Leela is having her lunch break with Elmo until some citizens (Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster) take all of Leela's lunch away until Leela has no lunch at all. Then Brian Williams comes in to report that "Nobody is Sharing on Sesame Street". Leela and Elmo investigate. Sure enough, none of the citizens are sharing.
Then the duo talk with Williams about the reason why nobody is sharing but he will find out. Then, their last hope comes with Luis, Maria, and Gabi having a picnic with their chili dogs. That makes Elmo and Leela happy. Elmo is happy to report that some people are sharing.
But Oscar the Grouch points out that it won't last long. He explains to Leela and Elmo that there is a disease called Mine-Itis, a Grouch disease that makes everything in the world theirs and they refuse to share. In that moment, Maria starts getting the disease, and Oscar shows Elmo and Leela the symptoms:
- They get itchy!
- Hop like a kangaroo!
- Do a twirl!
They take it seriously, and Maria starts taking the food away from Luis and Gabi and shouting "MINE!" And it shocks Elmo and Leela. Then Williams comes in to report that Maria has Mine-Itis and she is not sharing and reports another case has been confirmed. Then a Grouch who doesn't have Mine-Itis takes his tie and microphone away. Then Luis and Gabi start getting Mine-Itis and we see everybody getting it.
Then as Williams tries to report, he gets it, too. Oscar gets away with it and celebrates with an anchovy ice-cream sundae (which Williams takes away and starts to eat). Oscar is forced to tell Elmo and Leela what the cure for Mine-It is: Have a Grouch give somebody his stuff. After that, everything goes back to normal. But poor Oscar.
Sponsor:
- G
- 20
Segments:
- What's the Word on the Street?: Friend
- Street Scene
- Muppets/Song: "What is Friend?" - Cookie Monster and Lulu Monster
- Animation: Claymation cavemen look for a place to sit.
- Celebrity Moment: Tilly and the Wall perform "The Alphabet Song"
- Cast: Chris introduces the letter of the day in the washing machine: G
- Film: Kids go on Safari - G
- Animation: Pencil box - G
- Muppets: Murray Had a Little Lamb - Ice Skating
- Cartoon: Cecille the Ball - "I'm Gonna Get to You"
- Cast: Chris introduces the number of the day in the washing machine: 20
- Cartoon: Mask Parade - 20
- Cartoon: 20 fish
- Muppets: Elmo and Abby Cadabby try to make a friend with magic. But it's always a pumpkin.
- Cartoon/Song: Suzie Kabloozie sings "Somebody Come and Play"
- Celebrity Moment: Danny Zanes and his friends perform "Jump Up"
- Muppets: Elmo's World - Friend
- Sponsor Announcement.
This episode provides examples of:
- Alternate Identity Amnesia: Those cured of Mine-Itis barely remember what they did when infected.
- Madness Mantra: Whoever is affected by the Mine-itis will chant "Mine!" over and over like zombies.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Elmo is shocked and hurt when both Big Bird and Snuffy refuse to share their belongings, especially since it is mentioned both of them love sharing, meaning something is completely off about them.
- The Plague: Mine-itis, which causes the infected victims to refuse to share anything and steal others' stuff.
- Running Gag: Every time Brian Williams (who guests stars in this episode as a news reporter) appears, barring when he is infected with Mine-itis, he is accompanied by an announcer who says "And now, Brian Williams with a Sesame Street Nightly News update!" when he appears and "That was Brian Williams with a Sesame Street Nightly News update!" when he leaves. Even when he doesn't actually have any news to report.
- Sick Episode: Everybody (except Elmo, Leela, Oscar, and the Grouches) gets Mine-Itis.
- Something Itis: Mine-itis, so named because the victims devolve into not wanting to share.
- Technically-Living Zombie: Those infected with Mine-Itis seem to have shades of common zombies, including being infected with a strange disease, mindless wandering, droning a single wordnote , and doing rather unpleasant actsnote , while not being undead.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Big Bird and Snuffy were strangely not present when Oscar was curing the affected victims of their Mine-itis.
- You Do Not Want To Know: While infected with Mine-itis, Brian Williams eats some of Oscar's anchovy ice cream. When he's cured, he asks why his mouth tastes like chocolate and fish, to which Elmo replies "Brian Williams doesn't want to know".
- You Monster!: Leela calls Oscar a Grouchy Monster when he tries to celebrate with an anchovy ice-cream sundae and does not want to tell the cure for Mine-Itis.
