Today, we got some pretty exciting news!
In 1984, Jim Henson and Frank Oz made an appearance on television to promote The Muppets Take Manhattan. As usual, they weren't the stars; the Muppets were!
Although this episode was easily forgotten, it's made a resurface through the magical art of DVD'S!
They released a DVD of dozens and dozens of episodes of The Merv Griffin Show recently, and The Muppets episode is on there!!! There's one downside, though: THE WHOLE DVD COSTS 130 DOLLARS!!!!! It's not worth it at all to pay 130 dollars for one episode of The Muppets on a show.
That's why we can use the handy-dandy art of YOUTUBE to watch the 11-minute appearance:
So, you can see it right there! But, if you're a fan of The Merv Griffin Show, then pay the 130! What are you waiting for?
( P.S. I apologize for the shortness of this article. So, that's why you're getting another article today!!!)
Today, we have some really exciting news for all Muppet fans that have been a child after 1969!!!!! Well, today Sesame Street turned 45! Here's a little history about Sesame Street:
Sesame Street was first thought out by Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney and a whole bunch of people that used to be on a famous children's show called Captain Kangaroo and they blah blah blahbydy blahbydy blah blah sir-blahs-a-lot BLAH! The point is they dreamt that someday there would be a educational show with puppets in it, which is practically one-fourths of the educational shows we see today, but for 1969 this was a first!
" But," Joan Ganz Cooney said, " can we hire an actually decent puppeteer, that isn't the best in the business, like Jim Henson?" They thought of nothing. ( NOTE: Those past 2 sentences are not true, but this is:) They decided to hire Jim Henson, and Frank Oz.
Wait, two men could not puppeteer so much puppets!!!! So, they chose another puppeteer who went by the name of Caroll Spinney. In the first episode, Oscar was orange, Big Bird hardly had any feathers on his head, Ernie's eyes were placed weird, Kermit sounds weird, and Cookie Monster is nowhere even close to Cookie Monster. There was a lot of fixing to do.
There were also some pretty decent HUMAN actors on Sesame Street, too, but we want to learn about the Muppets.
By the 2nd season, there was some more Muppets, and the show was awesome. If you want proof, here is one of the episodes from the 2nd season:
The show kept on getting better and better, until in the early 1980's ELMO came a huge star.
Anyhow, today I was surprised to hear this exchange on radio this morning. However, I pay no attention to names, so I'm going to address them as " Somebody"s.
SOMEBODY: Today, let's celebrate the 45th anniversary of Sesame Street!
SOMEBODY 2: Yeah, I always hated Oscar the Grouch.
SOMEBODY: There's nothing likable about him.
SOMEBODY 3: But, Snuffy was always my idol on the show.
SOMEBODY 2: I always hated Big Bird!
Is that even allowed on the radio? Anyhow, take an hour out of your day to go watch an episode or two or three of everybody's favorite educational show, Sesame Street! See you tomorrow with a new article!
A couple of years ago, I got this awesome Muppet gift, and guess what it was? IT WAS A GILDA RADNER MUPPET SHOW SCRIPT FROM 1977!!!! ( Even though the episode was filmed later.) I'm guessing it was Jim Henson's copy, because whoever had it, drew all over it. Anyways, I thought I would transcribe it so that you people can compare the episode to the script. If you don't have it on DVD, here's the episode:
I know what you're thinking: " How can we tell if this is an actual script?" Well, when I got it, it came with a letter of authentication reading, " A rare original script for the original series of The Muppet Show. This script is for the episode guest starring Gilda Radner, recording date 7th March 1978. The 42 page script was formerly the property of Bryan Holgate, Art Director on the show, and has various hand annotations. Muppet Show and Henson items in general are always hard to find and this is a wonderful example of Muppet history. We hereby guarantee this script to be 100% authentic."
So, let's get on with part 1 of the script!
DRESSING ROOM DOOR. SCOOTER ENTERS
Scooter: Gilda Radner...oh Gilda Radner... fifteen seconds to curtain, Miss Radner.
CUT TO GILDA
Gilda: Thanks, Scooter...but, well... I really don't think I want to go through with this. I mean... I can't lie to you.
SEVERAL MONSTERS SURROUND GILDA CARRYING LARGE CLUBS, THE SWEDISH CHEF HAS HIS MEAT CLEAVER.
