tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79291928170543807452024-03-04T23:50:10.753-08:00Muppet Freak - d.w. mckim's Blog About FandomIndepth commentary, essays, reviews and analysis by Muppet/Henson historian d.w. mckim. Muppet Freak is about Fandom. Mostly Muppet fandom but this blog also touches on other areas of fandom not related to the Muppets as well as the concept of fandom itself (in general terms and the author's direct experiences). Some content may be controversial and solely represents the opinions of the author. Younger or more sensitive readers are urged to proceed with caution.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-75870354177513197322012-08-25T01:16:00.036-07:002012-08-25T03:35:46.901-07:00Reaching the Top of Those Stairs: Fond Farewell to Jerry NelsonThis weekend was supposed to be Part 2 of our "Good Business/Bad Business" feature, but due to recent Muppet news, this weekend is not one for negativity but rather a time for mourning/remembrance. Veteran Muppeteer Jerry Nelson passed away on August 23rd at the age of 78. Muppet Freak spends this weekend remembering the legendary Mr. Nelson. (The "Bad Business" Article will most likely now be pushed back two weeks as i'll be spending next weekend helping out someone in need.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-cN4yuyuwxW3NoCkTSjkvUztgK7_wjoQk7Tux7X_gRo9eWMiZmTGl6hqBQDpmd7HmF2hKMdQlNYw2Tqt7Ur5eHsinz-xx22wtCwhHEXUsbRBJNPdx_aIw3YnDs2IU-3M48ux6MgHtdc/s320/my_tribute_to_a_very_cool_muppeteer_jerry_nelson_by_rumtar-d5cdn17.png" width="320" /></div><br />
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The news of Nelson's demise is not unexpected. Due to his age, declining health, and the diminishing amount of time and energy he's spent over the past decade contributing to the Muppets (he had retired from physical Muppeteering though still providing voices for select characters), fans, family and colleagues have had time to adjust to the thought that Nelson may soon no longer be with us. Unlike Jim Henson's death which came far too early and without warning, this was no huge surprise that came out of nowhere. The Muppet team (both that of the Classic Muppets and the Sesame group) have had years to prepare for this eventuality with the training and recasting of most of his characters. His (LARGE) stable of beloved characters will still be around to make us laugh, cry and reach our hearts.<br />
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Of course, that's by no means to say that the news is not sad. It's actually more bittersweet. While sad it's finally come to pass, it's actually quite uplifting to bear in mind that he did actually live as long as he did. He was around long enough to continue to mentor those taking on his characters but also to provide one last special "audio cameo" as an Announcer Voice for "The Muppets" film last year as well as recording his very own album, Truro Daydreams a few years back. I'm sure those close to him have had opportunity to let them know they loved him and when the end did come, it was in his sleep.<br />
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But for Muppet Freaks and fans worldwide, what makes Nelson's death particularly poignant is that this was the passing of one of the true long-time veterans...that special trio of Jim (Henson), Frank (Oz) and Jerry.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gF99OmHafCt5p7AI5U-LLDTjpRVJBCDE_ZowRN028tLyrLPcITnyUY83U0fpBBeEEwUFTob7XRJZWLB3qSZdcaH2Pt_YOjudJFBhHo02IU4lWzLdwcv6vX8DVrxJIEEHOBChEdK4TFE/s1600/300px-Country_Trio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gF99OmHafCt5p7AI5U-LLDTjpRVJBCDE_ZowRN028tLyrLPcITnyUY83U0fpBBeEEwUFTob7XRJZWLB3qSZdcaH2Pt_YOjudJFBhHo02IU4lWzLdwcv6vX8DVrxJIEEHOBChEdK4TFE/s1600/300px-Country_Trio.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Now of course, if one was to be really technical, the <em>original </em>Muppeteer trio would be Jim and Jane Henson along with either Bob Payne or Jerry Juhl as the third. But mention "Classic Muppeteer Trio" to any Freak and they'll know who you're referencing: the three that made up the main team as early as the '60s when the Muppets were gaining national recognition. The threesome that were immortalized ("immuppetalized"?) in puppet form as The Country Trio. The ones that were the true core group of original veterans that had remained main players throughout the decades. Even though each performer was incredibly talented and generated chemistry with any scene partner, when these three acted together the resulting manner in which they'd play off each other was akin to great jazz musicians such as seen here (Nelson is Miss Muppet...er...Muffet)...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hnkaW4oU3lQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><p>Even though Oz is still with us, his direct ties with the Muppets has been almost totally cut for years now - basically limited to a few Sesame bits here and there despite his characters being all successfully recast and no real involvement with the Classic Muppets for a good decade. So while Frank Oz is still alive and seemingly well, when it comes right down to it, Jerry's departure really does feel like the last part of that particular team is completely gone.</p><p>While many fans would love to see Oz take a more active role with the Muppets - even as just a creative consultant if not a performer (rather than becoming a bit of an "armchair quarterback" commenting on how they could improve rather than marching over to Disney and working with them, bringing his often strong opinions to the table as one of the last remaining disciples of the originators), this doesn't seem likely to happen. Thus, the loss of Nelson truly does seem to represent the end of The Trio. His departure really hits the Muppet fan community hard because of the subliminal recognition that it represents an ending of an era.</p><p>But moving away from the conceptual and to the specific, Jerry Nelson was an amazing talent whose multiple contributions to the Muppet team will be sorely missed. Of the Classic Trio, Henson and Oz were the more forefront, taking on the lead characters and having much more of a general public name recognition. But Nelson was the important stock player of the three, able to supplement the world of The Muppets with any and all kinds of supporting character. Name an accent and Jerry could do it. He had the ability to take on any kind of character from largest (Snuffleupagus) to smallest (Robin the Frog), male or female or other, sweet to sour. Henson referred to Nelson as "the Mel Blanc of The Muppets" with an incredible range of voices.</p><p>And of all Nelson's attributes and long list of talents and abilities, it is his voice that will always most be associated with him. Not only due to his range but also its resonance - he would typically be called upon whenever an "Announcer" and/or "Voiceover" part was needed. Indeed, even though all his characters were puppeteered and voiced by others in 2011's "The Muppets", Nelson still lent his unmistakable voice as the Muppet Telethon Announcer adding an element to the film that wouldn't have seemed right if not somehow present. (Tell me you didn't weep with joy when you heard him).</p><p>...And of course more than that was his singing ability. Of the male Muppet performers, Jerry was with very little debate among Muppet Freaks, the most gifted singer. Just as he could perform any kind of character, so too could he handle any type of music. The Muppets are synonomous with music and much of that music was as outstanding as it was because of Jerry's contributions. So here, let's take a moment to let his work speak for itself with a few songs that not only demonstrate his amazing abilities but also manage to honor the man himself at the same time...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qGFR3zz12p0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/duduX1MqQ1k?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nr7v5lLQhHQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>If there's one word that could best be used in association with Jerry Nelson, it would be "NUMBERS". Because as a word with two definitions, Jerry would be strongly matched with both of them. His highest profile character was Sesame Street's Count von Count. Millions of children learned how to count because of Jerry. And as just visited, just as The Count was The Master at numeric numbers, Nelson was The Master of <em>musical</em> numbers...often at the same time!... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/3e7yYBDHOgg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p>As you can see (and hear) just as exhuberantly as The Count is throwing himself into counting, Jerry is throwing himself into the song!</p><p>Precisely because Nelson was "The Voice of the Muppets", i would hereby like to propose to the Muppet Fandom community that in the same spirit that Muppet Freaks have adopted September 26 as "Jerry Juhl Day" as a day to remember/honor the late Muppet headwriter by doing silly things, August 23 should hereby be observed as "Jerry Nelson Day". (Of course this year, honoring "Jerry Nelson Week" as we alternately mourn his recent passing and celebrate his memory)</p><p>And HOW do we honor it? By taking a moment during the day/week to observe a moment of silence to represent the loss of The Muppets' "Voice". But then spending the rest of that time blissfully engaging in music - both the listening and making of it. Of course, Muppet/Jerry Nelson songs should be included but take some time to enjoy old favorite songs you haven't listened to for awhile or explore something new. Visit a music shop (or shop online if brick buildings have gone by the wayside in your area.) Play something for someone else. Whistle a happy tune. And also take a moment to count the roses...and the noses...and guys named Moses... (And if you're really feeling brave, visit a restaurant that's likely to provide subpar service!)</p><p>The best way to remember a departed loved one is to not only grieve in sadness but also remember with fondness and joy all the things you loved. Celebrate the time they were with us. Just as Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl wished that people would honor their passing with lively spirit, so do does it seem appropriate with the beloved Jerry Nelson. So Muppet Freak closes this post the best way we know how...with "a funeral dirge you can DANCE to..." (For those who don't know, Nelson plays both Gobo Fraggle and Pa Gorg here)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/s3OANuxm0aY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-49406731428599169662012-08-12T04:48:00.001-07:002012-08-12T05:47:26.422-07:00Good Business/Bad Business Part 1: Giving Fowl Play the Chicken FingerWelcome to "Good Business/Bad Business", a look at how well (or how horribly) companies entrusted with preserving the legacy of Jim Henson's creations and characters are living up to the task.<br />
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I'm kind of hesitant to call this a "series" or even a "miniseries" for that matter due to (a) concerns about how much longer i'll be around to do Muppet Freak (i'm already on borrowed time) and (b) when it comes right down to it, articles like this really shouldn't even have to exist. If a company is completely true to the spirit of Henson, doing the right thing should always come naturally. "Bad Business" articles shouldn't ever occur and "Good Business" articles should be as newsworthy as the sky being blue another day.<br />
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But two recent events in the world of Muppet/Henson fandom really do deserve special comment. The "Bad" example is an article i've had in the works for months now and have been hinting at for quite some time. The "Good" example is however such an extraordinary example of how Henson-Legacy Companies should behave that a direct contrast between the two really highlights the extreme differences between them so it's through that lens that i shall discuss them here.<br />
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So let's kick off with our "Good Business" Spotlight on The Jim Henson Company for its stance against corporate-sponsored bigotry.<br />
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Everything started out innocently enough. It's become an American Institution for entertainment companies to partner up with restaurants and food establishments (particularly of the fast food variety) to offer premiums in cross promotions, often focused around the "kids meals" Henson Company/The Muppets have done this numerous times over the decades. Heck, they've even been SELLING chicken practically from the earliest days...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/vg_asQSkPug/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vg_asQSkPug&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vg_asQSkPug&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>How many of us have Jack in the Box Muppet figures sharing shelf space with our Palisades Muppet action figures or still have - and drink out of - our McDonald's Great Muppet Caper Glasses? Henson's partnership with Chick-Fil-A was hardly new. As early as 2003, CFA was offering Bear in the Big Blue House books and just last year, as Pajanimals was celebrating its expansion from shorts to a television series in October, Pajanimals board books were offered at the chain with Melissa Segal, SVP of consumer products at Henson Co. noting at the time: “Chick-Fil-A came to us awhile ago. With the series also launching on Sprout this month the timing just couldn’t be better." Because of the success of the Pajanimals books, Henson partnered with CFA again this year, this time with a promotion themed around the Jim Henson Creature Shop.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjRVRDhtLRCkMNo8EtYYP4WXbltC7iEtQ2K8YUtBz-0qvcZB6Vlo5FI6mnh71OHwpFQm7fI9BBwNGM5_C2QJkom3FnyNnB_pu5Mgt4hSsLyAsK6HZOkkWQ9rD0qY7So1Lcbud6D4LsxA/s1600/250px-Chickfilacreatureshoptoys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjRVRDhtLRCkMNo8EtYYP4WXbltC7iEtQ2K8YUtBz-0qvcZB6Vlo5FI6mnh71OHwpFQm7fI9BBwNGM5_C2QJkom3FnyNnB_pu5Mgt4hSsLyAsK6HZOkkWQ9rD0qY7So1Lcbud6D4LsxA/s1600/250px-Chickfilacreatureshoptoys.jpg" /></a></div>But not long after the start of the promotion, one of CFA's "dirty little secrets" had become increasingly public knowledge: that they had been donating millions of dollars to anti-gay organizations since 2003 including Focus on the Family, Exodus International and the Family Research Council. The recent headlines and media spotlight on this issue put Henson in a rather horrible position. The bulk of Henson's works have centered around themes and messages of diversity, non-discrimination, equality, and peace - and now here they were directly connected with a company at a time when they were unapologetically not just advocating the exact opposite but also contributing to causes dedicated to denying gays and lesbians civil rights.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuRCBKXRn_XZYvODyEF2epCslMOoYD6Hf6pORwdUDJGyG-VNk9QG503Mfi6L091SWduYXJGFDdpL6NDLxKQAAwjYP9kHHzt1Etf0rd3HmWGzMeVE16EDPf_dJeGBusvCNC19epeS67XU/s1600/FraggleRock-DoozerBalancingRed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuRCBKXRn_XZYvODyEF2epCslMOoYD6Hf6pORwdUDJGyG-VNk9QG503Mfi6L091SWduYXJGFDdpL6NDLxKQAAwjYP9kHHzt1Etf0rd3HmWGzMeVE16EDPf_dJeGBusvCNC19epeS67XU/s320/FraggleRock-DoozerBalancingRed.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>Henson fans who were aware of CFA's actions at the time the cross-promotion was announced were already wondering if their support of Henson was strong enough to justify handing over money to a chain that would likely use those same dollars to fund the opposition of civil rights - just to pick up a Henson themed finger puppet. Likewise, besides discussing their quandary among fellow fans on message boards/fan forums, they also asked Henson if they were aware of the nature of CFA's activities and how a "good boy like you could get involved with a thug like that"? Deciding that the Henson name and legacy simply could not be seen to be affiliated with homophobia and bigotry, Henson ended the partnership and pulled its toys. On July 20, they issued the following public statement: "The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors. Lisa Henson, our CEO is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD." (GLAAD being the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination, for those unfamiliar with the acronym). Take very special note of the above statement. Lots of people have since attacked the Henson Company for its stance hurling lots of false accusations against them. Their statement simply acknowledges they have different business philosophies and as a result decided a partnership would not be a good thing. That's the first of these two sentences. The second sentence assures Henson fans and those concerned with equality and civil rights that rather than just pocketing the money CFA gave them, they decided to hand it over to an organization that will help fight for the rights of those who the organizations CFA funds would rather see stripped away. (It should be noted that even though the statement cites Lisa Henson's support of gay marriage, the organizations CFA donates to aren't just anti-marriage equality but any civil/equal rights for gays in general.) Note too what's NOT said. There is no call for boycotts. No negative language used toward CFA or its views/actions. They simply say "we believe different and we don't wish to be affiliated with them any longer" and they LEAVE IT AT THAT! CFA supporters will try to say Henson is "anti free-speech". For one thing, CFA isn't just speaking of a view, they're funding millions of their profits to actively deny people civil rights. But "just for the halibut", let's say hypothetically that it was just a matter of words and not actions. Henson doesn't say in its simple, short statement that others shouldn't have an opposite view - just that they themselves do and don't wish to further a relationship with CFA as a result (By terminating ties, not only wouldn't Henson have bigotry associated with its name, by the same token CFA could likewise be "freed" of their affiliation with a company they may be better off without).
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIn_NuQBi2CDZ9vQVTgnG_iakv7qTKgzySmfVURqHB0FyIK6ffQUDxRE4yx1QnOjeqUK-c2gHiKKC7Q1Wk66WPp-Zb0aphTstVU-qln1T9jxLruFfEyzlCMV-Oaz2cZdPTQJ8RmB1j8Sg/s1600/94040033-chick-fil-a-muppets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIn_NuQBi2CDZ9vQVTgnG_iakv7qTKgzySmfVURqHB0FyIK6ffQUDxRE4yx1QnOjeqUK-c2gHiKKC7Q1Wk66WPp-Zb0aphTstVU-qln1T9jxLruFfEyzlCMV-Oaz2cZdPTQJ8RmB1j8Sg/s320/94040033-chick-fil-a-muppets.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Wanna see something funny? (Sad and a little sick, but still funny?) Visit The Jim Henson Company's Facebook page. It's flooded with posts attacking them for being "anti-free speech"... yet Henson hasn't taken them down. Even if they don't disagree with you, they'll still let you post an opposing view on their page even if the manner in which you do so is slanderous and in all fairness really shouldn't be left standing on a page for a family-friendly company. Once again, Henson has taken the high road and has handled the whole situation with class and grace. By the same token, i would like to lead the call among Henson fans to similarly make a donation to either GLAAD or the gay/lesbian-friendly organization of your choice (lots of local organizations can greatly benefit from support just as much as an international one) - ESPECIALLY IF YOU PAID FOR A HENSON PREMIUM AT CHICK-FIL-A. Doesn't have to be big - double what you paid the CFA cashier is just fine! Paid $3 for a kids meal to get that Henson collectable? Give at least $6 to a gay friendly cause. Muppet Freak officially encourages Henson fans to follow the company's lead.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVb-elI0lECg9_guRBA_CJv-XO1E9CgwVtgNYxMbQVvi_2m4rpJ8Nykw0bT1Q-o3KqpXjalVi4SfcooTna7eoCjuYn2xg6UIJgNFw1YB1PM8_RNoXZTVJ2Rm69IuZtPmLGNHUokZjIB04/s1600/imagesCAMQTZK4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVb-elI0lECg9_guRBA_CJv-XO1E9CgwVtgNYxMbQVvi_2m4rpJ8Nykw0bT1Q-o3KqpXjalVi4SfcooTna7eoCjuYn2xg6UIJgNFw1YB1PM8_RNoXZTVJ2Rm69IuZtPmLGNHUokZjIB04/s1600/imagesCAMQTZK4.jpg" /></a></div>Of course, in discussing the topic, there's a couple things i can't let slide. The first is the notion that "Gay" and "Christian"/"Religious" are opposites. That it's "one or the other". HOCKEY PUCKY!!! It's companies like CFA and the organizations they support that would like you to believe that but while such extremists seem to represent the "Official View" on the relationship between people of faith and gender orientation, in reality (away from the blare of media headlines) many people of faith not only recognize that the two really don't have much to do with each other nor are mutually exclusive but (SHOCK! HORROR!) it's even possible for someone to be BOTH gay AND Christian (or Mormon, Catholic, etc). Why, i'd bet that you probably even have churches near you that actually cater to the gay/lesbian community and/or has a congregation that's primarily made up of a gay/lesbian membership. Gay people-of-faith often tend to get lost in the media hype that often thrives on debate and "either/or"-focused "reporting" and i really think if more people took the time to visit a predominantly gay church service at least once a year to observe how the two can peacefully co-exist, these faux-"debates" would lose any relevance or credibility. Hey, remember how i just advocated for donating to a gay/lesbian friendly cause in the above paragraph? Why not the collection plate of one of your local gay friendly/focused places of worship? (Convinced there aren't any near you? Contact your nearest gay community hotline, magazine/newspaper, or group and inquire and prepare for a likely surprise! Look up "Metropolitan Community Church" in your yellow pages or localized Google search) Likewise, look into attending a workshop or checking a book about the historical depiction of homosexuality in the Bible. Just about every single Bible passage used to justify religious discrimination against gays originally used words that have no modern translation (describing specific rituals and practices specific to the time) and vary greatly in different publications of the Bible as to the words and phrases used to attempt to take their place. Spend some time looking at different versions/translations of the Bible and comparing the words used in other variations in contrast to those who erroneously use the word "homosexual" This is the #2 Big Thing that almost always gets ignored in the conflict-thriving media - if people took the time to actually LEARN what the Bible was originally trying to convey in the first place, religious opposition to gays and lesbians would be essentially meaningless and nonexistent. Sadly, antigay fearmongering brings in large checks to the collection plates of religious extremists so those who really SHOULD know better have a tendency to sit on this knowledge. But you don't need the Pat Robertsons of the world to be your sole source of religious education. Take the time to do the research yourself! But enough about all that "heady" stuff! Let's get to something REALLY important that any responsible Muppet/Henson fan blogger should discuss when writing about this subject. Since you know, actual legitimate news organizations no longer employ fact-checkers or value truth and facts over sensationalism and headlines... THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH "THE MUPPETS"!!!!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKPnWgOPw740IuQ28AkQWhXJzArN3uRLpQsX4V4lNu7S6qawez4DxcJzIXvccVYR4e9h2oLg-WB988avjrDj7w-y6EE3AzwY0WZx7AXyxhtV2fqsbgIqSe9e-y6MMIwbPsFzIuez190k/s1600/imagesCAXWHEGX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKPnWgOPw740IuQ28AkQWhXJzArN3uRLpQsX4V4lNu7S6qawez4DxcJzIXvccVYR4e9h2oLg-WB988avjrDj7w-y6EE3AzwY0WZx7AXyxhtV2fqsbgIqSe9e-y6MMIwbPsFzIuez190k/s1600/imagesCAXWHEGX.jpg" /></a></div>I don't think there's actually been ONE news agency that somehow avoided to miss the fact The Jim Henson Company hasn't owned the Muppets since 2004, having sold them to Disney nearly a decade ago. The Chick-Fil-A premiums were NOT "Muppet Toys", "The Muppets" haven't done anything in opposition to CFA, etc. etc. etc.!!! Let's review, shall we? Sesame Workshop owns the "Sesame Street Muppets". Disney owns "The Muppets" (aka "The Classic Muppets" alias "The Muppet Show Muppets" otherwise known as "Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal and that whole gang") Henson owns...everything else - Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, Farscape, Pajanimals (ahem), the Jim Henson Creature Shop (AHEM!), Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train, Stuffed and Unstrung, Henson Alternative, to name just a teensy tinesy few. Yes, Henson CREATED the Muppets and owned them until Disney bought them in '04 (with a few footnoted blips in the interim not worth going into here) but no longer has any official ties to them and anything between Henson and CFA has at no time had anything to do with "The Muppets". I'd expect Fox News to get this wrong - they've elevated inaccuracy to an art form! But Reuters, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, The Associated Press and COUNTLESS others couldn't get this right?! Wanna see something really sad? Here's a "typical" example of how the story was reported in mainstream media...
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/a22o-FArDIM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Diane Sawyer specifically mentions "The Muppets" in her intro. The report itself references "Muppet Toys" twice. Yet while this is basically the same way all major news outlets reported the story, who specifically is responsible for this particular report? ABC News. You know...ABC Network, currently owned by Disney, which actually DOES own the Muppets and not Henson!!! You'd think even without any fact checkers, someone there would catch the error! Apparently not in our ever so enlightened times! Oh yeah, since you watched that video, let's talk about CFA's amusingly sad attempt an a response. After Henson broke their ties, what were the chicken people gonna tell customers asking about "Where's the Henson toys?" (or "Where's the Muppet toys?" if they watch ABC News)? "They didn't agree with our corporate-sanctioned bigotry so they pulled them"? Bzzt! Wrong answer! (Well, actually it IS the right answer but not the one CFA's gonna say!) HERE is how they chose to address such inquiries...
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6StGJ6-_HOT_ArvRwY79uRsJlrQhJYiysUY98uk12IfloTz-B1-tDzIPqs0TSVq-qS3_2i6a5YE2t7l_vjhGpdEeLZ7F2Kh2jLP7ONK1bgqYcXAJ-u2XxsK9bDiPUznAcbI9Ydp-mdZs/s1600/Chick-fil-A-Toys-Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6StGJ6-_HOT_ArvRwY79uRsJlrQhJYiysUY98uk12IfloTz-B1-tDzIPqs0TSVq-qS3_2i6a5YE2t7l_vjhGpdEeLZ7F2Kh2jLP7ONK1bgqYcXAJ-u2XxsK9bDiPUznAcbI9Ydp-mdZs/s320/Chick-fil-A-Toys-Sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Note how they try to claim "June 19" as when they recalled the dangerous-toys-that-didn't-actually-harm-anyone-or-pose-any-real-threat-but-we-decided-to-be-"proactive"-since-some-fastfood-obsessed-kid-someday-somewhere-will-probably-have-fat-fingers-and-won't-have-the-common-sense-to-rip-it-off-if-it-actually-somehow-did-truly-get-stuck. June 19, the day before Henson's June 20 public statement. Nice try and valiant effort, Poultry Purveyors! But you forgot something. While our responsible news media that can't even get a simple fact like who owns the Muppets right are likely to give you a free pass since verifying the actual time of your claim would actually require, you know, work and actual investigation and all that nasty stuff, there's still those "meddling kids" that you neglected to take into account. Those regular Joes like me and you that can make some lil Google searches go a long way... You see, one of the nifty things about the internet-connected world is that everything's a great big Time Stamp. In other words, you can CLAIM you did something at a certain time, but people can actually verify the earliest something went online. The earliest reports of CFA's "finger hole follies" didn't hit the net til AFTER Henson's announcement. No Tweets, no Facebook posts, no photos, no anecdotes, no nuttin' prior to the 20th. Why just look at the Muppet/Henson fan community - we know EVERY LITTLE THING that has to do with Muppets/Henson and post about/discuss it on fan forums the nanosection something happens. Yet NO ONE anywhere had any stories on a Muppet Message Board of "Hey everyone, i went to a Chick-Fil-A just to get my Henson toy and they told me they recalled them" before we were all abuzz about the Henson's statement? Methinks some chickadees got some egg on their face trying to fudge the date in a desperate p.r. move!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKo9S0dly3sZPWXabJk7aOBXeNJf4aZUNBAS_JdFDqDUpNyUxQIX1CAYhoZg29WMxRgpfQYruh0C3K0pJXKp7n6S7QLqwpUBfhFgBmyMhtglGr0_eFByxOXU4eWs4NwSq7fmOnFfeT4s/s1600/imagesCAMR5GXW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKo9S0dly3sZPWXabJk7aOBXeNJf4aZUNBAS_JdFDqDUpNyUxQIX1CAYhoZg29WMxRgpfQYruh0C3K0pJXKp7n6S7QLqwpUBfhFgBmyMhtglGr0_eFByxOXU4eWs4NwSq7fmOnFfeT4s/s1600/imagesCAMR5GXW.jpg" /></a></div>So let's just take a moment to summarize...Henson acted responsibly all the while erring on the side of class, dignity and responsibility - while the "Christian" company ran afoul of "Thou Shalt Not Lie" (But hey, they've violated "Thou Shalt Not Kill" already for years since i don't think any of those sandwiches over the decades have ever been made with live chickens - unlike those offered by certain culinary contemporaries...)
