1413. Beaker

Beaker is a Muppet character from The Muppet Show. He is the shy, long-suffering assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and is likewise named for a piece of laboratory equipment, although his shape more closely resembles a Graduated cylinder.

During the first season of The Muppet Show, Bunsen Honeydew presented the Muppet Labs segments by himself; Beaker was added as his lab assistant from the second season on. Beaker has googly eyes, a shock of red hair, and a drawbridge mouth. He was originally puppeteered and voiced by Richard Hunt until Hunt's death in 1992, when the role was taken over primarily by Steve Whitmire.
Beaker is a magnet for misfortune; his appearances typically involve him being blown up, electrocuted, eaten by large monsters, or losing body parts. Beaker communicates in a nervous, high-pitched squeak that sounds like "Mee-mee-mee mee". In books and merchandise, the sound is spelled "Meep". In The Muppet Movie, at the end of a scene, he appeared to say something other than "mee" or "meep" (he "meeps" Honeydew's previous line "sadly temporary"). His tone or expression helps to communicate his meaning.
He rapidly became a favourite with audiences, who both sympathized with and enjoyed laughing at his humorous sufferings. Occasionally, Beaker was able to take revenge, particularly a segment in which he inadvertently made several copies of himself and spent the rest of the episode chasing Honeydew around the theater. In the 2008 TV special, A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, Beaker is even more fortunate when he tests a wish machine and gets the company of model Petra Němcová, and not only refuses Honeydew's order to send her back, but then also successfully teleports away with her to apparently enjoy his first wish for the rest of the story.
Beaker has also appeared as a musical performer, singing "Danny Boy" with the Swedish Chef and Animal, and "Feelings" by himself. The former performance was marked by the Chef's singing in his trademark gibberish and Animal's inability to remember anything but the first three words. For the latter, Animal had to shush the increasingly unruly crowd (who abused the Muppets throughout the episode) so Beaker could finish: "QUIET!!...Thank you."
The two scientists were later incorporated into the Muppet Babies animated series. Howie Mandel (during early seasons) and Dave Coulier voiced Bunsen, and Frank Welker provided Beaker's squeaky meeps. Following Richard Hunt's death in 1992, the role of Beaker was taken over by Steve Whitmire. Beaker was performed by Kevin Clash in The Muppet Show Live. An animated Beaker was also voiced by Richard Hunt, his usual performer during that period, when he appeared in the short lived Little Muppet Monsters series.