Gilda: ...I can lie to you...
SAFETY CURTAIN WITH " THE MUPPET SHOW" LOGO. ZOOM INTO 'O'. DOOR OPENS.
Kermit: It's The Muppet Show with our very special guest star, Gilda Radner!
SAFETY CURTAIN FLIES. TABS OPEN. SHOT OF ROWLF AND ZOOT IN ORCHESTRA PIT. MONSTERS ENTER STAGE. CUT TO ROW OF GIRLS.
Girls: It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights. It's time to meet The Muppets on The Muppet Show tonight!
CUT TO ROW OF BOYS:
Boys: It's time to put on make-up, it's time to dress up right. It's time to get things started.
CUT TO STATLER AND WALDORF:
Kermit: It's time to get things started
All: On the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational, this is what we call The Muppet Show!
CUT TO GONZO AND TRUMPET:
( Into Commercial No.1)
Kermit: Hey, welcome, welcome again! This is either The Muppet Show or the U.N. General Assembly. You have three guesses. And your first hint is that tonight's guest star is one of the great young comedienne's of our day, Miss Gilda Radner! But, first, this!
( Into: Eskimo Production Number)
SEVERAL PIGS AND- FOR THAT MATTER- PERHAPS A CHICKEN OR TWO ARE DRESSED AS ESKIMOS. IGLOO IN BACKGROUND. THERE IS A HOLE IN THE ICE AND THE ESKIMOS SEEM TO BE FISHING. THEY SING A SONG WHICH MAY BE ABOUT WINTER OR COLD WEATHER OR MAY BE TOTALLY INCONGROUS. ( " BROADWAY BABY" " AUTUMN IN NEW YORK" "PARIS IN THE SPRINGTIME" "BEGIN THE BEGUINE" WHATEVER.) AS THEY SING, A FISH POKES HIS HEAD OUT OF HOLE TO MAKE SNIDE COMMENTS. THEN OTHER THINGS COME OUT OF THIS HOLE IN THE ICE. A WALRUS PERHAPS, IF THE SHOP CAN PROVIDE IT. OR A PENGUIN... THEY JUST POP UP TO MAKE COMMENTS AND DISAPPEAR. IN THE END PERHAPS EVEN GONZO, OR THE GORILLA POP UP. COMMENTS TO BE WORKED OUT TO FIT LYRICS OF SONG TBA.
( Into: Statler and Waldorf No.1)
Statler: Weird. Why did they want the igloo?
Waldorf: What?
Statler: Why did they want the igloo?
Waldorf: Maybe, someone broke their ig.
( Into: Backstage No.1)
ESKIMOS PASS
Kermit: Okay, good work - move it out now though. Go a little faster.
Pig: I can't! I've got a broken ig!
Kermit: What?
( Gilda enters, with applause)
Kermit: Oh, hi, Gilda. Is that your costume for the dance number?
Gilda: Uh Hunh. Have you got my parrot?
Kermit: Your what...?
Gilda: My parrot. I asked you for a six foot tall talking parrot.
Kermit: A six foot talking parrot?
Gilda: You did get my letter?
Kermit: Of course I did, but I couldn't quite make out your handwriting.
Gilda: Sorry
Kermit: A parrot was it?
Gilda: Sure. A parrot, what did you think I'd asked for?
Kermit: I wasn't sure. But, it looked to me like.. Oh, never mind.
ENTER SIX FOOT TALL CARROT IN TUXEDO
Carrot: How come I gotta share a dressing room with a lot of vegetables?
Kermit: Er... ( TO CARROT) Not just now. There's been a mix-up here.
Carrot: If they ai'nt outta there soon there's gonna be a mixed salad in here.
Gilda: A 6 foot talking carrot?
Carrot: Watch it lady, I'm a star. Played the title role in Roots. Sung the hit song from "Cole."
Kermit: You were in Cole? Cole Porter?
Carrot: I was in Cole. Coleslaw. I had a...
Gilda: Sure. I know. You had a huge celery. And, I don't have an opening number any more.
Kermit: Why not?
Gilda: I was going to do a selection from the Parrots of Penzance.
Kermit: The Parrots of Penzance. That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.
Gilda: Well, it's better than selections from The Carrots of Penzance! Come on, vitamin brains! ( EXITS)
( KERMIT HEADS FOR STAGE)
Kermit: I'll introduce it. But, will anyone believe it?
