We're now officially open - Welcome! [From the Archives: 3-28-09]

[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 28, 2009;]

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.

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.

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.

Updates will be subject to my schedule, but expect new posts between one to three days on average.

And if you're as big a Muppet Freak as me, send me a note saying hi!

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.


[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!

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" ;)

Heck, for that matter, howz about we start a betting pool as to how long it takes Walter to find us! ]

The COOLEST Sesame Album EVER (and It's All About Naked Bert) [From the Archives: 3-27-09]

[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 27, 2009]

All right, let's start off with a disclaimer: 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. 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? Looking at his Muppet Wiki page was basically like looking at a list of Sesame Street's All Time Classics such as: *Bus Stop *City-Country Song  Different People, Different Ways *Fur *Frazzle  Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year) *Numerical Correspondence Song *One Way  Pockets (this was not a Muppet song, but it was still sang by Marilyn Sokol and just as much of a Sesame Classic) Sign, You're a Friend of Mine  Swamp Mushy Muddy  What's the Name of That Song?  Women Can Be ...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. But enough with the traumatic childhood memories - now let's pay tribute to the COOLEST Sesame Street Album EVER. 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. Now that's not WHY it's the all-time coolest, but it certainly doesn't hurt! 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. "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.  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. 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. 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! 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: Bert (singing): I refuse to sing along, I WON'T So please don't ask me if I want to 'cause I DON'T Although for you I would do almost anything... Ernie (spoken): REALLY? Bert (singing): ...Along is one way which I do not want to sing! As soon as the song ends, it turns out that Ernie's sing-along was not just going to be a private party. Ernie (hearing a knock): Someone's at the door. Bert: Well go see who it is and lock yourself out! ERNIE: IT'S OPEN! Bert: Wait a minute - what are you doing? 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. 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!" 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. 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. 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". 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. 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. 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! 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. Once Oscar leaves, Susan sings: Don't shout Grouchy Oscar, don't shout That's not what our singing's about So if you can't take The noise that we make Go back to your trash can and pout which kicks off "The Limerick Song", one of the funniest tracks on the album with various people contributing a verse. Ernie: You all know my good buddy Be-ert Bert (spoken:) Oh no... Ernie: Whose feelings are easily hu-urt When our friends all play dress-up Old Bert has to fess up Bert (singing:) Yeah - I'm always the one in the skirt - AND I DON'T LIKE IT Bert even joins the sing-along for the first time, but for his own reasons... There once was a man named Mcdowell Who planted a tree with a trowel Then he got in the shower Where he stayed for an hour And said...SOMEBODY GET ME A TOWEL!!! 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!"  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. Eventually Mr Hooper comes in saying he got an order for three quarts of ice cream. (Of course Ernie wants Bert to pay for it despite his current lack of pants) Mr. Hooper: Ah, don't worry about it Bert, you can pay me later. Bert: I just want to get up! This prompts the cast to sing the Sesame standard Everyone Loves Ice Cream, which they conclude with a rousing "We love you, Mr. Hooper!" 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). 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. 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?" Ernie: "I didn't know you could play the piano, Cookie Monster." Cookie; "Oh SURE..." 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. 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". 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!" 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. 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. 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. 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! Way. Too. Cool. 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!) 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.
[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.]

2009 Daytime Emmys: Sesame Street and a Huge Rant on One Life to Live [From the Archives: 3-27-09]

[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 27, 2009]

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!

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!)

So since i can't stand sports, what then would be "MY Super Bowl" television event? The Daytime Emmy Awards.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!"

How bad is the situation? The cable channel SOAPnet even passed on being the ceremony's savior!

Even though the official announcement still hasn't been made, news has broken that CW will go ahead and air the awards this year.

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.

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?

It could go either way.

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!)

But then there's the acting awards...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!"

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?

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.

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.

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!

So if you're only here for the Muppet stuff, we've got Naked Bert on deck! So stay tuned!

[The Emmy ceremony in question receives a detailed review in a later archive entry so no new comments here at this time.]

I'M FEATURED IN NELSON BRANCO'S NEW OLTL BOOK!!!

...We interrupt the reposting of these archive articles with some personally exciting news!

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.

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.

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.

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!)

