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ClassicExit t1_iy9a3tm wrote

So "It's a Wonderful Life" gave us Sheldon & Leonard and Bert & Ernie

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KidNeuro t1_iybkc7y wrote

Alas, this website refutes what I, too, always thought about the origin of Bert and Ernie https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Are_Bert_and_Ernie_named_after_characters_from_It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life%3F

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piddydb t1_iydj8qp wrote

Ah, I’ve always questioned that retort. I think technically, if they did it without permission AND admitted it was a direct inspiration, the producers of It’s a Wonderful Life could sue Sesame Street for it. By publicly saying “no, there’s no inspiration there, just a funny coincidence”, they covered their butts from legal liability. The idea that there’s two independent set of characters in broad American media named Bert and Ernie that interact with each other when those nicknames are pretty uncommon seems highly unlikely to me.

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