Ernie was first seen with Bert in the test episodes of "Sesame Street" in 1969. His voice at that time was more similar to Rowlf the dog than Kermit the Frog. He had purple and yellow stripes on his shirt and a purple nose instead of the red and blue stripes and red nose he has now. His shirt and nose were changed in the second year of the program. In the third year, his eye focus got better.