Ernie and Bert

Performer(s)	Ernie: Jim Henson (1969-1990) Steve Whitmire (1990-2014) Billy Barkhurst (2014-2017) Peter Linz (2017-present) Bert: Frank Oz (1969-present) Eric Jacobson (1997-present)
Appeared in	Sesame Street A Muppet Family Christmas

Ernie and Bert are a pair of Muppet characters from the television show Sesame Street. The two appear together in numerous skits, forming a comic duo that is one of the centerpieces of the program. A typical Bert and Ernie skit has Ernie coming up with a hare-brained idea and Bert trying to talk him out of it, ending with Bert losing his temper and Ernie remaining unaware of the results of his own bad idea. As Sesame Street regulars, they have appeared in most of the Christmas specials spun off from the program.

There is a long-standing rumor that the characters were named after Ernie the taxi cab driver and Bert the policeman from It's a Wonderful Life; however, most sources from the Jim Henson Company have stated it to be a coincidence.

Appearances

Sesame Street and related productions

Ernie and Bert opening their Christmas presents in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

• Christmas Eve on Sesame Street - The first Christmas special in which Ernie and Bert appear has them going ice-skating alongside their friends at the beginning; during this, the two play a few games with Cookie Monster and the Count. Later in the special, Ernie and Bert star in a subplot based on The Gift of the Magi, in which Bert decides to buy a soap dish for Ernie to put his Rubber Duckie in, and Ernie decides to buy a cigar box for Bert to store his paper clip collection. Ernie ends up trading his Rubber Duckie to Mr. Hooper for the cigar box, while Bert trades his paper clip collection for the soap dish. In the end, after both of them have opened their presents for each other, Mr. Hooper brings Ernie's Rubber Duckie and Bert's paper clip collection back to them. Afterward, Ernie and Bert then sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". It should be noted that Ernie and Bert's Gift of the Magi subplot is also adapted from a segment of the album Merry Christmas from Sesame Street.
• Elmo Saves Christmas
• Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!
• A Sesame Street Christmas Carol
• Elmo's Christmas Countdown
• Christmas with Ernie & Bert
• Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas

Other Christmas productions

• A Muppet Family Christmas - Ernie and Bert, along with their fellow Sesame Street Muppets, join their friend Kermit and his Muppet Show co-stars at Fozzie's mother's farmhouse for Christmas. During their stage performance of The Night Before Christmas, Ernie provides the narration while Bert reluctantly has to portray the mother mentioned in the story due to losing a coin toss.
• Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir - Bert, Ernie, and several of their co-stars made a special guest appearance at the 2014 concert.

Gallery

External links

• Muppet Wiki: Ernie
• Muppet Wiki: Bert

This article about a character from either a Christmas movie, television episodic series or special with a Christmas theme is a stub. Please help to expand this article in the Christmas Specials Wiki.