The book is called "Between Heaven and Hell - a One Life to Live Tribute" and is available in various online formats at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134853  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!

Here for Muppet Freak readers is my words from the book...

"In 1992, the 20-year-old D.W. Mckim never imagined he’d regularly tune in to a
daytime soap, much less count it as one of his favorite shows! The closest I
ever came to getting hooked on a soap was my daily viewings of SOAP reruns
when I’d eat my dinner after coming home from school.

But my major in college was theatre and for years I had been especially
interested in the role it can play in social change and reflecting current issues;
something that had grown out of my first professional performance experience
as a 10-year-old puppeteer with Kids on the Block (known for its life-sized
puppets representing various types of handicaps) and my high school stint with
Planned Parenthood’s Positive Force Players, a group of teens who wrote,
performed, and toured with skits about various teen issues and problems. One
day, when I was flipping through channels looking for something to watch, I
happened upon a talk show where ONE LIFE was being featured, talking about
how the show was currently taking on various social issue storylines such as
lupus, illiteracy, and homophobia. All of a sudden, I knew I had to tune in. Not
only was this kind of thing very much up my alley, but having recently come
out as a gay man and getting involved with various advocacy groups and
activities, I could tell this was truly groundbreaking — gays were still pretty
much invisible from the dial (primetime or daytime) as this was just prior to
the great Lavender Explosion of Gay/Lesbian representation on television.

I turned on ONE LIFE with all my biases and myths of what soaps were fully
intact — the grating organ music, lots of sob stories, hammy actors that were
mostly models, sex, sex and more sex. Boy, was I in for a surprise! Little did I
know that this was at a time when then-executive producer Linda Gottlieb was
determined to wipe out exactly those types of stereotypes, looking to up the
ante on all aspects of creativity — from the music to her recruitment of
acclaimed novelist Michael Malone to head up the writing staff. I may have
been unaware of that at the time, but I immediately recognized that ONE LIFE
was not at all what I imagined soaps to be!

 I remember immediately being enchanted by this amazing blond woman who
just sparkled with electricity when she was on the screen — my first exposure
to Tonja Walker as Alex Olanov! Then one by one, as I became familiar with
other cast members, I was impressed by how many actors actually looked more
like “regular people” and not “soap stars.” Luna Moody was definitely not a
character I associated with soap operas! Even a beauty like Yasmine Bleeth
would often go without makeup and allow her to look like she’d been put
through the wringer in her stint as Lee Ann Demerest. Of course I was
captivated by the Billy Douglas story — but even more than Ryan Phillippe’s
Billy, I was drawn to this acting powerhouse known as Susan Haskell! And, at
times, Viki and Clint felt more like my mom and dad than my actual parents.

There are so many characters and actors I dearly love — ONE LIFE was a wealth
of riches in these departments after all — but I really need to give special
mention to Robin Strasser, who I would credit as one of my top five favorite
actresses of all time. I remember when Robin reclaimed the role of Dorian; I
had heard that she was an amazing talent but, of course, was wary since Elaine
Princi’s Dorian was already one of my huge favorites. But seeing Robin on her
first day back was the most incredible experience; she just set the screen on
fire. She grabbed hold of my heart and has had it ever since.

Soap fans often unfairly get stereotyped as old housewives watching while
they’re doing the ironing. I’m one of those fans who don’t fit that profile in any
way: male, started watching as a college student. I find that daytime serials
are great sources of entertainment for more intellectual viewers since no other
medium is able to present stories with such long complex detailed storylines.
With decades of daily hour-long shows, no other genre can reward viewers with
such finely developed characters. Serial storytelling is a cherished art form and
aside from perhaps the comic book, no other contemporary example exists that
has nearly a half-century of history behind it. If soaps as a genre are considered
“dead,” it can only be because those currently producing them or hosting them
on their network don’t realize their true worth and potential — and ABC/Brian
Frons is a textbook example of the wrong people entrusted with these legacies.

Thanks to everyone at ONE LIFE for creating something magical, inspiring, and
captivating that has kept me going far longer than I ever imagined I would, and
for bringing joy and hope on days where none would otherwise have existed."

