The Muppet Barometer of Muppety-ness

"Muppety."

When Muppet Freaks see a new production, when evaluating it later and discussing it with other fans, one of the primary attributes used to measure it is how "Muppety" it was.

But what exactly does that mean?

Typically, the term becomes a catch-all phrase to describe how well the production fit the overall ideal of what The Muppets have typically stood for throughout their career; fun, silly, witty, reckless abandon.  A feeling of overall inclusiveness with an underlying theme of wildly diverse beings ultimately getting along even if there's lots of conflict among the way.  Just the right mixture of heart and humor without ever falling into sappiness or mind-numbing saccharine schmaltz.  The ability to be sophisticated and even risque without crossing the line into vulgarity or crassness.  Multilayered and subversive humor with an element of crankiness that doesn't devolve into overall cynicism.  Typically musical (with the music not being overtly cheesy or dull).  ("Muppety" may very well be a more modern and populist synonym for "Muppetational" - the word used in its theme to describe "The Muppet Show")

Now all of this is very conceptual and subjective - isn't there also a way to measure "Muppetyness" with some more specific degree of measurement?  And if so, how could one measure "Muppetyness" anyway?

Well, why not with Muppets?

Typically when we see something with The Muppets in it, be it a movie, a television show, a 30 second spot, a book, record, or item of merchandise there are the "Big Guns" we expect to see...Kermit, Gonzo, Piggy, Fozzie (with the latter two not even always being a given throughout the late 80's-90's).  But of course The Muppet group consists of several supporting players, hundreds of minor characters, and thousands of physical puppets that could populate a background.

Among that large group, there are certain minor Muppets that always tend to make a project seem extra Muppety when they're present...they don't even have to have a speaking line, but just by showing up they make us feel a sense of warmth; like just by their very inclusion, it's like the creative team is sending the message "Hey, this particular installment is really special because we actually brought out ___ to appear in it!"  When these characters are among the group, they seem to validate that this piece of work is worth paying attention to...this isn't just another typical frog-and-pig appearance du jour but rather a lovingly prepared full course meal of Muppety Goodness.  Maybe in the long run when all is said and done, perhaps the production may not have actually been among the all time best when evaluating it in retrospect but when you're actually experiencing it and seeing these characters, it feels like the most sensational, Muppetational thing you've watched lately!

Now here's the interesting thing...i'd pretty much picked these characters in the back of my mind as being ambassadors of "Muppetyness" way back during the later seasons of The Muppet Show and for the last 30 years, have considered them perfect symbols of how Muppety a project seems - well before i would have known a whole lot of specific information on each character's genesis...but looking over the list, a great deal of these characters predate The Muppet Show, either having been created for one of its pilots or even dating farther back.  The most recent debut for any of the following Muppets would have been Muppet Show Season Two.  Which in a way makes sense because if while "eight-year-old d.w." is watching a Season Five episode of The Muppet Show, in order for a character to be able to pop up on the screen and lend a unique sense of familiarity, they'd have to be somewhat established to begin with ... but it still kind of surprises me when i actually look back now and note how so many of these characters were indeed "classic" in that many of their creations took place pre-Muppet Show.

So, without further ado, i now present THE MUPPET BAROMETER OF MUPPETY-NESS!  The Eleven Muppets That Always Make Something Seem Extra "Muppety" Whenever They So Much As Just Show Up!

THE MONSTERS

Of course since Muppet Monsters on their own make something seem "Muppety" overall, it's only fitting that half of this list does include Monsters!  Wanna make something say "Muppet"?  Just add Monster!  But which specific Monsters really lend an air of Authentic Muppetsticity to a project?  Here's the list:

- Beautiful Day Monster

Perhaps it's because he's one of the rare Muppets that made appearances on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show (having already existed as a "trunk puppet" before Sesame's debut), when Beautiful Day Monster shows up, he makes things seem particularly "Classic" - in Sesame's first season, he was the one to be scared of - the one most likely to be dangerous or cause trouble.  He not only appeared in - but had lines in Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and The Jim Henson Hour!  When the trailers for "The Muppets" surfaced, he was spotted in a shot...and then another...and then ANOTHER (and even with costume changes)!  He was gonna get some awesome screentime in the new movie and that really got my Muppet Freak self ultra-excited to see this film!

