Dr. Bunsen Honeydew



Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is the resident scientist on The Muppet Show, and host of the Muppet Labs sketches. He is a Live-Hand Muppet. In season one of The Muppet Show he worked alone, but in season two, his assistant Beaker was added to the show. Bunsen is always eager to show off his latest scientific discovery, but his excitement about progress tends to render him short-sighted. Beaker usually ends up being harmed by Dr. Honeydew's inventions. Bunsen Honeydew's name comes from the scientific instrument called the Bunsen burner, and the shape of his head, which looks like a honeydew melon.

Bunsen's inventions have included a gorilla detector, exploding clothes, edible paper clips, a banana sharpener, hair-growing tonic, and a machine that can turn gold into cottage cheese.

He has appeared in every Muppet movie, often with a large role contributing to the film's plot. In The Muppet Movie, Kermit the Frog meets Bunsen and Beaker in an old ghost town, where Honeydew shows off his latest invention, "Insta-Grow Pills," which can temporarily make things grow bigger. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, Bunsen and Beaker portray charity workers. In Muppets from Space, Bunsen invents a number of devices for the Muppets to use when they rescue Gonzo.

Bunsen's birthday is on the 20th of some month. In the Muppet Babies episode Muppetland, Bunsen invites Kermit to his birthday which is to take place "in two weeks." Kermit circles Saturday the 20th on the calendar in a month with 31 days. This episode aired in 1987 and no months match the calendar seen.

In a 2004 Internet poll sponsored by the BBC and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew were voted Britain's favorite cinematic scientists. They beat Star Trek's Mr. Spock, their closest rival, by a margin of 2 to 1 and won 33 percent of the 43,000 votes cast.

Myths
There is a myth that Dr. Bunsen Honeydew was intentionally patterned after the real life person of Lord Grade (aka Lew Grade). Jim Henson commented on this in a 1982 interview stating: "Bunsen Honeydew was not specifically Lord Grade when we did him. It would have been easy to make him much more like Lew Grade if we had tried to and, in retrospect, I wish that we had. The character that owns the Muppet theatre only appeared a couple of times and I always -- in looking back -- wished that I had made that to look just like Lew Grade because he's very caricaturable."



