Bert and Ernie

Bert and Ernie are two Muppets on the long-running PBS children's television show Sesame Street. The two appear together in numerous skits, forming a comic duo that is one of the centerpieces of the program. In the tradition of many movie comic duos, notably Abbott and Costello, the interplay forms between the mischievous innocent (Ernie) and the world-weary partner (Bert).

Ernie and his rubber duckie with Bert in Sesame Street

History of the duo

Ernie and Bert were built by Don Sahlin from a simple design scribbled by Muppets creator Jim Henson. According to Frank Oz, Sahlin also defined their characters on the basis of their physical appearance.

Ernie was originally performed by Jim Henson until his death in 1990. Muppeteer Steve Whitmire inherited the character. Bert was originally performed by now-director Frank Oz.

When Henson died, Frank Oz commented that he "couldn't imagine doing Bert and Ernie without Jim." Eventually, however, Oz would perform Bert opposite Steve Whitmire's Ernie. Beginning around 2001, Eric Jacobson began to be phased in as Bert's primary performer, and Jacobson now exclusively performs the character.

Ernie's rendition of the song Rubber Duckie was released as a single in 1970 and reached the top 40 on the Billboard charts.

Rumors and myths

Throughout the history of the duo, a number of internet urban legends have claimed that one (usually Ernie) would die somehow (whether by accident or illness). More outlandishly, a number of websites claim that "Bert is Evil", and display him in a number of doctored photographs (implicating the hapless puppet in crimes ranging from the John F. Kennedy assassination to those of Jack the Ripper). An image from the Bert is Evil website, featuring Bert conferring with Osama bin Laden was mistakenly used by Al Qaeda in a series of propaganda posters in late 2001 and 2002.

Characters named Bert and Ernie appear in the film It's a Wonderful Life as a cop and a taxi driver, respectively, though the use of the names by Henson is said to be a coincidence.

Ernie and Bert share an apartment in the basement of 123 Sesame Street. Although they sleep in separate beds, this has led to the occasional suggestion that they are representations of gay lovers. This is denied by Sesame Workshop, the corporation that owns the show and the characters, but the idea is sufficiently widespread that it has been used as the basis of jokes by comedians or other TV shows - for example, in an episode of the adult cartoon TV show Family Guy.

The characters Rod and Nicky, from the Broadway Musical Avenue Q, were designed as a comic takeoff of Bert and Ernie.

Comedy routines

A typical Bert and Ernie skit follows one of two similar patterns, both beginning with Ernie devising a hare-brained idea and Bert calmly attempting to talk him out of it. Usually this ends with Bert losing his temper and Ernie remaining oblivious to his own bad idea. Sometimes Ernie's dumb idea miraculously turns out to be correct, much to Bert's evident frustration.

An example Bert and Ernie skit is the banana in my ear joke:

Bert: "Hey, you've got a banana in your ear!"

Ernie: "What?"

Bert: "I said, YOU'VE GOT A BANANA IN YOUR EAR!"

Ernie: "What? I can't hear you; I've got a banana in my ear!"

Internationally

• Mexico, Plaza Sesamo, Bert is "Beto", while Ernie is "Enrique".
• Israel, Rechov Sumsum, Bert is "Bents" and Ernie is "Arik".
• Netherlands,, they are "Bert en Ernie". Paul Haenen provides Bert's voice, and Wim T. Schippers provides Ernie's.
• Spain, Barrio Sésamo, Bert is "Blas", and Ernie is "Epi". Also, they're always referred to as "Epi & Blas", in the opposite order.

See also

• Sesame Street
• Bert
• Ernie

External links

• Sesame Street at PBS Kids
• Sesame Street Workshop
• Tough Pigs Anthology Transcripts of Ernie and Bert sketches
• Bert and Ernie links