 

- Luncheon Counter Monster

The only Muppet on this list to debut past The Muppet Show's first season (Episode six of Season Two to be exact), Luncheon Counter Monster's more adventurous and complex (while still maintaining a classic Muppet look) design and his penchant for just eating anything he came across indiscriminately immediately made him an essential Muppet Monster.  But as the years went on, the great thing about Luncheon was that he could randomly pop up anywhere and everywhere!!  The Cosby Show - The Muppet Meeting Films - Statler & Waldorf: From the Balcony - he even had his own solo Muppet Hallmark Card!!  Whether alone or part of a herd, LCM is the Symbol of Cool Muppet Monstery!

 

- Boppity (Blue Frackle)
- Gloat (Green Frackle)

In 1970, a whole group of new Muppet Monsters were created for the Ed Sullivan special The Great Santa Claus Switch - with many of these "graduating" to become The Muppet Show Monsters.  In GSCS, they were known as The Frackles.  By the time they moved on to TMS, most just became thought of as "Muppet Show Monsters" but two in particular still tended to retain the name "Frackle" on set being referred to as "The Blue Frackle" and "The Green Frackle" and often tending to get a tad more screentime than the other Monsters.  As more Monsters were built for TMS over the following seasons, their airtime got slighly more diluted...but it was still a special treat when they came on - and anytime they showed up in a production afterward!  Nothing quite said "Muppet Monster" like Boppity (the Blue Frackle) and Gloat (the Green Frackle)!  Boppity even had solo lines in the opening number of Muppet Christmas Carol!

 

- Droop

...And speaking of Frackles, we also have Droop.  But he's special in his own right!  For one, he was one of the few Muppet Monsters to get both a name, regular performer and clearly established personality.  He was heavily featured as a main character during the first Muppet Show pilot, The Muppets Valentine Show.  He also had one of the first speaking lines in Muppet Christmas Carol.  Droop was just as easily used as part of a pack of Muppet Monsters, as part of a chorus, or in promotional shots appearing in Statler & Waldorf's balcony.  For a while, there was a fear that Droop might end up dropped due to the Muppets Tonight director, Nigel, bearing such a strong resemblance to him (but with a polar opposite personality; i always thought if the show had continued that they should have established them as twin brothers) but Droop's featured appearance in "The Muppets" proves he's back, baby!

NON-MONSTERS ("Nonsters?"):

Of course, you don't have to be a Monster to be Muppety - just ask these favorites: 

- Baskerville

The oldest Muppet on this list, debuting in 1963 where he was built along with Rowlf for Purina Dog Chow commercials, Baskerville may not have become as huge a star as Ol' Brown Ears, but he still always seemed the most Muppety out of all the various Muppet Dogs.  Perhaps it's because he's so old-school that whenever he's onscreen, he fetches our full attention!

 
- Crazy Harry

Crazy Harry always lights up the screen...literally!  Though truth be told, he doesn't even need to set off an explosion - the puppet has such brilliant expressions built into him and John Lovelady/Jerry Nelson gave him such a unique posture and physicality that i always jump up and down with joy when he's on screen - even if he's just dinging a triangle or just leering at everything around him in a crowd scene.  Probably my favorite shot in "The Muppets" trailers was the one of the theme song arches...not only because of them being the theme song arches, but also because of the manic energy that Crazy Harry was singing and dancing with...showing that Harry would do just nicely in Matt Vogel's hands!  Of course, being that the whole inspiration behind Crazy Harry was Muppet Builder and prankster extraordinaire Don Sahlin, is it any wonder that Crazy Harry never fails to make everything the most Muppety possible when he's around?

