illegally and was towed away during the night.  Of all the nights to park illegally, this has got to be the worst.  Because it is so late at night/early in the morning, no cabs are running either.  Attempts are made to call the cab company.  No one thinks to call 911.  But everyone remains panicky and loud, right outside of Oscar's trash can.  He doesn't care about their problems!  He just wants to sleep!

Big Bird overhears the commotion and helps Maria with her Lamaze breathing, teaching a valuable lesson to children at home who ever find themselves in charge of delivering a child.

Leave it to Big Bird to keep everybody calm.

With no cars coming and the contractions getting closer together, Oscar finally steps in to drive Maria and Luis to the hospital, just to get everybody to shut up.

Our hero, ladies and gentlemen!

The trio drives off to the hospital as the sun rises, while everyone else stays behind, too excited to go back to sleep.  During the next day, Big Bird tells all of the other neighbors that Maria went to the hospital and that they should wait for Luis's phone call at Hooper's Store to hear about the status of the baby.  At the hospital, Luis runs in and out of the delivery room, and tells Oscar to call home.  We are then treated to a lengthy game of phone tag as the neighbors keep missing the phone calls.

Lather.

Rinse.

Repeat.

If only cell phones could be invented soon.

Oscar gets so caught up in the excitement that he agrees to stay by the phone, until he realizes that he's a Grouch and he should be acting so happy and anxious.  The birth of this baby is messing with his head, and he doesn't know what to believe any more.  Luis tells him that the feeling is normal and it "happens to the best of us," but Oscar continues to freak out.

Who am I?!

Finally, Oscar feels that he has had enough and he abandons Luis at the hospital, in the hopes of retaining his Grouchhood.  He returns home, and everyone swarms him, expecting him to have news about the baby.  When he refuses to interact with them, everyone gets very upset with him, calling his behavior the "grouchiest thing [he] has ever done."  Oscar is known for being a Grouch and we all love him for it, but this behavior was truly despicable, and the men nearly beat him up for it.

Street just got real.

Before Oscar could be turned into a pile of shredded felt, the gang suggests that they just go to the hospital themselves, rather than wait by the phone.  How they all got there is never really explained, considering the transportation fiasco from earlier in the morning, but, it doesn't matter, they all arrive to see the new baby.

We're here!  We brought Telly!

Luis greets them and welcomes them into the maternity ward to see a very happy Maria.  The baby isn't present yet, and Big Bird starts poking around, sticking his head under the sheets to see where the baby is.  But finally, the newborn Gabriella is brought into the room and all is good.

Mazel tov!

Big Bird welcomes the baby to Sesame Street and Maria and Luis began the next chapter of their lives.

The new family.

That night, everyone goes back home as does Luis, who stops by Oscar's trash can to tell him the good news.  Oscar shoos him aways, but then calls Maria at the hospital, just to hear how the baby is doing and he talks long into the night.

See? The baby has changed him for the better.

Thus ends the Maria/Luis 2-year romance storyline, but their story is not over.  They would grow to become the most caring and stable family on daytime television and they inspired a nation of children to seek love in their lives and care about their families.  Their mutual adoration changed the attitudes of everyone on the street and brought much joy to the neighborhood.

No drama, no strife, just love.

Love in the Fix-It Shop, Part 4: Alone Together

The term "honeymoon" is based on the phrase hony moone, meaning "good or sweet month."  It referred to the idea that the first month of marriage is the sweetest, the love is the strongest, and everything that followed would never live up to those initial feelings of marital ecstasy.  The word eventually became attached to the traditional holiday taken directly after a wedding, in which the couple could escape their responsibilities of life and enjoy their new marriage.  Originally, this vacation would last a whole year, with the intent of using this time to start a family.  But, as the average vacations grew shorter, the term "honeymoon," became more appropriate.  No matter the length, the time is to be spent alone, together with your new partner.

The first week of the 20th season of Sesame Street focused on Maria and Luis's honeymoon. The two planned on taking a camping trip to the Adirondack Mountains. After a slow start, involving missing pigs, broken down cars, and excessive packing, Luis and Maria were finally ready to leave the street. All the neighbors turn out to bid them farewell and add more camping supplies to their already heavy load.

Think we got enough stuff?

Let's not forget the boombox and telescope...