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPUU3j5sEjygKUTTqw_zWHaWsycyBqNjgmsDx30KFgO_SOTeOOWVZ3GLWkDZ51NPYZLkLztqFnfSFrfcxrb60tUt5qLZL3oAlky4VtnVoTlPzPagKTels0-lhTE2IAQ16yI5Lx-Dprxs/s1600/250px-Bernadette-peters-chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPUU3j5sEjygKUTTqw_zWHaWsycyBqNjgmsDx30KFgO_SOTeOOWVZ3GLWkDZ51NPYZLkLztqFnfSFrfcxrb60tUt5qLZL3oAlky4VtnVoTlPzPagKTels0-lhTE2IAQ16yI5Lx-Dprxs/s1600/250px-Bernadette-peters-chicken.jpg" /></a></div>Now, while i have a hard time believing that there could be any antigay Muppet/Henson fans (you mean to tell me you spent a LIFETIME following Henson's LIFE WORK dedicated to fairness, nonprejudice, and equality and you still ended up a bigot?) out there (You coulda knocked me over with a feather when i heard there were actually STRAIGHT Muppet fans in the world), no matter what side you fell on in the whole Henson vs Chic-Fil-A Brouhaha, the very moment CFA started to try to turn things around on Henson, then THAT should be the moment any Hensonite should have become hard-boiled against CFA. Ya don't mess with Jim. Now you've gone and made it personal - going from just being "antigay" to the more unforgivable sin of being "anti-Henson". So let's see? Anything else to be said before the Handing Out of Awards? Oh yes - not long after the Henson/CFA story became national news, the Democratic Party finally officially added marriage equality to its platform. So thank you to BOTH Henson AND Chick-Fil-A for bringing the issue into increased awareness and attention helping to nudge history in the right direction. I don't mean to egg you on, but let's give give credit where the feather belongs in the cap!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsLtWyObAx7ePS8LngSUAbFuT-Pfelf-r0kYIbNTGwR991W0HAXQYNtdcj28afl4MldG4j5XzzicPGflYpFJnPdnbdwEmUdO2TKg_A3CO76BKg4ZwNQKdxSJGtKdMdwgWnSl4Vg-YCHs/s1600/JoAnneWorleyyellowfeathers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsLtWyObAx7ePS8LngSUAbFuT-Pfelf-r0kYIbNTGwR991W0HAXQYNtdcj28afl4MldG4j5XzzicPGflYpFJnPdnbdwEmUdO2TKg_A3CO76BKg4ZwNQKdxSJGtKdMdwgWnSl4Vg-YCHs/s1600/JoAnneWorleyyellowfeathers.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">"Is that another CHICKEN JOKE?!"</span></div>Alright, so now the moment you all have been waiting for.... For defending and upholding the honor of the Henson name, philosophies, and messages in the face of ugliness, slander, and even Diane Sawyer and sticking up for what's right and just all the while doing so with extreme class, honor, and dignity, Muppet Freak officially presents THE JIM HENSON COMPANY with its first ever "Good Business" Award, the coveted "ZELDA" ROSE!!!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22vheQpsf-ZGXCPKFqT7Wek3C62EXXSFbMSuS5Xud8VqY4GgKeiqKCsQMc5cFFsoqUA6riZa_G3ISQbYU1lIBxBVY1i-jmuc-aWkODC703VoXZ87vjSSuOkObdik5urLPpCTxZK0gTFM/s1600/char_24752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22vheQpsf-ZGXCPKFqT7Wek3C62EXXSFbMSuS5Xud8VqY4GgKeiqKCsQMc5cFFsoqUA6riZa_G3ISQbYU1lIBxBVY1i-jmuc-aWkODC703VoXZ87vjSSuOkObdik5urLPpCTxZK0gTFM/s1600/char_24752.jpg" /></a></div>And while we're at it, even though these awards are just for the companies entrusted with Henson's legacies, it didn't seem right to not give Chick-Fil-A anything and let them go home empty handed, so especially for CFA... Muppet Freak, in honor of Henson and Muppet fans and Freaks everywhere - proudly presents you with a big rousing "CLUCK YOU!"
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(Come back soon to see who wins the Muppet Freak "Bad Business" Award...which still needs a good name before we hand it out...)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-29418698574571785672012-08-05T23:48:00.000-07:002012-08-05T23:48:27.417-07:00Out of the Bedroom and Into the BoardroomYep, you caught us. Muppet Freak was in hibernation mode for a while again<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmVs1RwWeO9doOor4yh78GGCWIRFWJ0JVKGdxjoRZXEgPULCQ-4uWn5eypyme__6s5hey1xerPsCLfgdzRb4YPE6Jm8XXi7XO2K-Xj4LXtQd1mpZpW0xEpDRuP2o3lYLtQqpsrwSIH9s/s1600/Bethbear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmVs1RwWeO9doOor4yh78GGCWIRFWJ0JVKGdxjoRZXEgPULCQ-4uWn5eypyme__6s5hey1xerPsCLfgdzRb4YPE6Jm8XXi7XO2K-Xj4LXtQd1mpZpW0xEpDRuP2o3lYLtQqpsrwSIH9s/s1600/Bethbear.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The last couple of months has been a bit of a nightmare, so of course when your nightmares happen when you're awake, the solution is to stay in bed and be asleep as much as possible.<br />
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But sooner or later, one has to get out of bed. Why? Well, usually to go to work.<br />
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So this month, Muppet Freak is taking a trip to the office! We're going from the bedroom to the BOARDROOM!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHVxpjPq4EQdd_9U9r0dPSNnN7MKSbzPlE48frdUXBcpKMIWDZ4kEVAZ-cM8kp23d3yqvcfuSaEMIpuAgpQOl1_hA6jtBfo7iR2Oy2rVDPPXOX0vNvtmu8FVyb9izGCEIbiFR46Xhe_I/s1600/250px-Bigplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHVxpjPq4EQdd_9U9r0dPSNnN7MKSbzPlE48frdUXBcpKMIWDZ4kEVAZ-cM8kp23d3yqvcfuSaEMIpuAgpQOl1_hA6jtBfo7iR2Oy2rVDPPXOX0vNvtmu8FVyb9izGCEIbiFR46Xhe_I/s1600/250px-Bigplan.jpg" /></a></div><br />
To elaborate, we have a special pair of articles coming up called "Good Business/Bad Business" where we take a look at both terrific and terrible recent business practices coming from the companies entrusted with the legacies of Jim Henson's creations.<br />
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As for previous articles i've teased, they're on deck afterward...though one of them - that special major article i've been hinting at for awhile now confronting one of the most important and controversial issues confronting Muppet fandom - will actually be incorporated (no business pun intended) into this series.<br />
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With my current schedule, the weekends are the most likely time for updates (Mupdates?) so look for Part 1: "Good Business" next weekend. Who will be named the recipient of the first ever Muppet Freak "Zelda" Rose? And for doing what?<br />
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For that matter, who will be the winner of the "Bad Business" Award - and what will it be called? Beats me. I haven't thought of a good Muppety name for it yet. Maybe one of YOU can name it and earn a special "Freakier Than Me" acknowledgement! What should be the flipside of a "Zelda" Rose? Whatever it is will probably have a similar play on words of a Muppet name. Got any suggestions? Include them in the comments!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-25074449225033987972012-06-03T23:39:00.005-07:002012-06-04T02:15:56.809-07:00Pretty Fame-ous ActressHard to believe, but this week marks the third season premiere of "Pretty Little Liars". I mean it doesn't seem all that long ago that the show made its debut and last season's shocking finale only seems like it aired a couple of weeks ago. Of course a lot of the credit for that goes to ABC Family's ingenious way of airing its episodes...they break each season into two mini-seasons meaning that even though there's two major breaks between new episodes each year, they're only half as long as the traditional gap between seasons and that helps keep the momentum strong! A lot more television shows would do well to adopt this model.<br />
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Not too long after the series started, it became a firm favorite of mine - a total cross between Desperate Housewives and Twin Peaks. Well-acted, written, directed and beautifully shot (with a nice healthy dose of all out creepiness each episode), it's one of those rare shows that forces you to pay attention - you can't just have it on playing unattended in the background. Blink and you may miss a subtle clue in the corner of the screen at any given moment.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/DrwSUNQzBVQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/EM--F32gLNo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(PLL's classic opening theme ... and The Muppets' spoof of it!) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What initially drew me to the series was the announcement before shooting began that Nia Peeples, Laura Leighton, and Chad Lowe were going to be on a show together called Pretty Little Liars. That's all i knew at the time; i knew nothing about the kind of program it would be and i hadn't heard of the book series it was based on...just that combination of actors was enough to pique my interest! Then of course in the time between that announcement and the debut episode, i learned the premise and of its pedigree and even though my hopes weren't as high that it would be any good, i tuned in - and was blown away. My concerns about this being a disposable piece of fluff evaporated pretty quickly once "Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter" appeared on screen as she's one of the most outstanding directors working in television so i knew if she was directing the pilot, this was going to be a quality program.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've known of Chad Lowe (Byron Montgomery, Aria's dad) for a long time and i always loved Laura Leighton (Ashley Marin, Hanna's mom) on Melrose Place (Heather Locklear may have been the "name draw" but it was always Laura Leighton and Marcia Cross that you'd be talking about at the watercooler at work the following day!) But i was especially excited to see Nia Peeples take on the role of Pamela Fields, Emily's mom. Nia had been one of my favorite actresses on Fame - my favorite show during high school.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For those too young or who don't remember, Fame (based on the 1980 film of the same name) was basically the 80s version of Glee - a musical drama based on the lives of the students and faculty of the New York High School of the Performing Arts. Nia's character, Nicole Chapman, didn't come on until season four (though she did have a three-line role in a season two episode) but she immediately became one of my favorite characters in between her overachieving perfectionist streak (which i totally identified with at the time) and her amazing voice.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nia's work on PLL has been especially strong and she has one of the cast's biggest challenges - to make what could easily be a very unlikable (and easily stereotypical) character into a three dimensional sympathetic one. Because of Peeple's performance, the Mrs. Fields of the television show is nothing like the one from the books. Nia plays a mother with a strong conservative background having to come to terms with her daughter's coming out as gay. Instead of the cardboard villainess most shows and actors would choose to portray such a character as, not only do we see her go through all the multi-layered steps of acceptance, but we feel her pain and struggle as much as we do the daughter's. This is not a role for a lessor actress and Nia has really been just beautiful with her performances. I really look forward to when she's onscreen...and with the amount of talent that makes up the PLL cast, that's saying quite a lot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP00UyewXCxVpzfDZ5GzQB000IhIuaCCFXjly6cIsGN1H7TLviIJ8yE369-XYTMvjbV4tSBf_O7SleOIwRqSWumdUJudHN9cPqtjA_oSgO40cMkZiJ_Da4xoiMiZiyxdY12avZ524lSWo/s1600/fields.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP00UyewXCxVpzfDZ5GzQB000IhIuaCCFXjly6cIsGN1H7TLviIJ8yE369-XYTMvjbV4tSBf_O7SleOIwRqSWumdUJudHN9cPqtjA_oSgO40cMkZiJ_Da4xoiMiZiyxdY12avZ524lSWo/s320/fields.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So during those breaks in between new episodes, seeing NP's work on PLL had inspired me to go back and check out the old episodes of Fame for pretty much the first time since the show ended its six year run. Like meeting an old high school friend you haven't seen for years, there's much anxiety over whether you'll still like them - if the show still holds up after all this time...but three decades later, the show holds up remarkably well. The show's fifth season is easily its weakest as they rely too heavily on far too many fantasy episodes, but the sixth and final season redefines itself with several new characters that one wishes they could have gotten to know more by the end. (Carrie Hamilton - Carol Burnett's daughter - particularly stood out as performance-art-obsessed Reggie during that final season and overtook Nicole's spot as my favorite character.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdc56YHGl4byH8dAsTu2asn7XvUIZ3yaS6uaUk0YNaZ4OzTxwOGXcC9cD1fDNNehejHdwqB28NoF8THqR9etT5aml25miBoi7eyKgbBPGZSHU5_hjVcdtfgKlyxEBQO_SChB2ULbrFXI/s1600/fame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdc56YHGl4byH8dAsTu2asn7XvUIZ3yaS6uaUk0YNaZ4OzTxwOGXcC9cD1fDNNehejHdwqB28NoF8THqR9etT5aml25miBoi7eyKgbBPGZSHU5_hjVcdtfgKlyxEBQO_SChB2ULbrFXI/s320/fame.jpg" width="222" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So with this post, i thought it would be fun to take a look back at my some of my favorite musical numbers featuring Nia Peeples (which not all too unsurprisingly were some of my favorites from the show as a whole.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...So if you only know Nia as "Mrs. Fields", hold on 'cause you're in for a surprise!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(But first, no "musical look back" at Fame would be right without the classic opening theme ... so here's both the first and last season's versions. The first is sang by Erica Gimpel and the latter is Loretta Chandler. Irene Cara originally made the song famous for the film's soundtrack.)<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8lL4PKX0bYM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/MPG1Y5xaQHA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And now starting our tour of Nia's best musical moments, here's Nia with Cynthia ("Holly") Gibb and some actress named Janet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Never Outrun the Night" - a song so good it had the rare distinction of being sang by Nia twice in different episodes. 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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With Carlo ("Danny") Imperato and Jesse ("Jesse") Borrego (I love the staging of this one!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Nia takes on Aretha Franklin's "Another Night"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now this one's a real treat...SUSPENSE! Not only is this one of my all time favorites from the show's run (appearing in one of my fave episodes, "The Monster That Devoured Las Vegas") but this one also features Valerie Landsburg's Doris - who was my favorite character/singer during the series' first half. And if that wasn't enough...FLYING FRUIT at 1:48!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/yv6Ncd8Ul98?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And okay okay...i just couldn't help myself but include this. This song is NOT from Fame. It's the music video to Nia's first official single since leaving Fame. I remember seeing this in the record store and swapped it up not having previously heard the song and knowing what it would sound like...just thrilled that Nia was putting out her own records!! Then i played it when i got home and it was the cheesiest most cliched late 80's disposable dance junk imaginable ONLY salvaged by Nia's vocals. The video's equally cheesy. (Hmmm...i might just request this to be played on "Cheeze Pleeze")</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/S4nq9WIYPiQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...And since i'm not so cruel to finish on that note, here's a true grand finale...the final number from the show's last episode...the cast - past and present - perform the theme song. Now Nicole had been killed off mid-season so she's not seen here...but i think she can still be heard! During the line "Ooh, I've got what it takes" (at 2:24), that sure sounds like her singing and i'd be willing to bet (though i've never seen it acknowledged anywhere) that she sang in the finale without appearing onscreen. Whether or not she's actually included, this was the perfect ending for the show - and this retrospective.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/s0BUiqrSXZo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-64493492528842390552012-05-29T23:26:00.002-07:002012-05-29T23:26:30.074-07:00Muppet Freak on Hiatus [From the Archives: 6-18-09]<span style="color: red;">[Usually when i repost an article from the archives, i include my current commentary at the end, but this time it seems better to preface the old post with a current introduction.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">So far, as i've been reposting the old site's articles, i've managed so far to post them in the original order in which they first appeared. However, i made an exception for this Archive Article since it's only fitting to post it right now rather than wait to catch up to it (especially because i may not be able to catch up on posting things for a while.)</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">As noted on my last entry, personal circumstances look as if it's going to necessitate putting the blog on hiatus for an unknown length of time. The below entry was also written at a time when i knew i had to put the original Muppet Freak on hold and (like today), didn't know when...or if...i'd be able to come back, so it made for a nice "goodbye" message just in case...]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on June 18, 2009]</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Due to a sudden number of personal tragedies i'm contending with all at once right now (including but not limited to being laid off - the recession claims yet another statistic!), all my attention/energy is elsewhere and i can not currently maintain this blog.<br />
<br />
I sincerely love writing detailed thoughts about the Jim Henson Company and the Muppets as well as my other areas of fandom and i hope that current readers enjoyed reading the things i had to say and that those discovering it later find some value in the archives.<br />
<br />
At this point everything in my life is very uncertain, including how much time i may have left, so not only can i give any kind of estimate as to when it will be active again, i can't really even say IF it will be active again. If i can revive it later, trust me - i will. But right now all my fandoms are on the very bottom of the priority list.<br />
<br />
The archives will still be kept up here in the event that things somehow end up getting better and everything can return to some degree of normalcy. Should that happen, i'll pick up where i left off. But if it doesn't, you'll at least have a few months worth of some stuff i hope is of great value to some of the people who come across it.<br />
<br />
If anyone out there is looking for Muppet collectables, be it rare stuff like scripts or just a place to pick up some second hand books or cds - please contact me as i can use any and all help i can get in terms of income. <span style="color: red;">[This still applies by the way...I NEED FINANCIAL HELP RIGHT NOW so if there's anything someone wants that i may be able to provide, please don't hesitate to do so (and quickly before i lose net access!!!) dw_m@webtv.net ]</span><br />
<br />
Thanks for reading - and thanks to all the various Muppet/Henson fans i've corresponded with over the years online, offline or both...it's always exciting to connect with people who share the same loves. Those are some of the best memories i'll hold onto as long as i can.<br />
<br />
In the event this is my last ever entry here and/or on other fan forums, i'll close with the following thought. Right now there's a lot of ugliness in the world. Names don't need to be mentioned but we all know there's been a lot of world "leaders" who were so driven by personal greed and contempt for large numbers of society (particularly the lower and middle class) that have really harmed the livelihoods of a vast number of this country's and the world's citizens in the last decade. I implore everyone who's been touched by Jim Henson and all the team he's gathered who have carried on his visions since to keep alive the spirit of the values he tried to impart in those he touched via his works or his life. Be kind to one another, help those less fortunate, take care of the environment. Pass it on. Fraggle Rock may not have achieved the goal that Jim stated in that first boardroom meeting of sowing the seeds of peace and stopping all war in the world, but as long as his fans are alive worldwide, maybe they can do what they can in their own ways to make the world a little better one step and one day at a time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-71502211099998303072012-05-26T23:34:00.000-07:002012-05-26T23:34:41.367-07:00Purple Hand o' Fate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_11hJaTQJ-j56S3HW0GOKmyt2ZVaswWAxZ1TUjMS9w1UHcjTIClUhLzs3da6_RKp4uB13xSqBiZtpqmn6UF18CgkuDXcKw-_3x7Is3lRv5SEf2NmUOdxrpm6YCcZP7pDcDRcco65J17o/s1600/hand.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_11hJaTQJ-j56S3HW0GOKmyt2ZVaswWAxZ1TUjMS9w1UHcjTIClUhLzs3da6_RKp4uB13xSqBiZtpqmn6UF18CgkuDXcKw-_3x7Is3lRv5SEf2NmUOdxrpm6YCcZP7pDcDRcco65J17o/s320/hand.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>Ernie: Hey, Bert - Bert! Let's go, Bert - it's time to leave, Bert!<br />
Bert: Uh, Ernie - hey, Ern, no. You go on without me, I'm not going to come with you. <br />
Ernie: Oh but Bert, wait a second. We've been planning this trip for a week - it's time to leave.<br />
Bert: But Ernie, I can't go out - I can't go out with you.<br />
Ernie: But Bert, why not?<br />
Bert: 'Cause I have a purple hand...<br />
<br />
Okay, so my hands aren't purple. At least not right now, though they did have slight hints of purple at first.<br />
<br />
This last week, i had a very bad fall and banged up both my knees and crushed both hands - i hit the pavement HARD with my hands bearing the full brunt of my body weight. My right hand's pretty much back to normal and my left hand still has some pain and slightly reduced functionality.<br />
<br />
Why am i telling you this? Because it's going to affect the blog.<br />
<br />
I can type and everything just fine. But when it happened, i had to miss work at a time when i REALLY couldn't afford to do so. (Exhibit #14,781 of Someone Up There Really Hates Me And Wants Me To Just Hurry Up And Die Already.) For someone who's struggling financially and often goes without food so i can pay the bills, this is not a good thing.<br />
<br />
Right now, if i'm going to get remotely by, i'll probably have to make do for awhile without one or both of the following:<br />
<br />
(a) Internet or (B) Electricity (NOT a good option during Phoenix Arizona summers)<br />
<br />
Of course, either way the end result is basically the same since no electricity equals no internet anyway - and no internet means inability to work on Muppet Freak for an unknown length of time. If i can squeeze out another article or two before that happens, i will but whether or not i do, Muppet Freak will be on hiatus for who knows how long.<br />
<br />
I do want to get all the archive articles up before the time comes when i have to just let go completely and give up the ghost and i'm really hoping the break won't be too long and i can get back to finishing things up here...but i don't have any realistic way of knowing if that will be possible or if the hiatus coincides with a permanent leave.<br />
<br />
Right now there really isn't much more to say right now other than this...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/KNfHU748SYQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-20430511668949133342012-05-20T21:37:00.000-07:002012-05-20T21:37:25.831-07:00My Connection is Not a Rainbow One.Thanks to everyone who's contacted me anxiously awaiting my next posts.<br />
<br />
I'm STILL experiencing frequent issues with my internet connection going in and out! It's been driving me up the wall (to say the least...)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/b8KgoFU7sVE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<br />
So, it's still probably going to take another week at the earliest til i can get back to operating as normal again...but in the meantime, here's some videos reflective of what i've been going through:<br />
<br />
In honor of my web connection, here's a good analogy as to what it's currently like:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/FzdUcZMd2pA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<br />
And here's a song from one of my favorite groups, Shakespears Sister. Not only is it currently an apt tribute to my web service, but for years, i've also tended to start singing this whenever i find myself in a long line.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/_EMXtXfozNE/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_EMXtXfozNE&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_EMXtXfozNE&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-30947316596852274902012-05-01T23:15:00.000-07:002012-05-01T23:15:19.760-07:00Muppet Freak orders chicken soupWow - has it really been over two weeks since my last post? Eep! I guess it has. Sorry, folks. There's been a number of things adding up that's kept me from posting lately...<br />
<br />
- My internet connection's been spotty lately; when i'm ready to spend some time working on the blog, i can't get on or i get frequent dropouts.<br />
<br />
- I've been falling back into oversleeping - even though reviving Muppet Freak's helped get me out of the pattern i had fallen into during my severe bout of depression where i was spending any and all possible time in bed, it's still a gradual process and i had a small bit of regression for awhile.<br />
<br />
- In between the changing of the seasons mixed with lots of stress at and outside work, i had become physically ill. But no worries! I've called upon some of the finest chefs to prepare me some chicken soup...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1sKoKhznYbUKqL8KMHzkwDXbTwsyWvO_488iXu8KUJkKs9_sfR_tBVLYs3QSTTMzc8yhybwAP7DZWOLpoZHPy8uPwh_IRUd9ntmcq3TXRCnSFm_oZZYs1l2qy0V8j3jx78toLNupbcc/s1600/chicken.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1sKoKhznYbUKqL8KMHzkwDXbTwsyWvO_488iXu8KUJkKs9_sfR_tBVLYs3QSTTMzc8yhybwAP7DZWOLpoZHPy8uPwh_IRUd9ntmcq3TXRCnSFm_oZZYs1l2qy0V8j3jx78toLNupbcc/s320/chicken.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
...and i ended up with this guy (problems like that tend to happen when you run a Muppet site). So i ordered from a restaurant instead...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRIER1r5t-2IWpVbKDMSjTws-WxndxY-CgjqVKwz4qOetdI-SW8kKqQn9OaYl-T_RrYIhHG9IcKzr7EsbJ7UjM_f8ypcuw3QRkBahuldPAfoYKYeL08m_vWrDnqKvp8_YbrgV_vsdVfw/s1600/soup.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRIER1r5t-2IWpVbKDMSjTws-WxndxY-CgjqVKwz4qOetdI-SW8kKqQn9OaYl-T_RrYIhHG9IcKzr7EsbJ7UjM_f8ypcuw3QRkBahuldPAfoYKYeL08m_vWrDnqKvp8_YbrgV_vsdVfw/s320/soup.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
...But i kept getting my orders wrong. (What do Charlie's and my web connection have in common? The server's often down!!!)<br />
<br />
So I looked for other places where i might find some chicken soup...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJl5JxMi_QyiCt2_C4j2TBU5dtDFM9_sFoMhIYltYh8wG4koqHs44SQTGBWqaXGgOW0qMxDaUO_5yGmo-V99RUltkJVezJmEpDTTdP-gdhFkMH5Z65c6K8zpODlav3DS1ANI6-GQ0sYY/s1600/chickensoup.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJl5JxMi_QyiCt2_C4j2TBU5dtDFM9_sFoMhIYltYh8wG4koqHs44SQTGBWqaXGgOW0qMxDaUO_5yGmo-V99RUltkJVezJmEpDTTdP-gdhFkMH5Z65c6K8zpODlav3DS1ANI6-GQ0sYY/s320/chickensoup.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
...I think i may have to just stock up on vitamins instead. But at any rate, Muppet Freak will be back real soon with some great stuff coming up...<br />
<br />
- That longawaited indepth look at one of the biggest issues confronting Muppet fandom today<br />
- A spotlight profile on an underrated Muppet star<br />
- A look back on muppets.com before the movie makeover<br />
- An exclusive report from a very special guest detailing some shocking developments about Miss Piggy...<br />
<br />
So stay tuned - i may not always post every other day or so but hopefully readers enjoy the posts when they do come and as always feedback on what you'd like to see is always encouraged.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-16504354630374530372012-04-16T02:39:00.001-07:002012-04-16T02:56:21.377-07:00The Muppet Barometer of Muppety-ness"Muppety."<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
But what exactly does that mean?<br />
<br />
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")<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
Well, why not with Muppets?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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 <i>special </i>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 <i>experiencing</i> it and seeing these characters, it <i>feels</i> like the most sensational, Muppetational thing you've watched lately!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmg9DnG4LrtIgVPEaHohh6Py8zZQMc1yUz0ZV6RHQoW1zyayWUBd-gjzfcn4om6C60IOZbCIRqn_evc7yRB2yz_80CL-OMW7EohPGq6WogXHhqB479tDHd5GFmXGD9ucLABhoFDBsOMaA/s1600/game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmg9DnG4LrtIgVPEaHohh6Py8zZQMc1yUz0ZV6RHQoW1zyayWUBd-gjzfcn4om6C60IOZbCIRqn_evc7yRB2yz_80CL-OMW7EohPGq6WogXHhqB479tDHd5GFmXGD9ucLABhoFDBsOMaA/s320/game.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