 
- Mildred

Perhaps it's because she just looks so regally elegant or because she has that odd ubiquity where she can randomly appear in the pages of Muppet Magazine, her own panel in The Muppet Show Board Game, appearances in both Muppet Show pilots (she was the main female character in Valentine Show), The Muppet Show, Jim Henson Hour, and Muppets Tonight! (where she was not only one of the older school Muppets featured in the theme song but also very prominent in the theme's first three shots) - when they bring out Mildred Huxtetter you KNOW you're in for a very Muppety treat!  So much so that we'll be going a little more indepth with Mildred soon...

- George

...But in the meantime, there's her "favorite" dancing partner, George the Janitor.  Both characters debuted in Muppets Valentine Show with pretty major parts - though they weren't really "paired up" until The Muppet Show's At the Dance segments where they danced together in all but two of the first season's segments.  George looked like he could just as easily hang out with Statler & Waldorf if he wasn't cleaning up after pigs and explosions.  When Beauregard became the new Muppet Theatre Janitor in season three, that just helped make any George sightings all the more exciting and precious...especially when we got to see him back sweeping things up in his uniform on Muppets Tonight!  And he gets the very first singing line in Muppet Christmas Carol.

 

- Zoot

Okay, i know what you're thinking - as a member of The Electric Mayhem, Zoot's a pretty major character.  And yet, he's also oddly enigmatic.  He usually just plays the sax, doesn't talk much and is often less than awake most of the time.  But it's those moments he either pops up by himself to do a solo outside of the EM band or when he just randomly appears doing something other than play his sax that always seems really special, interesting, quirky...and MUPPETY!  Whether he's dropping in Anne Murray's dressing room or appearing as a member of the gospel choir in Pearl Bailey's opening number (or a jousting scene member in the same episode's closing) to his surprise cameo in Muppet*Vision 3D, when Zoot talks...WE LISTEN!  (And we still smile from ear to ear even if he doesn't talk)

 

- Marvin Suggs 

Probably one of the funniest Muppets in the entire Muppaverse!  If he's in a scene, you know your sides will be aching later from laughter.  But even if he's just in the background - along for the vacation in Muppet Family Christmas or putting on his own dancing show in the movie theatre seats(!!) at the end of The Muppet Movie, Marvin Suggs is the epitome of the Muppet Who If They Bring Him Out And Put Him On Screen, You Know They're Going That Extra Muppety Mile!  And there he was in the OK Go video and even getting a solo line in "The Muppets" grand finale (interacting with Chris Cooper no less!)

....In fact since that OK Go video has Marvin, Zoot, Crazy Harry, and Beautiful Day Monster in it, i'll boldly predict that due to that level of Muppety Awesomeness, it will win the Webby!  (And if it doesn't, we can blame the lack of Mildred.)

On Mortality (and Why the Muppets Matter) [From the Archives: 4-4-09]

[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on April 4, 2009]

Well, when i started this venture, i did say that not only would i be discussing my other areas of fandom but also occasionally touching on other stuff as well. I mentioned that sometimes it would be silly, sometimes snarky, other times serious. This is one of those times it gets very serious (and probably the most serious article that will be found here)

I'm going to warn everyone right up front. I'm going to discuss something that is very taboo to talk about in our society. And those who do talk about it almost NEVER do so in the way i'm about to because there's that much of a stigma about it. We may live in what i sometimes refer to as a "South Park" society where it seems these days courtesy goes out the window, six year olds curse blue streaks as their parents either don't care or actually encourage them, and almost any kind of talk about sex or violence is not only openly in everyone's face everywhere but the news media even seems to thrive on it. We have reached a point where the most crude things there are to discuss are always out there with no discretion, but despite all that it still remains essentially forbidden to both hold and talk about the views i'm going to express. If you find you can't take what i'm about to say, you may want to skip to the very end of the post where it ties all back together to the Muppets and the larger picture.

I recently found out that a good friend of mine from my school days died. More specifically, he killed himself. Needless to say, i'm quite devastated and my heart and best thoughts and wishes go out to his family and those he's currently close to (we haven't talked to each other since school and moving on with our own separate lives). There are of course nearly a hundred different thoughts and emotions swimming around in my mind about this all but chief among them is envy and incredible respect and admiration about his choice.