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:

Prologue:
My Life To Live

Chapter 1:
Giving Birth to LIFE

Chapter 2:
Writer In White: An Agnes Nixon Timeline

Chapter 3:
The SWAN Manifesto — Why Agnes Nixon Deserves a Kennedy Center Honor

Chapter 4:
The Greatest Executive Producer Of ‘Em All — The Paul Rauch Interviews

Chapter 5:
ONE LIFE’s Best Head Writer of All Time — The Michael Malone Interview

Chapter 6:
Best Partner-In-Crime — The Josh Griffith Interview

Chapter 7:
ONE LIFE Lives Again — The Cartini Era

Chapter 8:
Serial Killer — The Most Hated Man In TV, Brian Frons

Chapter 9:
Conspiracy Theories: Did ABC Purposely Murder Its Daytime Line-up?

Chapter 10:
Soap Warrior — The Catherine Hickland Interviews

Chapter 11:
The Little Soap That Could: How ONE LIFE Got The Last Laugh;
PLUS: The Brett Claywell and Scott Evans Interview

Chapter 12:
LLanview’s Best Characters

Chapter 13:
Best Storylines

Chapter 14:
Worst Storylines

Chapter 15:
Anatomy Of A Story Malfunction — The Farah Fath Interviews

Chapter 16:
Master Class: Best Actors

Chapter 17:
Acting Beast: The Trevor St. John Interviews

Chapter 18:
Master Class: Best Actresses

Chapter 19:
She’s The Boss: The Judith Light Interview

Chapter 20:
Gold Standards: ONE LIFE’s Emmy Award Wins

Chapter 21:
Bridges of Llantano Mountain — The Greatest Love Stories

Chapter 22:
Best Weddings

Chapter 23:
Most Entertaining Couples

Chapter 24:
Best Recasts

Chapter 25:
The Best Lord-Reily Recast: The Nathan Fillion Interview

Chapter 26:
Most Improved Actors

Chapter 27:
Worst Recasts

Chapter 28:
Hair Model City

Chapter 29
Best Moments/Cliffhangers

Chapter 30:
Best Multiple Roles

Chapter 31:
Second Chances At Life

Chapter 32:
Did You Know….? Casting 411

Chapter 33:
Best Celebrity Guest Stars Ever

Chapter 34:
Best ONE LIFE Alumni

Chapter 35:
Biggest Wastes of Talent

Chapter 36:
Gone Too Soon: The Forbes March Interviews

Chapter 37:
Best Villains

Chapter 38:
Worst Villains

Chapter 39:
Best Villainesses

Chapter 40:
Vixen Extraordinaire — The Robin Strasser Interviews

Chapter 41:
Worst Villainesses

Chapter 42:
Arrest ‘Em: Best Scene-Stealing Actors

Chapter 43:
LMAO: The Ilene Kristen Interviews

Chapter 44:
Best Location Shoots

Chapter 45:
Best Younger Actors

Chapter 46:
Brat Pack: The Brandon Buddy, Kristen Alderson and Scott Clifton Interview

Chapter 47:
Best Real-Life Couples

Chapter 48:
The Susan Haskell Interview

Chapter 49:
Hottest Hunks

Chapter 50:
Sexiest Men: The Michael Easton and Tuc Watkins Interviews

Chapter 51:
Most Beautiful Women

Chapter 52:
Sexiest Woman Alive — The Kassie De Paiva Interview

Chapter 53:
Best In Marriage: Asa Buchanan’s Wives

Chapter 54:
Best Character Names

Chapter 55:
Sexiest Moniker — The John Brotherton Interview

Chapter 56:
Boldest Faces: The Biggest ONE LIFE Superstars

Chapter 57:
The Greatest Star Of Them All — The Andrea Evans Interviews

Chapter 58:
Stars Who Should Have Emmys

Chapter 59:
Life After Llanview: Fearless Predictions

Chapter 60:
What ONE LIFE Meant To Its Fans

Heck, even if i WASN'T a fan, i'd be tempted to read through the book after looking over the chapter summary!

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.

