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Bonus video! Are Ernie & Bert a Couple? (Patreon)

Published:
2021-07-23 18:31:15
Edited:
2023-06-21 15:50:43
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Hey hi!

Thanks to your support here on Patreon, I've got a new video coming this weekend -- and here's a special Patron-exclusive bonus video to go along with it.

This weekend's video is about the gay history of The Muppets, and I didn't have time in that to go into the whole SAGA of Ernie & Bert ... so I decided to tell that story in this bonus video: From the characters' origins, based on Frank Oz and Jim Henson; to Sesame Street's denial that they're gay; to a sudden shift in that denial in just the last few years.

(Patreon might still be having some trouble connecting with Vimeo, so let me know if you run into any problems and I'll keep nagging Patreon & Vimeo to fix it. I think they're getting sick of hearing from me about this!)

Also, I hope you'll join me on Sunday July 25 at 11am pacific for the premiere of my new full-length video about the Muppets -- and in particular, performer Richard Hunt (Scooter, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Junior Gorg, and many more), the most famous gay man in the world who nobody recognized.

Thanks again so much for being a part of my patreon -- and especially huge thanks to everyone who sent me clips to use!!! I love love love getting videos and suggestions from you all. I've got videos in the works about Sex & the City and Buffy, so if you've got anything from those shows I should know about, don't be shy and sending it along!

See you later,

Matt

Files

Bonus video! Are Ernie & Bert a Couple?

Okay, let's settle this question once and for all. Here's the whole multi-decade backstory of how Ernie & Bert were created by Jim Henson & Frank Oz, how Sesame Street denied for years that they were a couple, and how that denial dramatically changed in just the last few years.

Comments

Rob Kandell

I understand the denial *at the time*, as the artist’s intention was so far from that and the preacher’s claims amount to a false accusation. I also remember at the time the religious right going after Tinky Winky and a response article mentioning Bert & Ernie slipping under the radar.

Norman Buchwald

Actually hopefully Children's Television Workshop has changed since back in the day if they really asked for the painting to be destroyed. I also remember follow up stories in the school newspaper where the student was so intimidated he changed schools. :(

mattbaume

Oh my goodness I hadn't heard about that. To be fair it does sound like it might've been quite explicit??? I wonder just how graphic it was. But it's not like anyone would have thought it was officially sanctioned by the show.

Norman Buchwald

I stand corrected. Some research shows the artist who is still an artist did graduate from Colorado State University. He doesn't talk about this earlier painting (or display it) in the future. Hopefully he did not destroy it.

Yonatan Zunger

So really, what straight people should have been asking gay couples all these years is "Which one of you is the Bert, and which one is the Ernie?"

Matthew

What a fun video! I’m kind of surprised Sesame Street doesn’t have a gay Muppet yet. It just seems like so many cartoons feature gay characters nowadays. One of my friends with small children was even telling me how watching Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts had a sweet coming out moment that had her small kids later telling off someone who said something homophobic.

mattbaume

Yes! And that episode had a gay director!

mattbaume

Honestly I could answer that instantly about so many gay couples I know

mattbaume

I think sometimes shows that have been around forever are very slow to course-correct -- it reminds me of how slow Star Trek was to adapt.

Bjørn-Tore

i really do hope they give us some gay muppets, also bert and ernie could be ace, and aro like they are two adults sharing a bedroom, now speaking as an aroace, this just makes me wonder what would happen if they ever got romantic partners. mostly since you know i have no idea what people would do in that situation, more so since they share a room, so like that just is fascinating to me when trying to understand the allosexuals. also didn't sitcoms use to give married couples like separated beds like that in the past?

Artie Pavlov

Fine. Muppets made me sub to you! Miss Piggy is THE KWEEN!

mattbaume

These are such good points! I can absolutely see Ernie and Bert as aro/ace, since romantic relationships (and certainly sexual ones!) almost never come up. Also you're absolutely right that sitcoms used to use the whole "same bedroom, separate beds" trope for married couples!

mattbaume

Haha I'm so glad! And yes she absolutely IS

mattbaume

OMG of course they do. Also thank you for the heads up about this artist!!! Wonderful stuff.

QueBijoux

If the student wasn't selling the painting, would there really have been cause for legal action? People create and display artwork of trademarked characters all the time. It does show the attitude of the time, though. Thanks for sharing it.

QueBijoux

Thank you for reviewing the history of B&E being perceived as gay, and the different responses to it. It's great to see how the Sesame Street powers that be have evolved with the times.

TBoneSF

That final tweet from Frank Oz literally made me cry. He made that tweet on my birthday and there's no more special feeling than knowing one of your lifelong heroes "gets it".

Muppetk

Wow I am so glad I watched this. I saw Frank Oz’s definitive They Are Not Gay tweet back when it happened and it upset me enough that I unfollowed him. I had not heard that he followed up with that second half where he thought about what he was challenged on a few days later and I feel so much better about the whole thing now. (I admit, I joined the patreon primarily for this video after watching the YouTube vid on Richard Hunt, and I feel good about that decision. Thank you!)

mattbaume

Yeah the Frank thing bummed me out at first too, but I'm glad he listened and came around. Seems like a real good person.