As long as i can remember, i've always questioned the world around me and often came to unusual conclusions. I remember being a little kid and always being amazed at how almost all the other kids my age (in real life and on the tv) thought the opposite gender was "yucky". One of my best friends was a girl who lived across the street and we had no problem with each other and i was observant enough to notice that at some point boys and girls eventually end up liking each other enough to fall in love and get married so i always would think "well if it happens later, why wait to be friends?" Now of course i think i can also thank Sesame Street for that since that was constant exposure to a world where boys and girls were equal and all got along and played and had fun with each other. That's just one example of the kind of unconventionalist approach i've taken towards viewing the world around me.

Well, something else that has never made sense to me is the way our society (and societies throughout history) has viewed death and more specifically self-deliverance. Here's my line of thinking. It's okay if you don't agree; i know many of you won't and this may even be the first time you heard anyone say this stuff but just because it may be "out there" or different than what you're used to doesn't make it not valid. Death is a natural part of the life cycle. It's one of the most inevitable things there are and there's never been a person born on this earth who has been immune to it. It's part of the natural order of things. We're born, we age, we die.  Always - and each and every one of us - no exceptions.  Sometimes it's early in the life cycle (sometimes not even surviving the journey out of the womb), other times people live beyond the age of 100. Some lives are taken by fate; others by natural causes. At one time or another it happens to every single one of us.

 "Life is made up of meetings and partings"


Being the totally natural and inevitable event that death is, i don't see why suicide is seen as such a horrible thing. You will meet very few people who are willing to express that they think it's okay (even if they may very well feel it is deep down, it's just not something any of us will come out and say). If we're all going to die, shouldn't we be allowed some say over when and how? Should the ability to take control over an inevitable and natural part of our life cycle not be an inalienable and undeniable right?

Now i know the automatic answer many have to those questions. Many people don't have the kind of wisdom to make such decisions, especially when we're younger. How many of us in our childhood or teens felt like ending it all over something we may now look back at as rather trivial? The kind of teen drama type stuff like "Ohmygawd, Becky told Johnny that i kinda sorta liked him and he didn't believe her or seemed to care - i don't think i can go on". True, when we're younger we don't always have the wisdom and maturity to handle such big responsibilities. That's why most countries have various age of consent laws for things like smoking, driving vehicles, drinking, playing the lottery, engaging in sexual activity, etc. If given the choice to take our lives whenever we wanted, a lot of us probably wouldn't live past our teen years.

But at some point, should we not be able to take an honest look at our lives and place in the world and say "there really is no more point in going on. I didn't ask to be born in the first place and this is the time for it to come to an end." It would give our family and friends a chance to establish closure and say their goodbyes beforehand. Those we know aren't taken by surprise and shock and they can be glad that the person taking their life had the good fortune to depart this earth the way they wanted. If suicide was legal and an accepted practice in our society, there wouldn't be any need for people to attempt taking their lives in reckless ways that may endanger others or are very violent and harsh or leave behind a traumatic scene for the survivors to witness. One could enter a facility where they are humanely put to sleep - similar to the lethal injections criminals sentenced to the death penalty are given. No gruesome crime scenes for police to clean up involving hangings, gun shots, jumps off buildings and the like. We can die with dignity when we feel the time is right.

It would also aid in environmentalism. Our planet just can not support a population that grows at an exponential rate. Any means of population control benefits us all and if anyone's going to talk about implementing any kind of practice in society that brings the population down, shouldn't it be geared towards those who don't want to live anymore and wish to leave voluntarily?

I've faced a lifelong battle with severe depression. I feel things very intensely and can be too sensitive for my own good. Thoughts of death have been as much a part of my regular existence as loving the Muppets or for that matter even breathing. And in full disclosure i once did try to kill myself when i was around 17 by taking a large amount of sleeping pills. Didn't even come close to working. I slept very deeply for a long time and had the mother of all headaches and felt very dizzy and groggy afterwards, but otherwise nothing happened.