...and our Snuffleupagus and Big Bird.  Wait a minute...

Yes, of course, Big Bird wants to tag along as well, and the newlyweds must tell him that a honeymoon is their chance to be "alone together." Rejected, but accepting of the whole situation, Big Bird lets them leave. With all annoyances taken care of, Luis and Maria hit the road.

 

And then, tragedy strikes!

Apparently, Oscar's car isn't the most reliable vehicle to use on a road trip. Once again, in the middle of nowhere this time, the car breaks down, leaving the couple stranded. Fortunately, another pair of newlyweds happen to be driving by, and they are doing to the exact same campsite! Unfortunately, they are Muppets, and that means they are not going to leave you alone no matter what.

Maybe you should just wait for a tow truck.

The new couple is named Ingrid and Duane, and they are extremely excited to share their honeymoon with some new friends. They give the two a lift to the campsite and help them set up their tent. They insist on remaining together the entire time, but finally, Maria convinces them to leave them alone. The Muppet couple heads into town for dinner, leaving Luis and Maria to themselves...and a swarm of wild animals.

 

Great...more Muppets.

Needless to say, Luis and Maria aren't going to be getting any relaxation any time soon.

Is this love or is it terror?

Back at home, Big Bird impatiently waits for any letters from Maria and Luis, signifying a return home. He resorts to making up his own pretend honeymoon and spends it with Susan, just so he can see what all the fuss is about. When he tires of that, he decides to write Maria and Luis a letter instead, regaling all the mundane activities did while they were gone.

Dear Luis and Maria, still on this bloody island.  Today, I swallowed a bug.

Meanwhile, the honeymoon from hell continues. Ingrid and Duane have appeared to take the hint, giving Maria and Luis their space, although their portable television presents a nuisance. As if that weren't bad enough, television begins to invade their real life as game show host Sonny Friendly intrudes and forces the two couples into an impromptu game show.

Why watch TV when you could be ON TV?!

Ingrid and Duane of course have a blast, but Luis and Maria just want to escape.

Back at home, everyone is clamoring for the return of Maria and Luis. Taking a cue from Big Bird, everyone writes about their week without the couple and they even prepare a large "Welcome Back" banner, with a nice succinct message:

WELCOME HOME, MARIA AND LUIS

We missed you.  We hope you had a

great trip. And didn't get an earache

or a sore throat.  We hope you met new

people that you liked a lot... But that

you still like us a lot.  Don't worry,

Gina fed your cat.  Love from everyone

on Sesame Street.

THE END

Short and to the point.

But Maria and Luis are returning later than expected. Their car is still broken, remember? For you see, when you drive a Grouch car, you get a Grouch mechanic. And Grouches love things that are broken. (So why are there even Grouch mechanics in the first place?)

I'm not gonna fix your car.  But I'll still take your money.

Finally, Luis and Maria push the car back home, and they are just ready to be done with the whole thing. This wasn't how they wanted to start their marriage. This was the honeymoon. The sweetest, best moment of their lives. The times that they were able to be alone without any troubles. With a honeymoon this awful, that has to be a bad sign for the marriage, right?

But when they finally return home, late at night after everyone has fallen asleep waiting for them, they see a sign that suggests that everything is going to be okay.

Newlyweds are so focused on "getting away from it all" they sometimes forget what exactly that entails. Yes, they are about to spend of the rest of their life with someone they love, but what about the people who continue to love them? They don't cease to exist. Luis and Maria belong on Sesame Street. The neighbors can be crazy and omnipresent, but they care deeply about each other. If you need something, even space, they'll provide it . So why avoid them so hastily? It's good to be alone, sometimes, but it's better to be alone together.

Love in the Fix-It Shop, Part 3: Wedding Jitters

The big day has arrived!

After four long months of being in love with each other, Luis and Maria's wedding day is finally here!  But first, a brief recap of the wedding day preparations.  All the only relatives who could be bothered to show up have arrived, including Maria's mother and Luis's Tio José and that's it!

Oscar, seen here driving the representatives of the Rodriguez and Figueroa families to Sesame Street.

The dress has been bought and the tux has been rented!  

Luis's wedding will be the greatest show on Earth!

And the Honkers have perfected their all-Honker cover of "Here Comes the Bride."

 This is what you should expect when you have a wedding on Sesame Street.

