1985 Muppet Video promo online... sort of

minor muppetz

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For years I've been wanting to see the promo for the 1985 Muppet Video compilations from Playhouse Video again. And the website Video Detective sort of has a promo...

For some reason, the site posted a clip from the Kermit and Miss Piggy Story portion of the promo, though even then it's not complete, as it cuts off before the guest stars are announced (though I saw the guest stars in the tag section). Whoever uploaded it also put the Playhouse Video logo before the clip, and as far as I know the site hasn't taken any additional clips from the promo to make individual promos for the other videos.

Unless that part of the promo was also made as a seperate promo, shown on TV or video, but even then why cut out the guest stars?

Anyway, here's the link: http://www.videodetective.com/movies/the-kermit-and-miss-piggy-story/4187
 

minor muppetz

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Well, somebody has FINALLY uploaded a whole (well, sort of) version of the promo, though it's a version with only the first 7 videos advertised. This version comes from the Muppet Weird Stuff VHS (which that user has also uploaded on YouTube).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryQWMktM4uo&feature=channel

There's a few things different from what I remembered in the promo. Clips from Muppet News sketches appear right before the Muppet Revue section and among the last three clips, but I remember different clips there... I do remember clips at the start of The Muppet Revue section beign different on certain tapes (Geri and the Attrics in most of the ones I used to rent frequently, though Muppet Weird Stuff is one of them, and the gorilla smashing the gorilla detector in the promo as shown after Muppet Moments), and I recall a clip from Happy Feet being shown near the end. Otherwise, all the clips are what I remember, in pretty much the same order (though for years I wondered which Roger Miller clip was shown in the Country Music with the Muppets promo... and if by chance you can't see the link, it's the "Hat Like That" clip).

This is such a happy day indeed!
 

minor muppetz

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Dang it! The preview and Muppet Weird Stuff have both been removed by the user, and those weren't online too long. I wonder why he removed them (I recall The Kermit and Piggy Story also being online for just a short period of time). I'm glad I watched them so many times during the short time they've been online.

Interestingly, when it comes to Muppet Weird Stuff on YouTube, all the movie clips were cut, as well as the "Wishing Song" and "Isn't It a Lovely Day?" I can see why Wishign Sogn would be cut, since it was on a Muppet Show album released by a company that has filed copyright claims agaisnt those recordings being online, but many clips from the movies can be found online, in many ways (including as part of the full movies uploaded by fans, fans taking the clips and uploading them seperately or as some fan-made compilation, and via productions not made for YouTube that had included the clips). And "Isn't It a Lovely Day?" wasn't included in any Muppet albums... I assume all music on the show was recorded for the show, as opposed to using established recordings.

Well, hopefully that will be reuploaded soon and the others will be uploaded as well.
 

Alvin

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looks like video has been removed
 

minor muppetz

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One thing I noticed about the promo when I was younger was that during "The Muppet Revue" portion the announcer didn't mention Linda Ronstadt, but when watching the promo again I noticed that Loretta Switt wasn't announced when listing the Rock Music with the Muppets guest stars. And it seems those two are the only guest stars not mentioned in certain videos, though they are announced as being in other videos. Though those are the only guests to appear in multiple videos in the first four releases,and there are three versions of the promo, with the number of videos increasing... Maybe when the promo for the first four was made they thought not to mention the same guests multiple times, changing their minds or whatever when the promo was extended to include more videos (as they seemed to have no problem listing guests again for later releases).

Rewatching the first link posted in this thread (where it only focused on The Kermit and Piggy Story), I noticed that a different announcer was used, though the same clips and music was used. I wonder if they swithced announcers after the promo for the first four. I recall hearing the promo for all ten videos on The MuppetCast long ago, and I'm sure the annoucner there is the same one as in the version that was briefly on YouTube.

Also, the link in the first post, I noticed they referred to that as "The Kermit and Miss Piggy Story". All this time I thought that was the title, but then I saw the longer promo, where they clearly listed the title as "The Kermit and Piggy Story", and then saw other sources (like Muppet Wiki) listing the title without the "Miss" part.

Going a little on-topic/a little off-topic (on-topic for the promo, off-topic for the online usage, sort of), I've found several YouTube videos of "openings" (and "closings") to various video releases, which include the legal information, promos, video company logos, and "feature presentation" cards (and also the actual opening/closing credits to the main programs). I've found a number of video "openings" to other Playhouse Video releases from around 1985, which include promos for other Playhouse Video releases, but they seem to never include promos for the Muppet releases. I find that a little odd, but it's also interesting that for the Muppet compilations they cared to only promote the other videos AND not put them before the programs started. Also noticed that the promos never mentioned Playhouse Video or showed the logo, just the "Muppet Video" logo. Most video companies include their logo cards on all promos on their releases, even though the consumers should know what company released them.
 

minor muppetz

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Well, the promo and Muppet Weird Stuff are back online. Whether it's a coincidence or if the uploader saw this thread I am happy and hope it stays online longer (and if the person who uploaded it has more of those videos I hope they show up).

Here's the ending to Muppet Weird Stuff followed by the promo:
=
 

minor muppetz

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Well, the full version of the first promo, advertising only the first four videos, is online now. And it has a different announcer than in the later ones (so that "Kermit and Piggy Story" promo I found long ago would have been edited out of this version). Interestingly, the portion of Rock Music with the Muppets has a little different dialogue; In this one, the announcer says "Finally, it's a lyrical spring...", but in the later promos, he says "It's musical madness...". But what is a lyrical spring (I know, look it up on google)? I actually remember this line (well the spring part) from when I was younger, and was a little confused when I saw the longer promo again and it said something different. I wonder if that meant Rock Music came out later than the first three, perhaps in spring. But then why advertise one (or slightly more) upcoming videos but not all of them (the others weren't compelted....)?

Anyway, here's the four-video version of the promo:

So now the first two versions of the promo are on YouTube. Hopefully the third and longest version will be added soon.
 
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