When i was 28, i made a pact with myself that during my 29th year, if i honestly felt that my life wasn't improving and that i saw little point in continuing with it, i would not allow myself to turn 30; i would end it beforehand. In one of those odd twists of irony, even though i truly didn't feel towards the end of my 29th year like i should continue, an event i literally waited a lifetime to happen ended up scheduled on my 30th birthday. Despite my better judgement, i held on and entered my 30's. (Even though i still had a total nervous breakdown and came very close to slashing my wrists or drowning myself in the bathtub that weekend.)

There's been some good moments in the seven years since that i'm very grateful to have experienced. My two years with Grand Canyon Mens' Chorale and winning the "Most Outstanding Performer" award my rookie year ... or for that matter even being able to sing again when a very severe battle of bronchitis nearly destroyed my singing ability and voice. (I actually still live with a degree of non-viral bronchitis and am especially vulnerable during times of high air pollution). Having a front row center seat at an Annie Lennox concert and meeting her afterwards. Those are some of the most prominent memories i have of the last few years where i can honestly say i'm thankful i got to have those experiences.

But moments like that have really been few and far between and if i was to honestly and brutally assess my life - where it's been and where it's going, i would have to say i made the wrong choice not to end it sooner. Had i had access to a vision of my future and known what it would hold and the stuff i've gone through, i wouldn't have had any doubts that death was the better choice. I won't go into much detail but suffice to say in addition to the financial hardships that our current economy has wrought, i have endured nearly every single form of antigay bigotry that exists (with the thankful exception of physical violence) - i've been disowned by parts of my family (and looked at as a "black sheep" by others who haven't totally outright written me off), lost a home, lost employment, had property vandalized, experienced numerous forms of harassment, and have had my car messed with and sometimes actually sabotaged. Which is really quite remarkable that for someone who really has rarely dated or been with much others, that i would be as victimized as i've been. It's all been pure bigotry directed at what i naturally am and can't help being instead of reactions to specific practices or behaviors. (To put it mildly, an overweight, ugly person in his 30's who lives in poverty and desires relationships based around friendship as opposed to sex just simply is not going to enjoy much companionship!)

I don't think i can really say there hasn't been a day since my 30th birthday that i haven't thought about death, wanting to die, suicide, or any combination thereof. Maybe at most, i might have been able to go 48 hours without such thoughts, but that would be the maximum. Like i said before, they're just simply as natural a part of my existence as sleeping and eating (which i sure as heck do a lot of. That's an advantage of being overweight. Animals get fat in the first place so they can survive stretches of time when they don't eat including hibernation. So if i have a couple days off from work and don't have to be anywhere else or have any other responsibilities, i'll "hibernate" - literally go to bed and stay there and not feel or think anything and be at as much of an "at rest" state close to being dead as i can get while being alive.)

I've done a huge amount of research on self-deliverance. I have no doubt that unless fate beats me to it, that i will eventually die by my own hand. The only variable is whether it ends up being four days, four weeks, four months, four years, or four decades from now. Unless my research brings to my attention a better method, i already have it planned out how i'll do it. I live in a constant state of amazement that i haven't already quite honestly. And when i hear of people like my old friend who actually have taken their life, they have my deepest respect and envy. People often use the word "cowardice" when discussing suicides. Personally, especially considering humans have a natural survival instinct and reflexive drive, i think the ability to face death and embrace it willingly the way and time one chooses is one of the bravest things a person can do. Those who take their own lives should be seen as heroes, not victims. They took control over something that was a natural inevitability.

So the big question is why exactly am i still here? What has kept me from doing what i probably should have done a very long time ago? There's really three things when it comes right down to it.

(1) I have no fear of dying. But what i DO fear immensely is surviving a suicide attempt. For someone who has tried it once and not really experienced any major consequences, i got off very dang lucky. But my greatest fear is that i would try to take my life and not succeed and then be forced to spend the rest of my life even worse off as before - perhaps with severe injuries to my body, brain damage, loss of limbs or senses. This thought terrifies me like no other and in my almost daily ruminations on death, i often feel "If i'm a failure at every single other thing in life, why would i expect to be a success at self-deliverance?" If all else is going wrong, how could i be so arrogant as to expect that would be the one thing to go right? Therefore i endure and struggle through for fear of a worse alternative.

