You're favorite 80's puppet shows(non JHC)

[beaker]

Just curious what some of your fave non JHC puppet shows are from the 80's(when puppet shows seemed to be everywhere)

Mine would be:

Great Space Coaster(cant say enough about this show!)
Buster and Me(loved that show!)
Today's Special

I really wish I could find more info on some of these shows, besides whats on Yesterdayland.

 

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Well, this may have been filmed in mostly the late '70s, but "The Letter People"!!!



Also Mr. Dressup, and there were some puppets on "The Sunshine Factory".

Oo, and "Dumbo's Circus" and "Welcome to Pooh Corner", as "full-body puppets" go (if they qualify, lol).

 

[Crazy Harry]

Since it premeared in 89, I guess Eureka's Castle counts as an 80s show.

I miss having a single digit age.

 

[frogboy4]

I didn't really like non-Henson puppets growing up. To be honest, I still don't like many puppet shows now. Between the Lions is a very interesting modern show, but we're talking 80s here.

Pee Wee's Playhouse had some interesting puppets of all sorts. Very stylish, but non the best puppetry. Heck, I enjoyed it (and there's always the Cyndi theme).

I also liked Alf for the first two seasons. After that it became redundant to me, but in its prime there was some well sculpted humor and a very expressive puppet. I hope he can transcend these tacky one-note-joke commercials and make some sort of edgy comeback.

 

[beaker]

I'm not a fan by any strecth of the imagination any non JHC/SW related puppet shows in recent time...but the 80's provded quite a bit of puppet shows that I loved...the 70's I gather had the more cryptic and unsettling acid trip stuff(H R Puffenstuff, tho I did like DC Follies in the 80's)

My one big complaint about Alf was, that except for that one episode with Skip and Rhonda, there was nary a puppet to be found besides Alf(in non full bodied shots at least...I think Piggy is the only other puppet I can think of that has had a midget in a suit for certain shots) I actually was more a fan of Mr. Gordon Shumway's other starring role: Alf the animated series.

Btw, being a long time Cyndi Lauper fan, ya remember Hulk Hogan's Rock n Roll Wrestling? She seemed to be a regular character in cartoon form on there oddly enough.

And aw yes...who can forget Pee Wee's Playhouse...good times!

 

[frogboy4]

LOL! I overlook Cyndi's brief period when she was around wrestlers. I never understood that. BTW, she received a mention from Kelly Osborne on their show. She commented how beautiful and cool she still is. I don't know if that's a good thing.

Back to puppets. I really hated HR Puffinstuff. I found the whole thing sinister and plagued with bad puppetry and crummy puppet suits. The whole thing always gave me a slimy feeling. To me it was like the Power Rangers of the 70s. BTW, that's coming back now too.

I liked what Fox was doing with Greg the Bunny, but to me it was still behind the times. If it had been on cable and been released before South Park, people would have taken notice. It just wasn't shocking to enough of the target audience.

On that note, I don't like what Crank Yankers has done. It's below low brow humor. I don't see how anyone above the age of 7 would find it funny. The puppets are well made, but I find it insulting to those with an ounce of sense. I don't think Jimmy Kimmel or Adam Corola are funny in the least. Never have. They just seem like bloated, lazy pigs trapped in a junior high mentality.

Forgive the rant. I know we all have different tastes. It's a long way to go to say how appreciative I am about Jim Henson. I know the Muppets were more than just him, but would any of what he created have happened if not for him? I don't think so. I guess. Everyone does matter. Especially Jim Henson!

 

[beaker]

Originally posted by frogboy4
Back to puppets. I really hated HR Puffinstuff. I found the whole thing sinister and plagued with bad puppetry and crummy puppet suits. The whole thing always gave me a slimy feeling. To me it was like the Power Rangers of the 70s. BTW, that's coming back now too.

I was deeply disturbed by HR Puffinstuff. I think not only did it fail to foster the imagination like all of JHC related projects did, but it really got into your primal subcortex as a truly creepy and astonishingly horrific viewing experience.
Just plain ghastly...I mean Banana Splits, and countless other 70's 'kids puppet shows' had that sort of vibe, but HR PuppetSNUFF was just beyond the beyond. I mean the Skeksis seem like marketable Elmo compared to these macabre creations. I cant believe they tried to bring that show back with figures and everything a couple years ago. Gah. Screw HR, may it burn in ****.

As for Greg the Bunny...without a laughtrack, and without any smarts given to the rsique humor(Family Guy had the shock, but plenty of smarts about it) it just really seemed to be pretty tepid. I mean the commercials were all fart and butt jokes on the onset...ooh, rela edgy for the new millennium.

Crank Yankers. Shame on Sarah Silverman for starring both Greg the Bunny and that abominatiuon Crank Yankers(and for being less than respectful about the Muppets on Craig Kilborn)

I hope these two horrible shows dont ruint he public's appetite for when the real innovators of edgy prime time puppet shows comes to Fox this Fall!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Blizzard Island

 

[punkNpuppets]

Originally posted by beaker
Just curious what some of your fave non JHC puppet shows are from the 80's(when puppet shows seemed to be everywhere)

Mine would be:

Great Space Coaster(cant say enough about this show!)
Buster and Me(loved that show!)
Today's Special

I really wish I could find more info on some of these shows, besides whats on Yesterdayland.

todays special kicked everyones a$$

 

[ToasterBoy]

Pinwheel

Yeah, Pinwheel.

Grant