Beaker



Beaker is the hapless assistant to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. He is a Live-Hand Muppet who made his first appearance in Muppet Labs sketches during the second season of The Muppet Show. Kermit the Frog describes Beaker by saying "If somebody has to get hurt, it's almost always Beaker."

The Muppet Show


Prior to Beaker's debut, Dr. Honeydew appeared in Muppet Labs segments by himself, but the timid assistant added a new level of comedy to the sketches. Dr. Honeydew's experiments and inventions always seem to go awry, and Beaker is their perpetual victim. He has been shrunk, cloned, punched, deflated, zapped, turned invisible, and blown up, but he always comes back for more.

On The Muppet Show, Beaker has sung "Feelings" and, accompanied by The Swedish Chef and Animal, "Danny Boy."

Movies and specials
On a few occasions, such as in The Great Muppet Caper and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show, Beaker has been electrocuted, causing his eyes to light up.

Some of Beaker's more memorable roles in the specials have been in The Muppets Go to the Movies, in which Beaker plays the role of "The Angel of Death" in a foreign film, and in The Muppets at Walt Disney World, where he gets a bucket stuck on his head throughout the special.

Muppets Tonight
Beaker does a mean Little Richard impression and knows how to beatbox, as seen in Muppets Tonight.

Internet sensation
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.

In July of 2008, Beaker starred in the popular, award-winning viral video "Ode to Joy." Beaker performed the song in a split-screen number: playing violin, timpani, metronome, and vocals (replacing the lyrics with extended "Meemeee"-ing). Inevitably, disaster ensues. The video was nominated in the Music category of the 2009 Webby Awards, as well as the 'People's Voice' award. Beaker won the Webby Award, and accepted the award at the June 8th ceremony.

In 2010, Beaker recorded a performance of Dust in the Wind, accompanying himself on guitar, but he is interrupted by a cascade of critical YouTube-style popup comments.

Speech
"These days, after we did the viral stuff, I get the impression that Beaker is a guy who goes home at night, you know he’s pretty intelligent, he’s a smart guy, he works in a lab, and he probably doesn’t have much of a social life. He’s pretty introverted because he really can’t talk, so his only means of communication is the internet. I love the idea that he spends all of his time in front of a computer, which is perfect for the YouTube stuff."

-Steve Whitmire, Toughpigs interview

Beaker normally communicates through a series of high-pitched "mee-mee-mee" noises. (In books and merchandise, it's often spelled as "Meep".) In some of his earlier appearances, Beaker's language sounded more like that of someone who was too terrified to get any real words out of his mouth. His "meeping" language began in episode 219. He did manage to muster "Bye Bye" in the Banana Sharpener Muppet Labs segment. In The Muppet Movie, his words were the closest they ever got to being real words, as his line "Sadly temporary" (echoing Bunsen) was quite clear, as well as his line "Make-up ready!" and his "Radiant Wonderfulness" line from The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. He re-used the "Sadly temporary" line in Muppets from Space. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, Beaker let out an "Oh, dear!" He also muttered an "Oh no!", before falling head first in episode 107 of The Jim Henson Hour. In the video game Muppet Monster Adventure, during the opening cutscene where Robin is told that his friends were turned into monsters, Robin says "Oh no!". Then Beaker replies "Oh yes!" While he was at WWE, Beaker was able to say "Santino", "Sorry", "Yeah" and "Wow."

One key element to Beaker's development was that, unlike Bunsen, who was rarely seen outside the Labs, Beaker took more of an involvement in the show. He was often seen backstage, and had cameo bits in other numbers and sketches. He also served as an assistant stagehand to Beauregard, as well as an assistant video DJ to Dr. Teeth on the compilation video "Rock Music".

Eyes
Beaker's eyes have the ability to light up on occasion. Usually these instances are the product of electrocution. Examples include:
 * The Muppet Show episode 522
 * Selfridges window display
 * The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show
 * The Great Muppet Caper
 * "Ode to Joy"
 * The Webby Awards (2009)
 * Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. (James Denton spot)
 * Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2010)
 * America's Funniest Home Videos (2010)
 * Underwriters Laboratories (Christmas spot)

Relatives
While no direct Muppet Relatives of Beaker have been pictured in the cannon of Muppet projects, multiple Beaker clones were featured in episode 514. In an appearance on the Halloween episode of WWE Raw, the wrestler Sheamus reveals that he is a relative of Beaker, but will be unable to attend the annual family reunion but reminds Beaker to tell Aunt Teresa hello. In The Muppet Show Comic Book: Family Reunion arc, it was revealed through Bunsen's Genebuster that Beaker was related to Gary Mayo, a famous TV panelist, as well as an Aunt Dolly.