( Into: Kermit intros Gilda)
Kermit: Okay, okay. And now for the special delectation of those opera lovers in the audience, our guest star, Miss Gilda Radner will sing selections from the Carrots of Penzance?
( Into: The Carrots of Penzance)
Alright, so tune in to part 2 of my Muppet Show script, coming soon!
IS THIS THE END OF HUMANITY AS WE KNOW IT???????? You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?
Well, in case you didn't know, Disney World and Disney Land decided to make a Muppet 3-D show for people to watch at their parks. ( The Walt Disney World version opened in 1991 in Hollywood Studios. and the Disneyland version opened in 2001 ( or 2004, I have no idea) in California Adventure.
It's about Kermit going into a little tour of Muppet Labs, Fozzie doing cheap 3-D tricks, Bean Bunny leaving forever because he messed up Miss Piggy's song, and The Muppets on a search for Bean Bunny. Wow, I had no idea how much Muppet-Vision-3-D is about!
Well, anyways, we got news a couple of days ago that Muppet-Vision-3D is closed temporarily ( sure....) at California Adventure. Of course, Muppet fans are disappointed a lot because Muppet-Vision-3D is one of the only ways to see The Muppets in 3-D and because it has a great storyline.
There's a lot of theories behind this, and I'm sad to say this is the most accurate one there is:
Muppet-Vision-3-D is closed for now, but on December 20th, the theater will open back up again to have a new Frozen ( I know, BLECH) show for 6 months! Then, Muppet-Vision-3-D will open back up again in May of 2014.
Just saying... this could last forever, because I love The Muppets and all, but more people like Frozen than The Muppets... Many of the people I know have gone to Disney World and have not seen Muppet-Vision, but they would see a Frozen show...
I just realized how crazy I'm talking... Disneyland wouldn't do this, would they? I mean, after all, they did buy The Muppets in 2004, and they wanted to ever since 1989! But, on the other hand, Frozen was such a huge success. There's a lot of what-ifs to this question, and I would not like to answer some of them..
But, Frozen did receive $1,274,219,009 from the day it came out to the day it stopped playing. The Muppets ( 2011) got 165 million. That's not a very good comparison.
We can keep Muppet-Vision alive on California! Everybody, go to The Walt Disney Company with huge signs during when they're making computer animation for their next.... What, too big? On the bright side, Muppet-Vision is still open in Florida!
More news on this as this story develops.
Today, I have the best news on the planet. ( Oh, and I had a fantastic Halloween, by the way. I spent it watching the Vincent Price and Alice Cooper episodes of TMS.) Would you like to know what it is?
Well, do you know what this picture is? It's a picture of Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, and Miss Piggy surrounded by Bill Barretta ( performer and sometimes director of The Muppets) and Nancy Kanter, executive VP, original programming and general manager of Disney Junior....which can only mean one thing: THE MUPPETS ARE HAVING A INTERSTITIAL SHOW ON DISNEY JUNIOR!!!!
You're probably looking at me like, " What the heck is a interstitial?" but it's a short TV show in between commercials ( usually about 2-3 minutes long.) Capiesche? Capiesche.
And, now, about the target audience: Disney Junior? DISNEY JUNIOR?????? THAT CHANNEL IS FOR 2-6 YEAR OLDS!!! THE MUPPETS DO NOT HAVE A TARGET AUDIENCE OF 2-6 YEARS OLD!! Such shows as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Sofia the First will be on the same channel as The Muppets.. It drives me crazy.
Okay, Jim Henson's vision after Sesame Street was that puppets wouldn't just be for kids, and he proved that by making The Muppet Show, but yet still people think puppets are for kids..... GAH! LISTEN TO JIM HENSON'S AWESOME OPTOMISM, FOR ONCE!! Am I overreacting too much? Yes, but y'know...like...okay, so...alright....GAHHHHH!
It's set to air in 2015, and they started filming in September. Yes, we will be seeing Kermit and Miss Piggy in the in-between-little-and-big screen!
It looks like it's in fantastic hands, since they've got Bill Barretta on board, who's been working for The Muppets for about 20 years and is performer of such characters as Pepe the King Prawn, Rowlf the Dog, Johnny Fiama, and Bobo the Bear.
