Last Call: The Status Of Bert And Ernie's Relationship
Today was strange. Did everybody get that feeling? After dumping coffee on your lap on the train and walking into the wrong morning meeting, in the midst of taking a hopefully solace-filled Twitter break at lunch, you probably came across the following announcement on your feed:
Tons of people were a bit taken aback, responding to this seemingly out-of-nowhere tweet, with responses that were pretty much all variations on "What in the hell?" and "Where did this come from?"
Former #SesameStreet writer Mark Saltzman addressed the rumored relationship between the two puppets: "I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were. I didn't have any other way to contextualize them" https://t.co/njFRA7UsIt
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 18, 2018
Where was this all coming from? Turns out former Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman just stated in an interview with LGBTQ lifestyle website Queerty that when he was writing for the show, he was writing the pair as a couple: "I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were. I didn't have any other way to contextualize them."
Can't imagine that anyone is actually shocked by this, but I did love this retweet from The New Yorker. Turned out to be a good day after all. [Gwen Ihnat]
A cover from 2013: Bert and Ernie's "Moment of Joy." https://t.co/iVmV1JyDxa pic.twitter.com/licDoenyaV
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) September 18, 2018
This story is nice, too!
Bob Williams is a 93-year-old Iowa man known around his town as the "Candy Bar Man." He walks around his neighborhood giving out full-size candy bars, so naturally Hershey's made a video about him set to upbeat music and involving adorable children. Even if I'd prefer a bag of peanut M&Ms, I can get down with the spirit of free candy. Good work, Bob. [Kate Bernot]