Remembering Bernie

Earlier this week, the world lost another important person close to the Muppets: Bernie Brillstein. Bernie managed Jim Henson throughout most of his career, and was pivotal in the creation of productions such as The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, and Fraggle Rock. He also executive-produced shows like ALF and It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and movies like Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, and The Cable Guy. Not to mention the long list of big celebrities that he personally represented, like Rob Lowe, Jennifer Aniston, Wayne Brady, and just about every cast member of Saturday Night Live.

For more about Bernie’s life, check out his entry on the Muppet Wiki. For a whole lot more about Bernie’s life, I wholeheartedly recommend reading his autobiography, “Where Did I Go Right?”, which is a terrific read.

The life of Bernie Brillstein is really only half of his story. The other half comes with the all-important character of Bernie, as seen on The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, live appearances, web shows, and even non-Henson productions. His resume is almost as long as the frog’s!

Feeling uneducated regarding all things Muppet? That’s all right; be prepared to learn! In honor of the late, great Bernie Brillstein, here is a retrospective of his namesake, the aptly-named Bernie.

Before The Muppets were The Muppets, Kermit the Frog was discovered by Bernie the Agent. Bernie showed Kermit that he was able to spot a potential star after a half of a song and a couple wisecracks, that he loves to pronounce the word “Hollywood,” and that he has an intense fear of alligators. If it weren’t for him, Kermit would have never lost his bicycle! Oh, and he would have never met his friends and became famous or whatever.

Bernie represented singer Lola Falana for a short while, but he was let go after failing to get her out of her commitment to guest star on The Muppet Show, even though she only gave him 15 seconds notice and appeared to have a great time flirting with Gonzo.

Bernie also represented Boober Fraggle for a time, as seen in the Fraggle Rock wrap party tape. Boober came close to convincing Bernie to try and cast him as the leading man in the new Meryl Streep movie, but Bernie knows where his client’s talents lie. And he let Boober know of his exact thoughts by, uh, hanging up on him. So much for that ten percent.

In an episode of From the Balcony, Statler calls out to Bernie, who is just offscreen. I’ll be honest with you, I gave up on From the Balcony pretty quickly, so I can only imagine that the bit involved some sort of bad pun about being old and very little to do with actually rating movies.

While filming the classic film, “Singin’ in the Rain” (the one starring Grover and directed by Prairie Dawn.. what movie were YOU thinking of??), Grover bailed on his responsibilities as an actor to take lunch with Bernie, who I’m sure was on set in an advisory capacity. Prairie Dawn has held a blood vendetta against him ever since.

In the John Landis film, “Into the Night,” Jim Henson (the Muppet guy) is having an argument with Bernie over the phone. “Have I ever lied to you?” asks Henson, “Okay, but can we talk about it?” he pleads, mercifully. Suddenly, Henson is surrounded by tuxedoed goons and offers to call Bernie back later. Sources say that they did finish their conversation at a later date.

The latest proof of Bernie’s existence was in a 2007 episode of The Late Late Show, in which an infuriated Miss Piggy threatened to call him after learning that the show doesn’t air until 12:30am. As of printing date, Bernie has not been able to remove a “Late” from the Late Late Show.

It’s still too early to tell if Bernie the character has passed along with the non-fictional Bernie, but I’m sure we’ll hear from him again soon. Because even though the people we love and respect pass away, their legacies will live on forever. A simple concept, but one the Muppets have kept true.

Click here to help us remember Bernie Brillstein on the ToughPigs forum.