(2) Respect for my family. As i mentioned earlier, most of my family has not been eager to accept the reality of my being a gay man. To say that i'm close to any member of my family would be a big exaggeration. Holidays are always awkward as i'm expected to sit down and eat with people who i know really don't want me there and fearing that either my food or my car will be messed with by a certain individual (both of which have actually happened). Nonetheless, i do recognize that one of the very worst types of pain in the pantheon of human existence is when a parent outlives and has to bury a child. Both my parents are still alive (up there in years and could go at any time, but still alive regardless.) If i can at all help it, i will not put either one of them through that experience. As unwanted and uncared for as i may be, i still feel i owe them that level of courtesy and respect. Not to say that one day, the drive, desire, and need to finally end things won't eventually overtake that sentiment, but much more likely than not, i will most likely wait until they're both gone first before i make my departure. (Of course, it's always possible that all this is total b.s., and just my way of rationalizing living in an effort to avoid reason #1 above.)

(3) What Tomorrow Brings. And here we get to the Muppet-related part of this post. No matter how much i may long to be at eternal peace and rest and non-existence, the fact remains that as long as i'm here, i have to have something to hold onto. The older i get, the more i realize that "Hope" is not that thing. As the economy gets worse, and i struggle to pay bills and survive and hold on to a place to live and basically just exist to work as much hours as i can to afford the costs of living, there's little time, expense, or chance of other pursuits that we refer to as goals or dreams. I need some major miracles and if anything i've learned that "miracles" are not the type of gifts that someone like me receives. (I have my own metaphor about religion that i have but out of respect for those with different belief systems, i won't express it here - suffice it to say, it's analogous to someone continuing to be kicked when they're down.) So if "Hope", "Dreams", "Love" and other such concepts are out of the running, what's left?

It's my areas of fandom that literally keep me going. The little pleasures in life like seeing a new Muppet Movie or hearing a new Pet Shop Boys album are the ropes i cling to that keep me from letting go and falling into the abyss. Those are the things that bring me my rare moments of happiness (or anything approaching it). That no doubt may sound very pathetic to those who don't understand the idea...that out of anything else, a new Muppet project is what keeps me going. But one has to hold onto something and that's what brings me joy. And no, it's not "just" another Muppet special per se, but all the things in life i love, be it entertainers and artists, certain foods, my favorite type of weather (when there's light scattered rainclouds but they're at an angle where it rains and sunshines at the same time). In fact, even more than the Muppets, throughout my life, anytime i've been in the process of listening and/or making music is the time i'm at an emotional state that can best be described as happiness. When i sing and i'm at my best and there's no physical limitations holding me back (bronchitis in check, voice fully warmed up, full access to complete range, no soreness of throat), it's like i enter a portal to another place; a total different zone of existence that i otherwise can't describe except for being at total bliss and harmony with everything else. Maybe areas of fandom seem like a very small and very desperate thing to cling to. But it's what i have out of a limited number of options and it works more or less to some degree.

Your thoughts on self-deliverance may be very different from mine. That's okay. But all of us have our darker moments and personal storms - to some they're scattered flurries and to others of us, they're the overwhelming norm. Whether they're small passing fancies or continual non-stop companions permanent as any tattoo, i encourage everyone to hold on to those things you love and bring you joy when you need them.

And for those like my old friend who recognize that the darkness of existence is far greater than the joys or benefits of holding on, i salute your courage to approach your life with that amount of honesty and the rare ability to be proactive about taking complete and total control over one of the most natural and inevitable parts of life. I can't begin to express how much i envy that. You should be honored, not pitied; celebrated, not mourned. Should the time (i use the word "should" instead of "when" simply because fate could always intervene in the meantime and strike me before i have the chance to do anything myself) come when news of my own self-deliverance is reported, i just want people to remember that i had the blessed opportunity to embrace my mortality the way and time i wanted and wish no pity or mourning (not that i really would expect the mourning anyway). My choice, my time, my desire. That should always be considered and respected as enough.