The Top Five COOLEST Sesame Street Songs EVER! [From the Archives: 3-25-09]

[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 25, 2009] 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!) This early love of Muppet record collecting would later give way to Muppet video collecting/tape trading...but that's another post! 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. 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. 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. And that song is: #5: CLINK, CLANK! --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. 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.) 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! 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: Bert: AAAAhhh! Ernie, you RUINED it! Ernie: Well, I couldn't find a whistle, Bert! Bert: Well, this time YOU rattle and I'll TWEET! Ernie: Okay, Bert! (HONK!) Bert: ERNIE! Ernie: I just had to put it down, Bert. Bert: Well... CONTROL yourself! 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. #4: THIS FROG -- 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: This frog has to go his own way This frog doesn't care what the other frogs say This frog wants to be happy, and this frog has to try This frog is gonna make it or know the reason why I'm not gonna sit here like some dumb old bump on a log That isn't me! I'm gonna be this frog! ...and the rest of the song is just that good! Including other classic lines like: This frog is staying with it, like a tick sticks to a dog and... This frog will not wear a halter, cause nothing halts this frog! 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" #3: I WANT A MONSTER TO BE MY FRIEND --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. 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! 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! I want a monster To be my playmate I want a monster To be my friend I want to get For my own pet A real live monster Who's not pretend 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! 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). 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" 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! 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! #2: COOKIE DISCO --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: (singers:) He's shaggy, he's blue And he knows how to chew - COOKIE! (Cookie:) Can you dig it? (Singers:) You think you can munch, Brother, you're out to lunch Compared with - COOKIE! (Cookie:) Did someone say "Lunch?" ...and... (Singers:) If you offered him treasure, Will he take it? (Cookie:)Darn tootin', but you know me would Get a lot more pleasure from Fig Newton! #1: THE SUBWAY --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! 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: OOOOHHH... Kermit: My stop just went by! OHHHHH... Betty Lou: Hey, your thumbs in my eye! OOOHHHH.... Hip Dude: Its so hot, I could die! and... You could lose your purse Or you might lose something worse On the subway SUBWAY! and most especially... Buy a token now for a ride that's "super-WOW" on the SUBWAY! ...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! 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! Now finally, I do have to give a special... HONORABLE MENTION: to SURPRISE 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. 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! 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! [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!]

Your Host... [From the Archives: 3-24-09]

[The below article was posted on the original Muppet Freak on March 24, 2009]

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?" 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. 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. 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. ["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] 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! 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 Ultraviolet MUSE-ings if anyone's so inclined to check it out.  (No real Muppet content there though) 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! 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!) 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... [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.]

Introduction to the Muppet Freak Blog [From the Archives: 3-23-09]

[The below article was the original first Muppet Freak post from March 23, 2009]

Hi-ho, d.w. mckim here!  I am a lifelong "Muppet Freak" - a devoted hardcore fan of the various works of The Jim Henson Company - including the Muppets, Farscape, and much much more.  I'm basically a living Muppet/Jim Henson Encyclopedia and historian.

I've been a part of the Muppet fandom community since the mid-90's when it made its way onto the world wide web (and even a member of the official Muppet Fan Club years before that).  I've contributed in various ways to multiple sites, fanzines, and forums but this is my first endeavor at doing something of my own.  Mainly because i don't believe in duplicating others' efforts and there's lots of other great Muppet fan sites and forums that do what they do well.  I wouldn't want to do something unless it was unique, and i think this blog will be something unlike anything else.  It's not a news site (though if i have heads up on something, i'll post it), it's not Tough Pigs (though since that's another blog-based site for adult Muppet fans, that's probably the site this blog has the most in common with), in fact it's not even going to be totally about the Muppets!

So what is it exactly?  Though it may change and evolve, at present i plan for it to be reflections, analysis, reviews, commentary, tributes, and the like from someone who loves to discuss the Muppets/Jim Henson.  Perhaps in the future, i may include rumors, interviews, or scoops if i end up with any insider sources or help (Muppet/Henson insiders are always welcome to correspond - and i'm happy to honor wishes of anonymity.)

But that's not all...probably between 15-25% will also touch on some of my other areas of fandom and personal observations and reflections.

When the idea of doing a blog came to me, i wanted to be sure it was something that had some potential for longevity - i don't want to find ten posts into it that i've run out of ideas of things to talk about after all.  But i sat down to just brainstorm around 25 possible topics and ended up thinking of twice as much (plus many more since that initial brainstorm session)  Some posts will be silly, others snarky, sweet, scholarly, and much more.