Finally, the wedding day arrives, and Maria drags her maid of honor Linda to the roof of 123 Sesame Street at the crack of dawn.  Because this is her day and everyone else will just have to deal with it.

Meanwhile, Luis hits the snooze button.  Typical!

The rest of the neighborhood starts getting ready for the wedding.  The ceremony will be held on the roof while the reception will be held down in the concrete courtyard.  How romantic!  The gang starts singing about the "Wedding Day," signifying that this episode is going to be a musical.

Because preparing for a wedding isn't nearly as exciting as the wedding itself, lets quickly get through the rest of the day:

- Elmo, Herry, and Telly argue about which of them has the most important role at the wedding.

The answer is Maria.

- Big Bird worries about not being able to sit next to both Gina and Snuffy at the party.

Don't worry.  They sing about it.

- The Amazing Mumford causes Gina to explode.

BAM!!!

- And Maria and Luis sing to their mirrors while getting dressed.

Something something love.

It is now time for the wedding and it is truly something to behold.  As you watch, remember that this is all occurring on a children's show.

First, the minister explains, in the simplest of terms, what a wedding and marriage is.  This is for the benefit of the children watching at home, but it is actually a very good speech.  Sometimes, when we look at things plainly, we can see how important they really are.  He explains why everyone has been brought to celebrate the joining of these two people, and what promises they are making to one another.  And then, in the middle of his beautiful speech, everyone enters a thought explosion!

This is the moment I did not expect when I heard the words "Sesame Street wedding."  I pictured a very nice, quiet ceremony, with perhaps a few jokes here and there.  But, no, we aren't getting let off that easy.  We are going to now hear the internal fears of everybody.  And I mean everybody!

Even Elmo!

- Maria is suffering from an extreme case of cold feet.  She is prepared to leap off the building, if it weren't five stories high.  All day long, we have watched her excitement build, but we had seen moments where it seemed as if she would crack.

- Elmo is terrified of dropping the rings and ruining the wedding, feeling as if it was a lot of pressure to put a 3-year-old monster in charge of a huge task.

- Linda and Bob each wonder if the other wants to get married, but neither of them have the nerve to take that chance.

- Gina (still in high school at this point) just wants to fall in love someday.

- Maria's mother realizes her daughter is growing up and wishes her father could have been alive to see her wedding.

- Tio José is reminded of his long-gone youth when looking at Luis.

- David is coming to terms with the fact that Maria, the woman he used to date, is marrying someone else and will be another man's wife.

- Just when Maria gathers her strength, Luis starts getting the same concerns and thinks the whole marriage is a mistake.

- And Oscar wishes the obnoxious organ music would come back.

Is this love or is this terror?

Those...are very complicated emotions to be dealing with in a kids show.  But that's what weddings do.  For an extended period of time, people are left to their own thoughts.  The grand display of a commitment to love cause everyone to question their own role, their own past or future, and their own resolve.  Weddings are supposed to be wonderful, but during that brief moment, everyone is at their most nervous and the tension is unbearable.

Surprisingly, we don't check in with Big Bird, but I believe he's probably in a state similar to this:

Fortunately, that building is five stories high and no one will be running away today.  Luis and Maria exchange rings and the rest of the episode just observes their festivities.  No more jokes.  No more songs.  Just wedding cake and bouquet-tossing and dancing.

And the wedding band doesn't play "YMCA."  Things are good.

As everyone would expect, a wedding on Sesame Street runs smoothly and without issue.  Nearly every other television show wedding has some conflict, some drama, some calamity to keep things interesting.  But this being the first presentation of a wedding that most kids were going to see, Luis and Maria's wedding set the bar that all weddings should hope to live up to.  All the drama remains internal, allowing reality to enter for a brief moment.   It shows that these are all adults who understand their choices in life.  This was a nice wedding that would lead to a perfect marriage.  All things considered, sometimes it's better when a wedding can just be a good thing.

Marital bliss.

Love in the Fix-It Shop, Part 2: Forced Engagement

"I bet you will." - Big Bird.

That was the ending of yesterday's episode, where Luis and Maria fell in love and already we have a theme of Luis and Maria being bombarded with questions about marriage, whether they like it or not.  This continues for the next 51 episodes!  Not every episode is directly about Maria and Luis, but the buzz about their impending marriage is ever present.  But for the new couple, all they want to do is love in peace.