Even though it's on the worst channel it could be, I'm pumped to see Muppet interstitials on TV in 2015! ( Notice how I said 2015, not 2015-2017 or something like that. 'Cause it probably will go on for about 4 months, if so, and then get cancelled marathon-style.)
Now, it's time for What-Ifs! What if it's more adult then we think it is? What if it becomes a half-hour show? What if it features Seymour and Sal Minella as a team ( because that would be awesome.)? What if Frank Oz comes back to perform his characters?
Tune in when we hear more information on the subject!
Well, it's me again!! This time with a topic that not much people could answer. And, if they did, they would say, " I don't know. I guess we just need it." I will provide a lengthy answer to: Why do Muppet fans need the internet?
Muppet fans need the internet for 1. YouTube. YouTube provides many, many, many Muppet YouTube videos that we would have never heard of otherwise. It also gives us old favorites that have been released on DVD for less than you would have to pay regular for them. YouTube is pretty awesome because of all those reasons.
2. Google. Did you know there's a search engine named GOOGLE???? No, but really, I like this because you can search basically anything Muppet-related and chances are some good results will come up. And, if you search " Muppet" 1,860,000 results come up. That's almost 2 million results! You can also go to the great Muppet websites including..
3. Muppet Central! Muppet Central is wonderful because not only can you view some Muppet news ( from the late 90's up until basically 2013) but you can post on a forum with other Muppet fans! I would consider being a member of this forum, because it's excellent. I also like it because there's interviews with some of The Muppeteers from the time way back when Muppets From Space premiered. I also enjoy...
4. ToughPigs and The Muppet Mindset! These are some very cool Muppet websites and they give me all my information for articles, as well as being the humorous websites they is. ( I know that was bad grammar. It was intended.) Anyways, I really like how they do sort of like some series, which has inspired me with my Fan Fiction Fridays, Muppet Review Mondays, Muppet Babies Reviews, and Moopet Highlights.
Well, that's about it for today! Join me tomorrow where I talk All About Animal! ( Sorry about the short article today.) BYE!
Today, we got some shocking news that no one was really expecting ( except for me... I knew that it would unfortunately happen, because he was kind of sort of 90, but that's not the point..) that the actor who played Doc on Fraggle Rock, Gerry Parkes, died at the age of 90.
This is a very shocking blow for us Muppet fans. Doc and Sprocket were one of the best Muppet ( and human) pairings of all time. He was the only human in Muppet Family Christmas, besides the brief cameo by Jim Henson, and that's a good enough reason for Muppet fans to be sad about this.
But, really, all jokes aside ( maybe), this is very, very sad. A little video of Gerry Parkes as Doc knowing that we will remember him forever and his spirit will live on:
That is from the last episode of Fraggle Rock, a heartwarming one, where Doc eventually encounters all of the Fraggles. Well, Doc will meet again with Gobo, Convincing John, and Cantus in heaven. We will all be looking forward to meeting you in heaven some day.
Besides from his work he did with the Fraggles, he was also an accomplished actor and had a successful career. He worked on the 1960's TV shows The Forest Rangers, The Littlest Hobo, and Cagney and Lacey.
The way he handled his character on Fraggle Rock is excellent. He would look at something, wonder what's wrong, and then Sprocket would bark or whimper sadly, and he would think it would be an idea and somehow figure it out himself. It would turn into comedic genius, and one of the highlights of Fraggle Rock.
I also liked how Fraggle Rock was set up: a segment with Doc and Sprocket, Fraggle plot points, an encounter with Sprocket, some more Fraggle silliness, and another segment with Doc and Sprocket. I always loved watching Doc and Sprocket. The best part was watching the one or two fifths of the show that Doc and Sprocket would be in.
Anyways, my point for this article is to explain that Gerry Parkes will surely be missed. I bet that we're all happy that he lived until 90, and could explore the increasing amount of Fraggle fandom we have also seen. Sadly, he will not be able to see the even highly increasing amount of fandom the show is getting. His work will live on on The Hub.
Well, that's it for all of my thoughts on this matter. If you would like your thoughts on this to be heard, send a PM to me on Muppet Central. My username is fozzieisfunny. My sum up of this whole thing is: :(. I'm sad. Now, let me rewatch the whole series of Fraggle Rock in peace!!!!! Bye! See you tomorrow!