Filmography

 * The Muppet Show
 * Episode 108: Paul Williams (Muppet Labs: All-Purpose Tenderizer)
 * Episode 112: Peter Ustinov (Muppet Labs: Robot Politician)
 * Episode 114: Sandy Duncan (At the Dance with Pink skinned Whatnot Muppet)
 * Episode 115: Candice Bergen ("Look at That Face")
 * Episode 116: Avery Schreiber (Muppet Labs: Gorilla Detector)
 * Episode 118: Phyllis Diller (Muppet Labs: Exploding Clothes)
 * Episode 202: Zero Mostel (Muppet Labs: Steel Rabbit)
 * Episode 208: Steve Martin
 * Episode 212: Bernadette Peters (Muppet Labs: Bunsonium)
 * Episode 215: Lou Rawls (Muppet Labs: Nuclear Shaver)
 * Episode 216: Cleo Laine (Audience)
 * Episode 217: Julie Andrews (Muppet Labs: Hair-Growing Tonic)
 * Episode 219: Peter Sellers (Muppet Labs: Teleporter)
 * Episode 221: Bob Hope (Muppet Labs: Automatic Wastebasket)
 * Episode 222: Teresa Brewer (Muppet Labs: Electric Nose Warmer)
 * Episode 301: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge (Muppet Labs: Elevator Shoes)
 * Episode 304: Gilda Radner (Muppet Labs: Super Adhersive)
 * Episode 305: Pearl Bailey (Muppet Labs: Edible Paper Clips)
 * Episode 306: Jean Stapleton (Muppet Labs: Shrinking Pills)
 * Episode 307: Alice Cooper (Muppet Labs: Germ Enlarger)
 * Episode 308: Loretta Lynn
 * Episode 318: Leslie Uggams (Muppet Labs: Fireproof Paper)
 * Episode 319: Elke Sommer*
 * Episode 402: Crystal Gayle (Muppet Labs: Banana Sharpener)
 * Episode 407: Dudley Moore
 * Episode 414: Liza Minnelli
 * Episode 415: Anne Murray
 * Episode 416: Jonathan Winters (Muppet Labs: Luggage Compressor)
 * Episode 418: Christopher Reeve (Muppet Labs: Milking Machine)
 * Episode 420: Alan Arkin
 * Episode 422: Andy Williams (Muppet Labs: Pet Converter)
 * Episode 504: Shirley Bassey (Muppet Labs: Alchemy)
 * Episode 506: Brooke Shields
 * Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal (Muppet Labs: Electric Sledgehammer)
 * Episode 514: Mac Davis (Muppet Labs: Copying Machine)
 * Episode 515: Carol Burnett
 * Episode 522: Buddy Rich
 * The Muppet Movie
 * The Great Muppet Caper
 * I Love Liberty
 * The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan (Wedding Finale)
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * A Muppet Family Christmas
 * The Jim Henson Hour
 * Episode 107: Health and Fitness (Muppet Labs: Exercise Shoes)
 * The Muppets at Walt Disney World
 * The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
 * Muppet*Vision 3D
 * The Muppet Christmas Carol
 * Muppet Treasure Island
 * Muppets Tonight
 * Episode 101: Michelle Pfeiffer
 * Episode 106: Tony Bennett
 * Episode 107: Sandra Bullock
 * Episode 108: Jason Alexander (Murder on the Disoriented Express)
 * Episode 202: Rick Moranis (Muppet Labs: Micro Shrink-o-Matic Machine)
 * Episode 203: Heather Locklear
 * Episode 204: Pierce Brosnan
 * Episode 206: Paula Abdul (Muppet Labs: Robot Abraham Lincoln)
 * Episode 208: The Cameo Show (Little Richard impersonation)
 * Episode 211: Andie MacDowell (Star Trek cruise)
 * Muppets from Space
 * Muppetisms
 * Bunsen (the scientist) and Beaker (the guinea-pig)
 * Bunsen (the scientist) and Beaker (the assistant)
 * "Keep Fishin'" music video
 * It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
 * "We Are Family" music video
 * The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
 * Muppets TV
 * The ESPYs
 * A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
 * Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. commercials
 * Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
 * America's Funniest Home Videos
 * Disney Xtreme Digital
 * Muppet Labs Tech Support
 * What's a Whatnot?
 * &quot;Do Not Touch&quot; button
 * Muppet viral videos
 * Muppet Labs Experiment 2Q975: Carve-O-Matic
 * Muppet Labs Experiment 5T832: Ghost Hunt
 * "Bohemian Rhapsody"
 * The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora
 * Movie Night

Album appearances

 * The Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack
 * Muppet Beach Party
 * Kermit Unpigged

Book appearances

 * The Muppet Show Book
 * The Comic Muppet Book
 * Robin Hood (1980)
 * Fozzie's Big Book of Sidesplitting Jokes
 * Muppets at Sea
 * Gonzo and the Giant Chicken
 * The Muppet Guide to Magnificent Manners
 * Jim Henson's Bedtime Stories (Fozzie's New Partner, Where's Beaker?)
 * Muppet Time (1996)
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book (2009)
 * Muppet Robin Hood issues #3 and #4 (2009)
 * Muppet Peter Pan (2009-2010)

Video game appearances

 * Muppets Inside
 * Muppet Race Mania
 * Jim Henson's Muppets
 * Muppets: On With the Show
 * Muppet Party Cruise
 * Spy Muppets: License to Croak

Character merchandise

 * Igel doll
 * Dr. Bunsen Honeydew Action Figure
 * Bunsen bust
 * Stepping Out Bunsen Action Figure
 * Mini Bunsen PVC