Ernie during the Around the Corner era

[jonas92]

When Sesame Street was in the Around the Corner era, (It was the era I watched as I was born in 1992) how often was Ernie in a street story? I don't remember seeing him too much when the show went around the corner.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

It seems like he mostly appeared in inserts and stuff like that, but when it came to street scenes, he mainly appeared as a background character. There have been at least a couple of occasions where he had at least one speaking line, but I don't know for sure. But, he had a major role in the 1996 or 1997 video 123 Count With Me which took place at The Furry Arms Hotel- one of the Around the Corner locations.

To anyone who watched the show frequently between 1993 and 1998, correct me if I'm in anyway wrong!

 

[minor muppetz]

It seems like even though Steve Whitmire took over in 1993 that there weren't too many new Ernie appearances between 1993 and 1998. Maybe I'm wrong (in the past few years I have found on Muppet Wiki that a few of Whitmire's Ernie segments that were in episodes during that time). I often wonder if the fishing segment and the New Years Eve special were hi only performances as Ernie during the 1993-1994 season (Ernie appears in linking footage but doesn't have any dialogue at all in either of the 25th anniversary specials). It could be that during this time Steve Whitmire was also busy performing Kermit and other Muppets outside of Sesame Street and had a limited Sesame schedule (just like now).


Ernie was in the street story when Slimey landed on the moon (Kermit had a big part there, so Whitmire was on set). I watched season 30 almost every day and it felt like a surprise seeing Ernie on the street so much (Frank Oz's characters were also on the street quite a bit, though usually in silent cameos, but it still felt like a big deal to me, unaware at the time that Oz's directing career meant limiting his Muppet performances). Actually I think Ernie didn't make too many appearances in street stories there, especially in comparison to seasons 31-35, but at the time it felt like a lot. I know Ernie was in the first scene from the season 30 premiere, and he made a cameo in the episode where Irvine wanted to take a bath, giving her a dirty wash cloth and a "Rubber Yuckie" to play with. Then again, even if Ernie wasn't in a lot of street stories in season 30 like I thought, that season did have a lot of segments with Steve Whitmire as Ernie.

 

[Kasey Kockroach]

How about this episode? http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_3909

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I wonder about that too since Bert and Ernie were silent in "Elmo Saves Christmas" which I believe was during the ATC years, so Steve could have been doing something else at the time, though he did have a brief appearance as in the special, but that could have been taped separately since he only appeared on the TV screen. You never know.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

How about this episode? http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_3909

This episode was AFTER the Around the Corner era. During Seasons 30-33, Ernie had a LOT of major roles in episode scenes like 3909. During Seasons 25-29, he mainly appeared in inserts and stuff like that, but if he appeared in episodes, it was pretty much just a silent background appearance.

 

[cjd874]

Based on what I watched as a kid during the ATC era, Ernie didn't have speaking roles very often, if at all. That was left to other newer Muppets like Elmo, Zoe, Rosita, Benny Rabbit, Ingrid and Humphrey, Baby Natasha, etc. Puppeteer availability also has something to do with it: Steve probably wasn't as available as other performers like Caroll Spinney, Jerry Nelson, Kevin Clash, Fran Brill, Marty Robinson, and David Rudman. (On a side note, Muppet Treasure Island was being filmed in the mid- to late 1990s, so that might be another reason why Steve wasn't around to play Ernie.) But by 2000, Ernie had major roles in street scenes like in Episode 3909.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah, I think between MTI and Muppets Tonight, Steve and a lot of classic Muppet performers were kind of tied up with other projects.