Is Ernie back?

[Muppet Frog]

In the new song what I Am for season 41, Ernie made a brief cameo with Will.I.is with his hair jelled up and one line. Does that mean Ernie is back?

 

[Oscarfan]

...it's not like he was gone. Yeah, Steve has puppeteer him since "Count on Sports", but you're implying he's disappeared, like Simon Soundman or Granny Fanny.

 

[Drtooth]

We have been over this. Be it that Steve was unavailable on the day of filming (after all, he DOES have quite a few characters on Disney's side) or that there were no new Ernie and Bert segments or footage (The claymation cartoons don't count, as they've been done for a while) due to the budget streamlining at the time. The character was STILL an ample part of the show, if only reused segments. We don't know anything about this season other than Bert being in one street story at least, and Grover having a new segment. We could very well see new Ernie footage this year or not. We just don't know, and we can't tell until the season airs. That said, it's not the case at all that they're trying to edge him off the series. His merchandise sells just as good as Elmo's in a lot of cases.