The Best of... Ernie, According to Jarrod Fairclough

Jarrod Fairclough - See?  Didn’t I tell you I’d be back?

Hello sports fans, and welcome to my new series, entitled ‘THE BEST OF:  ACCORDING TO JARROD FAIRCLOUGH.” In each article, I will be showcasing what I personally perceive (oh, that’s alliteration) to be the best of an individual character, based on a viewing session on SesameStreet.org. I’ll be bypassing the famous sketches, such as "Banana in the Ear," "Rubber Duckie," etc., and do some different, possibly more obscure sketches. I’ll be diving straight in, no hoo-ha, no waffling, no going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on... and on. We begin today with Ernie, and some of my favourite sketches of his.

BANANA TALK

In this sketch, Ernie is speaking to Gladys the Elephant on a banana. Well, he’s pretending to, anyway. And throughout the sketch, he coaxes Bert in to joining in the fun. And while I think this scene is really stolen by Bert, and believe me, it will make an appearance in The Best of Bert, Ernie just plays off him perfectly, showcasing some great chemistry between Steve Whitmire and Frank Oz, who I’m 99% sure is performing Bert here. 

FAVOURITE LINE:  "You know, Gladys, from the circus? You know? Elephant? Big Ears? Trunk?"

BERT AND ERNIE READ TOGETHER

This sketch is Ernie doing what he does best to his old buddy Bert: just ticking him off. Bert goes to read a book about pigeons, and Ernie discusses with him that it’s always good to read when it’s quiet. He then demonstrates some noises that make it hard to read, such as a dog barking (Steve’s had practice – Ernie’s bark sounded just like Sprocket!), and a car honking. He then starts beat-boxing and scatting away to the radio!

FAVOURITE ERNIE LINE: "Or a fire engine, it goes WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO---"

BERT’S HAT

I think I love this sketch. It is just genius, the way that Ernie just doesn’t care that he ruins Bert’s hats, so he doesn’t have to make a decision which one to wear. Sure, the sketch is meant to be about same and different, but I can’t help but think they just made this sketch for the fun of it.

FAVOURITE ERNIE LINE: I don’t really have one for this sketch, because otherwise I’d be typing out the entire thing. Just watch it, and you’ll see what I mean.

BLACKOUT ON SESAME STREET

There’s been a blackout on Sesame Street in the middle of the night! And Ernie can’t decide if he wants to watch television, or listen to the radio, both of which he can’t do because the powers out. Ernie decides to ring someone on Sesame Street to let them know the powers out, but he chooses Oscar, who gets mighty angry! The sketch is brilliantly written, with Ernie’s naivety coming in to play well.  And the ending is just brilliant!

FAVOURITE ERNIE LINE: After being berated by Oscar for ringing in the middle of the night, and with Oscar demanding to know who called him, Ernie coyly and hesitantly replies... "Um... It’s Bert."

DON’T EAT MY PORRIDGE

Now here is a pairing I don’t think we’ve seen enough of... Baby Bear and Ernie! These two play off each other brilliantly! In this sketch, Baby Bear and Ernie discuss the importance of porridge, of which Baby Bear is excited to eat! Ernie informs him that he had porridge that morning, so he isn’t hungry... But someone who is hungry is Goldi-Duckie! Of course, this is just rubber duckie in a wig, but Ernie can’t hold her back, and suddenly Baby Bears porridge has been contaminated by Ernie’s playtime. And make sure you stick around for the end, for Goldi-duckie’s return to Baby Bear’s porridge!

FAVOURITE ERNIE LINE: "What’s that, Goldi-Duckie? You wanna take a nap in Baby Bear’s wee-little bed? It’s just right?"

DRAWING WITH BABY BEAR

Again, another Baby Bear and Ernie sketch, where Ernie again ruins Baby Bear’s fun. This is possibly my favourite Ernie sketch, just because of his playful nature towards Baby Bear’s show. It’s almost as if he knows that he’s ruining it for Baby Bear, but he realizes it’s just so gosh-darn funny! It’s got the same vibe as the Bert’s Hat sketch from before, and you can tell just how much fun Steve was having during this. In the sketch, Baby Bear is doing his own show, and Ernie intervenes and wants to draw along, then deciding to change it up a bit.

FAVOURITE ERNIE LINE: "Maybe I could add a tail! Oh, and some flowers!"

That’s 6 of my favourite Ernie sketches, and believe me, I could find dozens more! But in order to keep this thing short, I’ve decided to stop it there. Now, I realize most of these are Steve Whitmire’s Ernie, but let me assure you that was accidental. It was just that all the Jim Henson sketches were pretty well known, and I wanted more obsure ones.