Main Performers

 * Richard Hunt - from The Muppet Show (1977) to Muppet*Vision 3D (1991)
 * Steve Whitmire - from The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) to Present

Alternate Performers

 * Kevin Clash - The Muppet Show Live (2001)

Filmography

 * The Muppet Show (* notes a significant role in the Backstage plot)
 * Episode 202: Zero Mostel (Muppet Labs: Magnetic Carrots)
 * Episode 212: Bernadette Peters (Muppet Labs: Bunsonium)
 * Episode 215: Lou Rawls (Muppet Labs: Nuclear Shaver)
 * 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 303: Roy Clark
 * Episode 304: Gilda Radner* (Muppet Labs: Super Adhesive, "Tap Your Troubles Away")
 * 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 323: Lynn Redgrave
 * Episode 402: Crystal Gayle (Muppet Labs: Banana Sharpener)
 * Episode 409: Beverly Sills
 * Episode 410: Kenny Rogers
 * Episode 414: Liza Minnelli
 * 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 424: Diana Ross ("Feelings")
 * Episode 502: Loretta Swit
 * Episode 504: Shirley Bassey (Muppet Labs: Alchemy Machine)
 * Episode 514: Mac Davis*
 * Episode 515: Carol Burnett
 * Episode 520: Wally Boag ("Danny Boy")
 * Episode 522: Buddy Rich*
 * Episode 523: Linda Ronstadt
 * The Muppet Movie
 * The Muppets Go to the Movies
 * The Great Muppet Caper
 * The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan (Wedding Finale)
 * Rock Music with the Muppets
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * A Muppet Family Christmas
 * Family Computing
 * 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
 * Holiday Greetings from the Ed Sullivan Show
 * Muppet Treasure Island
 * Muppets Tonight
 * Episode 101: Michelle Pfeiffer
 * Episode 106: Tony Bennett
 * Episode 107: Sandra Bullock
 * Episode 108: Jason Alexander
 * Episode 202: Rick Moranis (Muppet Labs: Micro Shrink-o-Matic Machine)
 * Episode 203: Heather Locklear
 * Episode 204: Pierce Brosnan
 * Episode 205: Don Rickles & Coolio
 * Episode 206: Paula Abdul (Muppet Labs: Robot Abraham Lincoln)
 * Episode 208: The Cameo Show (Little Richard impersonation)
 * Episode 210: The Gary Cahuenga Episode
 * 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
 * Studio DC: Almost Live
 * A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
 * D23 Expo (2009)
 * Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. commercials
 * Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
 * America's Funniest Home Videos
 * Disney Extreme Digital
 * Secret Elevator Tapes
 * Muppet Labs Tech Support
 * What's a Whatnot?
 * "Do Not Touch" button
 * Muppet viral videos
 * Stars and Stripes Forever
 * Ode to Joy
 * Habanera
 * Carve-O-Matic
 * Ghost Hunt
 * Bohemian Rhapsody
 * Ringing of the Bells
 * The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora
 * Movie Night
 * The Muppet Show Theme Music Video
 * UL Labs commercial
 * WWE Raw SuperShow
 * The Muppets
 * Dancing with the Stars
 * Kermit's Party - Episode 3: Bunsen and Beaker: Science Can be Messy
 * The Case of the Stolen Show
 * Just for Laughs

Album appearances

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

Book appearances

 * The Comic Muppet Book
 * Muppets at Sea (1980)
 * Robin Hood (1980)
 * Fozzie's Big Book of Sidesplitting Jokes
 * Two for the Show
 * Gonzo and the Giant Chicken
 * Bo Saves the Show (1982)
 * The Muppet Guide to Magnificent Manners
 * Jim Henson's Bedtime Stories (Where's Beaker?)
 * Muppet Time (1996)
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book (2009-2012)
 * Muppet Robin Hood issues #3 and #4
 * Muppet Peter Pan issues #2 and #3
 * Muppet Snow White issue #3
 * Green and Bear It (2012)
 * Kermit's Costume Caper (2012)

Video Game appearances

 * Muppets Inside
 * Muppet RaceMania
 * Muppet Monster Adventure
 * Jim Henson's Muppets
 * Muppets: On With the Show
 * Muppets Party Cruise
 * Spy Muppets: License to Croak

Merchandise

 * Muppet*Vision 3D Plush
 * Igel doll, and the Sababa Re-release
 * Beaker Action Figure
 * Vanishing Cream Beaker Action Figure
 * Invisible Beaker Action Figure
 * Mega Beaker Action Figure
 * Beaker bust
 * Stepping Out Beaker Action Figure
 * Beaker Kubrick
 * Beaker bookmark
 * Super Beaker Action Figure
 * Poseable PVC
 * Mini Beaker
 * Muppets 25th Anniversary Happy Meal plush
 * Beaker as C-3PO PVC
 * "Beaker's 'Ode to Joy'" Christmas ornament