So, without further ado, i now present <span style="color: blue;"><b>THE MUPPET BAROMETER OF MUPPETY-NESS! </b><span style="color: black;">The Eleven Muppets That Always Make Something Seem Extra "Muppety" Whenever They So Much As Just Show Up!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>THE MONSTERS</b></u></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Of course since </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">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 <i>specific </i>Monsters really lend an air of Authentic Muppetsticity to a project? Here's the list:</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Beautiful Day Monster</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">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 <i>and</i> 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 <i>costume changes)</i>! 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!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLryxqYfqIW2hXMXLkhqH5dSCf17cnpNnD9srlQAU9qQhYNOXqTvAsd5Z7aFPl_u9fC10bIDSu2kZp9OLs_nanVcsPbhAwfIiTGBdpLlPkKDbOgyvUCTe0o4oGrayamtE87mc2itowhs/s1600/526px-Monster7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLryxqYfqIW2hXMXLkhqH5dSCf17cnpNnD9srlQAU9qQhYNOXqTvAsd5Z7aFPl_u9fC10bIDSu2kZp9OLs_nanVcsPbhAwfIiTGBdpLlPkKDbOgyvUCTe0o4oGrayamtE87mc2itowhs/s320/526px-Monster7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBCeg1bNYQhCUsnHlZzIsgc3IvT8CjGSmvdFBVzo_qdEtT34uQlVM95xRRq6SU634nhAYCE2F2vh13fqYUHOKvojV9n-n588HMKeJl3qDmRAb1gWYfffUIf_FQzPEJeNVIud_1xmJh-Y/s1600/694px-Muppets2011Trailer02-48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBCeg1bNYQhCUsnHlZzIsgc3IvT8CjGSmvdFBVzo_qdEtT34uQlVM95xRRq6SU634nhAYCE2F2vh13fqYUHOKvojV9n-n588HMKeJl3qDmRAb1gWYfffUIf_FQzPEJeNVIud_1xmJh-Y/s320/694px-Muppets2011Trailer02-48.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Luncheon Counter Monster</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">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!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOs3asRrDL-h2EMN0jdEQKl5SdZn4TU2L4E67LbthFr1FrNyqUR1S7PRaDnLD_RGsrGUTGMlNxOuQPsEmQawHBLclCosmd7xStJj0xtEB2KqhIHpjKSJodw2TpxCZ8A8dZU6c2njVjW8/s1600/cosby.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOs3asRrDL-h2EMN0jdEQKl5SdZn4TU2L4E67LbthFr1FrNyqUR1S7PRaDnLD_RGsrGUTGMlNxOuQPsEmQawHBLclCosmd7xStJj0xtEB2KqhIHpjKSJodw2TpxCZ8A8dZU6c2njVjW8/s320/cosby.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6v_PuSWXtJDW6mZxXtvgfmsqFkz869JkBxchwZvrWlS115pX1wv0fLzLxS5jh8y3Gd6y4DHj7kzci6dUF2OejP6uLh5kTnIJt16vf0UzolqmGzsuY5QlS3_oYXfsh6SK6qFJA24QrIY/s1600/Leoandthemonster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6v_PuSWXtJDW6mZxXtvgfmsqFkz869JkBxchwZvrWlS115pX1wv0fLzLxS5jh8y3Gd6y4DHj7kzci6dUF2OejP6uLh5kTnIJt16vf0UzolqmGzsuY5QlS3_oYXfsh6SK6qFJA24QrIY/s320/Leoandthemonster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Boppity (Blue Frackle)</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Gloat (Green Frackle)</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">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!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRILLbsdlL6C6eBZdZlPlpwE6_DrKrb86_2YbGLMmjI_GBRMZGF9begSv87shvKH8CRh6QeE6E50Zb3ainNq1JVtpI4nCspOM0ebD9UC8MEhqVAoiaCt9E9sh62fVLSMh1Pw4pN5jMGQI/s1600/scrooge.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRILLbsdlL6C6eBZdZlPlpwE6_DrKrb86_2YbGLMmjI_GBRMZGF9begSv87shvKH8CRh6QeE6E50Zb3ainNq1JVtpI4nCspOM0ebD9UC8MEhqVAoiaCt9E9sh62fVLSMh1Pw4pN5jMGQI/s320/scrooge.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZcLFKPpD97R7J3_LZG0qRXgqqB6O-H3_IqEGKFpo9Dr_vRjYMYa-nrR7N1wt5XQtJMltRvQZ4OlJPQUp086Vjan7AoG4TCz3Y5YiAhU5lCumCy6Sl5D1I1DSYlekYLZY8-Zg6DgELjQ/s1600/theme.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZcLFKPpD97R7J3_LZG0qRXgqqB6O-H3_IqEGKFpo9Dr_vRjYMYa-nrR7N1wt5XQtJMltRvQZ4OlJPQUp086Vjan7AoG4TCz3Y5YiAhU5lCumCy6Sl5D1I1DSYlekYLZY8-Zg6DgELjQ/s320/theme.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZO15r2Q0n6eJyoL40gIOVhb867olVWfHR1KzHFRKcLWG3a8TcRTvGu7CPIq30rFDW_mwUbRnMQMHhb-1f08uVf49cqqMCu89Xp6hHCY5NWfEM78IzWRn6PMyxIV6bwlbKTP2lnqVdH0k/s1600/cabaret.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZO15r2Q0n6eJyoL40gIOVhb867olVWfHR1KzHFRKcLWG3a8TcRTvGu7CPIq30rFDW_mwUbRnMQMHhb-1f08uVf49cqqMCu89Xp6hHCY5NWfEM78IzWRn6PMyxIV6bwlbKTP2lnqVdH0k/s320/cabaret.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Droop</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">...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!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhacwvI6Zk_n-5INxJxxOjKz7FOa8sihHVtAPGqO0yRAPK16UOisKli5uG3GEx6YbojPubSUecLcBCBV1QJqgEJRD_vFAamR6m8bzKnFp4gPwOXhu5N9wYUhjuGC11IxL-AD2x5kcbOdZE/s1600/droop.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhacwvI6Zk_n-5INxJxxOjKz7FOa8sihHVtAPGqO0yRAPK16UOisKli5uG3GEx6YbojPubSUecLcBCBV1QJqgEJRD_vFAamR6m8bzKnFp4gPwOXhu5N9wYUhjuGC11IxL-AD2x5kcbOdZE/s1600/droop.PNG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHfhvW0qyB6E7NvRi6vSH5uMMkYDPmmBUKerDU2H0UeDgcKottfRnIRkDIDHh7o5NGEy2ADy_ojfEhYG3H5Gd9ob2w9KeU56VuTq6ROgJcKYL8tYepCnKuiI3cyimYUT-BBWSEh1VCXc/s1600/Droop_muppets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHfhvW0qyB6E7NvRi6vSH5uMMkYDPmmBUKerDU2H0UeDgcKottfRnIRkDIDHh7o5NGEy2ADy_ojfEhYG3H5Gd9ob2w9KeU56VuTq6ROgJcKYL8tYepCnKuiI3cyimYUT-BBWSEh1VCXc/s320/Droop_muppets.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>NON-MONSTERS ("Nonsters?"):</b></span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">Of course, you don't have to be a Monster to be Muppety - just ask these favorites: </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Baskerville</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">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!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fLcNIToAvBIQBl-lMQiTSoJ36e9BRI2lJbVd5XX2g3zc2Tv7t9rIyVCyu8XFV9aRerTQ-6oTMlHVfLAiEU6VsGP5TChFfMCMoSpXnlkTiiYdmjFq1sTh7zjkRhyGiSSTJ_Sdpaka0gM/s1600/baskerville.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fLcNIToAvBIQBl-lMQiTSoJ36e9BRI2lJbVd5XX2g3zc2Tv7t9rIyVCyu8XFV9aRerTQ-6oTMlHVfLAiEU6VsGP5TChFfMCMoSpXnlkTiiYdmjFq1sTh7zjkRhyGiSSTJ_Sdpaka0gM/s320/baskerville.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilhAv_BrkR1zgey2C0POWranjX4WACPJ0qGFeaVvcB-wuD8b63_iEelam5LbvQZqtHECF48P1ZWvQSYxMojYMhf-op6maQPYzSm3URalXWr6nZvGp7AqetCJHYF1Umxla-TfTx_zEh4s4/s1600/pick.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilhAv_BrkR1zgey2C0POWranjX4WACPJ0qGFeaVvcB-wuD8b63_iEelam5LbvQZqtHECF48P1ZWvQSYxMojYMhf-op6maQPYzSm3URalXWr6nZvGp7AqetCJHYF1Umxla-TfTx_zEh4s4/s320/pick.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Crazy Harry</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">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 <i>being the theme song arches, </i>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?</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbN3NXTsUr9D-1gqNbhOYbRInZZsXshxP94Tz3vSHBH-8lWV1FPoULUm-kT8FiiYeNCO0VSSQNnhBc17a2xQYW0JjGXzC5XdoRwmFjwwn1rFG_c2kb2-XjaikmuYIpmkT1RViJy3xP_k/s1600/chanson.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbN3NXTsUr9D-1gqNbhOYbRInZZsXshxP94Tz3vSHBH-8lWV1FPoULUm-kT8FiiYeNCO0VSSQNnhBc17a2xQYW0JjGXzC5XdoRwmFjwwn1rFG_c2kb2-XjaikmuYIpmkT1RViJy3xP_k/s320/chanson.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuk3SrnAVcDceDm4j1E3ZNSRwLvVEaoKU-FJ15vHUdzPwOrcQ3s546oVpADH4pj4r-8Qd8g-qnmHuFvIz9pJGFR4XKQa2J_f51gvteQ44cy1kpMuhEIU_-fp55eGKxUlFA1FIZSnRF4A/s1600/crowd.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuk3SrnAVcDceDm4j1E3ZNSRwLvVEaoKU-FJ15vHUdzPwOrcQ3s546oVpADH4pj4r-8Qd8g-qnmHuFvIz9pJGFR4XKQa2J_f51gvteQ44cy1kpMuhEIU_-fp55eGKxUlFA1FIZSnRF4A/s320/crowd.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Mildred</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">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</span><b> </b><span style="color: black;">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...</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- George</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">...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.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Zoot</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;">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)</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfI3xEd5PELsPjfzGdxv8EVwGu_pN9v0CQnwkLIIbtqKTMAC0Y1wfODIHIeF1zhXZKBGdEjqTWR6ansCDZEjtl85W_ulASB0qCFcIre0NkKHbtX9OpfhObzxVEzxoSNrELbs6M2iszi8/s1600/amereeca.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfI3xEd5PELsPjfzGdxv8EVwGu_pN9v0CQnwkLIIbtqKTMAC0Y1wfODIHIeF1zhXZKBGdEjqTWR6ansCDZEjtl85W_ulASB0qCFcIre0NkKHbtX9OpfhObzxVEzxoSNrELbs6M2iszi8/s320/amereeca.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-I4C_uZ1VblkY62exSk-Qn4FpY4B9oz6ihLpAGmP-7nQl3gF5PIbCREN_vpZ1dwe19f-QMVVqFxrVJb9l9IjB_85o3Ggf9SiLWk7d0SIGDZpQcC68REyK4PtwdH-SEymv5uLMAws9jY/s1600/jhh.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-I4C_uZ1VblkY62exSk-Qn4FpY4B9oz6ihLpAGmP-7nQl3gF5PIbCREN_vpZ1dwe19f-QMVVqFxrVJb9l9IjB_85o3Ggf9SiLWk7d0SIGDZpQcC68REyK4PtwdH-SEymv5uLMAws9jY/s320/jhh.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>- Marvin Suggs </b></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Probably one of the funniest Muppets in the en</span>tire 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!)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNre3jKcI-yWN0IAAcmfLNn-ERsz7psNy2bPpj9lC0FcwdyT8oIRmv_leSPEP5RnuUWu8V4Zmh5oT8jD2iba7fwlKcpHf6da8oBTHVgTtmxKc-t0UU7or8qmgOy2_qyiKEK6_xGJxOhA4/s1600/marvin.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNre3jKcI-yWN0IAAcmfLNn-ERsz7psNy2bPpj9lC0FcwdyT8oIRmv_leSPEP5RnuUWu8V4Zmh5oT8jD2iba7fwlKcpHf6da8oBTHVgTtmxKc-t0UU7or8qmgOy2_qyiKEK6_xGJxOhA4/s320/marvin.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvcfLm51SM16PRjlGTFDXoS7nDQRrsdH9-FHcBgTrSYZtfQGIk_lmUqUgKjW75xK11nlpQ5rt0uyy_lstb9zUSW2vNscmcLKydzxV_mDZiWMD9xm01wkWHNk0BkE9u-3rid5XqLAPPKw/s1600/conga.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvcfLm51SM16PRjlGTFDXoS7nDQRrsdH9-FHcBgTrSYZtfQGIk_lmUqUgKjW75xK11nlpQ5rt0uyy_lstb9zUSW2vNscmcLKydzxV_mDZiWMD9xm01wkWHNk0BkE9u-3rid5XqLAPPKw/s320/conga.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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....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.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-49418055889628923232012-04-10T03:35:00.000-07:002012-04-10T03:35:04.568-07:00On Mortality (and Why the Muppets Matter) [From the Archives: 4-4-09]<span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on April 4, 2009]</span><br />
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</div>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)<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdYCgDTqPaWZWI5JZkjc8lIxPRK20i9ZlJnckaffkKqDxwYBSHUdtqslbWg7YTOBkzO45OzPIQtrZeMPcCmB-heOCBAfKKtPdlXKav-6GmkkAZJfWXFeTxMp7XqIwygQocAFh8Sw6sT8/s1600/meeting.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdYCgDTqPaWZWI5JZkjc8lIxPRK20i9ZlJnckaffkKqDxwYBSHUdtqslbWg7YTOBkzO45OzPIQtrZeMPcCmB-heOCBAfKKtPdlXKav-6GmkkAZJfWXFeTxMp7XqIwygQocAFh8Sw6sT8/s320/meeting.PNG" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"Life is made up of meetings and partings"</span></span><br />
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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?<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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?<br />
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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.<br />
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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.)<br />
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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.<br />
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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!)<br />
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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.)<br />
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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.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYKu9mdXniH_jQAL1CfSyqhqR9kHKPqVq8GSospdsAN2lAe5t2CD9Q0iSRuzpreNGqlQ1U-1b6SYS0ANKQSSRuHm1EFAvq8_oO_JZynY-sKCMEahd0AJ84duaxywGA-VGByMLuqNxM_4/s1600/511px-MudwellTheMudbunny-RIP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYKu9mdXniH_jQAL1CfSyqhqR9kHKPqVq8GSospdsAN2lAe5t2CD9Q0iSRuzpreNGqlQ1U-1b6SYS0ANKQSSRuHm1EFAvq8_oO_JZynY-sKCMEahd0AJ84duaxywGA-VGByMLuqNxM_4/s320/511px-MudwellTheMudbunny-RIP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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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.<br />
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(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.<br />
<br />
(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.)<br />
<br />
(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?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uYCVGnHBdjH3qpsBcD9yq-e8ziURyjfi85ssh5I1mg7C0T3B_CAJAd3BsjUqP4a_P8uKmnBgugEebFrxiY_ZcE9UzMlPFchk34XLZ-eWlGk3wrwOaiM3sgrlBMV0zk2bYWuC236TQrA/s1600/parting.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uYCVGnHBdjH3qpsBcD9yq-e8ziURyjfi85ssh5I1mg7C0T3B_CAJAd3BsjUqP4a_P8uKmnBgugEebFrxiY_ZcE9UzMlPFchk34XLZ-eWlGk3wrwOaiM3sgrlBMV0zk2bYWuC236TQrA/s320/parting.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: red;">[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.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">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.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">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. ] </span><br />
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</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-69976280252359930172012-04-06T01:37:00.000-07:002012-04-06T01:37:42.856-07:00What'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?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0gYs1fPccxhFrPi01TWNcnhlGo2eHE4HpWqCS5gX_E4ozxQXWADsvvOggtx7VcNsgZnMR_2_Dnc4fuQi-KwVuiMCbXevEQJj7vz6-QtIXXS5ZtYAaYvJyn28i-7yMYf33BfyDMxVmm8/s1600/benny.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0gYs1fPccxhFrPi01TWNcnhlGo2eHE4HpWqCS5gX_E4ozxQXWADsvvOggtx7VcNsgZnMR_2_Dnc4fuQi-KwVuiMCbXevEQJj7vz6-QtIXXS5ZtYAaYvJyn28i-7yMYf33BfyDMxVmm8/s1600/benny.PNG" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;">"That's BENNY, not BUNNY! And I'm not bringing nuttin' for Easter - I gotta get downtown!!"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Eep. Wrong rabbit. Okay let's try again. What cool treats are being prepared for Muppet Freak's Easter Basket?</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZApCDZxfOYO5rnIeUHwHTy2Vo_sp-hG71_Yt-i-g7BP4yi2iwVSUi1blAJo8qt4rW88-E27l1uFZI7B9Jdg81tkmDCujWgOls6RMxyGySQvtS3oj9h9_fff1WYFK2TrYwBqDaZ08IrMA/s1600/mean.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZApCDZxfOYO5rnIeUHwHTy2Vo_sp-hG71_Yt-i-g7BP4yi2iwVSUi1blAJo8qt4rW88-E27l1uFZI7B9Jdg81tkmDCujWgOls6RMxyGySQvtS3oj9h9_fff1WYFK2TrYwBqDaZ08IrMA/s1600/mean.PNG" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"> </span> "Watch me eat the Poser Muppets! THANK YOU!"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">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?</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhZ7aEb2dhBXB4ecrxMBFYCjD5Xy0pcr3UrNkSE1yJAOkfh2t8eaUHasZBRsBRGnb_7CZQtSR_6_BUY8wISeL67ylfPHsKRqkZjrk6BcDOnU8XaL_T22zUu-0Zo7v3_WlUJqm8FpbCN0/s1600/bunny.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhZ7aEb2dhBXB4ecrxMBFYCjD5Xy0pcr3UrNkSE1yJAOkfh2t8eaUHasZBRsBRGnb_7CZQtSR_6_BUY8wISeL67ylfPHsKRqkZjrk6BcDOnU8XaL_T22zUu-0Zo7v3_WlUJqm8FpbCN0/s1600/bunny.PNG" /></a></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">"LOVE BUNNY! BUNNY LOVE!! HAHAHA!"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">...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.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">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....</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsfj45NHKQK2_lWbNZX7s3OMHCdWnxHJOgIoH3XbGqrCdJAhwyrf1D7MDG6vCdhhjUmx5MqLGLpZ4B4grluT7IMoKN6Uo9Q_qHnxqvJS4OLjbHRMvYqlZSIMcnaGK8GXtNnEutBITzSQ/s1600/bonnie.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsfj45NHKQK2_lWbNZX7s3OMHCdWnxHJOgIoH3XbGqrCdJAhwyrf1D7MDG6vCdhhjUmx5MqLGLpZ4B4grluT7IMoKN6Uo9Q_qHnxqvJS4OLjbHRMvYqlZSIMcnaGK8GXtNnEutBITzSQ/s320/bonnie.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">"An Easter Basket for Muppet Freak? When pigs tie (the knot)!"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Oh come ON! That's a BONNIE, not a bunny! I bet this kind of stuff never happens to The Muppet Mindset...</span> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-67508453104370692012-03-31T23:58:00.004-07:002012-04-01T00:59:32.220-07:00Our First Muppeteer Interview - And BOY, Is This Huge and a Major Coup! [From the Archives: 4-1-09]<span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on April 1, 2009]</span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td colspan="2"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Nearly ten years ago, i was blessed to have contributed the very first "celebrity interview" (Jerry Juhl) to Muppetcentral.com. Well, after having only been online with this new venture for a mere couple of weeks, i've landed a HUGE interview for this site. I mean we're talking as big as big wigs come! Jim Lewis? Bigger! Stevie "Wonder" Whitmire? Even better! Kirk Thatcher? Lyelle Brier? Frank Oz? Brian Henson? Drew Massey even?<br />
<br />
No! This is as major as it gets. My very first interview for Muppet Freak is with the big guy himself...Jim Henson!<br />
<br />
I can hear everyone stammering in front of their screens now..."But...but...he's dead! Jim? How?"<br />
<br />
Two words: "Ouija Board"!<br />
<br />
So Jim, how do you feel Steve Whitmire's been handling the passing on of Kermit and Ernie?<br />
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After a pause, board reads..."jgifbn8w"<br />
<br />
Okay - two better words: Madame Olga.<br />
<br />
Now being the financially challenged guy i am, i couldn't afford her standard fee, but after i told her this would no doubt be read by legions of Henson's fans worldwide on the edge of their seats waiting to hear what he has to say after anyone's heard from him for nearly two decades, she wanted me to pass on to all you legions that Madame Olga in Phoenix Arizona is the one to turn to for all your extra special seance needs!<br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKz03iuuKqDcQx92PQzCAesBRg5ddJaWQ0HUjErqM0ORnVbk7irpNe5m5QCKRm4ek9lHla1llG2bt_YKDloDv79Aft_5M3Pa3hQCRo3VreOB2S6DtxOLbKZjjHBnLwF7ddSxVsX83ZP1w/s1600/coco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKz03iuuKqDcQx92PQzCAesBRg5ddJaWQ0HUjErqM0ORnVbk7irpNe5m5QCKRm4ek9lHla1llG2bt_YKDloDv79Aft_5M3Pa3hQCRo3VreOB2S6DtxOLbKZjjHBnLwF7ddSxVsX83ZP1w/s1600/coco.jpg" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Now that our advertising is out of the way, here's what Jim has to say:<br />
<br />
d.w.: So Jim, being that this is my first time ever using this medium (no pun intended) to communicate, i don't know what kind of time or connection we're working with, so let's get right to the questions on most people's minds. How well do you feel Kermit's been performed since the torch was passed?<br />
<br />
Jim: Well of course it's not the same, it could never be the same. But Brian's done an absolutely amazing job with...<br />
<br />
d.w.: Uh, excuse me, Mr. Henson, but you said "Brian". You are aware that Steve Whitmire is the one who's been playing Kermit aren't you?<br />
<br />
Jim: Really? Little Stevie? No, I always heard Brian was doing my characters! We don't get all the most reliable sources up here - we sometimes get some crazy rumors.<br />
<br />
d.w.: You don't have the internet?<br />
<br />
Jim: Actually we do. That's part of the problem.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Ah, i see.<br />
<br />
Jim: Course it is a bit minimal - being that Bill Gates is one of the tools of the devil, that does put a bit of a damper on a lot of stuff available to us up here.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Well anyway, getting back on track, Steve has indeed been the only one performing Kermit since we lost you.<br />
<br />
Jim: Ah well, Brian's still made me very proud with how he's done Ernie...<br />
<br />
d.w.: Uh, still Steve...<br />
<br />
Jim: Stevie again? Gee whiz. Does Brian do ANY of my characters or has Steve just been doing nothing but riding on my coattails since 1990?<br />
<br />
d.w.: No, your characters have been played by various people...and Steve does a wonderful job playing his own characters as well. But as far as Brian goes, the only one of your characters he's ever performed was The Newsman. And he was one of a few different people. Interestingly enough, Brian actually became more of a replacement performer for Richard Hunt's characters for a while, taking up Scooter and Janice for a time.<br />
<br />
Jim: Mmmmm.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Indeed, "mmmmm" (Now i KNOW this is Jim i'm talking with if i had any doubts.)<br />
<br />
Jim: So does he have his own characters?<br />
<br />
d.w.: He hasn't done as much Muppeteering the last few years since the Disney sale but he's the one who performs Sal and Phil Van Neuter...<br />
<br />
Jim: That's Brian huh? Holy guacamole! I don't believe it!<br />
<br />
d.w.: What?<br />
<br />
Jim: His voice hasn't changed since he was a teenager! No wonder he's not doing Kermit!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Anyway, since Richard Hunt's name came up, do you see your old friends who have passed on frequently? Do you party with or work on new projects or have adventures with Richard, Jerry Juhl, and Don Sahlin for example?<br />
<br />
Jim: Nah. I never get to talk with Richard. He has his whole posse he hangs out with - Oscar Wilde, Sal Mineo, Noel Coward, James Dean...they're like the "happening kids in the schoolyard" as it were...<br />
<br />
d.w.: Too bad. I mean i'm happy for Richard but it just seems like you'd be together more.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5g6_rY9J8FSNY7v7j7dX6ywDufpAfre6_12LwZatGUGPV8-nmGvqbtK5kZ4oeBzexhu_Bn7ZDxOj7s3VkLRWWH0PCtaXH_i37PqFzW8gMH6Y_Mdqc7cB1Z1A8uxpvTV1hm77i4xwBCw/s1600/imagesCA6ZIJZ5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5g6_rY9J8FSNY7v7j7dX6ywDufpAfre6_12LwZatGUGPV8-nmGvqbtK5kZ4oeBzexhu_Bn7ZDxOj7s3VkLRWWH0PCtaXH_i37PqFzW8gMH6Y_Mdqc7cB1Z1A8uxpvTV1hm77i4xwBCw/s1600/imagesCA6ZIJZ5.jpg" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Jim: As for Jerry and Don, I have no contact with them at all since they're um..."downstairs" shall we say?<br />
<br />
d.w.: Neither Jerry or Don got into Heaven?!<br />
<br />
Jim: No no, they got in. But not too long after they were both here together, they teamed up to play a gag on The Big Boss by arranging a million ping pong balls to fall on God's head. They were quickly relocated to a lower floor. Despite popular belief, The Boss does not have that big a sense of humor!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Wow. I always thought any supreme being that would give the male gender BOTH Adam's Apples and the need to shave one's neck would have a wicked sense of humor...<br />
<br />
Jim: No, no. That's just wickedness period. Humor has nothing to do with it.<br />
<br />
d.w.: I notice you tend to refer to God as "The Boss". Does that mean he's actually kind of close to how he was represented in "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie"?<br />
<br />
Jim: Remarkably close actually! But obviously God's not Whoopi Goldberg.<br />
<br />
d.w.: I wouldn't think so, even though that was some inspired casting for the movie. Um...i know you probably can't say much, but no harm in asking...are you able to comment or even give any hints as to who or what God is exactly?<br />
<br />
Jim: Yoko Ono.<br />
<br />
d.w.: That's a hint?<br />
<br />
Jim: No, that's actually who God is. Yoko Ono!<br />
<br />
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<br />
d.w.: That actually would explain a lot if that were actually true...but how could that be? Yoko's alive and well here on Earth - she's not even dead or anything yet!<br />
<br />
Jim: You obviously haven't followed her career for a long long time have you?<br />
<br />
d.w.: Point taken. Wow. That's a real mind blower - are you actually allowed to make such a huge revelation to us all like that? Would you face any repercussions for breaking that news to us?<br />
<br />
Jim: No no, on the contrary it's good for people to finally know that. You see, it will help with your prayers. Whenever you pray or meditate, if you continually chant Yoko Ono's name backwards, this greatly increases your chances of being heard and answered.<br />
<br />
d.w.: So..."Onookoy"?<br />
<br />
Jim: "Onookoy!" Try it! It works!<br />
<br />
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</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQomjLfPCl4jW1FfSZKZCyrnTbC8SIRLwsK6aWRM12fdrD_TKn41JMC-GMM7D-OrMo_6qW_fsP8vjoMfmPL56UmsdfLFY9xREgWJcLpjrwXT_ULcJ_I_kJdN9MefO37uaz-_2kQaP2u8/s1600/imagesCAGQAW61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQomjLfPCl4jW1FfSZKZCyrnTbC8SIRLwsK6aWRM12fdrD_TKn41JMC-GMM7D-OrMo_6qW_fsP8vjoMfmPL56UmsdfLFY9xREgWJcLpjrwXT_ULcJ_I_kJdN9MefO37uaz-_2kQaP2u8/s1600/imagesCAGQAW61.jpg" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">d.w.: Okay, i think i've filled my "Answering the Mysteries of Life" quota. Back to the stuff Muppet fans are wondering...one thing that we recently learned on the bonus features for the Fraggle Rock dvd's...<br />
<br />
Jim: ...By the way, fans can rest assured that the "good folks" at HIT Entertainment and Lionsgate have essentially written their names in Hell's address book for pulling that garbage with releasing season four as part of a complete series only, making fans pay twice for the other seasons they bought!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Oh my - that IS marvelous news. But at any rate, many of us were surprised that you were initially against the idea of wrapping up the series in the way it wound up! How did you initially envision Fraggle Rock ending?<br />
<br />
Jim: Fraggle Rock would have been completely destroyed by the Gorgs. There would have been no survivors among the Fraggles, Doozers, or any of the other various creatures that live in the Rock.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Oh my gosh! I never would have thought you'd do something like that! Do the Gorgs face any consequences?<br />
<br />
Jim: They then all get crushed by a huge Monty Python style foot.<br />
<br />
d.w.: No way!<br />
<br />
Jim: But don't feel bad for any of them. After all that happens, we learn that the whole series was actually nothing more than a dream of Ned Shimmelfinny's. Doc wakes him up from his dream and we see that the "real" Doc actually pretty shockingly resembles a human version of Boober.<br />
<br />
d.w.: No offense, but i think i like the way the series actually ended better.<br />
<br />
Jim: Yeah, Jerry was always better at that kind of ending stuff than I was.<br />
<br />
d.w.: One theme that was very much a part of Fraggle Rock and really most of the Jim Henson Company's works, especially during your last decade among us has been the need for humans to take care of the environment. As you can probably sadly tell, as a species, we've really failed to heed those messages.<br />
<br />
Jim: #$@* George Bush! Both of them!<br />
<br />
d.w.: WHOA!! You know, Mr. Henson, not that i don't totally agree with that sentiment but...well two things: (1) Even though my site is geared towards adult Muppet/Henson fans, i try to keep the language clean so i'll have to censor that sentence a little, i'm afraid. Second and more importantly, i'm really flabbergasted to hear such a strong statement coming from you! I mean, for someone who has this almost Zen-like reputation for rarely getting angry or saying negative things about others, to hear that coming from you is a real shocker!<br />
<br />
Jim: Well, you know that whole mythos about my never getting angry or speaking ill was really all a huge p.r. legend that continues to this day.<br />
<br />
d.w.: GET OUT OF TOWN!<br />
<br />
Jim: Think about it - where ELSE do you think Frank Oz picked up that "sailor's mouth" of his?<br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVRVskepEtg-tHL374jJXtdD5lY9x1LtbxGHogR6OeLNMngN_up5nptwMo_Ita7hbfoWHmMSwQWNV6eO3OO4lN7cjTStl42HEz4lCylWM3L9tmxYlySjRhR9XgW-erkLBhBrhJIcZ4JM/s1600/imagesCADUG1R7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVRVskepEtg-tHL374jJXtdD5lY9x1LtbxGHogR6OeLNMngN_up5nptwMo_Ita7hbfoWHmMSwQWNV6eO3OO4lN7cjTStl42HEz4lCylWM3L9tmxYlySjRhR9XgW-erkLBhBrhJIcZ4JM/s1600/imagesCADUG1R7.jpg" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">d.w.: Let's change the subject. Going on twenty years after your passing, you're still recognized as one of our greatest modern geniuses...<br />
<br />
Jim: Oh, "genius schmenius!" Look, people go on and on about how I recognized that you didn't need to show a puppet stage when shooting puppets on television because the very outline of the screen could serve as that border. I mean COME ON! ANYONE could see that! I just happened to be the first person who DID something about that. If it wasn't me, it soon would have been someone else. Things like that happen in your world all the time! Little stuff that doesn't make sense that everyone can see is silly but no one ever does anything about correcting it. Like how the Circle K's put the darn teabags on the opposite side of the store from the hot water and cups!<br />
<br />
d.w.: I see what you mean. We are indeed "Silly Creatures" aren't we?<br />
<br />
Jim: Well, let me put it this way. God may not have a huge sense of humor but she does laugh at you folks an awful lot!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Since your death, not only have The Muppets lived on, but the Jim Henson Company has continued your legacy of innovation in television and film. Most notably, Farscape. I imagine you must be very proud of how hard Brian fought for years to bring something like that to the screen, showcasing years of progress made by the Creature Shop as well as advances in makeup, CGI, and sci-fi storytelling. As Farscape celebrates its tenth anniversary and continues to be regarded as one of the best sci-fi series of all time, i imagine you must have much to say about all of its success...<br />
<br />
Jim: They should never have killed off the hot blue bald chick in season three!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Um...yeah! Well, back to the Muppets! Right now it looks like Jason Segel's film script is essentially greenlit from Disney. Will it indeed live up to its proposed title of "The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made"?<br />
<br />
Jim: Yes and no. It will surpass the ones that came before. However there will ultimately be a Muppet film in 2024 that would really have to be considered the greatest of all time.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Does Segel write that one too?<br />
<br />
Jim: Nope. Doogie Howser.<br />
<br />
d.w.: NEIL PATRICK HARRIS? I knew he was also a huge Muppet Freak (and frelling cute too!), but that's pretty amazing that the two greatest Muppet films of all time are both written by actors who are Muppet fans as opposed to the regular Muppet writers or anyone like that!<br />
<br />
Jim: No no, Doogie Howser will be the name of one of the Muppet writing staff at that time. That's his actual name, he has nothing to do with Neil Patrick Harris other than the fact his tv-obsessed parents named their son after the character.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Wow, i'm really learning a lot! But now let's really up the stakes. Give us one humungous scoop! Tell us some previously unrevealed secret about the Muppets or the Jim Henson Company that's gonna make all our heads spin.<br />
<br />
Jim: Oh, I have something juicy alright - but do you really think you can handle it?<br />
<br />
d.w.: After learning about Yoko Ono, i think we can take anything else you throw at us by now.<br />
<br />
Jim: Okay, brace yourselves. I shall now reveal the biggest secret about the Jim Henson Company and the Muppets. It's about Eric Jacobson.<br />
<br />
d.w.: The amazing performer who's taken on most of Frank Oz's characters? Go on!<br />
<br />
Jim: He's not real. He's a top secret experiment between JHC and the US government combining the pinnacle of research in the fields of genetic cloning and animatronics. It's all very complex but it's really very simple.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Wow...that's just such another very "Jim" thing to say! Please continue!<br />
<br />
Jim: He's basically a created creature put together by the Creature Shop and given artificial intelligence provided by genetic samplings of Frank Oz's old chewed up pencils and "inside Cookie Monster puppet sweat" or to use our own internal slang, "Foggy Fozz"!</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-K_enOVxmQqcRgc-mfnBPNAiWTIyogJuxXCbEj6SPPkS34ryNwKBT6pXJzkq6prWRLmWSwYqKAjcSlKdKiWYGGWCJNOddZXteolN98Bd6NxpqNSlSSz2d7lhs5Uyiz9kBj0htXGrStV0/s1600/imagesCA4HUZRP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-K_enOVxmQqcRgc-mfnBPNAiWTIyogJuxXCbEj6SPPkS34ryNwKBT6pXJzkq6prWRLmWSwYqKAjcSlKdKiWYGGWCJNOddZXteolN98Bd6NxpqNSlSSz2d7lhs5Uyiz9kBj0htXGrStV0/s1600/imagesCA4HUZRP.jpg" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">d.w.: My readers will never forgive me if i fail to ask this. What are your true feelings about the sale of the Muppets to Disney; both the sale itself and the way Disney has handled them?<br />
<br />
Jim: I'm cool with it.<br />
<br />
d.w.: That's all you have to say?<br />
<br />
Jim: Well, of course they REALLY need to stop using that "kissing his fingers" Swedish Chef photo in the merchandise all the froggin' time!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Amen! But i mean, surely you can elaborate - there must be a lot more you can say about how you feel about Disney's ownership?<br />
<br />
Jim: Actually, no - not really.<br />
<br />
d.w.: That's all, huh? How come?<br />
<br />
