Earl

Earl is one of the "Dragon Time" puppets from Puppetman. He was puppeteered by Richard Hunt while Del Zivic does his character and the character was designed by Ron Mueck and built by Caroly Wilcox and Jitka Exler. A goofy purple and pink dragon with buck teeth, Earl is the klutzy sidekick to Butane. In the initial "Dragon Time" sketch, Earl argues with Butane over who gets to pull the castle bell, and takes a pratfall as a result. Offstage, Earl is often used by his puppeteer Del to avoid answering people, providing dumb remarks for him. In opposition to the sharp-tongued, bile-filled Gertha, Earl represents the goofy, playful side of Del.

Earl is a Hand-Rod Muppet, allowing Del (and by extension, Richard Hunt) to perform him and Gertha at the same time. Earl receives third billing among the puppets in the "Dragon Time" credits within the show, behind Butane and Candle.

Other appearances
The Earl puppet was reused in the "Monster Telethon" episode of The Jim Henson Hour alongside the other "Dragon Time" puppets in a sequence involving a king who doesn't know how rule a kingdom that worked as a hat sharpener.

In the Ghost of Faffner Hall episode "Music Brings Us Together," the puppet was used for the son of a tourist dragon family who played on sea shells with Steve Turre. Here, Earl is performed by an uncredited David Rudman.

In the Bear in the Big Blue House episode, "Read My Book," the puppet was used as a dragon in Tutter's favorite book, "Mousey the Great."

Earl was later used in various roles on Mopatop's Shop like the Dream Collector in "Dream the Dream."

Several years later, it was used again in the Sesame Street PSA "Don't Forget to Watch the Movie," to demonstrate that smoking is not allowed in movie theaters.