This won't be for "everyone" (nor do i intend it to be) - but i hope to attract a number of people who find it insightful, entertaining, worthy of bookmarking, and something to look forward to.

I'll close with where the name came from...there's not really any official name for Muppet fans.  (Though fans of Farscape are known as Scapers - and i am a major Scaper!)  But i've always really loved the term "Muppet Freak" - It comes from one of the episodes from The Muppet Show's first season where guest Valerie Harper refers to herself as a Muppet Freak (at which point George the Janitor comments that everyone on the show is a freak)  Not only was that one of the few times Muppet fans were referred to by anything resembling a title in any of the productions, but i think the name may take on some particular significance since the next Muppet film is being written by Jason Segel...who was originally known by his role on Freaks and Geeks.

I also considered "Fleet's Scribblings" - Fleet Scribbler being an obscure Muppet gossip reporter character which was also my name on some forums (and my avatar on Muppet Central) - All of his rare appearances were laugh out loud funny, i loved the look of the puppet, and originally chose the name because i wanted to name myself after a Muppet reporter or broadcaster but wanted to do something more obscure than The Newsman.  (Nor did i want to set myself up to have heavy objects frequently falling on my head.)  But let's face it...Muppet Freak just fits more, sounds better - not to mention works better on search engines!  (Plus i already have experience naming something after The Newsman...i was the one who came up with the name for the wonderful Muppet Newsflash blog - so that name was already taken...by myself...?)

In my next post, i'll introduce myself in more detail and after that we'll begin the first installment of Muppety Goodness.

[Well, after reading the "new" beginning, here's the "old" beginning,  Going back to Jason Segel, he would continually refer to himself as a "Muppet Freak" in promotional interviews and each time i heard it, it always did my heart proud!  I also thought of something i hadn't remembered til now - back when i was in my preteens and writing songs, i had decided that if i founded a band it would be called "Freque Waves" - a multiple play on words referencing frequency waves and New Wave Music.  I still think it would be an awesome band name and as far as i know to this day it still hasn't been taken...and since chronic bronchitis has forever ruined my singing ability, i sure as heck won't ever be using it so it's up for the taking for anyone who wants it!  Heck, just for free i'll even throw out the runner-up name i had thought about using - "Decadent Desserts".  So, if i ever hear a great new song by one of those band names, i'll know someone in the band was a Muppet Freak reader!

Yikes!  I had hoped that reposting the old articles would be a simple matter of copy-and-paste, but that function doesn't work with this site so i have to manually type the whole old articles all over again!!!  Good thing i'm a fast typist...but it will also probably mean it will take longer to get all the old articles up that i had initially hoped.]

MuppetFreak Debut...the Second Time...

In March 2009, the original Muppet Freak Blog made its debut.

The concept was to fill a void that existed at the time in the world of online Muppet fandom; a site devoted to indepth commentary, reviews, ramblings, essays, and analysis of The Muppets/Jim Henson from the perspective of d.w. mckim, a lifelong Henson fan/scholar.

Prior to Muppet Freak, i had contributed in various ways to several other Muppet fandom venues - some of which no longer exist, others still living on to this day and even some new ventures that had popped up since.

The main focus was to be centered around the theme of Fandom.  Even if the articles sometimes covered other areas outside Muppet/Henson Fandom (i originally figured 10-20% of the content would be non-Muppet related.)  It was also important to come from a place of fearless truth...not afraid to counter praise when earned with harsh criticism when warranted...even if that meant never being officially recognized, endorsed by or affiliated with any of the production companies that own the various Henson-evolved properties.

I had lots of great ideas and stuff i wanted to touch on including several ideas for regular features.  During the original Muppet Freak's run, i scratched the surface of what i wanted to accomplish but life got in the way...and got in the way...and kept getting in the way.  My life for the last decade has been anything but smooth sailing (at times, i've even theorized i was actually already dead and in hell) but things really got pretty ugly for me personally since the time the original blog started and due to various other obstacles taking my attention's priorities, MF went on a hiatus or two during its original run...and then what was most likely going to be a permanent break...

