"Bert and Ernie" vs. "Ernie and Bert"

Who comes first?

This is a list of official billings for the Muppet pair of "Bert and Ernie" (or "Ernie and Bert"), which has been the subject of much debate and variation over the years. Unlike the comedy pairs of Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy, there is no consistent billing order for the pair.

Bert and Ernie

Production titles

• Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures
• The Bert and Ernie Christmas Special
• Bert and Ernie, Goodnight!

Album titles

• Bert & Ernie: Side By Side
• Bert & Ernie Sing-Along
• Bert and Ernie's Greatest Hits

Book titles

• Bert and Ernie On the Go
• Bert and Ernie See the World
• Bert and Ernie: Soft and Loud
• Bert and Ernie Work Together
• Bert and Ernie's Apartment

Video titles

• Bert & Ernie's Word Play
• Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures: Pirates and Other Stories
• Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures

Other

• Sesamestreet.org uses "Bert & Ernie" in their titling of sketches, clips, songs, playlists and games.

• In Follow That Bird, when Maria is telling Miss Finch about the various types of people living on Sesame Street, she mentions that the street includes Bert and Ernie.

• In Elmo's World: The Street We Live On, Elmo tell us that Dorothy is thinking about Bert and Ernie, which then leads to Dance Myself to Sleep.

• At the beginning of Episode 0666, when Count von Count counts lights that go on, he counts "Bert and Ernie's lights".

• The predominant naming convention is that the straight man gets top billing and the funny man gets end billing, thus: "Burns and Allen," "Stiller and Meara," "Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy." It could be argued that "Bert and Ernie" would follow that tradition.

• Michael Davis noted at the 2009 event "Sesame Street at 40: A Night of Celebration with the Legendary Cast" that the straight man from classic comedy duos is traditionally listed first. To settle the question, Davis asked Frank Oz which was the right order. After a brief pause, Oz answered "Bert and Ernie."

• On the album The Count Counts, the Count mentions "Bert and Ernie" in a list of people he is dedicating the next song to. He then plays "Candy Man".

• On the album Sing the Alphabet, the track "La, La, La" gives Bert top billing.

• The Old School box sets and 40 Years of Sunny Days always give Bert top billing when the two are mentioned in chapter stop and bonus sketch titles.

• The Sesame Street Online Store lists the pair as "Bert and Ernie" in their character directory.

• The official Bert and Ernie Facebook page gives Bert top billing.

• In the introductions to Shalom Sesame shows 1 through 5, Bert is given top billing in the pair (both his English and Hebrew name).

• In The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, Count von Count introduces them as "Bert and Ernie."

• An early Sesame Street watch offers a custom street sign, reading "Bert & Ernie."

• Their clip section in the video Best of Friends introduces them as Bert and Ernie.

• The Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street viral video gives Bert top billing in the title as well as in dialogue a few times, though the other billing gets used as well (see "Ernie and Bert" section below).

• In A Swingin' Sesame Street Celebration: 50 Years & Counting concert, Big Bird introduces the pair as Wynton Marsalis's co-hosts, giving Bert the top billing.

International items

• Bert en Ernie, LP
• Bert en Ernie's Fanbox, CD box-set
• Bert und Ernie bekommen Besuch, book
• Het Beste van Bert en Ernie, CD
• Kerstfeest met Bert & Ernie, LP
• Uit Je Bol met Bert en Ernie, CD
• Zomerkriebels met Bert en Ernie, CD
• Sesamstrasse Bert & Ernie, poster

Ernie and Bert

Album titles

• At Home with Ernie and Bert
• Havin' Fun with Ernie & Bert

Book titles

• A Day in the Life of Ernie & Bert
• The Adventures of Ernie & Bert at the South Pole
• The Adventures of Ernie & Bert in Twiddlebug Land
• The Ernie and Bert Coloring Book
• The Ernie & Bert Book
• Ernie and Bert Can... Can You?
• Ernie and Bert Present Finish the Story
• Ernie & Bert's Delivery Service
• Ernie and Bert's Different Day
• Ernie and Bert's Flashlight Adventure
• Ernie and Bert's New Kitten
• Ernie and Bert's Summer Project
• Ernie and Bert's Toy Book
• What Ernie and Bert Did on Their Summer Vacation
• The Importance of Being Ernie (and Bert)

Video titles

• The Best of Ernie and Bert

Other

• Kermit the Frog introduces the pair as "all the way from Sesame Street, here they are now, the two and only, Ernie and Bert" in The Muppet Show episode 102.

• In A Muppet Family Christmas, Ernie introduces himself to Doc, saying, "We're Ernie and Bert." Also in A Muppet Family Christmas, when listing the sleeping arrangements, Emily Bear says that "Ernie and Bert will bunk out with the lizard".

• The "first season show content" files found at the CTW Archives list many sketches with the two with the prefix "E&B".

• The section on the two in Sesame Street Unpaved is titled "The Importance of Being Ernie and Bert".

• In Sing the Alphabet, Ernie gets top billing under the track "The R Machine" (though Bert gets top billing elsewhere, see above).

• The combination "Ernie und Bert" is the standard in Germany, while "Bert und Ernie" is almost unheard of. "Ernie und Bert" is present on close to every Sesamstrasse product and in every production featuring the two characters, whether translated or dubbed from American content, or newly produced for the international co-production (see "International items").

• In the video Count on Sports, the pair compare the chemistry of various things to how well math and sports work together. Ernie mentions math and sports go together like "Ernie and Bert."

• Shows 6 through 11 of Shalom Sesame mention Ernie's Hebrew and English name before Bert's.

• Though The Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street viral video uses the other billing in most instances, at the end, Ernie refers to them under the other billing.

• Don Pardo introduces the two this way in a 1996 PSA for Sony Theaters.

International items

• Ernie, Bert, Hiphop & Co., CD
• Ernie & Bert Märchensongs, Sesamstrasse mini-series
• Ernie & Bert Show, Sesamstrasse segment
• Ernie & Bert Songs, Sesamstrasse mini-series
• Ernie und Bert im Land der Träume, TV show
• Ernie und Bert im Land der Träume DVD 1, DVD
• Ernie und Bert im Land der Träume DVD 2, DVD
• Ernie und Bert im Land der Träume DVD 3, DVD
• Ernie und Bert im Land der Träume DVD 4, DVD
• Ernie und Bert in ihren lustigsten Geschichten, DVD
• Ernie und Bert machen Ferien, CD
• Ernie und Bert singen ihre schönsten Lieder, CD
• Geschichten mit Ernie & Bert, book
• Picknick mit Ernie und Bert, book
• Weihnachten mit Ernie und Bert, TV special