Target Village - Bert's Cop Car

The police car makes its appearance several times in the film. Each time it appears in the Pottersville sequence, its siren is wailing. Like the characters in It's a Wonderful Life, this car also has different personalities depending on whether we are in Bedford Falls or in Pottersville.

Target Village - Bert the Cop

Bert the cop is one of George's good friends as an adult. But when George travels to Pottersville, we see a darker side of Bert the Cop. Of all of the characters we see in Pottersville, Bert still seems to be the most rational resident in the alternate reality.

Target Village - The Bedford Falls Police Station

I bought the police station and the police car from someone I met online after these buildings were no longer available in stores. The police station is located at the end of Genessee Street next to City Hall.

The side of the box reads, "In the sleepy town of Bedford Falls, a good cop is never far off. In fact, one always seemed just around the corner or down the street. And whenever George Bailey was in trouble, he'd turn to Bert, the truest, bluest cop on the force."

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Target Village - Bert the Policeman's House in Bedford Falls

Bert the Cop lives next door to George Baily. We wouldn't know this if it weren't for an error. During the opening prayer scene in which the camera pulls away from the street in front of the Granville House, we see Bert run out of his home, next to the Granville house.

The side of the building reads: "Bert the cop knew just about everyone in Bedford Falls, and everyone knew him. There wasn't much crime to fight - a broken window, an occasional lost dog, but the people of Bedford Falls loved and resected Bert. He and his family lived in this modest home right in town so he would always be available when needed."

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Can You Tell Me How They Got to Sesame Street?

Bert the Cop and Ernie the Taxi Driver in It's a Wonderful Life. 

Source: Wiki Commons

A myth has grown out of the story that the characters of Bert and Ernie in It’s a Wonderful Life inspired the names of the characters on the children’s show “Sesame Street.” 

Stephen Cox, author of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book, debunks this claim: “It’s purely coincidence, admits Henson representatives who were there in the late 1960s when Sesame Street first paved its way on television” (87).

(Left to right) Ernie and Bert
Source: http://www.factfixx.com/2011/08/10/urban-legends-bert-and-ernie-are-lovers/

Even the “behind the scenes” book about “Sesame Street,” titled Sesame Street Unpaved, by David Borgenicht, tackles the topic: “Sesame writers insist that it’s just a coincidence” (23).

A quick Google search of the phrase "bert and ernie sesame street it's a wonderful life" will also disprove the myth.

Please help me educate America. Please stop this pop-culture lie.

Sources:

Borgenicht, David. Sesame Street Unpaved. New York: Hyperion, 1998.

Cox, Stephen. It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2003.