Jim: Well...let's just say the immense powers and wrath of the Walt Disney Company have extended its claws into my realm as well. I can reveal that God is Yoko Ono, but if I say anything too bad about Disney, I'm just asking for trouble!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Okay, then let's wrap this up with three questions i've saved for last. First up; your death occurred before the explosion of the internet and online fandom. What are your thoughts on the scale and intensity of the Muppet/Henson fan community?<br />
<br />
Jim: Listen very closely. YOU GEEKS NEED TO GET A BLOODY LIFE! I mean, gee whiz! Obsessing over what the real name of a Muppet Monster puppet is? They're just puppets - their names change all the time! We could change Animal's name at any time to Uffaflugg just because we can! And what is all this with living and breathing how many Sesame Street episodes (and which ones) were brought to you by the letter "H"?! Not only is that just scary, but THAT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME!<br />
<br />
d.w.: Alright, more specifically, how do you feel about my blog? I mean i know it's pretty new and all but am i on the right track; off to a good start?<br />
<br />
Jim: Well, ther's a litttle too many tipos, As far as content, there's stuff that's right on and other stuff I don't agree with. You nailed how Bert & Ernie Sing Along is the COOLEST Sesame Street Album EVER (and you haven't even heard the outtakes!) However you were way too hard on the Muppet Babies and the Posers in your article on The Two Worst Things to Ever Happen to the Muppets.<br />
<br />
d.w.: Well then straight from the horse's mouth as it were - what would YOU say is the worst thing to ever happen to the Muppets?<br />
<br />
Jim: Muppet Baby Posers. Skeeter just should never be seen in three dimensions.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7eLKZm1Ahz4ywWPORdDz86n5UJpa5JGZKX6Y2QTN4CWM7MY9qtxWnjn2FmKNt8V15N34md34pGLbpa6lEdmQr3KV9b7VV0GucNN4b4EDy73I4KGiFI3i1YL66KkWpmcs_m8uSN_j2bR8/s1600/skeeter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7eLKZm1Ahz4ywWPORdDz86n5UJpa5JGZKX6Y2QTN4CWM7MY9qtxWnjn2FmKNt8V15N34md34pGLbpa6lEdmQr3KV9b7VV0GucNN4b4EDy73I4KGiFI3i1YL66KkWpmcs_m8uSN_j2bR8/s1600/skeeter.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
d.w.: My final question. Do you have any messages for any of us still on Earth? Fans? Former colleagues/friends?<br />
<br />
Jim: Stand back, sonny! I've got SEVERAL!...<br />
<br />
Karen Prell: Stop pulling that whole "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM" attitude/routine at Home Depot. The poor salesclerks DON'T know who you are, nor does hardly anyone else. They just know you as the very mean lady with the swelled head that tries to get all these insane freebies.<br />
<br />
Bill Baretta, Drew Massey, Victor Yerrid, Ricky Boyd, and Kevin Clash: As tempted as you may be to turn down Playgirl Magazine's offer to do a "Nothing Up Their Sleeves (Or Anywhere Else!)" photo spread, for Ono's Sake, DO IT! You think the funds from Tickle Me Elmo saved Sesame Workshop? That's nothing compared to the money you'll bring in to the Muppets if you do that photo session! Big Daddy Jim has spoken so now you have no excuse!<br />
<br />
Oh, and Kevin, while i've got your ear - that whole Elmo thing? You're currently at a "9", we need you more at a "3"!<br />
<br />
Matt Vogel: Please stop hoarding chicken wings in the Big Bird suit. That's just WRONG on so many levels! I mean, the worst thing Carroll Spinney ever did was slip in some porno flicks on the monitor strapped to his chest and only during downtime!<br />
<br />
Dave Goelz: Eat more lime jello. I can't reveal why, just trust me on this one!<br />
<br />
Kirk Thatcher: Wear less Hawaiian shirts and more black. Not only is it slimming but it makes you incredibly sultry looking!<br />
<br />
Marty Robinson: Please stop eating the puppets! Not only is it very bad for your health but you know how the current economy has taken its toll on Sesame Workshop as it is without having to rebuild all the characters you're snacking on! Why do you think they had to switch to that Mini-Zoe?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36XXzLYC4Kh8opv-GWfBTH5UJdma03wRXuoZInYE5VGFlk-PdgUAlQllwh5do2OmUoh7K1fgGVxjjnjZPE3BLLz-NcLsUDZXGXIcSrmqYSGpED95dC-RS6-bLRdJY8bRw0axh17cpRrE/s1600/uglyzoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36XXzLYC4Kh8opv-GWfBTH5UJdma03wRXuoZInYE5VGFlk-PdgUAlQllwh5do2OmUoh7K1fgGVxjjnjZPE3BLLz-NcLsUDZXGXIcSrmqYSGpED95dC-RS6-bLRdJY8bRw0axh17cpRrE/s1600/uglyzoe.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Muppet Builders: Take my word on this: despite the expense, go on and rebuild the Thog costume. Do it and he'll end up becoming an even greater breakout star than Pepe and Elmo combined! After all, the money from that Playgirl shoot, while substantial, won't last forever!<br />
<br />
And finally, to my five children who I dearly love endlessly to a degree that your Earthly languages can't express (and yes, John, that includes you despite your guilt over how I might feel about your forsaking the family fortune and becoming a professional pudding wrestler. Not only am I perfectly fine with it, but you look much hotter in a speedo covered head to toe with chocolate than you ever did in the Sweetums costume), as much as I hold you all in the highest regard and feel you could never do any wrong...PLEASE PLEASE _*PLEASE*_ don't name any of my grandchildren Kermit, Oscar, Crazy Harry, Froggie Baby, Doglion, or Doogie.<br />
<br />
And finally to all Muppet fans young and old who's ever found enjoyment in my work, <span style="color: blue;"><b>HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!</b></span></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnVMbOjvE-fRUIIc8yXlpPDqtItnthZhOA_SlSwnGTPJIXIqLJFWZq4DzCa-YyFCfkn7WBFPZxPtjpP7Cgoa_gufjjqRyUzwyOml7ziP-1RXh6u6P945JvAWNcrvV2Ak-aXmVoapblwU/s1600/imagesCA1U48Z3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnVMbOjvE-fRUIIc8yXlpPDqtItnthZhOA_SlSwnGTPJIXIqLJFWZq4DzCa-YyFCfkn7WBFPZxPtjpP7Cgoa_gufjjqRyUzwyOml7ziP-1RXh6u6P945JvAWNcrvV2Ak-aXmVoapblwU/s1600/imagesCA1U48Z3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: red;">[Since this was originally posted on April Fool's Day three years ago, i wanted to wait until this year's April 1st to add the repost. This was a huge labor of love with lots of great, fun Easter Eggs within and i hope Henson fans and Muppet Freaks enjoy reading it.</span></span></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"> </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"> </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: red;">On its original run, it took awhile for the feedback from those who "got it" to chime in, but the very first couple of comments i got regarding it were from people who were SHOCKED and APPALLED. Not over the concept per se, but over the fact that i DARED to write something with the words "Ouija board" in it (despite the fact that in the context of the fiction, the Ouija board didn't actually work and was a piece of junk - one would think they would have been pleased that i helped further the idea of Ouija boards being a waste of time that one should stay away from, but irrational prejudices aren't known for being, well.. rational.)</span></span></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: red;">Like a lot of the sillier stuff i tend to do, the genesis for this April Fool's post came from some serious musings. It had struck me that Jim passed away a few years before the internet really caught on and missed out on how an artist's fans could now have a more intimate and immediate relationship with the people who created the work they admire - Jim didn't get to see the initial newsgroups, the fansites, the forums and by extension, fans never really got to see how Jim would have interacted with the online fanbase. So thinking about what an fansite interview with Jim talking about fandom would have been like seemed like a fun idea to explore. I was also poking fun at the fact that Muppet Freak was a new site at the time and didn't have the kind of inside sources from Henson, Disney, and such that some other sites that existed at the time did - so again this was fun to snark on and turn on its head.</span></span></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: red;">Oh - and HEY! Jim was RIGHT about rebuilding Thog! One of the best things Disney's done! </span></span></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: red;">Hope you had fun reading this. Remember this was still when Muppet Freak wasn't even a month old yet, so this was just the beginning of wild and fun stuff to come. Stay tuned as we continue to get the original archives back up along with new content...there's still a very important post coming up this week exploring a major issue currently confronting the Muppet Fan Community. Check back often and spread the word to other Muppet/Henson fans that we're here, back, and at this new address.] </span></span> </div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-33323591204685605322012-03-30T04:09:00.003-07:002012-03-30T15:28:11.796-07:00All Muppets Fans Are Not Created EqualSince Muppet Freak had been on what had seemed at the time like a permanent hiatus during the latter half of 2011, i've got a lot of catching up to do - not just in terms of getting all the archives from the old server back online, but also topics having to do with "The Muppets". This of course was The Big One We've Been Waiting For - the Muppets' glorious return back on top of popular culture where they belonged! Most of us will never forget our experiences seeing it for the first time...maybe you saw it along with a group of fellow fans or maybe you even managed to see it in Los Angeles at the official premiere. Here's my story.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjktcrY9jKmBC905Ps1NcNtoTHr589GP6u41OMw_TdCrulRB_SIYqV6_ql5dAPwelX4oT-t2qRewvOL30NUB7dgnjyLgxShs2TC9SmZFPboBxR4dMyqevh1Zb6MezjoYwZuLXZAY_FYKqU/s1600/amc.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjktcrY9jKmBC905Ps1NcNtoTHr589GP6u41OMw_TdCrulRB_SIYqV6_ql5dAPwelX4oT-t2qRewvOL30NUB7dgnjyLgxShs2TC9SmZFPboBxR4dMyqevh1Zb6MezjoYwZuLXZAY_FYKqU/s320/amc.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
2011 wasn't a very good year for me. For that matter, the whole decade basically sucked. I had lost so much and hit rock bottom with very little money, no car, no hope of being able to escape my rut, nothing left to live for, no chance of any dreams i may have had once upon a time to ever come true. Nothing in my life was right, every day was a living nightmare i just wanted to wake up from and the only source of joy or happiness left came only from my objects of fandom.<br />
<br />
I knew pretty much since the beginning of the year - since most of 2010 actually - that 2011 would be the year i finally felt my release. A decade prior as i was approaching my 30th birthday, i made a pact with myself that if there didn't seem to be any real indication that my then-already-quite-unfabulous life wasn't going to be any better, i would end it all before suffering the indignity of turning 30. Looking back, it was really only one thing that kept me from going through with it: it just so happened that the day of my 30th birthday just ended up happening to be the same weekend as the first (and to date only) official Muppet Fan Convention, MuppetFest. MuppetFest literally saved my life.<br />
<br />
...Though it turns out, it wasn't worth saving. Essentially the entire next decade would be one of tragedy after loss after crushing blow...capped off with being thrown out of my family's house for being gay along with the loss of a longtime job also due to being gay. A healthy savings account would end up depleted as expensive car repairs mounted, jobs came and went - companies closed (in one case owing employees three months of backpay). My singing ability was ruined by chronic bronchitis. I developed a theory that i was actually already dead and in Hell. Everything that could go wrong did; if any kind of slight blessing looked to be coming up, it was either a false alarm or a prelude to something worse. If i had any way of knowing what 2002-2011 held in store, there's no way i would have chosen beforehand to experience it; i would have ended it all after MuppetFest and died happy.<br />
<br />
So after ten very long torturous years, here i was now in 2011 completely beaten up by life, continually amazed at how there were maybe only about two good days out of the entire decade and how there never seemed to be any break in the storm...ten years straight of rain and curses. My 40th birthday would be at the end of the year and just like a decade earlier, i knew the time had come to admit defeat and bring my life to an end before that date. I'd done lots more research during the past decade as to methods and knew precisely what i would do when the time was right. Unlike ten years ago, i had nothing left to hope for - everything good in my life had been lost, all dreams and chances at happiness destroyed so "To Be or Not to Be" wasn't even a question; the choice was obvious. I made peace with the idea and was fully ready to finally escape the eternal torment once and for all. It was time and i was at complete acceptance of that fact.<br />
<br />
But there was one other thing that was to define the year 2011: it was The Year of the Muppet. On Thanksgiving Day, the first Muppet theatrical film in 12 years would hit theatres with the full marketing muscle and financial support of Disney behind it. The new Muppet film was to be the one we had all awaited for so long. If nothing else, i had to suffer through each day for no other reason to at least get to that point. It wasn't at all easy and there was many a time i didn't think i'd make it but all the personal hell was going to finally be worth it once that day arrived. I'd have my Happy Ending - my one day of total bliss and limitless joy before bowing out. Seeing "The Muppets" was the thing i held onto when all else was unbearable darkness.<br />
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Now before i go on, let me tell you something about being a Muppet fan in Phoenix Arizona. It's lonely. There aren't a lot of Muppet Freaks in my neck of civilization. I would constantly be in envy of places like the Northeast where so many Muppet Freaks knew each other and frequently got together for Muppet-lovin' activities. Actually, that's pretty much what it's like to be a fan of ANYTHING in Phoenix...no matter what kind of stuff i loved, i could connect with other likeminded fans online all over the world but finding anyone local would usually prove fruitless. Maybe it's the geography of the city - for one of the nation's largest cities, it's very spread out, everything's walled in and the heat keeps people indoors and away from others.<br />
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But even if people were staying inside their respective habitats in the comfort of their air conditioning, surely fans of (whatever) would go online and join the respective fan communities, right? Apparently not. Whether it be Muppets/Henson, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Shakespears Sister, One Life to Live, or any of my other major areas of fandom, i never seemed to ever find local fans of my favorite things in any of the online fan communities. So if there were local Muppet (or other) fellow fans here, they're not active online.<br />
<br />
So this was one thing in particular i was especially excited about concerning the release of "The Muppets": seeing it in a theatre with fellow fans! It would be the time where these "hidden fans" would come out of hiding and be at the same place at the same time just waiting for us all to discover each other...the debut showing of the movie would be where i'd be able to experience the excitement and joy of being surrounded by fellow Muppet Freaks - maybe i'd make a whole bunch of cool new friends! I knew immediately that i would be attending the first screening of the film here - even if i had to miss work...hopefully there would be a midnight showing so that wouldn't be an issue - my job doesn't have sick hours/vacation time and missing any time is very hard on the wallet since i can barely get by as it is with my normal hours.<br />
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I can't even count the number of times i'd go to bed after yet another hard day filled with hours of wishing-i-were-dead and just dream about what it would finally be like seeing the film...and seeing it with other fans! Given my financial status, even if another MuppetFest were to ever happen, i wouldn't be able to attend - there would be no way i could afford the ticket, the travel, or the time off work. If i was going to experience anything again resembling a Muppet fan event, the debut showing of "The Muppets" was going to be it.<br />
<br />
I got to thinking about how other Muppet Freaks all over the world were in similar situations: desperate to connect with other local fans and anxiously awaiting the chance to meet them as they went into their local theatres to see "The Muppets". I got to thinking, "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we could come up with a way for the most hardcore of the fans to recognize each other?" Maybe if one of the fans with artistic talent were to design an awesome shirt and sold them on the major fansites and/or made the design available for download to put on a shirt yourself? When someone would go in a theatre (especially if it wasn't the debut showing) and see someone else in this special shirt, they'd instantly know they were in the presence of a Major Muppet Freak and they would have to introduce themselves. <br />
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I had already closed up the original Muppet Freak and said my goodbyes at that point so i started to throw out the idea on fan forums...though it turned out some other people were also thinking heavily about Muppet t-shirts...if not necessarily for the specific purposes of Muppet Freak Identifiers. Not one, but TWO online companies held contests for Muppet T-shirt designs. I won't comment too much on The Great Muppet T Shirt Contest Explosion of 2011 since that's a whole other entry for another time, but suffice to say Muppet Freaks had a lot of great T-shirts available to choose from for movie-goin'-wearin'! I had some favorites of my own i would have loved to buy and wear ... but the whole struggling-financially-to-get-by thing got in the way and i just didn't have the chance to afford ordering any of these before the movie (still don't own one...so that should be a note to jot down in your "holiday gift shopping gift for a Muppet freak ideas" notebook) An already existing Muppet shirt in my closet would have to suffice.<br />
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Of course, confronted with the first dose of reality in the form of not being able to afford a new Muppet shirt, the concepts of "Ideal vs Reality" was starting to sink in. "Oh no - what if after all this time of holding on waiting for this precise moment, it doesn't happen? What if i can't even afford a ticket?" (Which was likely.) "What if there's not a debut showing i can get to by bus or foot close enough to me?" Panic started to set in because this was exactly the way my life has worked for the last decade...the promise of anything slightly good being ruined.<br />
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Even though i already was living very leanly and got used to such nutritional habits such as the 39 cent Del Taco and the loaf of bread and all the free condiment packages i could grab at Circle K making up my weekly diet plan, i cut back even more in the weeks leading up to the film - starving myself so i could at least be able to have a ticket! I obsessively scanned several online listings sites for information on where there would be local midnight debut screenings...hoping that the one at Metrocenter would be included since getting there and home would be no problem since it's close and in walking distance if i couldn't get a ride. Of course, given the curse my life tends to be under, day after day it still wasn't showing up and time was running out!<br />
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Of the theatres being announced, there were a few i may be able to get to on time by bus after i got off work...but no way to get back home. (Phoenix bus service is the pits.) There was no way i could even think of being able to afford a taxi. Time was running out and desperation sinking in so i started posting like mad on fan forums for any Phoenix fans who've been in lurkdom to come out and placing "Obsessed Muppet fan needs ride to debut screening" ads on Craigslist and Backpage.<br />
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For a brief moment it looked like i might have a ride with a fan from Tuscon, but that fell through. The occasional response from Craigslist would come in...and be from some illiterate creep who somehow managed to interpret needing a ride to a Muppet movie as being a sex invite. At least one response seemed legit and we started making arrangements...until all of a sudden the emails started taking on a scarier homophobic tone signalling this wasn't going to work either.<br />
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The last possible moment i could check for updates of screenings or email responses for rides came...and - big surprise - still no luck. Of course. All i ever wanted was just one day out of a freakin' DECADE where i could be happy and have a good time for just a few hours and of course it wasn't looking good. So out of time and options limited, i devised my emergency plan of action...i'd take the bus from work to the nearest theatre doing a midnight showing and wear a sign on my back saying "Need ride home (19th Ave/Cactus)" Sure, it would be very humiliating and all that would be missing would be a giant L tattooed on my forehead, but that's what it had come down to. As for my shirt, i had been thinking of wearing my Kermit head tan shirt since it was extremely similar to the one Walter wears in the movie, but at the last minute decided to go with an Electric Mayhem shirt since it was slightly cooler and more unique - i needed the strength of any possible conversation pieces to more easily get a ride home. My walkman tape player was loaded up with Muppet tracks for the bus ride! This was it - by hook or crook i was seeing the debut screening with local fans and who knew what might come out of it?!<br />
<br />
All day i was very worried and unable to concentrate at work...i was so scared i'd end up being the only one at the theatre which would be really horrible on so many levels: (a) if no one else was there, i'd have no way home (b) there really would be NO Muppet fans at all where i live (c) how horrible would that be for The Muppets - no one going to see the film?! I thought such a scenario might actually play out since the newspaper didn't have any info on the midnight showings - one would only know about them if they sought out the info online...and maybe Phoenix wasn't that much of a "checking for online movie screening info" kind of place...after all, Phoenix online Muppet fans sure weren't making their presence known after a decade and a half of being online.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, it looked like the turnout would be a good one - the people kept coming through the door and the seats were getting filled! The bulk of the attendees seemed to be late teens/early twenties - a good demographic signal of the film's opening week success! Not very many people seemed to be there on their own; it seemed like a lot of the people there were part of some large group of friends or another. Even though i'd hear the occasional conversation snatch of "I've been waiting soooo long to see this movie", i wasn't seeing very many people dressed Muppety. In fact the only person i spotted wearing any "Muppet" articles of clothing was someone wearing a SESAME STREET (Oscar) shirt.<br />
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The crowd was lively and into it even before the film started...with the place going wild when the Muppet AMC theatre etiquette promo ran! Although there were a few minor flaws with editing/story construction, the movie itself was almost everything i could want from a Muppet movie (a movie review would be a whole other article so i won't expand on that here.) It was very heartwarming to see the audience laughing along and loving it. I still didn't have a ride home lined up but it would surely come after the movie - after all this was not only a healthy sized crowd, but a crowd of MUPPET FANS - people who had the whole Henson/Muppet mentality and values. People who believed in sharing, making sure people in need were helped, valuing each and every fellow man and doing the right thing.<br />
<br />
Guess again.<br />
<br />
The walk home was five hours. Five painful hours. Five tears-wouldn't-stop-gushing hours. Even the tape full of Muppet music in my Walkman couldn't keep my spirits up as i kept flipping it over and over again to listen to the same 45 minutes per side YET AGAIN. I was very thankful that after not really eating the week beforehand that i at least had enough for a popcorn and soda for the movie because i needed some kind of food in my system to endure it (and also thankful i remembered to use the bathroom before starting the trek.)<br />
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I continued to wear my "Need ride home" sign on my back for about the first half hour up until i was starting to see how most of the traffic was turning out to be police cars, so i didn't need something else ruining the night even more.<br />
<br />
When you're forced to walk home late at night for who knows how long it will end up being, fearing for your life of being mugged and raped, having to walk over bridges when you have a fear of heights and a slight spell of dizziness when you're on one, a lot of thoughts go through your head. For at least the first hour, most of the thoughts are still with the movie; remembering the best parts, further analyzing the weaknesses and how it could have been improved. But soon that buzz wears off and the reality of the situation sinks in. All you ever wanted - all you kept holding onto each day you wanted to die was just ONE night where you could be happy and things could go right. And once again, you were robbed. Someone up there REALLY <span style="color: #4c1130;"><b><i><u>REALLY</u></i></b></span><span style="color: black;"> hates you.</span><br />
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I couldn't think of which was worse; the fact that once again i was the most pathetic loser who never should have been born, the idea that what was supposed to be the happiest night of my year...my decade...was yet another living nightmare come true and that all this time when i wanted with every fiber of my being to not live anymore i kept myself going on just to go through <i>this</i>, or the thought that not one person in a good sized crowd of what was supposed to be MUPPET FANS could be bothered to give an obviously pathetic guy who humiliated himself wearing a sign on his back a ride home...even just partway.<br />
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That last thought disturbed me the most. What kind of Muppet Fan is that? That went completely against any image i had of a Muppet Fan. Did none of these people know about Jim Henson? Did they learn nothing from the examples he set in all his works and visions? This just seemed like the worst kind of betrayal; the thought of being let down by not only Muppet Fans, but a big group of them. I kept telling myself, they COULDN'T have been real Muppet Fans. Maybe people who liked the Muppets a little bit or more likely just full-of-themselves college kids who were only just interested in the latest "It" thing moment to moment - but these certainly couldn't have been actual full-fledged MUPPET FANS. And CERTAINLY not Muppet Freaks. They wore Sesame shirts to a Classic Muppet movie for frog's sake. I'll bet not one of them could correctly name over 50% of the Muppets in the poster. (At least i did get a free poster...but it's not easy for a poster to stay in good condition when being handheld for a five hour walk home.)<br />
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I think this is what i cried at the most. Jim failed. All his teachings; all the examples he modeled - the people who should mirror his ethics and values are just as shallow and selfcentered and uncaring and unfeeling as everybody else. It just didn't compute! Muppet Fans aren't supposed to be anything like that. But apparently they were.<br />
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So not only did i fail to find or connect with any REAL local Muppet fans and discovered that i am indeed truly alone out here but i was betrayed and fed to the wolves by people merely posing as Muppet Fans. I thought back to the "I've waited so long to see this movie" comments i'd hear before the movie. Did they <i>really</i> wait months, years to see it or since they left the theatre to see the last fad film?<br />
<br />
If any of these posers were indeed really truly "Muppet Fans", it became dishearteningly clear that night that All Muppet Fans Aren't Created Equal. Some "get" everything the Muppets stood for for half a century and others just think it's cool to sing Mahna Mahna as they vote Tea Party, bully gays, and drive their gas-guzzlers (not bothering to give a fellow fan in desperate need a ride home.)<br />
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But there's other ways All Muppet Fans Aren't Created Equal. Some can love the Muppets like nothing else, absorb everything they can about them, practically eat, sleep, breathe Muppets and they still end up alone, abandoned, unloved, tossed aside to the wolves, blister upon blister on their feet unable to move another step but with no other choice but to keep going if i'm going to make it home in time to shower and change (sleep is already out of the question by now) before work - and others can hob nob in Hollywood with Muppeteers or yuk it up with a huge group of friends and have the whole Muppet Silver Platter fed to them with no worries of how much money they're spending for the rare autographed collectible or owning every teeny tiny little thing with a Muppet on it while others starve themselves just to see a movie they can't even afford a ride home from. The message was loud and clear and practically flashing from the stars above as if they were neon billboards: i was nothing but a pathetic Loser and failure as a human being and not even on a Muppet Night like this one, would that change.<br />
<br />
Finally there was a point i couldn't take it any more between the physical and mental/emotional pain. I stopped walking. Put the things i was holding on the ground. Went onto the street and just laid down waiting for something to run me over then and there. The moment i held onto came and went and it ended up being another slap in the face and there was nothing left to keep me going so why wait one more moment? Why worry about getting to work on time - i won't have any rent or bills to pay that i have to go to work for. I even had a "last meal" of sorts (movie popcorn). Not even what was supposed to be a heavenly evening could turn out to be anything other than Hellish so this had to be it. No more indignity, no more failure, no more pain, just no more!!<br />
<br />
Since i wasn't exactly timing myself i don't know exactly how long i was lieing in the street - it was definitely over a minute and probably no more than five but i eventually collected myself and figured i couldn't end it this way. Too much left to chance...and good fortune wasn't exactly a trademark of my life. I was depending too much on unplanned random elements instead of the methods i had researched and planned for years on using when the time was right. Instead of being in control, i was gambling on fate and fate hadn't proven itself to be friendly towards me since the mid 90's. Too much of a chance, i may get hit but it wouldn't be fatal, or the next vehicle to come by would be a police car or something.<br />
<br />
So i got back up, got back on the sidewalk, picked up my belongings, and continued the painful walk. My time to leave this hell would come soon enough but just not this night this way.<br />
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Flashback to ten years ago: End of MuppetFest. I had said my goodbyes to everyone i had met before retiring to my hotel room and going to sleep before taking the bus back home tomorrow. Mental breakdown. Tears started to well up and kept gushing out. I made it; i held on, i was now 30 - and MuppetFest was over and i was back to being regular failure-at-everything (except being a Muppet Fan) me again. Soaking in the bathtub deep in thought contemplating a razor blade. Not a method i had previously thought or considered but there it was. <br />
<br />
... And then i lost time...<br />
<br />
That's NEVER happened to me before or since. One moment i'm in the bathtub just thinking "this can end right now" and the next moment i'm in bed unharmed. I know it wasn't a dream - it was real - but i had no recollection or idea how i got from Point A to Point B. To this day, i still don't. But just the idea that i had some kind of blackout and had no memory of a significant amount of time just before was probably the most frightening thing that had ever happened to me.<br />
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Ten years later. Still same deathwish. Still total nervous breakdown where i almost took my life on pure impulse rather than by my longtime well-laid plans. But this time there was no blackout or lost time. Too bad in a way - that would have been a moment in time i'd like to not be able to remember.<br />
<br />
My 40th birthday wasn't too far away so my window of time left was short if i did indeed follow the plan to take my life before turning 40. I had been wrestling with the decision to maybe go a little bit beyond it and even a little into 2012 only because there was another (non Muppet) fandom thing i was holding onto that i was thinking of at least waiting to experience. The rest of the way home, in addition to the "What kind of Muppet Fans WERE these?!" thoughts dominating my head, my other main thread of thought was that however long the rest of my life would end up being, the memory of this horrible night would be linked to this movie. Every time i saw it again, anytime i heard the soundtrack, anytime i saw the poster, anytime i talked about it with other fans (real ones, online) - i'd involuntarily recall this experience. <br />
<br />
...I already have a severe allergy to Life's a Happy Song. I can't listen to it without melting down as it's a total lie. It only works within the context of a Muppet movie; any real world applications are completely false advertising...<br />
So the only way to possibly manage to counter that would be to have a new experience centered around this movie that had good memories attached to it. Hey, maybe if i managed to hold on long enough to see the dvd release of the movie, that might be the turnaround. The dvd, after all, should be even MORE awesome. There was obviously a lot that didn't survive the final cut of the film and even before the movie started filming, it was clear the Muppets were gearing up for the dvd release since they had filmed the first script read through as possible bonus material. Maybe that might be something worth holding on for and things would be just a little bit more okay again.<br />
<br />
Right?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-66066867718679951792012-03-29T23:27:00.001-07:002012-03-30T00:13:43.177-07:00"Cheeze Pleeze": Rizzo's Favorite Radio Show?Do you love the Muppets? (Why am i even asking - of COURSE you do: (a) you're reading a site called Muppet Freak and (b) who doesn't?) Do you love the Dr. Demento Show and miss being able to listen to it on the radio? Well at least the good doctor's still online but maybe you're looking for a show that plays mad music that still airs on radio stations? Or maybe you have a love of warped, crazy, cheesy music...<br />
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You need to check out "Cheeze Pleeze".<br />
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"Cheeze Pleeze" is a weekly half hour radio show that showcases the wacky, the warped, and the weird. From celebrity slip-ups to polka music, if it's strange or so-bad-it's-good, they play it. And Muppets are often a part of the proceedings.<br />
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There's been several times when Muppet/Sesame and related songs have been featured and many other episodes where Muppet references pop up in the hosts' banter.<br />
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You may want to check out their website at cheezepleeze.com to see if it's on a station in your area...and if it's not, you can still listen to the latest week's episode at the site. Hopefully you're reading this post pretty recently after i wrote it since this very week is perfect for Muppet Freaks to explore! The show opens with a couple of Muppet covers - or more specifically a cover of a Muppet song and the original recording of a song made famous by the Muppets: The Jubilee School Choir's rendition of Rainbow Connection and Piero Umiliani's Mah Na Mah Na. Plus a section of Mel Blanc tracks, Lurch from the Adams' Family and Disco Garbage! This is one cool show i always make it a point never to miss each week!<br />
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...And oh yeah, speaking of Dr. Demento, does anyone else think that it was some kind of violation of some sort of universal law that after about three months after the release of "The Muppets" no song from the soundtrack had yet received airplay on The Dr. Demento Show? Well i sure noticed and fearing the consequences of some cosmic monkey wrench in the natural order of things, i requested the good doctor to play The Muppets Barbershop Quartet's rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit ... which got played on the February 11th episode (right after Weird Al's Smells Like Nirvana). Just doin' my part for Muppet Fandom, Muppet Freaks, The Muppets themselves and the rest of the world restoring order and balance to the universe.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-77706949582235652572012-03-26T01:37:00.001-07:002012-03-26T02:18:52.980-07:00Hold on to Your Hat! HAT! HOLD!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eml3VHGsMWQnQ9JycFaeUp5RtW9A4NvTyw2-O43b6EmNp0Ug-v4AQrCeAHKLnB6lDauC3SyKcSHXJ_KnPK_leIVrvJWXD02k6K5bIuD9mfGV25Am3fCV42NbCNzZDwbcObCCjGGFNOw/s1600/hathold.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eml3VHGsMWQnQ9JycFaeUp5RtW9A4NvTyw2-O43b6EmNp0Ug-v4AQrCeAHKLnB6lDauC3SyKcSHXJ_KnPK_leIVrvJWXD02k6K5bIuD9mfGV25Am3fCV42NbCNzZDwbcObCCjGGFNOw/s320/hathold.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Well, as i've been adding the old Muppet Freak archives to this new site, i've been placing them up in the same chronological order that they originally appeared in so far. However the very next archive article due to go up really works best if it adheres to a particular date. But the good news is, that date is coming up very shortly so i'll hold off about a week before i post it - but it should be worth the wait...it's one of my favorites even if some others didn't quite "get it" the first time around. A very loving tribute to a Muppet Hero and personal inspiration to a lot of people in a very unique context.<br />
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But that doesn't mean activity here at Muppet Freak will be on hold since during that time i plan on debuting two brand new articles; one of which has the debut of "The Muppets" in theatres as a backdrop and the other centered around the film's home video release. One of these will be touching on a very important matter confronting the Muppet fan community and i'm taking a lot of care and time writing it because there's lots to say and i want to be sure it all gets said.<br />
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So all in all, even with the small interruption in the archival postings, this should be a very eventful week at Muppet Freak with some very deep content you won't want to miss. It may even make you both laugh and cry. You won't see this kind of stuff anywhere else.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"></span>The Muppets had a huge impact on my love of puppetry in general. So it probably goes without saying that i would often search out and make it a point to tune in to any other tv shows i came across featuring puppets. None were ever totally as cool as the Muppets, but there were some that came pretty close. Not to mention some that were really horribly bad. Some were well known, others tucked away...in fact some that i have fond recollections of still remain in such obscurity that to this day, i can hardly find anything about them online. Some of them were only in my local market of Cleveland Ohio area programming.<br />
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There was a show called "Mindy" (which was a spinoff of an earlier show i don't remember the name of, but there were few real differences between them) which was one of those Sunday morning shows that had some human hosts and a puppet cast (I'm fairly sure one of the main ones was an Italian named Tony Pepperoni) doing comedy bits in between playing Popeye and Warner Bros type cartoons. I barely remember a lot of details, but somehow i clearly remember my joy and feelings of watching it. I was fascinated by their sets since they had a whole bunch of them representing a whole neighborhood. There was a human character called "The Inspector" who did slapstick bits.<br />
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This later was replaced with a far inferior show that had a male and female host called "Hickory Hideout" with some squirrel puppets that lived in a tree. Cute concept but bad show. The humans looked and sounded like a human version of Wayne and Wanda. <br />
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One advantage of growing up in a small Ohio town right on the lakeshore was that back when most television stations only delivered about a dozen channels, one of those stations was CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I saw a lot of cool shows (puppet and non-puppet) that most people elsewhere wouldn't get to experience. I remember stuff like The Friendly Giant when i was really little. Around 1980 there was this show called Snelgrove Snail that had this cast of underwater creatures with a really catchy theme song (one of the things that still stick in my head) and a lead character that sounded very Jim Henson-esque. I haven't been able to find much about this show in terms of clips, photos, or episode details but i did discover that Dan Redican was among its cast. Dan did some work with the Muppets (most notably on Jim Henson Hour) and is also a member of the great comedy troupe The Frantics. Fans of the Dr. Demento Show know them especially from their classic "Boot to the Head". I got to watch Fraggle Rock even though i didn't have HBO! Best of all, their airings of The Muppet Show often included the UK Sketches. (They didn't show the whole 25.5 minute episode, but they would usually cut out a different act and leave in the UK skit)<br />
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There was a wealth of puppet-based or puppet-related shows to check out in my youth. I would like to pay tribute to my five most fondly remembered. See if YOU recognize any of these.<br />
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THE LETTER PEOPLE<br />
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Back in the 70's before schools had vcr's (and often showed film strips or movies from projectors), we would occasionally be treated to any number of made-for-schools shows broadcast weekdays on PBS. One such show that i have fond memories of was The Letter People (now this was the original 70's version. I hear there was an updated 90's version which i've not seen and from what i've heard about it, i really don't care to). The show taught phonics with a cast of characters representing the letters of the alphabet (the consonants were "Letter Boys" and the vowels were "Letter Girls"). Other puppets were included that would interact with them, most notably game show host Monty Swell who discovered the Letter People could combine their sounds and make words and used them on his "Catching Game". There was the first character introduced, the Cookie Monster-esque Mr. M (known for his "Munching Mouth"), Mr. H with his "Horrible Hair", Mr. N with his "Noisy Nose" (a trumpet like protrusion that would sound off when he heard a word starting with the N sound), and my favorites Mr. S (with his Super Socks) and Miss O (an Obstinate Opera Singer) There were even some cartoon inserts that had also been shown on Sesame Street. Although he was uncredited, it was also an early puppetry job for Muppeteer Allan Trautman. Our principal had blown up inflatable dolls of the Letter People and i was really envious of her for having these. If i ever had to stay at home from school due to illness or a snow day, it was always cool to be able to watch The Letter People at home (especially if it was a grade where we weren't watching them) There were 60 15-minute episodes in all, and in the school setting, we never got to see all 60 of them by the end of the school year. In my tape trading, i was able to acquire copies of all of them several years ago. Parts of the show were just as good as i remembered; other parts i found kind of boring while watching as an adult. But still this was an overall really cool show.<br />
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MADAME'S PLACE<br />
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If you were both a puppetry lover and a budding gay man, you loved Wayland Flowers and Madame. Frequent game and variety show guests and featured on Solid Gold for a time, this quite borderline-raunchy old lady puppet was in many ways what one could imagine Miss Piggy becoming like in her old age. (When i was in high school, i got to have my picture taken with Arizona governor Rose Mofford and i SWEAR she looked just like a human version of Madame!) She got her own show which aired late nights because of its adult humor(which made it all the more cool because you had to stay up real late to watch it). Among its cast was the then ubiquitous Judy Landers and a young Corey Feldman. The sitcom featured her crazy home life at her mansion and the talk show she hosted (which often had guest appearances from well know stars and up and coming comedians, including a largely then unknown Lay Leno). There was also one of the most catchiest theme song of all time which included lines like<br />
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When a young man looks at Madame<br />
She just THROWS herself right at 'em<br />
She's young at heart and still gettin' her kicks.<br />
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Someone, anyone - PLEASE get this show out on dvd!<br />
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</div>GREAT SPACE COASTER<br />
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This was so much fun. One of those rare kids' shows that didn't feel like a kids' show. The puppets and the humans were both engaging and fun to watch, had awesome guests and songs and also included Muppeteers Kevin Clash, Jim Martin and John Lovelady. The best part of the show was the segment with Gary Gnu and his "guh-"news broadcasts. Think Muppet Newsflash mixed with Soupy Sales and Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. If you were fortunate enough to see it, you'll never forget the time Bess Armstrong filled in for Gary Gnu and fell victim to his typical humiliations. This is another show that needs to find modern audiences and old fans via dvd! This ranks up there with Soupy Sales, The Electric Company and You Can't Do That On Television as one of the coolest non-Muppet/Henson live-action kids shows of all time.<br />
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PUPPET TREE<br />
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Of all the shows on this list, this is the one that no one else seems to have seen or remembers. It was a Christian kids show that was on one of the religious channels, but it was hardly preachy and only a small portion was even Bible/religion oriented. Most of it was just good puppety fun. It had a full-bodied green alligator, a Crazy Harry-esque character named Coma Kaze who instead of causing explosions, would run his airplane all over the place in a crazed fashion. There was even a laugh track! One musical number even had the store bought hand puppets of Oscar and Cookie Monster dancing along (so much for "Thou Shalt Not Engage In Copyright Infringement") Each episode would end with a shot of a bunch of mannequins grouped together being feather dusted by one of the little girl puppets as a voiceover declared "Puppet Tree was shot in front of a studio audience...of DUMMIES" at which point she would accidentally knock them over domino style as she crumpled her face up over this action. I don't think there's ever been a religious show this far out wild and entertaining (with or without puppets) ever. I really wish i could track down clips or information on this show...or even for that matter someone else who saw it!<br />
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HOT FUDGE SHOW<br />
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Now i've mentioned some pretty dang cool shows in this thread, but this one makes all the others look like Polka Party. Just like i had to stay up super late to watch Madame's Place, i had to get up ultra early to watch Hot Fudge on weekend mornings. But it was SO worth it! For the longest time, one could barely find anything about this show on the web (except for other people saying they watched it and it was the coolest thing ever) but over the last year, a handful of rare clips popped up on Youtube, a myspace page, and an official website. I could gush on and on about how awesome this show and its (puppet and human) cast was (actor Ron Coden was so adept at slapstick and physical comedy especially in the "Holy Moley" segments, that he came across like a human Wile E Coyote), but this one was so wicked supercool, i'll invite you to scope it out yourself. There was apparently a recent reunion special from the local Detroit station it originated from and i would be eternally grateful if anyone could manage to track down a copy for me (or any old episodes for that matter). Just like a hot fudge sundae (or any other ice cream based desert), the show was a sweet treat that there's always room for and one can never get enough of it. I miss this show so much it hurts. Hot Fudge was simply the cream of the crop.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">[Two years later and there's still NOTHING on the web about Puppet Tree or that local Mindy show that i've been able to dig up either. With the exception of Letter People, finding clips of the above shows are pretty sparse as well.]</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-14358651754517916992012-03-24T00:40:00.002-07:002012-03-24T01:34:52.744-07:00One of the World's Most Creepiest Cartoons.Reposting the last archive article about Muppet slapstick moments that tend to backfire causing a viewer to feel sorry for the characters rather than laughing at the comedy reminded me of one (non-Muppet) short that i always found really disturbing (funny, but still disturbing) - precisely because it broke some of the standard rules and was especially subversive.<br />
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The short in question is the Walter Lantz (Woody Woodpecker/Chilly Willy/Andy Panda) cartoon, "Sh-h-h-h-h-h" written and directed by Tex Avery. I remember when i'd see it as a kid, i laughed at it and found it funny, but it also left me feeling a bit uneasy and probably even triggered a nightmare or two. As a child, i couldn't quite articulate why it was so creepy - but as an adult, i can - and there's basically three reasons why it's so unnerving...<br />
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(3) The laughter. The recording of the trumpet and the laughter actually predates this 1955 cartoon by three decades: "The Okeh Laughing Record" - and the cartoon seemingly was built around it. There's a kinkiness about the laughter on its own, and then when used in the context of next-door guests, it creates a feeling of paranoia - like a party one's not invited to or more appropriately to the cartoon, neighbors plotting against you.<br />
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(2) The doctor/patient relationship. Doctors are people we seek out for help - to save us from physical harm and keep us healthy. To turn that around and to twist it to where the doctor/nurse are the cause of distress - and even laugh hysterically amongst themselves even after the patient's condition became fatal makes this comedy out-creep the scariest episodes of The Twilight Zone.<br />
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(1) Sense of Justice (or rather lack of it). This is the biggie. Slapstick comedy generally follows a rule: the person(s) that get picked on usually have it coming - it's typically established that the antagonist is some type of bully or authority figure or causes some kind of harm (or threat of it - such as a hunter like Elmer Fudd potentially causing danger to Bugs Bunny) or discomfort to the protagonist. But this cartoon reverses the standard formula: Mr. Twiddle is presumably the good guy; the innocent. He seeks out his doctor's help and follows his orders to cure his condition. From his design to his voice, everything about the character suggests meekness. He's purely a victim of circumstance and from the audience's vantage point, didn't do anything to deserve having all his efforts to quiet his neighbors to majorly backfire. If he's guilty of anything (aside from perhaps not being the world's best tipper), it's taking matters in his own hands instead of complaining to management and letting them handle the noise...but then there wouldn't be a story. The message it leaves the viewer is that we can do our best to go along and live our lives - and by random misfortune can suffer at the actions of others who seemingly enter our paths at random. This is what made me so creeped out by this cartoon as a kid and still causes me to shudder as an adult - even if it still makes me laugh. This is true Dark Humor...and Tex Avery, being a master of the animated short was probably fully aware that he was breaking the rules and trying something a bit subversive - and so this can best be seen as something original, experimental, innovative and ultimately successful...even despite the effects it may have on the audience.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-86311643813513752612012-03-23T23:57:00.000-07:002012-03-23T23:57:55.900-07:00The Three Times I Felt Horribly Sorry for a Muppet [From the Archives: 3-29-09]<span style="color: red;">[</span><span style="color: red;">The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 29, 2009]</span><br />
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Pain is a staple of comedy. A lot of comedy (especially slapstick) is built around the pain of other people. But it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes for whatever reason, what should be a comedic moment has the opposite effect and makes one feel sorry for the character on screen.<br />
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One reason this may happen is when someone is given way more than they can obviously handle. Bugs Bunny could humiliate and play tricks on Elmer Fudd non-stop but once the moment comes when Elmer actually breaks down and cries, it's time to let up. When you're watching someone continuing to get kicked when they're down, the jokes have gone too far.<br />
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Another reason might be in the execution. I could laugh endlessly at the Three Stooges bashing each other over the head with shovels. They could get away with that kind of stuff because they knew how to pull it off so it was funny. If you took away the "coconut" sound effects, the comic reactions, and added more realism where they'd bleed or cry out in anguish, it would be horrifying.<br />
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There's a lot of slapstick cartoony violence in Muppet humor. The Classic Muppets just wouldn't be themselves without characters being blown up or eaten. Back in 1958, the commercials for Wilkins Coffee almost always ended up with Wontkins being shot, stabbed, run over by a steamroller, thrown out of planes, etc.<br />
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They do this kind of stuff well - like the best slapstick comics, the Muppet performers are masters of the craft. But there were those rare moments when i was supposed to be laughing but felt like crying. When i just felt oddly horribly sorry for the character.<br />
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(1) MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND - BLACK DOG<br />
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So, it's towards the beginning of the film, and it's off to a wonderfully slapsticky start. Jennifer Saunders is there (and of course one can never go wrong with Jennifer Saunders) and there's lots of great physical comedy going on. It's all starting to climax with a gag involving a leaking barrel of gunpowder which a flame is following. The Muppets are running around in hyper fast motion. Then the big boom happens. And what do we see? Black Dog being blown through the roof letting out this anguished scream of "OWWWW!" It didn't come across as comedic at all. That scream he let out wasn't in any way funny; it truly sounded like he was in massive pain. As a viewer, it pulled me out of the moment. Maybe this was director Brian Henson's intent - to pull the viewer away from laughing and into realizing the horror of the Benbow Inn in flames and the reality of Jim Hawkins, Gonzo, and Rizzo losing a home. But that's giving him an awful lot of credit and leeway. More likely, it was just a bad choice of shot and vocal delivery.<br />
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(2) THE MUPPET SHOW - FOZZIE BEAR<br />
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It took awhile for the character of Fozzie to really gel. Which was not a good sign, since he was originally supposed to be the second main character after Kermit. Jim Henson loved the idea of a bear comedian who told bad jokes, but when the idea went from off the page on to tape, it initially wasn't working. He seemed really quite pathetic. It took a while to finetune the character and develop his other traits to make him redeemable.<br />
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Eventually the character was fleshed out and the audience was able to find him a lovable sweet character that they could root for. A viewer could want him to succeed but also laugh when he goofed up.<br />
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But there was a moment in the show's fourth season that just seemed like it was just a bit too much. It was the episode guest starring Phyllis George where the episode is turned into an awards show. Fozzie hears that the next award to be presented is Best Comedy Performance By a Bear. As the show's resident comedian and one of the few bears featured on the show, he's all set to accept the award. He's right up there by Scooter who's reading the winner, "BILLY THE BEAR!" Fozzie grabs the card from Scooter and reads it over in disbelief. Billy enters. He's one of the more realistic bear puppets that debuted in the third season that would show up in forest animal group scenes and he's dressed in a gawdy suit chuckling and hamming it up for the cameras as he grabs his prize.<br />
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In the meantime, Fozzie is walking slowly off stage totally deflated. As is typical, we can't see his feet but it's easy to imagine them shuffling. His balloon is totally burst. But up comes Billy who bumps into him and makes a few jokes at his expense. One can just imagine Fozzie just wanting to get off this stage and be by himself but this other bear is badgering him. Then to show "no hard feelings" he offers Fozzie a cigar...well not exactly offers - he forcefully shoves it in his mouth as Fozzie's protesting "No thank you, I don't..." Of course it turns out to be an exploding cigar. Then as if all that wasn't enough, Billy finishes things off by smashing a pie in Fozzie's face.<br />
<br />
I watched this and i really felt like crying for him. This was one of those examples of just continuing to kick someone when they're down that i mentioned earlier. Simply overkill. Fozzie is left there blown up, pied face, blindsided by what just happened after already being completely publicly shown up as the show fades to black into commercial. My heart just bled.<br />
<br />
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Now let me take a moment to say, not only was this unusual for me to not laugh at Muppet slapstick, but also for me to find a pie in the face gag really unfunny. I'm as big a fan there is of pie in the face humor. I've always found pie throwing funny to the point where i'll tune into a show i might not normally otherwise watch if i know a pie fight's going to be included. There's a reason the pie has become the very symbol of comedy - it hardly ever fails. It's a way a character can strike another without it being violent or painful. It's almost near impossible to keep a straight face when watching it happen. Nothing says "slapstick humor" more than a good pie splat. I've even engaged in a few pie fights myself with friends. So i really can't stress how hard it is to present me with a pie joke that makes me want to cry instead of smile.<br />
<br />
In fact to digress just a moment further, there's only one other time i can even think of where i was really unnerved by a pie in the face joke...and it wasn't a cream pie but rather a pizza pie. There was an episode of Diff'rent Strokes where Willis' girlfriend is mad at him, and as she's leaving his place, there's a pizza delivery guy at the door. She takes the pizza and lets him have it in the face. Now because it's the magic of television, it's all done in comedic fun. There's the actor holding his pose for the laugh track to die down. But i'm sitting in front of my screen not laughing, but rather picking my jaw up off the floor since all i can think was that if that was real life, that (freshly delivered) pizza would have been hot and he would have most likely been badly burned. I just couldn't suspend disbelief enough to find it anything other than horrifying and couldn't believe that no one else in that studio audience felt the same way. Now of course since that was a pizza and not really a pie in the traditional sense, that means that somehow the Muppets of all people are the only comedy troupe that so far has ruined a pie gag for me. Dang, that just seems so wrong!<br />
<br />
(3) CHRISTMAS EVE ON SESAME STREET - BERT<br />
<br />
I always loved when Ernie would play jokes on Bert. It was because of this that Ernie was one of my favorite characters.<br />
<br />
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street began with a really great ice skating sequence featuring the human cast in the roller rink with Ice Capades skaters in full bodied Muppet costumes. There had previously been quite a few Sesame segments showing these special roller skating Muppets. And if i'm not mistaken, these Ice Capades costumes were pretty much the first attempt at taking any of the hand puppet characters and representing them as costumed full-bodied versions. They were actually very well done even if they were never going to fool anyone into thinking they weren't people in suits. As a kid, i was more turned off that their mouths didn't move when they spoke more than the actual look of the costumes.<br />
<br />
At any rate, it's a great opening. Lots of fun and even some sweetness as a little girl helps Big Bird to skate. Then we get to some wonderfully comic prankster Ernie fun. He's enlisted some friends to help him carry out his latest joke. As the Count declares "Here comes Bert", Bert chases Ernie and his friends around the rink. The gag is that Ernie's friends are pushing him around the rink as Ernie is supposedly sitting on top of the edge of a barrel. Ernie's actually safely fully inside the barrel with a pair of fake legs hanging over the barrel's edge. It's a funny idea and set-up.<br />
<br />
But here's the thing. Bert is running (skating really) all over the place after Ernie yelling out "Ernie, you're going to get hurt! That's dangerous! You're going to get hurt! You're going to get HURT!"<br />
<br />
Bert eventually ends up losing control of his skating and slides off screen as Ernie reveals his fake legs and lets out his Ernie laugh. If the scene ended there, it would have been great. But then the camera cuts to Bert crashed against the wall entangled in the Christmas wreath decorations. Ernie asks "Hey, Bert, are you okay?" to which Bert just groans.<br />
<br />
Watching as a kid and even now as an adult, i just find that scene horrible. Bert keeps making a big deal about how Ernie is going to end up getting hurt. He was very worried about Ernie's safety. However he's the one who ends up crashing into a wall. Now given how Bert was repeating over and over about how Ernie would get HURT and then to see Bert end up not only in a crash landing but also unable and/or unwilling to respond when Ernie was asking if he was okay, the seemingly obvious conclusion was that Bert was indeed hurt himself and probably quite badly.<br />
<br />
During this sequence, we also see a gag where the Muppets play Crack the Whip which ends up with Oscar (skating in his can with his feet sticking out the bottom) ending up flying out of the rink, down stairs and through a wall. But this sequence is directed in such a comedic way, that it's funny. You don't worry about Oscar being harmed in any way even though he was probably put through a worse ordeal than Bert (though protected by his trash can). But Bert's reaction to his crash was just a helpless groan not giving Ernie any reassurance that he was okay and "not hurt". Bert ended up coming across as not only in physical pain but also traumatized. Just wrong on so many levels. And all they had to do was cut the whole routine a shot short and it would have been one of many classic Ernie and Bert moments, not the stuff that nightmares were made of.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">[I don't really have anything new to add except that it's fun to talk in red. I should do that more often. Actually reposting this article did remind me of something else and it will be the subject of my next new post.]</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-25683496587705645872012-03-23T00:34:00.000-07:002012-03-23T00:34:41.209-07:00The Two Worst Things to Ever Happen to the Muppets [From the Archives: 3-28-09]<span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 28, 2009.]</span><br />
<br />
...and no, "being bought by Disney" is not one of them. Though Disney is not without its faults and parts of it can be downright Eeeevil, i do have a lot of admiration for current Muppets Studio head Lylle Breier and how she's running things. If there's only one bitchslap i would give Disney, it would be their refusal to allow Kermit to appear in the video releases of Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas and The Christmas Toy. That's just the Major Corporate Greed that has become synonymous with the name "Disney" at play. But otherwise i'd consider this one of the most exciting times to be a Muppet fan. You can be sure i'll explore Disney's ownership of the Muppets more in depth in the future.<br />
<br />
So what were the two worst things to happen to the Muppets? Both of them were "good ideas at the time" and not that bad on either of their own merits. But both of them set in motion a trend that has haunted the Muppets to this day.<br />
<br />
The first big thing to have cursed the Muppets was "Muppet Babies". Like i said, not a bad idea at the time. The genesis of Muppet Babies was as a dream sequence in the film The Muppets Take Manhattan. In fact their musical number, "I'm Gonna Always Love You" was one of the highlights of the movie. It took very little time to realize this was a marketing dream with a Saturday morning cartoon series airing soon afterwards.<br />
<br />
As the show itself goes, i don't hate Muppet Babies. Far from it. It was a good show. Funny, original, and all the great stuff one typically associates with Henson. And i always loved every single time Baby Animal was on screen...i know it's weird to talk about an animated character's "acting" but he had this screen presence and energy that always kept my eyes drawn to him. This show was lots of good fun and one of the better cartoon shows to come out of the 80's.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPzceJJlpgwVVpd37QxvTLHa0KCLO4vJwSwp-leVHIuy4sWRv6ZNFMnx2hVxQ4X7BB4raRgCPES0ZjZs4tmb0t8ey7X8yIvXO0HVGh5zYXns2bSKSNLB1J7sK_cq19uOrD0TijbY8xg8/s1600/animal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPzceJJlpgwVVpd37QxvTLHa0KCLO4vJwSwp-leVHIuy4sWRv6ZNFMnx2hVxQ4X7BB4raRgCPES0ZjZs4tmb0t8ey7X8yIvXO0HVGh5zYXns2bSKSNLB1J7sK_cq19uOrD0TijbY8xg8/s1600/animal.png" /></a></div><br />
<br />
But like Jim Henson once asked Sesame Street creator Joan Ganz Cooney in a huge funk, "Why did you have to become so successful?"<br />
<br />
It was what Jim fought against early in his career. The Muppets were always aimed more towards adults. When the Muppets became overnight household names due to their work on Sesame Street, Henson found himself facing his worst nightmare; being labeled by the entertainment industry and general public as "kiddie entertainment" The path from Sesame Street to The Muppet Show was a long uphill battle.<br />
<br />
Though it never totally reversed the "Sesame Curse", The Muppet Show and the Classic Muppets' success helped Jim get his characters the adult acclaim he wanted. The Muppets had that respect; the characters were cool cultural icons.<br />
<br />
Those darn Babies undid all that and put them back to square one.<br />
<br />
There were three reasons that happened: (1) at a time when the kids who grew up on the Muppet Show were getting older, the Muppet projects Henson was working on were skewing younger. Fraggle Rock, though far more sophisticated than most television for any audience, was at its heart (and marketing) a "kids show". The Classic Muppet Show characters were basically making once-a-year appearances in tv specials. Then came the Babies. The original Muppet Show fans were growing up and the Muppets were leaving them behind going in the opposite direction. (2) People had finally come to recognize the difference between the "for kids" Sesame Muppets and the "all ages" Classic Muppets (as the Muppet Show cast would come to be known as). Muppet Babies took the cast that was associated with adults and redefined them as kiddie fare. Just look at the title: "Muppet BABIES" (ie "Muppet" = "Babies" or "For Babies") Kids on the schoolyard may have known how cool the show was and watched it without admitting it to their friends but telling your friends you liked watching "the babies show" was to risk your coolness level. (3) It became too successful. The Muppet Show ran five seasons. Muppet Babies lasted eight. In between 1983's "Muppets Take Manhattan" and 1989's "Jim Henson Hour", the Babies had the task of representing the Muppets to the public at large save for those once-a-year primetime specials. A whole bloody generation grew up thinking of the Muppets as infant cartoon characters and not the edgy cool puppet characters they really were.<br />
<br />
The Muppets have never totally recovered. You know all the talk over the last two decades of "reviving the Muppet franchise"? It was those blasted babies that caused them to need to be "revised". I normally love Muppet monsters but the Babies were its own kind of "Muppet Monster" that grew too large and ate its own.<br />
<br />
Yes, the show itself was good (and probably better than people who hadn't seen it in awhile remember) and it helped bring in money to the Henson Company and keep it afloat, but it was something that might have ultimately done more harm than good.<br />
<br />
So what else could possibly be just as bad as the Babies? What else could cause the Muppets to experience such a decline in quality and overall "Muppetness"?<br />
<br />
The posers!<br />
<br />
Yep, the poser Muppets. Some of you have no idea what that means and those that do probably wonder why i would make such a claim. Read on.<br />
<br />
Poser Muppets are full-bodied (ie they have legs!) stuffed dolls of the Muppets used for photo sessions. As Muppet merchansiding was everywhere in the Muppet Show days with countless photos taken of the puppets and more desire to show them head to toe with feet, the idea to make Poser Muppets made sense. Especially after the success of the Miss Piggy calendars and the 1983 debut of Muppet Magazine which would require the Muppets to be photographed heavily each quarterly issue.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlPEmcBcv4qLJ0T3iNPBwwqgvKRp7BnDTThX44M6vruN4dzQeaft7Okltk3_eOq1Nfv4uZxpBxB7cM3oWc18QPOdrqH2lGUQqT9O97pC20Ip-aMRdS8FADlmxqGL0-bIyQvm1HXzilb54/s1600/Muppet_magazine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlPEmcBcv4qLJ0T3iNPBwwqgvKRp7BnDTThX44M6vruN4dzQeaft7Okltk3_eOq1Nfv4uZxpBxB7cM3oWc18QPOdrqH2lGUQqT9O97pC20Ip-aMRdS8FADlmxqGL0-bIyQvm1HXzilb54/s320/Muppet_magazine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">[Poser Kermit (aka "Flathead" had this same expression</span></span> <span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">in every single photo. Ouch.]</span></span><br />
<br />
Like the Babies, this was a good idea at the time. Looking back one could still say they were a good idea and essential to the growth of the brand especially in terms of merchandising. But also like the Babies, they were a poor substitute for the genuine article!<br />
<br />
You see, one of the things that made the Muppets special was that they were designed for the close-up and intimacy of the tv screen. Part of what's considered Jim Henson's genius in their creation was not just his recognition that the borders of the tv set could serve as their stage rather than shoot a camera at a puppet stage, but they were designed to be flexible and have expressions come to life when put on a skilled puppeteer's hand. What makes Kermit such a classic character is that his own design is built around the shape of Henson's hand.<br />
<br />
Such intricate movements and positions a puppeter makes in regards to camera angle and hand placement can make a Muppet come to life and go from happy to sad to crazed to ravenous and all the complicated emotions that an actor can play often with shades of several co-existing. You just can't get that out of a stuffed poser. They've done a lot of great stuff with them, but whenever a photo is taken with them, there's just this soullessness, this flatness. Of course this is made all the worse when you take Kermit and design his poser to be more two-dimensional friendly, de-emphasizing the snout that mimics the shape of a hand and flattening it to look more simple head-on. It doesn't improve on the original. Muppet fans have taken to calling Poser Kermit "Flathead".<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VTi-Fq_QbdW17lr1YItbMhvY1FLnFMozhELGY9BZ0BQqvEmUMz92VCg1EnmX88bAQ0SViWVwV7ACi1JiMygt278rwhX5vhNrYK7V1Gn6Q91gk_RQuj-RY_Z7TohwPdVV5B2qofdUVY8/s1600/goodk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VTi-Fq_QbdW17lr1YItbMhvY1FLnFMozhELGY9BZ0BQqvEmUMz92VCg1EnmX88bAQ0SViWVwV7ACi1JiMygt278rwhX5vhNrYK7V1Gn6Q91gk_RQuj-RY_Z7TohwPdVV5B2qofdUVY8/s1600/goodk.jpg" /></a></div> <span style="color: #93c47d;">[Which looks better: just one of this...]</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8bRr9ar9LV_NrBRd6YtI3znU7yMK1QADkqEyOiw9-YAysRjggR73e9uFHCjpqRfYhwrMDkCIFlHlmLUFGg-kc3RyDcEguiONiRTcx5w2i91grQioEx8Wtt6PrEGHqkDzcgvEz7Rrtjk/s1600/badk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8bRr9ar9LV_NrBRd6YtI3znU7yMK1QADkqEyOiw9-YAysRjggR73e9uFHCjpqRfYhwrMDkCIFlHlmLUFGg-kc3RyDcEguiONiRTcx5w2i91grQioEx8Wtt6PrEGHqkDzcgvEz7Rrtjk/s1600/badk.jpg" /></a></div> <span style="color: #93c47d;">[...compared to ANY of these?]</span><br />
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Can you blame them? Not only should Kermit's real head shape not be so artificially round, but for a puppet who was created to be so flexible in expression shaped by the hand inside, a poser is doomed to fail. I've never seen a Kermit photo done with a Poser that i've liked. Not one. If you're a dedicated Muppet fan and have a copy of the book "Jim Henson: The Works" on your bookshelf or waiting for you anytime you want it at your library, take a look at the cover photos and pictures of Kermit "breaking through the page" displayed on the table of contents pages. Those were done with an actual Kermit PUPPET, one of the rare times they used the puppet itself for a photo session probably because they knew they couldn't get the various expressions needed in that spread from a poser.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">[Which one looks more "Muppety" to you?]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span><br />
Now the posers are not in themselves bad. They allow the Muppets to do things in a medium (still photography) that might be harder to do otherwise. But the company has come to depend on them almost solely for photo shoots instead of as an enhancement. Still photos with actual puppets are an endangered species. This is a crying shame. The posers should be used sparingly, not as the "go to" guys for photo shoots. They look bad. They're like that third face lift a celebrity gets. They think its working wonders and saving their reputation, but they're just being laughed at and felt sorry for behind their backs.<br />
<br />
Now what could be worse than over-reliance on Posers? How about using the same handful of photos over and over AND OVER AND OVER again in merchandise? For the last decade, we've seen the exact same photos of the Muppets on merchandise. There's about ten (if even that) pictures of Kermit and Piggy always used and characters like Fozzie and Gonzo are lucky if they have more than five. Floyd and Rowlf have at most two! Disney is guilty of this, but this was a problem with Muppet products before the Disney sale. Heck, the Muppet flathead poser faces have even been SUPERIMPOSED over faces of actual Muppet photo stills such as in the case of the Rocky Mountain Holiday dvd cover and the infamous group shot of the Muppet cast from 1979 originally done to promote The Muppet Movie which almost always now has (what fans have dubbed "Floating Piggy" due to its poor photoshopping placement) a poser Piggy head on the real Miss Piggy's body.<br />
<br />
These photos just shout "INFERIORITY" whenever i see them. The concept has been abused. Disney, I implore you to lock the posers in a closet for a few years and bulk up the supply of photos taken with the real Muppet puppets. Take LOTS of them. For every piece of merchandise that comes out with a "peeking over gaudy sunglasses" Piggy, "Home Alone" posed Fozzie, "kissing fingers" Swedish Chef or group shot of Muppets waving to camera that debuted at MuppetFest, you should be forced to scream "WARNER BROTHERS RULE!" at the top of your lungs through megaphones in the nation's busiest streets.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R7pLrVqjbl_mz0c7QL7ocJ4na2Mvs5Qis2QYLnRPb-LlBwfif95iQHc5zuiAS6e8BTQAyQvT2N41QH-qAmugrpfnTt1XBVQ0nXwrspAnkg_gzW1snWz1Ahf8DOf9_dUBRjZ7EqOiyRE/s1600/ouch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R7pLrVqjbl_mz0c7QL7ocJ4na2Mvs5Qis2QYLnRPb-LlBwfif95iQHc5zuiAS6e8BTQAyQvT2N41QH-qAmugrpfnTt1XBVQ0nXwrspAnkg_gzW1snWz1Ahf8DOf9_dUBRjZ7EqOiyRE/s1600/ouch.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvrqrliRjawY9CUivBT4-GZUNdUgG2RmpHH3xfDpsFEMAf8FvOXmyc07d388v_yImX4_Sz-14lK3ufazAPhFPLaWeEl-0Sv9UGp6F8CFtIOrnPpZbcHpBMpAl2Sai7mS6_YRX9SMqDiM/s1600/yikes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvrqrliRjawY9CUivBT4-GZUNdUgG2RmpHH3xfDpsFEMAf8FvOXmyc07d388v_yImX4_Sz-14lK3ufazAPhFPLaWeEl-0Sv9UGp6F8CFtIOrnPpZbcHpBMpAl2Sai7mS6_YRX9SMqDiM/s1600/yikes.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: #351c75;">[AAAGGHHH! Make it STOP! MAKE IT STO-OPP! I promise to eat my veggies! Just no more Muppet poser posters!]</span><br />
<br />
And for the record, pasting a bunch of those same photos used everywhere else into a new "group shot" like the inside audience chairs photo in The Muppet Show Season Three Box Set does NOT count as a "New" photo. Stunts like that should merit a "I Love Pixar" tattoo on your forehead.<br />
<br />
Right now Disney is banking on a Jason Segel penned movie literally titled "The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time" to reignite the brand (that WHO ruined and caused it to need reignition? Say it with me: "THE BABIES!") How about promoting it with the Greatest Muppet Photos of ...at least the last two decades, if not all time by photographing the puppets for a change?<br />
<br />
Wire hangers are yesterday's battle. From henceforth, NO MORE FLOATING OR FLATHEADS!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">[Well...Muppet Studios did get only slightly marginally better at building and photographing posers to promote "The Muppets" - but they're still an eyesore. They really need to stop the dependence on posers or at least severely limit the frequency of which they're used.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">...and turns out we now have a THIRD Worst Thing to Ever Happen to the Muppets...but we'll discuss that in a few days. You've been scared enough for one day.] </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-53426820755556162012012-03-22T23:23:00.001-07:002012-03-22T23:31:03.173-07:00We're now officially open - Welcome! [From the Archives: 3-28-09]<span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 28, 2009;]</span><br />
<br />
I wanted to try this out for a week or two before i officially announced this blog anywhere. That way new visitors would have a fair amount of content to check out on their first looksee.<br />
<br />
So i've put out my first official announcements about this new blog, so welcome to everyone checking it out. Please read the introductions (at the bottom of the page) to get a sense of what this is all about and where it's coming from.<br />
<br />
This won't be everyone's cup of tea, i don't see this being the ultimate MUST-READ Muppet site (as you'll see it will most likely be only 75-85% Muppet related), but hopefully the people that enjoy this kind of thing will find it worthwhile and bookmark it.<br />
<br />
Updates will be subject to my schedule, but expect new posts between one to three days on average.<br />
<br />
And if you're as big a Muppet Freak as me, send me a note saying hi!<br />
<br />
I already have a fairly long list of subjects i plan to cover, but i'm always happy to hear readers' suggestions of what they'd like me to write about.<span style="color: red;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">[Okay, this post is pretty much meaningless now...obviously when i originally started, i wanted to test things out a little before whistling everyone over...but i wanted to have all the archives available so even an inconsequential post like this still gets reposted. Hey, what can i say? I like sticking up for the little guy!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">But since this blog is now "reopen" for business, if you like what you see and know other Muppet Freaks who would enjoy this, then spread the word. This is a more "underground" under-the-radar Muppet fansite that tends to get readers via word of mouth as opposed to big announcements/endorsements. Let's see how long we can keep this "cool kids only" ;)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Heck, for that matter, howz about we start a betting pool as to how long it takes Walter to find us! ]</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-65720745569332417722012-03-22T02:27:00.002-07:002012-03-22T03:08:13.741-07:00The COOLEST Sesame Album EVER (and It's All About Naked Bert) [From the Archives: 3-27-09]<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr><td><span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 27, 2009]</span></td> <td align="right"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2"><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">All right, let's start off with a disclaimer:<br />
<br />
I really didn't plan it this way. I knew i wanted to do a tribute article to this album and i figured if i was going to declare something the Coolest Sesame Street Album Ever, it was only natural to do a list of the Coolest Sesame Street Songs Ever. I talked in that post about how surprisingly easy it was to pick the top five and where they ranked.<br />
<br />
It was only after i made my list that i started looking up some additional information about the songs so i could include them in my writeup. I was totally surprised that the top four were written/co-written by Sam Pottle. Well guess what? Pottle also wrote or arranged the vast majority of the songs on the album i'm about to discuss. After doing these articles, i have a whole new level of respect for Sam. He passed away far too soon in 1978 and who knows how many many more great songs the Muppetverse would have had if he had been with us longer?<br />
<br />
Looking at his Muppet Wiki page was basically like looking at a list of Sesame Street's All Time Classics such as:<br />
<br />
*Bus Stop <br />
*City-Country Song </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Different People, Different Ways <br />
*Fur <br />
*Frazzle </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year) <br />
*Numerical Correspondence Song<br />
*One Way </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Pockets (this was not a Muppet song, but it was still sang by Marilyn Sokol and just as much of a Sesame Classic)</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Sign, You're a Friend of Mine </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Swamp Mushy Muddy </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">What's the Name of That Song? </div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Women Can Be <br />
<br />
...Those songs that have stars next to them? They're ones i had considered for inclusion on my Coolest List. One Way was literally Choice #6. Lest you think that he was the most perfect Muppet Songwriter Ever, i'll point out that he did also write I Get a Nice Feeling which was one of those way too sweet and sappy songs that bored me silly when Bob would sing them and cause me to go hide in the coat closet until it was over.<br />
<br />
But enough with the traumatic childhood memories - now let's pay tribute to the COOLEST Sesame Street Album EVER.<br />
<br />
The Coolest Sesame Street Album Ever is of course the one all about Bert not wanting to expose his private parts to a large group of friends. Seriously.<br />
<br />
Now that's not WHY it's the all-time coolest, but it certainly doesn't hurt!<br />
<br />
When Sesame Street's at its best, it includes multilayered humor and entertainment value that appeals to the adults watching the show along with their children. That's how the show was envisioned, it was never meant to be Barney-esque where the adults gag.<br />
<br />
"BERT & ERNIE SING-ALONG" is one of those Sesame projects that you loved as a child and loved even more when you heard it as an adult. This gets frequent play in my car stereo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Z6AqWwryodEoEpibvnHy3VFnjmrqO-kZKuduRquCParCdv05YfkN1lQjCrZIWHf6oMvOaX0eCWqJHa5rBI2bLh1EAGz5YqZiwFHcnOwdS0OhgK3n_MH-qsczSvxnrmMfs3iyw1G99p8/s1600/300px-BertErnieSingAlong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Z6AqWwryodEoEpibvnHy3VFnjmrqO-kZKuduRquCParCdv05YfkN1lQjCrZIWHf6oMvOaX0eCWqJHa5rBI2bLh1EAGz5YqZiwFHcnOwdS0OhgK3n_MH-qsczSvxnrmMfs3iyw1G99p8/s1600/300px-BertErnieSingAlong.jpg" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"> A lot of the earliest Sesame Street albums were simply collections of songs from the show. They might have sometimes been rerecordings instead of taken directly from the episodes, but they all had that anthology tone. There had been a few exceptions - 1972's Havin' Fun With Ernie and Bert was the first one to really break from that format. The album had a narrative theme of Bert and Ernie having a play along with all their friends and the "kids at home" who were encouraged to grab household items to do things with the Muppets. The songs were just about all new and had spoken bits tying them together between them. There was also The Muppet Alphabet Album which had songs representing all the letters of the alphabet. Most of which were written for the album and later filmed as Muppet songs/sketches for the show instead of the other way around.<br />
<br />
But mostly, the original Sesame Street Albums had the "best of the show" compilation feeling, many of which focusing on a specific character like "Bert's Blockbusters" or "Grover Sings the Blues". In 1975 Bert & Ernie Sing Along was the first album that had come out in awhile that went back to the Havin' Fun With Ernie & Bert format where the songs were all recorded for the album and tied together by a story in between the songs. Even the credits on the back cover marked a different layout/format than the ones that had come before.<br />
<br />
And the story that ties the album together is all about Naked Bert. You see, Bert is having a nice pleasant moment alone in his bath (which was a nice reversal since Ernie and his Rubber Duckie had always been the one who was associated with bath-taking.) He's enjoying his bath so much that he even starts singing "Yankee Doodle" (insert your own joke here). Ernie, the master of mixing baths and production numbers together soon enters saying he heard Bert singing and thought he'd join him in a sing-along - since everyone sounds better in the bathroom, after all! Bert of course, protests but nonetheless Ernie pushes the piano into the bathroom!<br />
<br />
This gets the album started with one of those classic Ernie and Bert songs. You know how in the Sesame Street-homage-musical, Avenue Q where that's that great song between Nicky and Rod that pays tribute to the standard Ernie and Bert song? Well "I Refuse to Sing Along" is EXACTLY the type of song they were riffing on! Ernie has his verse about how great something is, Bert has his own verse with a different melody about the opposite point of view and the two end up singing their parts together - all with little asides and spoken dialogue between the lyrics:<br />
<br />
Bert (singing): I refuse to sing along, I WON'T<br />
So please don't ask me if I want to 'cause I DON'T<br />
Although for you I would do almost anything...<br />
Ernie (spoken): REALLY?<br />
Bert (singing): ...Along is one way which I do not want to sing!<br />
<br />
As soon as the song ends, it turns out that Ernie's sing-along was not just going to be a private party.<br />
<br />
Ernie (hearing a knock): Someone's at the door.<br />
Bert: Well go see who it is and lock yourself out!<br />
ERNIE: IT'S OPEN!<br />
Bert: Wait a minute - what are you doing?<br />
<br />
Turns out that in addition to dragging the piano in the bathroom to sing along with Bert, he's also called all his friends for a mass group sing-along where the acoustics are best. The human cast members are the first to arrive. David arrives first and establishes that Bert has lots of soap bubbles to keep his private parts from being exposed to everyone in the room "Hey look at the SUDS - how are the suds?" Bob comes in as does Luis and Gordon remarking on the sound quality of the room - and the fact that Bert's taking a bath at the same time is just atmospheric.</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/vi1OLZcMc6A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Now of course, the album is never explicit about Bert's naked humiliation. This was a kids album after all. But a lot is implied and it's all there for the grown ups to laugh at while it's all going over the kids' heads. To the kids listening at home, Bert keeps screaming throughout the entire record for someone to get him a towel because he no longer wishes to be wet. The adults know that this is poppycock - Bert could just get out and air dry soon enough. He wants the towel to wrap around his waist so he doesn't end up completely exposed in all his glory to practically everyone he knows! The moment "the girls", Maria and Susan enter the room Bert screams out "ERNIE! MORE BUBBLE BATH!"<br />
<br />
Now one of the great things about the album is that it's just pure fun, unspoiled by the kind of filtered-through-child-psychologists-and-educators watered down killjoy that later Sesame would become. In 1975, the adults were totally along with Ernie - having fun and going along with this goofy idea, not ever even giving much thought to the discomfort Bert is in. There's no preachy moralizing moment of "Hey, Ernie, don't you think we might be hurting Bert's feelings and this may not be a good idea?" Nope - everyone's there for the entire record.<br />
<br />
So most of the human cast is there with Ernie and Bert and they start with sing-along standards like "Old McDonald" and "I've Been Working on the Railroad". What's really great is all throughout the album you hear this incredible chemistry between the cast. Sesame had been on the air for a good six years by now and the way that both the human and Muppet cast work together as a whole is just magic. That's really one of the big reasons why this record is so freakin' cool! All throughout it's just Golden Age Sesame at its peak.<br />
<br />
For about the first half of the album, someone(s) new enters the bathroom between each song. Big Bird enters with his bells. The Count enters fascinated with counting bathroom tiles and the people in the room which also includes "one big bird and one...one shivering person in the bathtub".<br />
<br />
The cast quickly gets Count to sing a song before he puts a...um...damper on things. Unfortunately, his song "Bats In My Belfry" is basically a Transyvanian version of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall"...that counts UPWARDS meaning it could literally go on without end. Once it dawns on everyone where the song is headed, David suggests to the others that they put the Count in the shower, which they do.<br />
<br />
This part is hilarious but also kinda strange. Now i don't know about the design of New York (or even general) American bathrooms in one-bedroom apartments in the 1970's but it always struck me odd that they would have had a shower area separate from the bathtub to put the Count in. Or that there would have already been enough water in there for the sound effect "SPLASH" that occurs when they do instead of a shower nozzle turning on with a whoosh...but it's funny so it works.<br />
<br />
Next to enter are the Monsters - Cookie, Grover and Herry...who all come riding into the bathroom on Herry's motorcycle with instruments in the sidecar!<br />
<br />
Oscar makes an appearance to complain about the noise but he exits pretty quickly when he realizes everyone's still going to go about having fun.<br />
<br />
Once Oscar leaves, Susan sings:<br />
<br />
Don't shout Grouchy Oscar, don't shout<br />
That's not what our singing's about<br />
So if you can't take<br />
The noise that we make<br />
Go back to your trash can and pout<br />
<br />
which kicks off "The Limerick Song", one of the funniest tracks on the album with various people contributing a verse.<br />
<br />
Ernie: You all know my good buddy Be-ert<br />
Bert (spoken:) Oh no...<br />
Ernie: Whose feelings are easily hu-urt<br />
When our friends all play dress-up<br />
Old Bert has to fess up<br />
Bert (singing:) Yeah - I'm always the one in the skirt - AND I DON'T LIKE IT<br />
<br />
Bert even joins the sing-along for the first time, but for his own reasons...<br />
<br />
There once was a man named Mcdowell<br />
Who planted a tree with a trowel<br />
Then he got in the shower<br />
Where he stayed for an hour<br />
And said...SOMEBODY GET ME A TOWEL!!!<br />
<br />
And the cast just laughs it off as good fun and all sing the jolly good time chorus oblivious to Bert's suffering although by now he's yelling in the background for his towel..."Grab some pants? How about a washcloth? Go down to Hooper's Store and get an apron - anything! I'm cold! I don't want to be in the tub!"</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/fwYtCoCgNU0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"> It's several more songs before anyone else enters but in the meantime Grover leads everyone in "On Top Of Old Smokey" though he doesn't really know the words himself. Instead of singing some well-known variation like "On Top Of Spaghetti", Grover's version was written by Jim Henson himself (he wrote new words to a few of the tracks on the album) and largely details the things he lost on his trip. The words along with Frank Oz's delivery are all so wonderfully Grover-esque, ending with him finding his mommy with all of his stuff. There's also one of the best versions of "What's the Name of That Song" ever.<br />
<br />
Eventually Mr Hooper comes in saying he got an order for three quarts of ice cream.<br />
(Of course Ernie wants Bert to pay for it despite his current lack of pants)<br />
<br />
Mr. Hooper: Ah, don't worry about it Bert, you can pay me later.<br />
Bert: I just want to get up!<br />
<br />
This prompts the cast to sing the Sesame standard Everyone Loves Ice Cream, which they conclude with a rousing "We love you, Mr. Hooper!"<br />
<br />
Now at this point one of the most interesting things happen. Up til now, every single character that joins in has a big entrance scene. But when everyone starts singing "Everyone Likes Ice Cream", we hear Prairie Dawn singing along with the cast. She's just there all of a sudden, we never heard any reference to her entering (I always pictured her silently coming in with Hooper helping carry the ice cream).<br />
<br />
I'm thinking that the creative staff knew they were skating a thin line with the rather risque topic of the album. Somehow they could get away with Susan and Maria joining in as long as Bert got that "more bubble bath!" But since Prairie was a "sweet little girl" character, they just wanted to sneak her in there and not make any big deal about her entrance. I'm glad they included her though; i mentioned this album totally celebrates the whole cast's synergy and leaving Fran Brill out just wouldn't have been right.<br />
<br />
Ernie eventually gets Hooper to admit that along with the ice cream, he brought some cookies which immediately gets Cookie Monster's attention. Rather than take the direct approach, he asks (quasi demands): "Hey, Ernie, me play piano okay?"<br />
<br />
Ernie: "I didn't know you could play the piano, Cookie Monster."<br />
Cookie; "Oh SURE..."<br />
<br />
and away he starts POUNDING on the keys and belting out "C Is For Cookie"...turns out he really can't play well at all - it's totally off key and in a very uh...deMONSTERative style. It is so absolutely hilarious to listen to. But what's really amazing is that despite the off-key piano, everyone sings the song on key, not letting the piano drag them down. As a singer, i can tell you that's not easy to do! One person in a group singing flat can easily quickly bring everyone else off track. Even though i wouldn't be surprised if the vocals and the piano were recorded separately, i'm nonetheless very impressed. Of course, Cookie gulps all the cookies down by song's end.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/XEETAoAOMgs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Finally by the end of the album right after a reprise of "What's the Name of That Song?" (Big Bird: "Maybe it's 'The Bluebird of Happiness'". Cookie: "How about Moon Over My Cookie?'"), Bert has been swept up by the fun and leads everyone in "Sing".<br />
<br />
I talked about how the interaction among the cast really makes this album special. All throughout there's great little adlibs by everyone during the songs and the narratives. Little gems like Oscar complaining everyone's making enough noise to wake up a parking meter at which point most everyone groans or "ahh"'s, but Grover more innocently yells "That's cute" without any sarcasm implied. When everyone groans at Big Bird's silly food verse suggestion at the end of "Peanuts", Cookie simply states "Sound good to me!"<br />
<br />
In fact, if you've heard the Sesame Street Theme Remix by Ursula 1000 that appears on the "Songs From The Street" cd box set that was marketed to adult Sesame fans, all the dialogue clips from the remix come from this album including The Count's "Well here's a snappy little number", Luis' "Dum Dee Dum Dee Dum" and Cookie's "Hey, Ernie, me play piano okay?" among others.<br />
<br />
But it's during Sing where my favorite adlib in the entire album occurs. Of course it meant nothing to me as a kid, but the first time i heard this listening to it as an adult after many years, i had one of those five minute long "I can't believe they did that" type laughter fits! Bert is totally enjoying himself and won over by the singalong during this final track and spontaneously cries out, "SING OUT LUIS!" mocking the infamous line from Gypsy.<br />
<br />
After everything i mentioned: Naked Bert not wanting to be exposed forming the basis of an album, sheer non-watered down fun, the cast performing together at its peak, Henson and Pottle's writing contributions, it's that SING OUT LUIS that firmly puts this album at the top of the list of all other Sesame records.<br />
<br />
And how does it all end? With Bert finally getting his towel? Everyone leaving Bert back alone? Nope. Ernie's final invited guests arrives - a university marching band which excites Bert tremendously as he encourages them to spell out "pigeon" and even get in the bath with him!<br />
<br />
Way. Too. Cool.<br />
<br />
In closing, i should mention i have a personal story associated with this record (which didn't actually have any impact on my judging it the coolest ever). I would have been about three years old when this came out. My oldest brother, still in the process of learning to drive, accidentally had the car in the wrong gear as he was meaning to back out of the driveway and instead drove straight forward through the garage door! All my family was outside witnessing this and when it happened, i was bawling out a storm! Everyone thought it was because i was scared, but it wasn't that it scared me, but to a three-year-old mind, a hole in the garage door was one of those unspeakable nightmares - a part of your house broken! Sure when a Monster runs out of your house leaving a Herry-shaped hole in the wall in his wake, it's funny because it's only people on tv but this was real! The house one lives in is the symbol of security to a small child and now that it all of a sudden had a hole in it (even if it was just the garage), this was too devastating for me to comprehend. (This probably explains why i get so terrified of the prospect of a tree being knocked over and crashing into my apartment whenever there's a huge storm!) <br />
<br />
To make amends for the horror he accidentally inflicted on me, he went out to the store soon after and brought me home this record. (The fact that i was already learning to deal with sudden change wasn't helped by seeing how the back cover looked "weird" compared with my other Sesame records). But Ernie and Bert always made me laugh and this record did its job even if i couldn't figure out why Bert was pictured on the cover fully clothed and happily singing along with Ernie on the piano when that's not what was on the record or had no idea what the whole "SING OUT LUIS" thing was about.</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
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<tr><td height="3"><span style="color: red;">[To my great surprise, almost exactly a year after i wrote this, this album was one of three classic Sesame albums released in the first cd box set of classic SST albums called "Old School: Volume 1" I NEVER would have expected this to get a cd release on its own, but within the box set concept it was perfect. I often wonder if someone at Sesame Workshop had seen my review and chose it for inclusion as a result.]</span></td><td height="3"><br />
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</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-39599722626776651752012-03-22T01:42:00.000-07:002012-03-22T01:42:14.098-07:002009 Daytime Emmys: Sesame Street and a Huge Rant on One Life to Live [From the Archives: 3-27-09]<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr> <td><span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 27, 2009]</span></td> <td align="right"><br />
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Pretty stereotypical of a gay male probably, but i've never been a sports fan. When i was a kid, i just could never understand how my father and older brothers could sit in front of a television for hours and get mad at watching a game. Watching an "exciting" sport like football or baseball for hours has zero appeal to me, and you can imagine what watching something like golf would do to my patience level!<br />
<br />
The only sports i could ever really stand to watch are figure skating (because there's artistic merit mixed in with athleticism) and diving (HELLO! Hunks getting wet!) The only sporting event i ever set my dvr for is the Super Bowl only so i can check out the commercials (and Muppet related ones have made their super bowl debuts quite a few times this last decade!)<br />
<br />
So since i can't stand sports, what then would be "MY Super Bowl" television event? The Daytime Emmy Awards.<br />
<br />
Every year it's a chance to see what kind of coverage and recognition two of my biggest areas of fandom will receive: The Jim Henson Company (often in the form of Sesame Street but also its other various daytime endeavors like Bear in the Big Blue House, Wubbulous World of Dr Suess and Sid the Science Kid) and One Life to Live. This is my turn to get mad at the television set and play armchair judge!<br />
<br />
Under normal circumstances, i should really be excited about this year. Sesame Street is entering its 40th season which would hopefully mean some kind of tribute. And 2008 is probably One Life to Live's greatest chance for an Emmy sweep since 1994 and their classic college date rape story. 2008 was the year OLTL finally got rid of its worst-ever headwriter Dena Higley, and replaced her with 11-year OLTL staff writer Ron Carlivati who is as big a fan of the soap and its (also 40 years!) history as the viewers. If nothing else, RC should be given a Lifetime Achievement Soap Gods Award for cleaning up the mess left by Higley and then having to clean up ANOTHER train wreck leftover from the writer's strike! OLTL did win the directing and writing awards last year, but now this year was all Carlivati's vision (except for the writers strike but at least all the soaps had that same handicap), and in between his stories, and the always-stellar direction, production values and acting, One Life to Live in 2008 really was even better than most primetime drama series.<br />
<br />
Now even then i set up this blog to discuss my various areas of fandom, i know most of the readers are Muppet Freaks so i'll save the rest of my OLTL gushing for the end of this post so those who care less can stop reading once i get to that point.<br />
<br />
So with much for a Sesame/Henson fan and an OLTL addict to celebrate, i should really be excited about the 2009 Daytime Emmys. Only problem is for a long time it's been looking more like there may not even BE a 2009 telecast.<br />
<br />
The Daytime Emmys, while honoring the best in daytime news, talk shows, childrens' shows and the like, has largely been focused on and revolved around the daytime dramas. Not only has ratings for all the network soaps been on a steady decline (ever since the OJ Simpson trial pre-emptions), but the amount of soaps still on the air vying for these awards continues to diminish. There's also been a lot of controversy and backlash over the nomination and judging processes with various attempts at adjusting the rules over the years to help "fix" some of the problems which often seem to instead make those problems bigger. As a result, it's largely felt that the Daytime Emmys are losing their relevance - so much so that all the major networks were not even wanting to be the ones airing this year's ceremonies.<br />
<br />
That's bad. Award shows are usually something networks fight for the airing rights over. But the Daytime Emmys have become the holiday fruitcake - "YOU take it!" "I don't want it - YOU have it!" "Let's give it to Mikey - he'll eat ANYTHING!" "Mikey says NOOOOO!"<br />
<br />
How bad is the situation? The cable channel SOAPnet even passed on being the ceremony's savior!<br />
<br />
Even though the official announcement still hasn't been made, news has broken that CW will go ahead and air the awards this year.<br />
<br />
So at least it looks like there'll still be a broadcast this year. But the Daytime Emmys are still on the Endangered Species List and may very well be no more sometime within the next five to ten years.<br />
<br />
Which brings us to the question most readers of this blog will have: how will this affect the Daytime Emmys' focus on Sesame Street and other kid shows? Sesame DOES have its 40th anniversary coming up which ordinarily would warrant a special tribute. How much attention and air time will be given to announcing the winners of the various kids shows categories and will any Sesame cast members be presenting awards or making appearances?<br />
<br />
It could go either way.<br />
<br />
If the Daytime Emmys are to remain relevant while soaps are becoming less so, then the most obvious answer is for the ceremony to divert less attention to the soaps and more towards the other areas - like talk, news, and of course childrens shows. Will they do this though?<br />
<br />
Already the reaction to the news that CW will air the awards is not being well received by the daytime drama industry as they fear that since CW doesn't have any daytime dramas of its own, that they will probably dramatically tone down the soap coverage. That could be a sign of hope for Sesame/Henson fans, but those same concerns could also be translated to how CW will cover the children's entertainment aspect since like the soaps, CW isn't really a player in this arena. So the whole de-emphasis on soaps could either work out in Sesame's favor or they could also end up being equally snubbed.<br />
<br />
So Hensonites and Muppet Freaks may have a lot of waiting-and-seeing to find out how big a part of the Daytime Emmys the Sesame gang will be this year.<br />
<br />
That concludes my thoughts on how Sesame will be impacted, so as promised, all those who could care less about soaps may stop reading now...But if you do have any amount of interest, stay tuned because now i'm really gonna let lose in my rantings!<br />
<br />
As i said earlier, One Life to Live fans should really be hopeful that 2009 is their year to shine. Yes, some of the summer storylines dragged a bit (which is a rather standard occurrence) but overall, OLTL has been at its best. In its 40 year history, One Life to Live has won the "Best Soap" award only once - in 2001 when it was helmed by Gary Tomlin...who in a rather shrewd move, was brought back to the show's writing staff in late 2007 as a way to prepare for the then-impending writers' strike. And indeed, when the strike did happen, Tomlin head wrote those episodes.<br />
<br />
I give OLTL a lot of credit for the various ways they prepared for the strike. Like i said upthread, Headwriter Ron Carlivati had made a lot of progress quickly turning a ruined show back on track and was in a situation where he was looking at having an even bigger mess to clean up if the writer's strike happened. So they made two very smart moves. Putting Tomlin back on the staff so that he could keep the show afloat during the strike and also getting as much scripts written as far in advance as possible. By the time the strike happened, the "scab writers" episodes were only actually onscreen from February to the very beginning of May.<br />
<br />
Gary Tomlin certainly couldn't be considered a hack writer since he had been with the show before as a writer and an executive producer. While he didn't ruin things, he did put some major dents in Carlivati's vision that RC would have to deal with upon his return. What was impressive was not only that RC was able to get the show back on track, but that he did so as quickly and as well as he did. RC's writing returned to the air on May 2. The period between late May and early June was one of the best consecutive runs of top-notch all-time-best episodes in the show's history.<br />
<br />
As far as writing, directing, and yes, Best Show...OLTL really should be taking those trophies home this year. I will be screaming and throwing things at my television set if it doesn't (much like the rest of my family does with the Super Bowl!)<br />
<br />
But then there's the acting awards...<br />
<br />
Soap actors have a bad rep in the overall acting industry thanks in large part to casting directors loading their shows with hunks and beauty queens who can't act. This is actually a shame because while these are in no short supply, there are many actors who are called upon to deliver the most gut-wrenching material under the most chaotic processes that come with shooting shows that air daily with no break for reruns. If they're serious about their craft and not looking at a soap role as a stepping stone in their modeling career, a soap actor is one of the hardest working and most professional actors there are.<br />
<br />
One Life to Live has long been blessed with its acting talent (though certainly not immune to the gawdawful eye candy non-actors in its cast - the Vega Brothers anyone?) This same cast was SNUBBED big time last year with only Brian Kerwin receiving a final nomination.<br />
<br />
So you can imagine, i'm particularly interested in how well OLTL fares in the acting categories especially given some of the bravura performances the show has seen this year.<br />
<br />
Under the current system, each show has its own "pre-nomination" ceremony, where the show's staff votes for the top two people to be considered for a final nomination in each category. As far as OLTL's pre-noms went, there wasn't much surprises, though there were some things i really need to rant on.<br />
<br />
Chief among them, Robin Strasser ("Dorian Lord")'s non-inclusion. She is exactly the type of actor i was talking about earlier who is at the top of her field. She always brings her A-game to every scene even if she's not a major part of it. And boy did she bring it big time in 2008 - the Emmy was hers if she wanted it!<br />
<br />
However, as a past Emmy winner and having served on the board, Robin has often taken her name out of consideration the last several years, only occasionally being talked out of doing so by the higher-ups. This was another year Robin decided she didn't want to be considered for an Emmy nod, and boy do i wish the show would have worked a lot harder to convince her otherwise. There is no question in my mind that she would have won an award this year if she would have allowed herself to be considered. The episode where she went from desperately pouring vodka down Charlie's throat (while praying for forgiveness from her deceased alcoholic husband) to taking over the Buchanan Enterprises' Shareholders Meeting Joan Collins style announcing that the company was now hers (in a dress and hat worthy of their own awards) was one of those great moments in soap history that is what the Awards were made for.<br />
<br />
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</div>So with Strasser out of the running, i fully expect to see Susan Haskell ("Marty Saybrooke" - who i am SO GLAD to see back after that horrible recast) and either Bree Williamson ("Jessica Buchanan") or Kathy Brier ("Marcie McBain") (who are up against each other in the same category) walk away with both final nominations and trophies. Robert S Woods ("Bo Buchanan") and Kristen Alderson ("Starr Manning") have good shots at wins as well. As you can tell, i totally eat this kind of stuff up!<br />
<br />
One name that was also not in the pre-noms was that of Trevor St. John ("Todd Manning"). I've seen several articles from members of the soap press decrying St. John's lack of even a pre-nomination as the latest example of what's wrong with the current system.<br />
<br />
I usually love St. John. He often does stellar work and indeed turned out some incredible stuff during the latter part of the year in regards to the fallout of the Marty Saybrooke amnesia story. He had an excellent shot at an Emmy before (2006 execution story) and will probably be worthy of an award in years to come. However, unlike the soap press who seem to have a collective amnesia of their own, i haven't forgotten the sheer GARBAGE that Trevor subjected us to in the spring before the Marty story.<br />
<br />
At a time when One Life to Live was at its peak in nearly all areas, TSJ wasn't even bothering to phone it in...his performances were horrible to watch (especially when one knew he was capable of so much better). It was as if he was unhappy with what the scab writing had done to his character and was sabotaging the show by not even trying. It wasn't that he was making BAD acting choices; he wasn't making ANY acting choices. I'm sorry - but you don't just don't give awards for stuff like that even if he also had moments of greatness during the same year.<br />
<br />
If someone is given an award that reads "Best Actor 2008", then they should truly represent the best for ALL of 2008. Let's say TSJ did get a pre-nom. He could easily have put together a reel (after the pre-noms, actors submit two episodes representing their best performances for judging) that could have gotten him a spot on the final nominations and maybe even an eventual win. And had that happened, THAT would have been an example of the problems with the current system much more than his failure to earn a pre-nom.<br />
<br />
It's precisely because of this whole issue of "representing the best for the year" that i'm so torn over Bree Williamson's chances at an Emmy. Her work during Nash's death and her grieving was among the best the show had seen since Judith Light's legendary "Karen Wolak on the witness stand" in 1979. When it aired, i said then and there "the Emmy's hers!"<br />
<br />
But then she spent the summer delivering some horrendous performances in the "Tess returns" storyline. So i'm a bit conflicted. How can i argue so passionately about how Trevor St John does not deserve an Emmy because his horrible performances cancelled out his stellar ones yet still like to see a win for Williamson?<br />
<br />
Probably because at least BW MADE acting choices (even if they were horribly over the top) whereas TSJ just didn't even try. She chewed a huge amount of scenery and grew an honorary mustache after all the twirling she gave it, but her choices were appropriate to the story and its tone. They were bad, but in some ways could be seen as valid. By the same token, TSJ was handed an actor's dream on a silver platter - the complex mix of emotions we should see displayed by a borderline psychopath after he tosses the one person he's always unconditionally loved (his daughter Starr) down a flight of stairs in his blind rage (which wasn't very rageful) was given all the gravity as stepping in a mud puddle in a pair of shoes one doesn't care about.<br />
<br />
But in the end, Bree is in the same category as the equally (if not more) deserving Kathy Brier who always acts her heart out even when her character isn't the most likable. Overall Brier is more deserving taking the year as a whole in account, but Williamson will have a stronger reel. If either won, i would not be disappointed.<br />
<br />
Rest assured, that even though this "75-85%" Muppet blog is an avenue for discussing my areas of fandom (of which OLTL is a big one), that's probably the most you'll see me go off on a huge rant about OLTL for awhile since for non soap fans, the above sentiments were probably just as exciting as reading sports commentary is to me. It's just that the Daytime Emmys bring out that "Super Bowl sized" fanatic in me so unless it concerns the Emmys, OLTL-focused posts won't be that frequent or as indepth - at least until the Emmys actually air! Then watch out!<br />
<br />
So if you're only here for the Muppet stuff, we've got Naked Bert on deck! So stay tuned!<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: red;">[The Emmy ceremony in question receives a detailed review in a later archive entry so no new comments here at this time.]</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-86379435317522110202012-03-21T01:15:00.001-07:002012-03-21T01:41:18.964-07:00I'M FEATURED IN NELSON BRANCO'S NEW OLTL BOOK!!!...We interrupt the reposting of these archive articles with some personally exciting news!<br />
<br />
I've written about fandom for a long time - not only for this blog but for over a decade before that contributing in various ways to numerous sites, forums, and fanzines. Well, now i'm pleased to announce that i'm not only quoted but rather nicely FEATURED in a brand new book by the marvelous Nelson Branco paying tribute to One Life to Live.<br />
<br />
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<br />
When it comes to soap journalists, there's basically only two that are truly top-notch, know what they're talking about, have incredible sources and access and can always be trusted with both facts, scoops, and opinions...Michael Fairman and Nelson Branco. Branco has covered a wide range of entertainment mediums besides the world of daytime dramas, but nonetheless he remains one of the most knowledgeable...and fun to read...reporters/columnists of the genre. When i heard he was working on a major OLTL tribute book, i was very excited since i couldn't think of anyone better to write one and eagerly anticipated its publication.<br />
<br />
While he was working on it, word got out he was looking for fans to provide some quotes about their experiences and what OLTL meant to them so i sent Branco an email free-associating my thoughts figuring that somewhere among my ramblings he'd be able to get a couple of good quotes and soundbites here and there. I figured if my comments made it in at all, there might be a sentence or two praising Robin Strasser in a chapter about her and maybe another random sentence or observation in one or two other places.<br />
<br />
Well, i finally had opportunity to see the book and to my delighted surprise, a very large portion of my thoughts were printed in the book in a chapter about fans' reflections...with my section being the longest! Of course not only is this such a cool thing to be a part of but it really thrills me immensely knowing that my words are most likely being read by a good portion of the cast and crew of a show that's brought me so much happiness, escapism, and joy for a good two decades! The thought of people like Tonja Walker or Robin Strasser sitting down to read a copy and seeing my words of praise towards them really moves me to tears! I really need to thank Branco not only for allowing me a great forum to return the love but also for his stellar work on the book overall (i'm still not finished with it as there's lots of great stuff to pore over but i've gobbled up what i've read so far!)<br />
<br />
The book is called "Between Heaven and Hell - a One Life to Live Tribute" and is available in various online formats at <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134853">http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134853</a> The cool thing about Smashwords is before buying a book, you can sample for free anywhere between the first 5-10%...so at about 300 pages, that's a good sized preview right there!<br />
<br />
Here for Muppet Freak readers is my words from the book...<br />
<br />
"In 1992, the 20-year-old D.W. Mckim never imagined he’d regularly tune in to a<br />
daytime soap, much less count it as one of his favorite shows! The closest I<br />
ever came to getting hooked on a soap was my daily viewings of SOAP reruns<br />
when I’d eat my dinner after coming home from school.<br />
<br />
But my major in college was theatre and for years I had been especially<br />
interested in the role it can play in social change and reflecting current issues;<br />
something that had grown out of my first professional performance experience<br />
as a 10-year-old puppeteer with Kids on the Block (known for its life-sized<br />
puppets representing various types of handicaps) and my high school stint with<br />
Planned Parenthood’s Positive Force Players, a group of teens who wrote,<br />
performed, and toured with skits about various teen issues and problems. One<br />
day, when I was flipping through channels looking for something to watch, I<br />
happened upon a talk show where ONE LIFE was being featured, talking about<br />
how the show was currently taking on various social issue storylines such as<br />
lupus, illiteracy, and homophobia. All of a sudden, I knew I had to tune in. Not<br />
only was this kind of thing very much up my alley, but having recently come<br />
out as a gay man and getting involved with various advocacy groups and<br />
activities, I could tell this was truly groundbreaking — gays were still pretty<br />
much invisible from the dial (primetime or daytime) as this was just prior to<br />
the great Lavender Explosion of Gay/Lesbian representation on television.<br />
<br />
I turned on ONE LIFE with all my biases and myths of what soaps were fully<br />
intact — the grating organ music, lots of sob stories, hammy actors that were<br />
mostly models, sex, sex and more sex. Boy, was I in for a surprise! Little did I<br />
know that this was at a time when then-executive producer Linda Gottlieb was<br />
determined to wipe out exactly those types of stereotypes, looking to up the<br />
ante on all aspects of creativity — from the music to her recruitment of<br />
acclaimed novelist Michael Malone to head up the writing staff. I may have<br />
been unaware of that at the time, but I immediately recognized that ONE LIFE<br />
was not at all what I imagined soaps to be!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
I remember immediately being enchanted by this amazing blond woman who<br />
just sparkled with electricity when she was on the screen — my first exposure<br />
to Tonja Walker as Alex Olanov! Then one by one, as I became familiar with<br />
other cast members, I was impressed by how many actors actually looked more<br />
like “regular people” and not “soap stars.” Luna Moody was definitely not a<br />
character I associated with soap operas! Even a beauty like Yasmine Bleeth<br />
would often go without makeup and allow her to look like she’d been put<br />
through the wringer in her stint as Lee Ann Demerest. Of course I was<br />
captivated by the Billy Douglas story — but even more than Ryan Phillippe’s<br />
Billy, I was drawn to this acting powerhouse known as Susan Haskell! And, at<br />
times, Viki and Clint felt more like my mom and dad than my actual parents.<br />
<br />
There are so many characters and actors I dearly love — ONE LIFE was a wealth<br />
of riches in these departments after all — but I really need to give special<br />