Honourable mentions to these sketches:

ERNIE PLANS

ERNIE’S PRETEND TEA PARTY

WHAT’S THE NAME OF THAT SONG – My personal favourite rendition of the classic!

Cheers kids, I’ll see you soon...
Jarrod

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Ernie

  Today's Weekly Muppet Wednesdays article is written by huge Muppet fan, Jesse. Enjoy!
 

ERNIE

Performed by...
Jim Henson (1969 - 1990)
Steve Whitmire (1993 - present)

John Tartaglia (Play with Me Sesame, season 2)

First appearance...
Sesame Street Test Show 1 (July 1969)

Most recent appearance...
Sesame Street Season 42 (2011)

Memorable quotes...

"Heeeeeeeere, fishy fishy fishy!"

Bert (dressed up all fancy): "Ernie, tell me, how do I look?"

Ernie: "With your eyes, Bert! [hee-hee-hee!]"

"I'm gonna eat cookies in your bed, Bert! Roll over!"

Best Friend

Bert, Rubber Duckie, Cookie Monster, etc.

Catchphrase

Not really a catchphrase, per se, but a notable vocal aspect is his laugh, a saliva-bathed "hee-hee-hee!"

WHO IS ERNIE?
Whether it's waking up his ol' buddy Bert in the middle of the night or lying in the bathtub with his Rubber Duckie, Ernie is one of the most popular Sesame Street Muppets. An orange, red-nosed, oval-headed fellow with black hair (and a red-yellow-blue-white striped shirt with yellow cuffs), Ernie has been around with Bert since the first Sesame Street pilot episode in July of 1969, and in the first official Sesame Street episode in November 1969.

He is a jokester, but underneath the surface lies a good, truthful friend, which seems to be the reason why Bert can stand him, which he has for 40 plus years.

One of many comparisons to Bert and Ernie is to The Odd Couple, where Ernie appears as the Oscar Madison of Sesame Street's dynamic duo: a laid-back, sometimes sloppy, insomniac fellow whose best friend is a rather clean, neat-and-tidy, straight-laced fellow who just wants to get some sleep.

ERNIE AND JIM HENSON

Both Ernie and Jim seemed to be laid-back, rarely unraveled, calm fellows always looking for fun. Comparisons especially lie in the fact that Ernie seemed to be having as much fun with Bert as Jim seemed to be having with Frank Oz. What's onscreen seemed as much fun as what's "under the screen," and there are many quotes and sources stating this directly. Plus, it seems many of Jim's Muppet characters are essentially a chunk of Jim's personality, which seems to be the case with Ernie, who seemed to be the laid-back, fun-loving chunk of Jim's personality.

ERNIE AND STEVE WHITMIRE
Steve Whitmire took over Ernie in 1993, after a 3-year-long silence, and it wasn't an easy road, but Steve has long since settled in as a suitable Ernie. Whitmire himself has stated, "I feel absolutely certain that I couldn't have even done anything I've done with any of Jim's characters had I not known him." (Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street, page 135)

ERNIE SONGS

• "Rubber Duckie" 
• "Imagination" 
• "That's What Friends are For" 
• "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" 
• "Dance Myself to Sleep" 
• "Dee Dee Dee" 
• "Imagine That" 
• "Do De Rubber Duck" 
• "The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree"
• "Put Down the Duckie" 
• "Things That I Remember" 
• "One Fine Face" 
• "D-U-C-K-I-E" 
• "But I Like You"

ERNIE'S TYPICAL MOMENTS

Typically, most of Ernie's moments involve him trying to talk Bert into a game, such as his "Rhyming Game," and when Bert finally plays along and gets into it, Ernie takes a break to do another activity, with Bert stuck in a rut.


Other classic Ernie moments take place at night, whenever Ernie has a song to sing or if he decides to eat his cookies in Bert's bed, and this is where magic happens. Usually, the end will involve Ernie going to sleep towards the end, and Bert is still wide awake, trying to sleep but can't thanks to his ol' chum.

Both formulas have been used times so countless, even The Count couldn't count them... okay, maybe not THAT countless (I mean, The Count is a very determined fellow), but the formulas work EVERY time and provide us with education AND laughter.

WHY DOES SESAME STREET NEED ERNIE?
Why wouldn't the Muppets need Ernie?


Ernie and his ol' pal Bert have been a part of the Street ever since the first test pilot! Since then, the two have become an integral part of the street and without them... well, the street would look... different. They wouldn't have the exact same companionship and "fun-lovingness" and laughter that we've mostly gotten from these two over the years.


In some cases, Ernie is more integral then Bert, even as Bert has been making more appearances recently, but either way, both of them are some of the formula for the show's memories and success.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier