What Muppet Fans Are Thinking About

[Muppet Master]

They would if it was a TV series, but if it were a movie it probably wouldn't be such a big deal. Did the fans make a big deal out of the fact that Miss Piggy headlined two TV specials, or that the Play-Along Videos had volumes hosted by Fozzie and Rowlf (actually Kermit didn't really host/star in any of those videos), or that some of the compilation videos weren't hosted by Kermit? Then again, all those were made years before the internet, so it's hard to really know.

My idea was for there to be movies where a character other than Kermit was the main focus. Maybe just have them be direct-to-video or TV.

Ya, but the Play-Along Videos wasn't that big. They just sat on the shelves in stores. Personally, I never really liked those, because those videos treated the muppets SS-style by making a cheesy clip show out of someone relieving memories or something like that. They really should have just released like 2 full episodes on each tape. Plus, the Play-Along Videos focused more on the clips than the hosts, and the clips did have tons of Kermit in them. As for the Piggy specials, she's the second most prominent muppet and has just as big a following (if not bigger) as Kermit, with that said, I still don't think a "Piggy" movie would work very well. Anyways, it seems that out of all the muppets, Rizzo wouldn't be the one Disney would be scrambling to make a movie for. He's not exactly one of the most well-known muppets, and it's really quite odd how his roles change so crazily through the course of the muppet movies. He goes from background character to minor cameo character to supporting character to one of the main character to even more main of a character to even more main of a character then he gets degraded to minor secondary charcter to small-ish secondary character to BACKGROUND character, and finally to minor cameo character. If anyone, Disney would make a DTV of Walter, Piggy, or Fozzie.

 

[animalrescuer]

Here's what I think about as a Muppet fan:

• When will Disney finally release seasons 4 and 5 on DVD?
• Will Fraggle Rock return to the Hub?
• If all the Muppets from the Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and other Muppet productions past and present sang "Life's a Happy Song" together, what would it look like?
• Will more Sesame Street episodes be available on Netflix?
• When will the Fraggle Rock movie be released?
• Will both seasons of "The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss" be released on DVD? (Forgive me if I have been...well, obsessing about this show lately)

 

[Muppet Master]

Here's what I think about as a Muppet fan:

• Will both seasons of "The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss" be released on DVD? (Forgive me if I have been...well, obsessing about this show lately)

I can see by your avatar . Anyways, I doubt it, while season 1 was a pretty neat show, season 2 stops it dead in its tracks as a show for 4-year olds, and I've never seen a kids show get a season set (until I went to Target on Friday and saw that Curious George had a season 7 box-set . Even so, we'll still have those 3-episode complications DVDs around.

 

[minor muppetz]

Ya, but the Play-Along Videos wasn't that big. They just sat on the shelves in stores. Personally, I never really liked those, because those videos treated the muppets SS-style by making a cheesy clip show out of someone relieving memories or something like that. They really should have just released like 2 full episodes on each tape. Plus, the Play-Along Videos focused more on the clips than the hosts, and the clips did have tons of Kermit in them.

I think you're mixing up the Play-Along Videos with the Playhouse Video compilations. Playhouse Video put out the compilations, such as The Muppet Revue and The Kermit and Piggy Story, while the Play-Along Videos were completely new footage (well, the Mother Goose Stories one was a release of three episodes with some linking footage, but that video release came three years before it was broadcast as a series) with the Muppets teaching kids fun activities. I'd say the Play-Along Videos were more like Sesame Street than the compilations, since they were educational.

Did they really just sit on store shelves? In Jim Henson: The Biography it says that Muppet video releases did sell well, with the Play-Along Video series being the only one actually specifically mentioned (no mention of the compilations or Muppet Babies Video Storybook series). Judging by the fact that there were three versions of the promo at the end of the compilations (with the main difference being the number of videos advertised) plus the fact that there were a few different taping dates for them (Jim Henson's Red Book notes a few taping dates for three videos at a time), it seems there were a few released at a time. If they didn't sell that well, would they have made/released more?

I wonder if they did compilations as opposed to full episodes to avoid potentially having to cut any episodes because of music rights.

 

[Muppet Master]

I think you're mixing up the Play-Along Videos with the Playhouse Video compilations. Playhouse Video put out the compilations, such as The Muppet Revue and The Kermit and Piggy Story, while the Play-Along Videos were completely new footage (well, the Mother Goose Stories one was a release of three episodes with some linking footage, but that video release came three years before it was broadcast as a series) with the Muppets teaching kids fun activities. I'd say the Play-Along Videos were more like Sesame Street than the compilations, since they were educational.

Did they really just sit on store shelves? In Jim Henson: The Biography it says that Muppet video releases did sell well, with the Play-Along Video series being the only one actually specifically mentioned (no mention of the compilations or Muppet Babies Video Storybook series). Judging by the fact that there were three versions of the promo at the end of the compilations (with the main difference being the number of videos advertised) plus the fact that there were a few different taping dates for them (Jim Henson's Red Book notes a few taping dates for three videos at a time), it seems there were a few released at a time. If they didn't sell that well, would they have made/released more?

