European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ernie a antics wont end despite creators death Lynne Heffley los Angeles times the recent death of puppeteer Jim Henson jolted sesame Street fans of All Ages. Would children notice a difference on the show that bears the unmistakable stamp of Henson s Genius what was to happen to the muppet creations that he himself gave voice to a his Froggy Green alter ego Kermit mischievous Ernie and Toothy game show Host Guy Smiley anxiety was further heightened by National news reports that Ernie had been singled out for retirement. Ernie and his Long suffering Good buddy Bert operated by Veteran puppeteer great Frank of Are a favorite beloved duo. To tans separating them is unthinkable. Since then the children s television workshop in new York which produces sesame Street for pcs reports being flooded with daily Calls from concerned viewers who Don t want Bert to go Solo. They can rest easy according to cow president David Britt. Quot As far As the kids in the audience Are concerned Quot he said a the show will go on As it always  Quot we Are not going to retire Ernie or Bert Quot Britt stressed. Quot we have 20 years of Bert and Ernie and Ernie by himself on tape in our  sesame Street which goes into production in september for the Start of its new season in november will use a combination of old and new material As it always has Britt explained. Quot if you look at the show a lot Quot he said Quot you will see there is quite a bit of repetition of material. We do that mostly for pedagogical reasons As Well As Economy. Kids really do learn from repeating things and they love to look at stuff Over and Over again. Quot each year we have done muppet bits with Bert and Ernie and whoever a and the ones that Are the Best we use frequently. Those that make particular Points we use from time to time. We have enough that we can rest the segments for two to three years and then bring them  in 16 weeks of production each year Britt said cow tapes about 75 new self contained muppet segments that can be dropped into the show at will. Of those Henson was personally involved in about 50, according to cow spokeswoman Elizabeth Martin Britt is somewhat pained by the Ernie retirement Story. It was he maintained an Quot unfortunate Quot error. Although no decision has been made about taping new segments with Ernie Kermit and Guy a with someone else providing the voices a a stockpile of Henson created material assures the characters continued appearances. And unlike some of the other characters a big Bird or Oscar the grouch for instance a Henson s characters were rarely involved in the live action scenes taped with humans on the sesame Street set. Quot at some Point when the Henson organization wants to sit Down and talk about it a Britt said Quot we will decide whether we want to rejoice his three characters and make new  Britt pointed out that a there Are 15 co productions of sesame Street in hebrew Spanish German and so on. And in each of those co productions there Are different voices for the up pets. So technically you could find other voices that would work Well with the  but he added Quot in a funny Way it s kind of a Trade off. Stuff that Jim and Frank of did As Bert and Ernie is so Good unless you were miraculous in finding a voice i would guess it would be a hard Choice to decide to retire the old stuff and use  Britt said that the Treasury of reusable material that Henson left was not his Only legacy to sesame Street. Quot we Are the beneficiaries of the fact that Jim was not Only a great Talent As a performer but he was also a Genius As a creator Quot he said. Quot he gave us so Many characters a some new ones like Elmo and meryl sheep and Alice  who Are becoming popular in their own right a and he trained and developed a whole set of puppeteers and people who know How to develop new  Britt said that Henson s death will not be dealt with on the show the Way that the passing of the character or. Hooper was handled when actor will Lee died a because Henson himself was not seen on the show and his puppets will go  the following were the top 10 ranking television shows in America in the last week of May As compiled by the . Nielsen co. The season to Date ranking is in parentheses or an Quot a Quot for first time showing and the final figure is the rating which notes the percentage of the nations 92.1 million Homes where people watched the show.1 cheers 2  18.1 rating. 2 Roseaime 1  18. 3 Seinfeld 20  16.2. 4 americans funniest Home videos 4  15.7. 4 Simpsons tie 30 Fox 15.7. 6 60 minutes 7 lbs 15.6. 7 wonder years 9  15.5. 8 the Cosby show 3  15 3. 8 a different world tie 5  15 3 8 unsolved mysteries Fie 12  15.3 a and these Are the 11 least watched shows the ones at the Bottom of the Nielsen ratings. 78 Mission impossible  4.7. 79 . America lbs 4.6. 80 City special lbs 4 5. 80 tour of duty tie lbs 4.5. 82 alien nation Fox 4.3. 83 outsiders Fox 4 2. 84 21 jump Street Fox 4,1. 85 Normal life lbs 3 9. 86 open House Fox 3.1. 87 Tracey Ullman show Fox 2.5. To plus sunday june 10,1990