Favorite Bert and Ernie Sketch

[Ziffel]

In that popular classic movie theater sketch with the lady with the tall hat, I know Ernie, as usual, was pretty dense in it (When the lady sits in front of him and he can't see, his ideas to resolve the problem are to switch seats with Bert (but then Bert wouldn't be able to see!) and sit on Bert's lap! - that was hilarious!) But that lady was also quite dense, eh? To bring such a tall hat to the theater not realizing it would block people's view. And to move her hat next to her not realizing that it is now blocking Bert's view. And even at the very beginning of the skit, we hear her say, "Excuse me please, I'm so sorry..." and then see her sit in front of Ernie. So she had already disturbed at least one other person/muppet's view and yet sits right in front of Ernie thinking nothing! Actually, maybe even Bert was a little dense in this one too since he simply sits there sighing in frustration at the end. All he had to do was ask the lady to move her hat, as he had just advised Ernie to do. Or, he could have simply moved to another seat in the theater (unless EVERY single seat was filled. From my memory, we saw quite a few seats behind them occupied, but I don't think 100% of them were).
Anyway, it was a great skit and is my favorite of the movie theater E&B sketches.
By the way, I think Jerry Nelson must have did the voice for that lady, right?

 

[mikebennidict]

Ernie Dusts The Shelf.

I heard this clip played on MC radio yesterday so I assume their was a TV version of it as well. anyone remember it?

 

[maniacal muppet]

my favorite is bert's blanket.Ernie is spending the night at the count's castle and bert expects a nice quiet night.In a matter of 5 seconds he hears music and sheep come marching in and start singing about where bert's blanket comes from. It is the best e.&b. sketch ever! Everyone must see it!

 

[ISNorden]

i don't have any favorites but here's 1 funny part of an Ernie & Bert skit. the rhyming game when Ernie decided to quit and Bert goes up to the lamp saying hey there lamp that'a a nice shade. besides the fact it didn't rhyme he sounded rediculous talking to a lamp.

I have a feeling that "Hey there, lamp! That's a nice shade!" was meant to be one long line which Bert expects his new "partner" to rhyme. Most of the lines Ernie and Bert exchange in the game had a similar rhythm, after all: "I don't want to play a game with rhymes!...Nice going, buddy; ring my chimes!" Even if I'm nitpicking about the rules, I still agree that Bert made a fool of himself when he expected the lamp to play along.

 

[Censored]

I have a feeling that "Hey there, lamp! That's a nice shade!" was meant to be one long line which Bert expects his new "partner" to rhyme. Most of the lines Ernie and Bert exchange in the game had a similar rhythm, after all: "I don't want to play a game with rhymes!...Nice going, buddy; ring my chimes!" Even if I'm nitpicking about the rules, I still agree that Bert made a fool of himself when he expected the lamp to play along.

Well yes, that was exactly what Bert was trying to do. If you listen closely, after Bert says that line to the lamp, he then says, "You..." pointing to the lamp, expecting it to say its rhyming line.

It does seem pretty silly of Bert to expect a lamp to answer, but on the other hand, it's not like inanimate objects have never come to life on Sesame Street before.

 

[ISNorden]

Most of my favorite Ernie & Bert skits include other Muppets along with you-know-who. For instance:

1. Ernie tries to teach his baby niece Ernestine to say "Ernie", but his efforts only make the baby upset (babbling angrily and throwing toys). At the end of the sketch, however, Ernestine surprises Bert by saying his name clearly.

2. Ernie and Bert invite the Count over for the night; the Count borrows Bert's bed, while Bert himself sleeps on the living-room couch. Ironically, the Count has trouble falling asleep that night: Ernie teaches his guest how to count sheep, hoping that it will help.

(Nitpick moment: The Count has already learned that technique and used it at home, according to earlier episodes. In fact, his flock of counting sheep eventually goes on strike! But I digress...)

Next morning, Bert asks how his guests slept. The Count feels energetic and refreshed, although he didn't actually sleep. Ernie, on the other hand, walks in with bags under his eyes as he counts in a monotone; if I recall correctly, he's reached some eight-digit number of sheep. Bert vows never to let the Count spend the night again; Ernie collapses after a few more numbers, ending the sketch.

 

[ISNorden]

It does seem pretty silly of Bert to expect a lamp to answer, but on the other hand, it's not like inanimate objects have never come to life on Sesame Street before.

True enough, although that usually happens only when the object relates to the lesson being taught. Even if Ernie's rhyming game had involved household appliances (instead of spontaneous lines spoken by the players), the lamp probably wouldn't come to life unless other pairs of rhyming objects had done/were going to do the same.

 

[ISNorden]

It's an arguable point. Sesame Street was meant to be an educational tool. Had the character been developed today, he probably never would have developed his bad grammar.

Now that I think about it, I wonder what prompted Frank to start using the improper grammar for Cookie. Did he just slip up one day and decided it seemed to work for the character and kept it? Or did someone else suggest it? It'd be an interesting question to ask him.

In my opinion, Cookie was supposed to talk like a child who'd barely mastered sentences (let alone pronoun forms). The producers probably thought that believable child-speech made Cookie Monster more believable than proper English...and that one such character wouldn't do any harm, as long as most of the others talked properly. Besides, there were plenty of humans (and Muppets!) who did speak normally on Sesame Street.

In the same vein, Electric Company's "Crank" character was allowed to keep his trademark use of "ain't"...in a show specifically meant to teach proper reading and writing. The show brought up Crank's usage only once in several years. Otherwise, the CTW writers apparently still believed that one character's bad grammar wouldn't spoil the educational value of the whole show.

 

[MartyMuppets]

I loved the skit where Ernie recited the alphabet to Bert calling it a story he had written. But he wouldn't say the letter z and Bert questioned him he said He wouldn't tell him how the story ended because he wanted to encourage him to read it for himself.

 

[MartyMuppets]

I also felt sorry for Bert when he decided he liked playing the rhyming Game at the last minute but Ernie bailed out on him.
Course the big laugh is that while he wasn't interested in playing all Bert had to do was shut up and eventually Ernie would have gotten the hint and given up (well maybe with a ? You cannot truly be certain with old Ernie can you?)