I wonder if they did compilations as opposed to full episodes to avoid potentially having to cut any episodes because of music rights.

Yes, I did mix those two up, whoops. Anyways, those were probably even worse. That was the beginning of the period where the muppets were being marketed for kids, and I don't see the point! The muppets were a prime-time variety, but just because they looked cute and cuddly they turned them educational and childish? That's what SS is for, and it does a fine job. I thought Jim Henson would hate the muppets being called cute and cuddly, why would he make those? It almost feels like a kind of racism, how the muppets are stamped as kiddy entertainment just because they look cute and cuddly.

 

[AKaun6899]

As a Muppet fan, here are my Muppet/Henson-based thoughts!

• If I make a DVD Collection video on YouTube, will people judge me for owning FTB on DVD?
• Will the extended scenes on MMW's Blu-ray include the entire Interrogation Song?
• Should I get the season sets (TMS 1-3, FR entirety)?
• Why is the DVD in the MFS Blu-ray still in fullscreen?
• Why were the Pepe Profiles for Fozzie and Piggy not included on the MTI/GMC Blu-ray? Including them makes sense for consistency, since Gonzo's and Kermit's were included on the MCC and TMM Blu-rays...plus I've never seen the Fozzie one...
• ...AND...
• What color are their hands now?

 

[Muppet Master]

As a Muppet fan, here are my Muppet/Henson-based thoughts!

• If I make a DVD Collection video on YouTube, will people judge me for owning FTB on DVD?
• Will the extended scenes on MMW's Blu-ray include the entire Interrogation Song?
• Should I get the season sets (TMS 1-3, FR entirety)?
• Why is the DVD in the MFS Blu-ray still in fullscreen?
• Why were the Pepe Profiles for Fozzie and Piggy not included on the MTI/GMC Blu-ray? Including them makes sense for consistency, since Gonzo's and Kermit's were included on the MCC and TMM Blu-rays...plus I've never seen the Fozzie one...
• ...AND...
• What color are their hands now?

1. No, why would they?
2. Yes, I'm pretty sure it does.
3.YES, DEFINETLY
4.BECAUSE SONY'S TOO LAZY
5. Wait, I think the Pepe Profiles was on the Blu-Ray.
6. That one will remain a mystery.

 

[AKaun6899]

1. No, why would they?
2.Yes, I'm pretty sure it does.
3.YES, DEFINETLY
4.BECAUSE SONY'S TOO LAZY
5. Wait, I think the Pepe Profiles was on the Blu-Ray.
6. That one will remain a mystery.

1. Going into High School...
2. Hooray!
3. Alright!
4. That makes sense...
5. The ones for Gonzo and Kermit were on the MCC and TMM Blu-rays, but the ones for Fozzie and Piggy were not included on the MTI/GMC Blu-ray. Strange, since, like I said, including them would make for consistency, and give GMC something more than Frog-e-oke videos. And I never saw the Fozzie one...
6. XD

 

[minor muppetz]

So the ending credits for The Muppet Show were a little different between the US and UK broadcast, with the UK broadcasts having the credits closer to the side of the screen as opposed to the center, and more importantly the guest stars name was in the end credits in the UK version. When it comes to reruns and video releases, about half of the first season episodes have the UK credits, with the guest stars name, and only a handful of post-season one episodes are presented with the UK credits. And yet it seems like most of the first season guest stars whose names seem hard to spell or pronounce* (Charles Aznavour, Twiggy, Mummenshaz, maybe Peter Ustinov) are presented with the US credits.

In fact, it's weird that the first season DVD set seems to only have the UK credits on episodes that also have those credits in reruns. The DVD releases remastered the original master tapes (with the original opening, no less), so it's not like they were using the same copies that were being shown in reruns and the Time-Life releases. In that case, shouldn't they have either all been the versions with the UK credits, all versions with US credits, or a different mix of the US and UK credits than what was in reruns?

*I first saw the Twiggy and Mummenshaz episodes a few years before I got the internet, had trouble figuring out how the names were being said, let alone spelled, and was annoyed when I watched the end credits and saw that it was the version that didn't spell the guest stars names.

I assume that the reason the Elton John episode is on DVD with the UK credits (while the reruns and Time-Life DVD have the US credits) is due to it including English Country Garden (the Muppet Central review of the season two DVD speculates that it had that extra skit because they found a longer master tape, which in that case makes me wish they'd end up including versions of episodes with deleted sketches).

And both DVD releases of the Harry Belafonte episode have the UK credits... Another thing that makes these versions of the episodes different from the US versions is that they don't fade to black after the opening or closing numbers. With "Turn the World Around" continuing into the credits, it looks better for it to not fade to black before Kermit ends the show, though I would be interested in seeing that version. I'd also be interested in seeing the "UK version" of the Spike Milligan episode, to see how the transition from closing number to Kermit ending the show looked. Ditto with any episode where the "goodnights" took place on the same set as the closing number (as opposed to in front of the red curtains).

 

[Pinkflower7783]

All I'm thinking is what are you gonna do next Disney what are you gonna do next?