Luis serenades Maria with a cover of the Sesame Street theme.  Seriously.  What else would you expect?

At the forefront of "Operation Fix Up the Fix Its" is Big Bird the Subtle. When the two don't move fast enough for his liking, he takes matters into his own hands and starts mailing out fake wedding invitations to his friends. Bob receives one and becomes dead set on performing a song at their wedding called "Love in the Fix-It Shop." I thought the song was pretty good, but Luis and Maria are less than pleased.

 

Big Bird's influence has spread like wildfire and soon everyone takes this Luis-Maria relationship personally.  With Luis's resistance to accept the inevitable, Sesame Street's local lothario Placido Flamingo swoops in and tries to croon his way into Maria's heart.

He has the voice (and feathers) of an angel!

Despite the fact that Maria could have made a different sort of Sesame Street history by accepting Placido's advances, she tells him off.  Like Pepe le Pew, he insists in his pursuit because Luis isn't around to stop his love.  Even when a Maria-voiced duck is brought in to appeal to the Flamingo's avian persuasion, Placido blows her off, stating that he'll only love the one true Maria.

 

But Muppet-on-human lechery can only go so far, and eventually, Placido must resign to the truth that he and Maria are of two different worlds.  If only Luis had been more forward in his love and not taken it for granted, none of these issues with their neighbors would keep popping up.

Finally, the tension on Sesame Street builds to a boil as everybody else takes over Big Bird's duties of asking an unrelenting series of marriage questions.  Even Oscar gets swept up in the gossip, and he hates love!  With so much pressure from all their friends, it seems kind of wrong to force these two into marriage.  They have not had one day to themselves when they can just enjoy each other's company.

Taking a break from all the noise and bothersome puppets, Luis and Maria sit down to a quiet dinner with Big Bird.  Big Bird remains on his best behavior, knowing that he should no longer push and pry.  But, it is in this moment of peace that Luis has a Freudian slip, implying that this dinner would be good at a wedding.  Well, you can't really expect Big Bird to just ignore a statement like that!

He starts asking a whole slew of questions, trying to discover the meaning of Luis's choice of words, until eventually, Luis and Maria just accept it that, yes, they are going to have to get married because there isn't any good reason why they shouldn't.  And isn't that truly the best reason of all?

Finally!  They admitted that they want to get married!  And that they want me to be the best man!

So, like all good marriages, Luis and Maria began the next step of their journey after another one of Cowboy-Detective Big Bird's famous interrogations.  I wonder how many children who watched this episode grew up to be lawyers or politicians.  Or cowboy-detectives.

When relationships are made public among a tight group of peers, the inevitable questions of marriage will rear their ugly head.  As we learned from Sesame Street, it's best to just go with the flow and say yes to the dress.  Otherwise, the two of you will have to endure days/months/years of never-ending annoyances and your love will grow from your mutual disdain of your friends.  You can't argue with results!

Love in the Fix-It Shop, Part 1: Holding Hands

Every generation has their own canonical version of the events on Sesame Street.  Big Bird has been 6 years old for over 40 years, so clearly continuity is not an issue for the series.  He re-learns the alphabet repeatedly without ever getting tired of it.  The inserts placed between "street scenes" are also continuously repeated, so at least sketches from the early days can outlive their era.  But the "street scene" stories are products of their time, and almost never repeated.  Although the puppets can remain the same age, the human co-stars must grow up around them.  It would confuse the child audience if the human's ages changed radically from episode to episode.  So we end up with a situation like kids who don't know who Mr. Hooper is, even though Hooper's Store remains.

Because little children accept everything in their world as fact, they don't stop to consider the history behind what they see everyday.  To them, the internet always existed, music was always downloadable, and Luis and Maria were always a happily, married couple on Sesame Street.  But the story of Maria and Luis's initial romance spanned a couple of seasons and, since they'll never be repeated on television, I felt it was worth looking at the origin of one of the most stable, loving families on television.