mention to Robin Strasser, who I would credit as one of my top five favorite<br />
actresses of all time. I remember when Robin reclaimed the role of Dorian; I<br />
had heard that she was an amazing talent but, of course, was wary since Elaine<br />
Princi’s Dorian was already one of my huge favorites. But seeing Robin on her<br />
first day back was the most incredible experience; she just set the screen on<br />
fire. She grabbed hold of my heart and has had it ever since.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Soap fans often unfairly get stereotyped as old housewives watching while<br />
they’re doing the ironing. I’m one of those fans who don’t fit that profile in any<br />
way: male, started watching as a college student. I find that daytime serials<br />
are great sources of entertainment for more intellectual viewers since no other<br />
medium is able to present stories with such long complex detailed storylines.<br />
With decades of daily hour-long shows, no other genre can reward viewers with<br />
such finely developed characters. Serial storytelling is a cherished art form and<br />
aside from perhaps the comic book, no other contemporary example exists that<br />
has nearly a half-century of history behind it. If soaps as a genre are considered<br />
“dead,” it can only be because those currently producing them or hosting them<br />
on their network don’t realize their true worth and potential — and ABC/Brian<br />
Frons is a textbook example of the wrong people entrusted with these legacies.<br />
<br />
Thanks to everyone at ONE LIFE for creating something magical, inspiring, and<br />
captivating that has kept me going far longer than I ever imagined I would, and<br />
for bringing joy and hope on days where none would otherwise have existed."<br />
<br />
I strongly recommend Branco's book for any OLTL fans, casual or fanatic, new or old (and not just because i'm in it! This is an even better and more valuable read that the official OLTL 30th and 40th anniversary books which themselves are essential must-haves for any fan) All one needs to do is look at the chapter listing to see what a treat this publication is:<br />
<br />
Prologue:<br />
My Life To Live<br />
<br />
Chapter 1:<br />
Giving Birth to LIFE<br />
<br />
Chapter 2:<br />
Writer In White: An Agnes Nixon Timeline<br />
<br />
Chapter 3:<br />
The SWAN Manifesto — Why Agnes Nixon Deserves a Kennedy Center Honor<br />
<br />
Chapter 4:<br />
The Greatest Executive Producer Of ‘Em All — The Paul Rauch Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 5:<br />
ONE LIFE’s Best Head Writer of All Time — The Michael Malone Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 6:<br />
Best Partner-In-Crime — The Josh Griffith Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 7:<br />
ONE LIFE Lives Again — The Cartini Era<br />
<br />
Chapter 8:<br />
Serial Killer — The Most Hated Man In TV, Brian Frons<br />
<br />
Chapter 9:<br />
Conspiracy Theories: Did ABC Purposely Murder Its Daytime Line-up?<br />
<br />
Chapter 10:<br />
Soap Warrior — The Catherine Hickland Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 11:<br />
The Little Soap That Could: How ONE LIFE Got The Last Laugh;<br />
PLUS: The Brett Claywell and Scott Evans Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 12:<br />
LLanview’s Best Characters<br />
<br />
Chapter 13:<br />
Best Storylines<br />
<br />
Chapter 14:<br />
Worst Storylines<br />
<br />
Chapter 15:<br />
Anatomy Of A Story Malfunction — The Farah Fath Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 16:<br />
Master Class: Best Actors<br />
<br />
Chapter 17:<br />
Acting Beast: The Trevor St. John Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 18:<br />
Master Class: Best Actresses<br />
<br />
Chapter 19:<br />
She’s The Boss: The Judith Light Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 20:<br />
Gold Standards: ONE LIFE’s Emmy Award Wins<br />
<br />
Chapter 21:<br />
Bridges of Llantano Mountain — The Greatest Love Stories<br />
<br />
Chapter 22:<br />
Best Weddings<br />
<br />
Chapter 23:<br />
Most Entertaining Couples<br />
<br />
Chapter 24:<br />
Best Recasts<br />
<br />
Chapter 25:<br />
The Best Lord-Reily Recast: The Nathan Fillion Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 26:<br />
Most Improved Actors<br />
<br />
Chapter 27:<br />
Worst Recasts<br />
<br />
Chapter 28:<br />
Hair Model City<br />
<br />
Chapter 29<br />
Best Moments/Cliffhangers<br />
<br />
Chapter 30:<br />
Best Multiple Roles<br />
<br />
Chapter 31:<br />
Second Chances At Life<br />
<br />
Chapter 32:<br />
Did You Know….? Casting 411<br />
<br />
Chapter 33:<br />
Best Celebrity Guest Stars Ever<br />
<br />
Chapter 34:<br />
Best ONE LIFE Alumni<br />
<br />
Chapter 35:<br />
Biggest Wastes of Talent<br />
<br />
Chapter 36:<br />
Gone Too Soon: The Forbes March Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 37:<br />
Best Villains<br />
<br />
Chapter 38:<br />
Worst Villains<br />
<br />
Chapter 39:<br />
Best Villainesses<br />
<br />
Chapter 40:<br />
Vixen Extraordinaire — The Robin Strasser Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 41:<br />
Worst Villainesses<br />
<br />
Chapter 42:<br />
Arrest ‘Em: Best Scene-Stealing Actors<br />
<br />
Chapter 43:<br />
LMAO: The Ilene Kristen Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 44:<br />
Best Location Shoots<br />
<br />
Chapter 45:<br />
Best Younger Actors<br />
<br />
Chapter 46:<br />
Brat Pack: The Brandon Buddy, Kristen Alderson and Scott Clifton Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 47:<br />
Best Real-Life Couples<br />
<br />
Chapter 48:<br />
The Susan Haskell Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 49:<br />
Hottest Hunks<br />
<br />
Chapter 50:<br />
Sexiest Men: The Michael Easton and Tuc Watkins Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 51:<br />
Most Beautiful Women<br />
<br />
Chapter 52:<br />
Sexiest Woman Alive — The Kassie De Paiva Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 53:<br />
Best In Marriage: Asa Buchanan’s Wives<br />
<br />
Chapter 54:<br />
Best Character Names<br />
<br />
Chapter 55:<br />
Sexiest Moniker — The John Brotherton Interview<br />
<br />
Chapter 56:<br />
Boldest Faces: The Biggest ONE LIFE Superstars<br />
<br />
Chapter 57:<br />
The Greatest Star Of Them All — The Andrea Evans Interviews<br />
<br />
Chapter 58:<br />
Stars Who Should Have Emmys<br />
<br />
Chapter 59:<br />
Life After Llanview: Fearless Predictions<br />
<br />
Chapter 60:<br />
What ONE LIFE Meant To Its Fans<br />
<br />
Heck, even if i WASN'T a fan, i'd be tempted to read through the book after looking over the chapter summary!<br />
<br />
I'm sure after i've had a chance to finish reposting the archives and writing some Muppet/Henson entries, i'll get around to my own OLTL tribute and review of its final (for now) episodes. In the meantime, while Agnes Nixon, Prospect Park, and other interested businesses are battling for control of the property in order to revive it in some form or another, fans can continue to get their OLTL fix satisfied by seeing the massive OLTL crossover that's recently begun on General Hospital featuring the Manning family and John Mcbain mixing things up in Port Charles.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/9_jRo7AmsQE/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_jRo7AmsQE&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_jRo7AmsQE&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-79690145483188502882012-03-20T23:10:00.001-07:002012-03-20T23:20:45.629-07:00The Top Five COOLEST Sesame Street Songs EVER! [From the Archives: 3-25-09]<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" class="ecxblog_post_box_border_color"><tbody>
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<tr><td><span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 25, 2009]</span></td> <td align="right"><br />
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<tr> <td colspan="2"><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Just like practically all my other interests, my passion for record collecting can be directly traced to the Muppets. I had all the record albums and singles when i was a kid (and the stores were SATURATED with them in the 70's). If it was Muppet-related and on record, i had to have it (even if i already had the songs on it on other recordings). This would pretty much account for my later desire to track down every single obscure recording by Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, or Dave Stewart including the various bands on Dave's Anxious Music record label, the super rare "Borderline" single Dave and Annie recorded with Peet Coombes in 1977 under the name "The Catch" before they added two more members to become The Tourists for three more years, and of course countless bootlegs! I also have a massive Pet Shop Boys collection (though not being a fan of a lot of remixes, i draw the line at tracking down their singles that are nothing but 12 minute bastardizations of their original song!)<br />
<br />
This early love of Muppet record collecting would later give way to Muppet video collecting/tape trading...but that's another post!<br />
<br />
Gearing up for its 40th season, Sesame Street has had a lot of awesome songs in its over 4000 episodes (including songs that were only on records and not the actual show). Many of us have our favorite moments that live in our hearts and inevitably make us smile when we remember the Count doing the Lambaba while counting sheep, Chris Cerf's manic performances as Little Chrissy counting it higher or looking for the way way out Exit sign, or even Bip Bippadotta (aka Mahna Mahna) yelling "all of the hairy ones and all of the scary ones" or "See the tall ball on the high wall, see it stall, hear it call HI Y'ALL!" And that's just the Muppet songs...there were also some groovy ditties that didn't involve the Muppets such as the Pointer Sisters' swing alphabet and their all time classic Pinball Number Count.<br />
<br />
So one would think it nearly impossible to compile the five coolest Sesame Street songs of all time. But oddly enough it was really quite easy simply because even though there have been so many greats over the decades, the following songs just reach insurmountable heights of awesomeness that really make them stand apart. They immediately came to mind during my initial brainstorming, and even after searching lists of Muppet songs, i simply couldn't find anything that i overlooked that came close.<br />
<br />
When i was putting together this list, i tried not to include any common threads, but nonetheless i found that there are two really interesting things about these songs: (1) They're all from Sesame Street's "Golden Era" (1972-1977) - and believe me, i really tried to include something newer, but just couldn't find any songs better than these! (2) Even more surprising, when i was looking up information on these songs, i discovered that the top four were all written or co-written by Sam Pottle (who along with Jim Henson, wrote The Muppet Show Theme Song) The only non-Pottle song was written by Joe Raposo.<br />
<br />
And that song is:<br />
<br />
#5: CLINK, CLANK!<br />
<br />
--As far as i know, this song was never performed on the show (though Bert and Ernie did a special version with Flip Wilson on his variety show). Originally recorded for 1972's Havin' Fun With Ernie and Bert album (and appearing on numerous compilation albums since), this song is all about Bert going on about how "WILD AND WONDERFUL" the sound of hitting a pan and tin can with a spoon is along with shaking a tin can with marbles inside and blowing a whistle. Ernie is less impressed.<br />
<br />
Now you just know ANY Top Five list of the coolest Sesame ANYTHING simply has to include Ernie and Bert. But this is the one that will have you howling with laughter. "Dance Myself to Sleep" came close (and given that it was from the '80's, i really wanted to include it, but not only has it been overplayed on the show, but it just doesn't make me giggle non-stop like this one does.)<br />
<br />
Part of the reason this song is so hysterical is not only because of the classic interplay between Henson's Ernie and Oz's Bert, but the BACKING MUSIC is so insanely out there - the kazoo players were just having way too much fun on this track!</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
Bert gives out these almost orgasmic sighs and sings with such passion! And Ernie decides to join in - with a very loud obnoxious horn leading to a tear-inducing spoken exchange:<br />
<br />
Bert: AAAAhhh! Ernie, you RUINED it!<br />
<br />
Ernie: Well, I couldn't find a whistle, Bert! <br />
<br />
Bert: Well, this time YOU rattle and I'll TWEET!<br />
<br />
Ernie: Okay, Bert! (HONK!)<br />
<br />
Bert: ERNIE! <br />
<br />
Ernie: I just had to put it down, Bert.<br />
<br />
Bert: Well... CONTROL yourself!<br />
<br />
I've played this song many times for both Muppet lovers and non-Freaks, and every time i've done so they have just ended up in tears of laughter.<br />
<br />
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<br />
#4: THIS FROG<br />
<br />
-- Let's just forget about Sesame Street for a moment; this song is my all time favorite Kermit the Frog song! Better than Bein' Green, Rainbow Connection, or Happy Feet! This is really the frog's anthem. It was written after The Muppet Show had made its debut and Kermit was going from a star to a supernova. It's really one of those inspirational songs that one can totally absorb and feel empowered by - not at all schmaltzy or hokey. As someone who's often felt like the prince in a frog's body, i really have adopted this song as my own personal call to flippers. Just look at this first verse:<br />
<br />
This frog has to go his own way<br />
This frog doesn't care what the other frogs say<br />
This frog wants to be happy, and this frog has to try<br />
This frog is gonna make it or know the reason why<br />
I'm not gonna sit here like some dumb old bump on a log<br />
That isn't me!<br />
I'm gonna be this frog! <br />
<br />
...and the rest of the song is just that good! Including other classic lines like:<br />
<br />
This frog is staying with it, like a tick sticks to a dog <br />
<br />
and...<br />
<br />
This frog will not wear a halter, cause nothing halts this frog! <br />
<br />
It's actually kind of a shame that this song hasn't crossed over from outside of Sesame Street (and even then, not aired, released, or heard in ages). It really deserves to be on a whole mess o' Muppet compilation albums and be one of those clips that always show up in Muppet tribute reels like Sam and Friends' "That Old Black Magic" and Muppet Show's "I Get Around"<br />
<br />
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<br />
#3: I WANT A MONSTER TO BE MY FRIEND<br />
<br />
--I'm not EVEN going to talk about the travesty that was En Vogue's recording of this song for the Elmopalooza special and album. That's like comparing the awesomeness of George W Bush vs. Pepe the King Prawn! No, i mean the original recording by Marilyn Sokol.<br />
<br />
Now, if you're a Muppet fan and you're not familiar with either the name Marilyn Sokol or can't immediately place her voice, i command you to either break out your Emmet Otter and Sesame Street Old School Volume 2 dvd's - or buy them if you don't own them! Sokol is best known in Muppet circles as the voice of Ma Otter, but she also lent her voice to a number of Sesame Street songs in the 1970's - and there's a pleasantly heaping portion of them on the Old School 2 set. Marilyn will be the subject of a performer tribute post later on in this blog, so i'll limit my gushing about her here so i can save it for later. But suffice to say, the sun always shines brighter on Sesame Street when Marilyn sings. And she totally OWNS this track! <br />
<br />
Betty Lou was the Muppet who sang this song on the show, but the audio recording came first where she was credited as "a little girl". Indeed, she starts out singing very sweetly about the benefits of dolls or pets and such. But then she gets to the point of the song and what she really desires...and breaks out in full belting-showgirl jazz mode!<br />
<br />
I want a monster<br />
To be my playmate<br />
I want a monster<br />
To be my friend<br />
I want to get<br />
For my own pet<br />
A real live monster<br />
Who's not pretend<br />
<br />
Now Sokol's take-no-prisoners delivery alone would make this song sheer awesomeness on its own, but then there's also the subject matter - extolling the virtues of Muppet Monsters! Now this is something near and dear to my heart - i've often self-identified as a Muppet Monster; not the cutest or most desirable outside, but a rather sweet if eccentric and large-appetited being underneath it all. One of my prize possessions is a shirt with The Muppet Show's Sweetums on the front and the words "Tall, Dark, and Handsome" on the back. Whether they were on the Street, the Show, or any other Muppet production, the Monsters taught the best lessons about tolerance. And they looked and acted cool while doing it!<br />
<br />
Which, sadly makes it all the more of a shame that this song was ruined by INtolerance. All it took was one hypersensitive whackjob parent who wrote to the show complaining that some of the lines in the song could be interpreted to refer to child molestation. The song was pulled from the show and not included in any more album compilations (until that dreadful En Vogue version that rewrote the "controversial" lyrics).<br />
<br />
Believe me, the damage En Vogue did to this amazing song was far worse than any damage the lyrics of the song could possibly inflict in anyone's mind. If that parent hasn't already died in a sea of their own bitterness, i'm pretty sure they're now a Bill O'Reilly addict/Focus on Everyone Else's Family But Your Own disciple that endorses boycotts of the Teletubbies and Spongebob Squarepants "because they're gay"<br />
and wants President Obama to fail because he's "one of THOSE people". I would say to that person "learn to love your neighborhood monsters" especially since you seem to have a rather large Monster Streak yourself!<br />
<br />
Anyway, end of rant. It was a celebration of monsters. It had Marilyn Sokol singing her heart out. It was banned. It was the third Coolest Sesame Song Ever!<br />
<br />
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<br />
#2: COOKIE DISCO<br />
<br />
--Isn't it funny how things work sometimes? One nutjob parent takes offense at a song that one really has to twist around to imagine is something bad, but no one seemed to mind that Cookie Monster was singing a parody of the Theme From Shaft? Which this song totally is! This song is a perfect example of how Sesame Street was entertaining the adults right along with the kids with its multi-layered humor. Watching this as a kid and seeing Cookie in his "pimped out" costume, i just thought he was dressing up as Elton John (just with a very shaggy beard). Did you get out that copy of the Sesame Street Old School Volume 2 DVD Box Set when i told you to? You'll see this song included. Dig that groovy choreographed entrance Cookie's backup singers make! Though this song is hilarious to watch on tv, it's just as much fun listening to it on record with all the 70's musical cliches going on in the background like the flutes and such. A sampling of the lyrics:<br />
<br />
(singers:) He's shaggy, he's blue<br />
And he knows how to chew - COOKIE!<br />
<br />
(Cookie:) Can you dig it?<br />
<br />
(Singers:) You think you can munch,<br />
Brother, you're out to lunch<br />
Compared with - COOKIE!<br />
<br />
(Cookie:) Did someone say "Lunch?"<br />
<br />
...and...<br />
<br />
(Singers:) If you offered him treasure,<br />
Will he take it?<br />
(Cookie:)Darn tootin', but you know me would<br />
Get a lot more pleasure from Fig Newton!<br />
<br />
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<br />
#1: THE SUBWAY<br />
<br />
--Even compared with all the Muppety Goodness that makes up the other four songs, this one blows them all away! Sang by a group of Anything Muppets (along with Betty Lou, Bert, and Kermit). Great fun to listen to, even greater fun to watch! Intensely catchy, MORE great Marilyn Sokol vocals, and probably the MOST CYNICAL lyrics ever sang on Sesame Street set to music that sounds like a total over the top celebration!<br />
<br />
Watching the really cool hipster-type Muppet inexplicably walk into the subway station twice, Bert's little "Hi, Kermit", Kermit popping up in his trench coat, that crazy trumpet solo instrumental where all the Muppets dance wildly with each other (including one man who lacking a dance partner shakes his rolled-up newspaper all over the place) not to mention Kermit's facial expressions during the dancing and lines like:<br />
<br />
OOOOHHH...<br />
Kermit: My stop just went by!<br />
OHHHHH...<br />
Betty Lou: Hey, your thumbs in my eye!<br />
OOOHHHH....<br />
Hip Dude: Its so hot, I could die!<br />
<br />
and...<br />
<br />
You could lose your purse<br />
Or you might lose something worse<br />
On the subway<br />
SUBWAY!<br />
<br />
and most especially...<br />
<br />
Buy a token now for a ride that's "super-WOW" on the SUBWAY!<br />
<br />
...ending with the group getting off (after falling into each other as the subway comes to a stop)...except for Bert who stays holding onto his strap as the door closes!<br />
<br />
It doesn't get better than this! And to my jumping-with-joy ecstatic bliss, it was also included on the Old School DVD 2 set!<br />
<br />
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<br />
Now finally, I do have to give a special...<br />
<br />
HONORABLE MENTION: to SURPRISE<br />
<br />
No, not the Little Jerry song from season two (though that was pretty awesome itself), but rather a mid-70's song with the human cast and some Muppet help (including Big Bird and Grover). The reason i can only bestow this song with an "honorable mention" is only because i haven't seen or heard it since it last aired in the mid 70's and i've forgotten a lot about it. But what i do remember was incredible and i have little doubt that it would be right up there with the others.<br />
<br />
The subject of the song was about how surprises are things you don't expect - and the song just goes in all these wild random directions musically and visually. There's Bob doing nursery rhymes and getting soaked with water talking about Jack and Jill and snowed on when reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb, doors opening to brick walls, Groucho glasses, and a whole bunch of pies in the face (and of course, you can NEVER go wrong with massive pies in the face!) At one point Big Bird sings about how everyone forgot his birthday and he gets a surprise celebration. The very last shot is the cast grouped together singing "SURPRISE!" as what appears to a flower on Big Bird's chest turns out to be a pie that hurls itself at the camera. This is my Holy Grail of Sesame clips that i want to see again! And just think...if it was co-written by Sam Pottle, he may then dominate my list completely by knocking Raposo out of the #5 spot!<br />
<br />
Coming up this week...The COOLEST Sesame Street ALBUM of all time. None of the above songs are on it, but it does have a healthy supply of Ernie and Bert!</div></td></tr>
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<tr> <td><span style="color: red;">[Three years later after this was written and no new information or clips still seems to have surfaced about "Surprise" - with the continual release of Sesame clips on Sesame Workshop's sites and unofficial recordings popping up continually on Youtube, surely this is bound to pop up sooner or later...and what a wonderful SURPRISE it will be!]</span></td> <td align="right"></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929192817054380745.post-78149138529398545692012-03-20T00:53:00.001-07:002012-03-20T01:27:29.677-07:00Your Host... [From the Archives: 3-24-09]<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
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<tr><td><span style="color: red;">[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 24, 2009]</span></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td align="right"><div class="ecxblog_post_title_back_text"></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td colspan="2"><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Since this whole project will be a look at Muppet culture and other fandom ramblings through my eyes, it might be a good idea to know the reference point that these are all coming from...so who is "the Muppet Freak?"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOA8G5MRe-MVu6Quzsgqmo3-D-Vo_UYfofztckhVoKaw4KZ7UpRwU6YhjVhzyR7vP2vCfOia7q2ZJVWjJcDIfnVZ_u1JoDFljDnrJKQdXZsXfCs6gzU7QJbCAgYTxFRsMqbkJAeZR3Aw/s1600/151201860_display.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOA8G5MRe-MVu6Quzsgqmo3-D-Vo_UYfofztckhVoKaw4KZ7UpRwU6YhjVhzyR7vP2vCfOia7q2ZJVWjJcDIfnVZ_u1JoDFljDnrJKQdXZsXfCs6gzU7QJbCAgYTxFRsMqbkJAeZR3Aw/s320/151201860_display.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text">Well, my Muppet Freakdom literally goes back to the beginning. As a baby, my parents report that whenever Sesame Street came on the set, it just held this powerful connection with me. Because of my early obsession, i was reading at age two - at first my parents thought i just had all the books they read me memorized but when i would read the daily newspaper's funny pages, that's when they knew that i was truly reading.<br />
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When i was a kid, i had all the toy hand puppets of the characters. Though there were a good number of kids in my neighborhood in the small town in Ohio i grew up in, at the end of the day my puppets were my closest pals. My best friend also was a huge Muppet fan and we were both determined to learn how to do each character so perfectly so that we could continue to keep them going when the real puppeteers got too old to do them. You know how some kids play Cowboys and Indians? Super Heroes? Well we played at being Jim Henson and Frank Oz! It was this early obsession with puppetry that naturally turned me onto acting and singing. Opportunities for any kind of professional performing work (puppetry or otherwise) was pretty much nil in my suburban town of 5000 but after entertaining any willing audience at the drop of a hat in any situation, my first "professional" gig was at age ten when i became a regional member of Kids on the Block which achieved quite a fair amount of recognition in the 80's. They used "life size" puppets (their words - these weren't costume full body puppets but large hand puppets) all with various handicaps and disabilities.<br />
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I moved to Phoenix Arizona in my teens. Even though i was considered a puppetry prodigy, my teen years was also when i tended to move more away from puppetry (as a performer though certainly not as a fan) and concentrated more on acting and singing. I started writing songs around age 12. During the last several years, i've had to enter a form of retirement from acting/singing jobs due to having to work two jobs to survive including graveyard shifts but before that i had become an award winning singer/actor working especially in underground/experimental theatre and gay/lesbian entertainment, including two years as a member of Grand Canyon Mens' Chorale (where in my rookie year i was named outstanding performer). I really owe all of that road to that initial Muppet love.</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/pyZ5c5SvGKc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: red;">["Hey Chelsea" from "Earth Quakes - Planet Earth Theatre's mid-90's public access show...this parody of Gin Blossom's "Hey Jealousy" was cited in New Times' write-up of the show as its choice for Best Public Access Show]</span></span></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><br />
Of course, it's not just passion for the entertainment and puppetry arts that fuses my Muppet love. All my life i've closely followed the works of Jim Henson and this has informed a lot of my worldview, sense of humor, tastes, etc. In some way or another, my Muppet fandom has always been proudly on display whether marching in a gay pride parade with a Kermit perched on my shoulder or having a party with friends where we would order a pizza and freak out the delivery guy by all answering the door as a Sesame character. (I would be waiting outside after he thought he'd escaped the craziness, offering to sell him a letter "O" for... a nickel!) I've literally become a "walking encyclopedia" of Muppet/Henson knowledge which includes a vast video library (which i am in the painstakingly slow process of organizing and converting to dvd). While i would still jump at the chance to be a professional Muppeteer, age has caught up with me and between occasional back and wrist/joint problems, i don't see that in my future. Rather my all-time "dream job" would be to actually work in some professional capacity as a Henson historian. In these poverty-stricken times though i guess i'll have to settle for this latest endeavor!<br />
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By the way, i do have an old hasn't-been-updated-in-ages website devoted to my song lyrics, artistic musings and the like at <a href="http://community.webtv.net/larynx1">Ultraviolet MUSE-ings</a> if anyone's so inclined to check it out. (No real Muppet content there though)<br />
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I mentioned this blog would be about 75-85% Muppet/Henson related and the rest would cover other loves, interests, and areas of fandom. What are some of those other areas of fandom? Well some of them are Eurythmics/Annie Lennox/Dave Stewart, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Shakespear's Sister/Siobhan Fahey, the Beloved, Concrete Blond, Chris Issac, Cyndi Lauper, Dr. Demento, Twin Peaks, One Life to Live, Ugly Betty, Absolutely Fabulous, Laugh-In, slapstick humor, pie fights, roller coasters, raw cookie dough, progressive/liberal causes, Calvin & Hobbes, Pearls Before Swine, Doonesbury, gay and lesbian history and culture (which as a heavyset gay male in his mid-30's i feel very much a part of and outside of at the same time - lots more on that can be found at my song lyrics site), David Lynch films...just to name a few!<br />
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So that's the kind of mentality that shall infuse everything forthcoming! If you're ever in the Phoenix Arizona area and see a banged-up car with a music note symbol rainbow flag sticker, Kermit hanging from the windshield, and a driver singing along to either a Muppet, Eurythmics, or Pet Shop Boys record, be sure to give me a wave (and a phone number if you're a strong-hearted semi-attractive Muppet-lovin' guy!)<br />
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At any rate, now that all the introduction stuff is out of the way, let's have some fun! Now we can get to the good stuff! It's time to play the music...</div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGlIKzVH458XaPamXwgbYh2oMxUpPY8PtGtgghDNAUrRXR_JKKFG_wKSkVFLrMcsRFOrAdxrIYn3wnV9MjyZT6sqVXlHImV0mtdqW28n9Y-_N1VAzXLI7uaubTeUlxg-lwMmGJJt9-M4/s1600/151240719_display.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGlIKzVH458XaPamXwgbYh2oMxUpPY8PtGtgghDNAUrRXR_JKKFG_wKSkVFLrMcsRFOrAdxrIYn3wnV9MjyZT6sqVXlHImV0mtdqW28n9Y-_N1VAzXLI7uaubTeUlxg-lwMmGJJt9-M4/s320/151240719_display.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"></div><div class="ecxblog_post_msg_text"><span style="color: red;">[Well, that banged up car no longer exists - it died and i no longer have any transportation at all...just one more thing in a too-long-a-list-that-i-care-to-think-about of things i've lost/had taken away from me/things that have gone wrong with my cursed life. Though maybe you may still see someone singing along with a Walkman at a bus stop if you keep your eyes peeled.]</span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0