[Originally posted on April 4th, 2009, this was my first post to cover the subject of self-deliverance; i refer back to this article several other times in later posts as it became more clear that i was indeed planning on going through with taking my life before my 40th birthday.  Even though i held on and kept going (with the only reason to do so being for the things i covered here:  fandom related things that i didn't want to miss out on, including a project that i had spent a lot of time and energy on fighting to make sure it ended up happening and wanted to see how that turned out), that "hibernation" state i mentioned essentially made up my life since turning 40 - staying in bed every moment i could get away with.  Working on Muppet Freak's at least given me something to force myself out of bed and doing something and in the process i've started getting back into some regular habits i'd abandoned for a good three months such as checking emails and going on Muppet forums.  Even though i may no longer have a date or "deadline" in mind, i do know that my time left is short whether that means less than a year, over a year - i simply don't know at this point.

Continued battles with chronic bronchitis again destroyed any chance of singing anymore; this was all written before everything really went to hell in 2010 in regards to work/employment/finances (i.e. i could still afford to eat regularly) - every day i wake up in the morning and get out of bed is filled with much pain/regret and wondering "why do i continue to DO this?   Is the rare moments of joy my areas of fandom bring ultimately worth it?"  Sometimes i can't in all honesty say they are.

Yet for some reason, there's this weird feeling inside me that i still have an "unfinished mission" before i embark on my suffocation/pills combo:  that there's still something important i need to do first - but i don't know what it is exactly.  But i'm keeping my eyes and mind open as to what it may be and in the meantime, i keep doing the only one thing left i'm any good at - being a Muppet/Henson fan and taking that fandom and turning it into something that can be shared with others.  I said in my introductory post that at that time i didn't know if this would eventually be just a new place to archive the old articles or if it would become a full "return" - i think it's safe to say at the moment with the mix of new articles among the reprints, that Muppet Freak is "back"...but since it's own existence is linked with mine, i can't say how long for - but during whatever amount of time i have left. i hope to make it something valuable to the greater Muppet/Henson fandom community. ]

What's the Easter Bunny Bringing to Muppet Freak This Week?

It's Easter week!  So that must mean the Easter Bunny must be bringing some nifty stuff to Muppet Freak this week!  What do you have in store for us, Easter Bunny?

"That's BENNY, not BUNNY!  And I'm not bringing nuttin' for Easter - I gotta get downtown!!"

Eep.  Wrong rabbit.  Okay let's try again.  What cool treats are being prepared for Muppet Freak's Easter Basket?

  "Watch me eat the Poser Muppets!  THANK YOU!"

No no no!  You're a Poser Bunny!  Come on!  All the other Muppet fansites get cool freebies from the Muppet people - doncha have any love for Muppet Freak, Easter Bunny?

  "LOVE BUNNY!  BUNNY LOVE!!  HAHAHA!"

...Sigh...okay.  Looks like the Easter Bunnies are a bit occupied at the moment but hey - we're Muppet Freak!  We don't need no stinkin' Easter Bunnies to bring our readers special treats!  We've got lots of cool stuff prepared for Muppet Freak this week, none of which has been inside a messy sticky egg or hidden in the grass where it could have been subjected to neighborhood animals' body fluids.

This week on Muppet Freak, we still have my huge article on one of the biggest issues facing the world of Muppet Fandom (and the third worst thing to ever happen to the Muppets) - i delayed that article to both spend some extra care on it and also because i have a serious subject repost article on deck and rather than posting two more serious posts back-to-back, i have another NEW article which is much more lighthearted and fun coming up to break the two of them up.  As mentioned, we have a repost of one of the original Muppet Freak's most serious subjects - but one with an uplifting message on why the Muppets matter!  A look at those special minor Muppets that serve as a barometer for a production's "Muppetyness"  And maybe some other unplanned surprises if either inspiration strikes, news breaks, someone makes a really good special request or if a froggin' Easter Bunny ever makes its way over to Muppet Freak....

  
"An Easter Basket for Muppet Freak?  When pigs tie (the knot)!"

Oh come ON!  That's a BONNIE, not a bunny!  I bet this kind of stuff never happens to The Muppet Mindset...