Bernie

Lola Falana calls Bernie.

for other uses, see Bernie (disambiguation)

Bernie, the talent agent to the Muppets, has represented characters from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and other productions. He has even represented the guest stars. His most famous (and demanding) client, however, is Miss Piggy.

Bernie is never seen, however, and his "appearances" consist of characters talking to him on the telephone or shouting to him on the set, where he is always just off camera.

In The Muppet Movie, Dom DeLuise played a character named Bernie the Agent, who discovered Kermit singing "The Rainbow Connection" and encouraged him to audition for Lew Lord in Hollywood. It is unclear whether there is any relationship between the two characters -- or, for that matter, whether any of the Bernies are the same Bernie. Maybe every agent is named Bernie. Except for Marty and Irving Bizarre.

The name Bernie is a reference to Bernie Brillstein, Jim Henson's close friend and longtime manager.

"Appearances"

• Lola Falana talks to Bernie in the opening to The Muppet Show episode 411, asking him to get her off the show.
• Kermit the Frog tells Bernie he doesn't want to play Las Vegas in a sketch on Sesame Street.
• Boober Fraggle calls Bernie, in the Fraggle Rock wrap party film, announcing his availability for the male romantic lead in the new Meryl Streep film.
• In the outtakes from Episode 21 of From the Balcony, Statler calls to his off-camera accountant, Bernie.
• Miss Piggy has mentioned her agent as Bernie on several occasions, including A Christmas Together, in a Muppetism short, and in Best Ever Muppet Moments.
• Grover calls offstage to Bernie when he walks off the set of a segment directed by Prairie Dawn.
• In his Into the Night cameo, Jim Henson speaks on the phone with Bernie.
• Miss Piggy appeared on The Tonight Show on New Year's Eve 1996, reporting live from the roof of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square to watch the ball drop. She spent the evening complaining about the rooftop being cold and the partying crowd being too noisy. When host Jay Leno asked her what she would normally be doing on New Year's Eve, Piggy said, "Well, usually, I have a romantic candlelight dinner for two with Kermie. But this year, my agent Bernie decided I should spend New Year's Eve on top of a freezing building with three teamsters named Vinnie!"
• During the cold-opening of her August 2, 2007 appearance on The Late Late Show, Miss Piggy threatens to call her agent Bernie after she finds out the show is on at 12:30 in the morning.
• Topo Pepe, Topo Sticky's puppet sidekick, gets a call from his agent Bernie in a Disney Xtreme Digital video.
• Pepe says he was discovered by Bernie off the coast of Malaga, Spain in a November 17, 2008 interview on GMA Now.
• Miss Piggy again mentions Bernie in her book, The Diva Code.
• In the first episode of Muppet Babies, "Noisy Neighbors," Baby Gonzo as Cluck Kent is trying to find a place to change into Super Gonzo. When he finds a telephone booth, it is being used by Baby Fozzie, who is telling a joke to his agent, Bernie.
• Oscar the Grouch makes a reference to his agent Bernie in his introduction to Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street.