Episode 31: The Sad Dad

The Sad Dad
Season 2, Episode 1
Air date	April 2, 2001
Written by	Joe Fallon and Christopher Cerf Diana DeCubellis Sarah Durkee Michael K. Frith Louise Gikow Peter Hirsch Sean Kelly Sharon Lerner Brian Meehl Fred Newman Norman Stiles
Directed by	Ted May
Episode guide
Previous Episode 30: Be Bop	Next Episode 32: Humph! Humph! Humph!

"The Sad Dad" is the first episode of Season 2 of Between the Lions, and episode 31 in total.

Picture	Segment	Description
	Celebrity	Announcer Bunny Program Preview: Busterfield Library (A to Z)
	SCENE 1	Lionel and Leona are being noisy in the book "The Admiral's Adventure" so Click drags and drops Theo in the book to read an old Russian folk tale called "It Could Be Worse". The story tells about a crowded house featuring a dad (Bruno Kirby) who is very sad because the place is crowded with people and animals. The dad gets advice from a woman (Denny Dillon) who tells him to bring even more animals into his house. Now the house is even more crowded than before, and the dad is even sadder.
	SCENE 1 cont'd	Nobody has ever heard of three lions inside a book, so Cleo and the rest of the library patrons get dragged and dropped inside.
	Insert	Walter and Clay Pigeon give bad advice on a show called "Advice from Pigeons".
	Insert cont'd	The gray hand pulls out a vowel a from the word "bad".
	Muppets	Martha Reader and The Vowelles sing the fabulous short "a"-- "ah"-- sound in the word "flag".
	Insert	Rectangular Bugs: flag, flat, at, bat, ban
	Celebrity	Fred Says: an, ban, banjo
	Muppets	Theo sings "B and D Confusion".
	Muppets/Celebrity	The Albrecht Roser Puppet Series: Albrecht Roser and the Dancer (with Leona)
	SCENE 1 cont'd	Heath joins everybody else in the book. Now Theo can't get the book opened because it's too crowded.
	Song	If You Can Read: at
	Muppets	Dunderhead Lab with Dr. Nitwhite and Watson: Words with "at"
	Celebrity	Roma Downey reads a poem about "This and That"
	Cartoon	Replaced Letter Songs: The Madison Cats Animation: Reelworks Animation Studios
	Muppets	Swami Marmy: A Monkey Will Catch A Pass
	Celebrity/Song	Leon Redbone sings "Busterfield Library (A to Z)"
	Insert	The gray hand puts the vowel a back from the word "bad".
	SCENE 1 cont'd	Click is now in sleep mode, and the library patrons cannot get out, but Theo is finally able to read the rest of the story. In the story, the dad visits the wise woman again, who now tells him to take all of the animals out of the house. Once this happens, he is no longer sad, but glad! Lionel and Leona agree that, although the situation looks very grim, it could be a lot worse. However, everyone realizes that it can't, and they all shout out for Click to set them free.
	SCENE 2	Unfortunately, Click is still in sleep mode, so she can't set them free. To make matters worse, an admiral comes by to pick up the book that the patrons are trapped in for a long trip at sea, much to everyone's horror. The confused admiral wonders why the library is empty.
	Insert	Walter and Clay give more advice on a show called "Glad Advice from Pigeons", but give the same bad advice from before.

Featured Story

It Could Be Worse adapted by Vladimir Vladimirovich Vladivostok

Notes and Trivia

• This episode features guest appearances from Bruno Kirby (as the Sad Dad) and Denny Dillon (as the wise woman).
• The poem Roma Downey reads in this episode, "The Butterfly Jar" was written by Jeff Moss, a longtime Sesame Street writer who died in 1998.
• This is the second time Click goes into sleep mode, the first is Touching the Moon.
• The background for The Vowelles segments changes starting this episode.
• This is the first episode where Peter Linz plays Heath the Thesaurus. This is also the first time Heath is seen in the main room of the library itself.
• This is the first episode where Jim Kroupa plays Walter Pigeon.
• B and D Confusion and Busterfield Library are both later seen in Bug Beard.
• This is the first episode where Johnny Consonanti is the announcer for The Vowelles segments.
• This is the first episode with the If You Can Read Song.
• Bruno Kirby appears 2 episodes later in a segment in The Good Seed & also appears in a segment in Clickety-Clack, Clickety-Clack!.
• This episode last aired on PBS in April 2009.
• Moral of Episode: Even though things are bad, they could always be worse.
• In this episode, when the captain says something loudly, no shushing happens because the patrons are trapped and they can't get out.

Releases

• VHS (Singular episode; October 30, 2001, later reprinted on October 1, 2002)
• Complete Second Season 4-Disc DVD Boxset (September 2, 2008)

Gallery

This page has a limited amount of images in the template. For extended images, see The Sad Dad/Gallery.

Cast

• Anthony Asbury - Lionel Lion
• Kathryn Mullen - Leona Lion
• Jennifer Barnhart - Cleo Lion
• Peter Linz - Theo Lion, Heath the Thesaurus
• Heather Asch - Click. Marmy Smartypants, Clay Pigeon
• Tim Lagasse - Barnaby Busterfield III, Monkey Football Player, Johnny Consonanti, Watson
• Jim Napolitiano - various
• Jim Kroupa - Walter Pigeon
• Tyler Bunch (uncredited) - Dr. Nitwhite
• Bruno Kirby - The Sad Dad
• Denny Dillon - Wise Woman
• Fred Newman - himself
• Jack Landrón - Admiral
• Leon Redbone - himself
• Albrecht Roser - himself
• Inés Pasic - herself
• Michael K. Frith - announcer
• Roma Downey - herself
• Al Roker - himself
• Paul Jacobs - "If You Can Read" singer, "Swami Marmy" singer
• Cindy Mizelle - Martha Reader
• Rory Dodd - Replaced Letter Song singer

Video

Between the Lions Episode 31 The Sad Dad.