Despite both joining the cast in 1971, a romance between the two wasn't even considered as a possibility until 1987, 16 years later.  The idea came from Sonia Manzano (Maria) who became pregnant with her first child and realized that she wanted her character on the show to undergo the same life development, since it would be a great way to explain new babies and pregnancy to kids.  Pregnancy had been dealt with as a topic before, but never with a major character like this.  Gordon and Susan had adopted their child the year before, so there weren't any pregnancy related storylines.  Maria's new baby would be the next major development.  However, the show wasn't prepared for Maria to just become a mother out of wedlock.  The show broke boundaries, but they weren't that bold.

Maria would have to be married.  During the '70s, Maria dated the character David (Northern Calloway). But when it came time to discuss a possible father for Maria's child, Calloway's offstage behavior and mental illness eliminated his character as an option.  His character eventually left the following year, and Calloway died in 1990 (which is a tragic story for another day).  Luis, however, was single.  The two had already established a bond by working in the Fix-It Shop together, and the writers felt it would be great to have a well-represented Latino family on their show to serve as a role model.

The next two seasons were devoted to getting that baby.  And of course, before we get to marriage and a baby carriage, we must start with love.

Episode 2404: El amor está en el aire.

The episode starts off with an innocent game of "Cowboys," as Big Bird and Snuffy chase each other around, shouting "Yee-haw!" And, like all cowboys, they get into an argument about how many times one is supposed to say "Yee-haw!"  Big Bird says two, Snuffy says three, but it doesn't matter because we are going to hear it a million times anyway.

There is more to being a cowboy than just being annoying, you know.

This conflict serves to introduce us to the idea that people can still love one another, even if they don't share the same views or do the same things.  As Big Bird relates his problem to Gordon and Susan, they tell him that it's fine for Snuffy to say it three times, even if it is obnoxious.  Also, little Miles refuses to repeat his one line of dialogue when it gets interrupted, insisting that he already said it, making this a unbearably awkward/great moment.

This represents how love can be unbearably awkward/great at times.

Bird and Snuff resume their "Yee-haws" and they encounter Luis and Maria crossing the street holding hands.  Since Big Bird knows that only kids are required to hold hands with a grown up when crossing the street, something unusual is happening between Luis and Maria.

"That's the weirdest thing I've seen all day!" said the giant bird to the droopy mammoth.

Before they can explain themselves, Luis and Maria get all giggly and tongue-tied when making lunch plans.  This would make sense if they were in middle school, but they are middle-aged adults who have known each other for 16 years.  Do people this age still get twitterpated?

Awwwwwww!  They might be suffering from simultaneous head trauma!

Without dropping character, Big Bird decides that like the good cowboy detective he is, he should solve this hand-holding mystery before the bandits get a hold of his livestock or something.  He and Snuffy split up, to try the old "detectives split up" approach, made famous in that detective movie, Detectives Split Up.

With BB and AS on the case, no hand will have to fear being held ever again!

Big Bird and Snuffy lay down their Spanish Inquisition and grill Maria and Luis about the rules of hand holding, until they both realize that it must be true, they are in love with each other.  And whoever made the screencaps of their "moments of realization" have perfectly captured the awkwardness that is admitting you are in love with someone.

Haha, I could look at those all day.  Anyway, both Fix-Iters rush into each others arms to tell the other what they have been waiting 45 minutes to say.  They allow themselves some privacy in the Fix-It Shop, which sets off Sesame Street's Silent Alarm of Romance, apparently. 

You were right, Bob.  This alarm really pays for itself.

And, after they admit their everlasting love to one another, the two share the steamiest kiss ever seen in daytime children's programming, officially cementing the fact that Sesame Street is the world's best soap opera.

Mister Rogers, eat your heart out!

To celebrate the new love, jazzy Hoots the Owl and the Oinker Sisters treat us to the song "The Like Changed Into Love," which is exactly as amazing as that sentence entails.

That night, as Luis and Maria put Big Bird to bed, he asks them if they'll get married.  While they obviously haven't thought that far ahead yet, Big Bird bets that they will.  I think that's a pretty safe bet.

Cowboy-Detective Big Bird is the master of intuition.

And thus ends the first chapter of the Street's greatest love story.  In the following days, this couple's relationship will become everybody's business.  A romance will unfold with a Sesame Street twist, ensuring that intrusive birds and uncaring grouches will be there every step of the way.  The relationship will have its ups and downs, and it will all be out in the open for the whole neighborhood to see.  Because when you fall in love on Sesame Street, you know it's going to be unforgettable.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"