In 2011, i accepted that my time on the earth was coming to a close.  I had gotten to a point where i had no joy, hope, dreams that could realistically come true, or reasons to live left...with the sole exception of my areas of fandom providing anything close to a "reason" to hang on one more day or provide a form of escapism to make life bearable or bring a smile to my face.  This actually was a state i found myself in prior to 2011, but given that it was the year that was to end with my 40th birthday and everything in my life was just continuing to get worse with no signs of hope, i accepted that the time had finally come to just End.  I faced a similar decision a decade prior, not planning on allowing myself to live to turn 30...but then the first (and to date only) official Muppet fan convention just so happened to occur on my 30th birthday.  (As you'll come to read, i cover these issues in more detail in some of the upcoming archived articles.)

Being that it's now 2012, needless to say my departure didn't occur this time yet either.  As my self-imposed deadline approached, i found there were some areas of my fandoms coming up past that time that i wanted to hang around for...including one of my all time fave long-running tv shows ending in January - and a good chance that its network television ending wasn't going to be the last chapter in its history.  Since i had contributed a lot of energy into the fight to revive it, i at the very least wanted to hold on a little longer to see (a) how it ended and (b) what form its likely revival would take.

The area of fandom described above was one of my non-Muppet/Henson ones, but as Muppet fans know, late 2011 was a landmark time for The Muppets with its huge new movie hitting theaters in Thanksgiving.  Not only were the Muppets back in a major way, but the theme of the movie itself was...MUPPET FANDOM...and it seemed like a blog like this one would be a lot more relevant if i chose to revive it.  I wrestled with the decision if i wanted to try again - i had no shortage of ideas i wanted to explore - but i had to decide if i wanted to bring it back when chances are very good that my time left on the planet to write for it would still ultimately be very short.

...And there was also something else in the way.  Even though i made the conscious choice to hold on and keep going after turning 40, there was a major unplanned side effect that's consumed my being since...i sunk into the Mother of All Major Depressions on my 40th birthday that pretty much left me numb and confined to bed when not doing tasks that couldn't be avoided like going to work and such.  It was like my body, mind, and soul had gotten so accustomed to the idea that i wouldn't be here, that i just kind of "shut down" and "turned off" so to speak.  Any moment i could spend in bed, i did.  This went on for a week - then two - then here i am over three months later in still very much the same condition.  I don't know how long it will take to recover...or if i even will.  For the last few months, i've just felt like i've been unplugged or turned off or broken.

I knew that if i did recover and start getting back to "normal", reviving Muppet Freak should be a priority since as mentioned, the time for it seems more right than ever thematically and more than ever my areas of fandom are the ONLY things that bring me any kind of joy or escape and reason to hold on.  But i didn't know if given my current state if i'd have the energy or will - or remaining time - to devote to it.

Turns out the decision was made for me -

The original blogging host that the first version of Muppet Freak was on folded at the end of January.  Muppet Freak (and countless other blogs using that host) disappeared.  Even though i was already wrestling with the decision to revive Muppet Freak - and most likely move it to a new blog host...even going so far as to experiment with setting up the initial template...i had no indication the original Muppet Freak blog would actually disappear on its own - and i always intended for the archives to stay up even if i was no longer here.  So now i found i HAD to at least set up a new Muppet Freak - even if just for the purpose of finding a new place to host the archives (thank Frog for Google caches which allowed me to retrieve the material!)

So right now as i type this new introduction, i don't yet know if this Muppet Freak v.2 will just be the archived articles on a new host or if i'll proceed with new content or not...i do know there's a few new articles i DEFINITELY want to write and probably won't even want to wait until i've finished reposting all the old stuff...but whether this ends up being basically a "second edition reprint" only or it turns into a whole new major endeavor with regular new content with lots of followers months down the road...this is at least where its starting from.  Right now i can't tell you what exactly the future holds as i type these words, but of course down the line - whatever this may or may not have evolved into, you'll always be able to look back at this inaugural post and see how it began.

Stay tuned for the reposting of all the original Muppet Freak's articles which i should be steadily putting up over the next days/weeks - and keep an eye out for some possible new content snuck in between them...

And if you have any thoughts as to what you'd like to see or suggestions about content or even just construction/design, feel free to email me at dw_m@webtv.net - i'm very computer illiterate (mainly due to having been online for so long without technically HAVING a computer) so even just little tips and hints as how to add some bells/whistles/extra features are welcome.

d.w. mckim