Albert Einstein

2580 Einstein — Ruby wants the Einstein 'do.

Bunsonae — A queue area poster at *Muppet*Vision 3D* in Florida.

Dogcity-einstein — Eliot Shag explains time travel as Albert

Harvey as Einstein — Harvey dressed as Einstein in *Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars*

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a theoretical physicist known to the world as one of the most important figures in 20th-century science.

The Season 20 version of Sesame Street’s opening title sequence began with a shot of a statue of Einstein. Sculpted by Robert Berks in 1979 from a bust he created in 1953 of a live Einstein, the larger than life-size statue sits on the lawn of the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C. at Constitution Avenue & 22nd Street NW, just 400 yards north of the Lincoln Memorial. [1]

Einstein reached such worldwide fame that he became a figure of celebrity, and thus the subject of many pop-culture references that exist to this day. A particular facet of his personality that was a favorite of satirists was his accent. As a result, caricatures of scientists in situation comedy roles are frequently equipped with a mock German accent. One such example is the Sesame Street character Professor Nucleus Von Fission.

In the late 1990s, Apple Computer's "Think Different" campaign commissioned a one minute commercial showcasing some of the widely considered "geniuses" of our time, including Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog. Einstein's image opens the montage.

Though Einstein himself died before the Muppets reached prominence, he was a known fan of television puppetry. On one occasion, the physicist interrupted a high-level conference by announcing, "You will have to excuse me, gentlemen. It's Time for Beany."^[1]

References[]

A photo of Einstein appears in a fast-cut montage at the beginning of The Paperwork Explosion.

Miss Piggy portrayed "Alberta Swinestein" in the 1997 coloring book Great Muppets in American History.

The Muppet Show episode 503 features a plot with Beauregard charged with "taking care of" the rats. Realizing quickly that Beau can easily be duped, the rats take advantage of his dim wits, and sarcastically refer to him as "Einstein."

Rosie O'Gravy keeps a photo of herself and Albark Einstein in her apartment, as seen in the Dog City episode "Farewell, My Rosie."

The Dog City episode "Future Schlock" revolves around time travel and features Eliot Shag wearing an Einstein wig. He also speaks in a light German accent explaining basic scientific principles to a befuddled Ace Hart.

When Clifford needs a guest star in the Muppets Tonight episode "The Cameo Show," he says they need to find someone "with the wisdom of Solomon, the vision of da Vinci, and the brilliance of Einstein."

Professor Albert Einslime, a scientist who leads a team of WASA experts in Sesame Street’s "Slimey to the Moon" story arc, takes his name and appearance from that of Albert Einstein.

Ruby wants to be a scientist like Einstein when she grows up, she says in Episode 2580. She realizes that it takes studying science, but she also wants the hairdo, too.

In Sesame Street Episode 4069, Snuffy receives a magic ukulele in the mail from Hawaii, which turns him invisible when he strums it. Big Bird figures out that what looks like a floating ukulele, is really invisible Snuffy holding the instrument with his snuffle. At this realization, Snuffy declares, "Albert Einstein, eat your heart out! Bird, you are a genius!"

Muppet Labs details proper usage of 3D glasses in a series of queue area posters at Muppet*Vision 3D. The posters (illustrated from the perspective of Bunsen Honeydew) contain numerous doodles, subtle jokes and references, including a possible "new look" illustration, in which Bunsen sports an Einstein-like mustache and hairdo. These posters also contain numerous references to E=mc².

Rachel Bitterman demeaningly refers to her Handsome Executive as "Einstein" in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.

Farscape referenced Albert Einstein on multiple occasions. John Crichton sarcastically referred to several characters as "Einstein" in multiple episodes, though the most notable example occurs in the fourth season episode "Unrealized Reality," as Crichton is interrogated about his wormhole knowledge by an interdimensional being in a suit. Crichton dubs the being "Einstein," a reference both to the latter's intelligence and to the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, an early exploration into the wormhole concept. "Einstein" re-appears in Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, which also paraphrases a quote from the real Einstein: "God does not play dice with the Universe."

In Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, Harvey appears dressed as Albert Einstein and speaks in a mock German accent. He tells Crichton that he would prefer to be called "Albert," pointing to a picture of Albert Einstein above a chalkboard. Additionally, the chalkboard features various equations, including "E=Mc Hammer."

In Sesame Street Unpaved, it's pointed out that Big Bird shares his astrological sign, Pisces, with Albert Einstein ("it's all relative").

An unproduced Sesame Street insert called "Tips for Tots" was meant to feature Big Bird teaching letters, numbers, and symbols using the Theory of Relativity equation as a visual aid.^[2]

Disney employees playing the part of interns for the Muppet Mobile Lab, are referred to as "Einstein" and "Newton" by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.

On the February 1, 2016 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Kermit says to Colbert, "Hey listen Stephen, do you ever think about how, statistically of course, we are breathing the very same air molecules that Albert Einstein once breathed?"

One of the books that Elmo reads in Grover's Cute and Adorable Book of Books is titled Good Morning, Brain!, which depicts an abstract image of Einstein on the cover.

E=mc²[]

One of the most important contributions Einstein made to the world was his formula stating that energy equals mass times the square of the speed of light inside a perfect vacuum, or, E=mc². It was this discovery that would lead to a number of advances in science, and only helped to advance his popularity. The formula itself exists as a celebrity, having made appearances in countless cases that have called for simple scientific formulae. One such example can be found in the 1966 film The Idea Man, when Limbo speaks of ideas that have already been thought of, while Dr. Bunsen Honeydew was often fond of scribbling variations of the formula in his notes found in the pages of Muppet Magazine (one illustrated representation of his mind included the equation E=mice² next to a doodle of his mother). Other instances have included a representation of Dorothy's thoughts about school in a segment of Elmo's World, a visualized thought in a classic recurring Muppet sketch, a book titled with the equation in a Muppet comic strip, and a Muppet folder by Mead which parodies the equation as grEen=mc² (referencing both Kermit's skin color and an environmentalist angle, as the folder was part of a "Save the Pond" themed binder).