Little Muppet Monsters Revelation...

[minor muppetz]

For some time I've been curious about the number of episodes that went into production. I know Scott Shaw! said that eighteen were produced, but (a) we only have the titles for thirteen and (b) thirteen tended to be the average number of episodes for first seasons back then. Perhaps eighteen was an educated guess on Scott's part?

One thing I've always wondered was where all those titles came from. I think somebody said that the episode list came from a TV website, which wouldn't be a proper source for the wiki, but I don't know what source was used for that website. Henson.com never had an episode list for this show (I think LMM is the only Henson series to not even have a page on the official site). That list was there long before the second and third episodes surfaced online, and they ended up having the same titles as those episodes, and the recently-found episodes have the same titles as titles on that list.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper did appear on Rock n' Wrestling at least once, and was a regular on the show in animated form. Pee Wee's Big Adventure also came out in 1985, and obviously his show was in development then. Both would be obvious choices to appear on a saturday morning special at the time.

One thing that I didn't think about until now, but considering Pee-Wee's Playhouse began airing a season later, maybe having Pee-Wee Herman in that special was meant to be like a pilot, to test out whether he would make a good children's show host.

I remember when I first saw the second and third episodes, I felt they were okay but not too great (aside from seeing something rare), while the first episode was great, and I wondered if the show improved with the later unaired episodes. But seeing these, I feel like Foo-Foo Phooey and Gunko are great (haven't watched Gonzo's Talent Search yet), so I guess the show did improve later on.

 

[tygerbug]

It's a very Richard Hunt-heavy show, with him taking on directing and cartoon voice acting duties as well as playing Tug and Scooter.

The writer whose archive this tape is from was most fond of "Gunko."

I will upload restored versions of episodes 1 and 2 to the Youtube channel when I can -- I've done an edit of episode 1 now which is more complete than you've probably seen.

We've been planning to do a better (or even semi-interactive) capture of Muppet Madness for the Viewmaster Interactive Vision for awhile now but it's technically difficult to accomplish. Hopefully at some point. Our previous capture is up at the Youtube channel.

 

[tygerbug]

Sounds like Richard Hunt as incidental aliens in the first episode.

Just got an improved capture of part of episode 3. Episode 3 and the unaired eps are going to look really, really good.

 

[tygerbug]

 

[Drtooth]

Great to see the previously lost puppet segments. It would be great to see whatever animated stuff was actually finished, but somehow they sound like they're lost forever.

I wish, at least, some of the animation cels of those would surface, but they'd probably be expensive as they're rarities. I'd love a Pigs in Space shot.

 

[minor muppetz]

Considering Kathryn Mullen was a writer, I'm surprised to not see her name in the performer credits (I thought I heard her voice as Foo-Foo in Foo-Foo Phooey, guess it's someone else unless). And considering she had said that she used an alternate name yet her real name ended up in the writer credits, I wonder if they credited her by her real name without her knowing. Or could she have used the alternate name later and misremembered using that name there?

She said that Jim Henson didn't really want her writing, which is why she used a different name. That doesn't really sound like the Jim Henson I hear about, who would encourage others and, among other things, let Frank Oz be a director. It's also weird how in her Tough Pigs interview that Jim eventually just stopped hiring her to perform, which is odd. But this thread isn't really about Kathryn Mullen in general...

With Richard Hunt being the only TMS performer to be a main performer on this show, it makes sense that Scooter would make appearances and that Hunt would do animated voices. It makes me wonder if he performed any of his other characters outside of the segments that were shot differently. It would make sense for Sweetums to appear, since he's a monster, though it might have been difficult to do on this set (and by then I think Richard had stopped wearing the Sweetums suit). Though even then, interactions between his characters and the monsters would have to be limited since he was Tug Monster.

I know that Nicky Napoleon was performed by James Kroupa, but his voice sounds like a Kevin Clash voice.

When it comes to incomplete animated segments, I wonder how much unaired animation was actually shot. I wonder if there were any extra completed animated segments but not enough to fill even one episode.

I remember when Jim's Red Book first did an entry on the show, I think it confirmed that some shows weren't completed. I think it was speculated here by fans as well, but I thought that meant that they had incomplete material for shows 14-18. Didn't realize that all of the unaired episodes weren't complete. I also wondered whether they shot enough live action footage for these shows, enough animated segments, or just enough live-action segments with Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and other main characters who appeared separately from the others.

It's interesting that Jerry Nelson performed on this and is credited, since the only performing I know of on this show was performing Floyd who had one line of dialogue. I wonder if any of his characters did anything more significant.

And considering around this time that Jim was interested in doing projects for home video, I wonder if he had considered releasing the remaining episodes on home video. That would have given Marvel more time to complete the animated segments (as it wouldn't be on a weekly TV schedule).

 

[tygerbug]

Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt perform Floyd and Janice in episode 2.

Kathryn Mullen is credited as a performer in both episode 1 and 3 (I have no credit sequence for episode 2). She is credited in a place of honor alongside Jim, Frank etc. She is also credited as a writer under her real name. She may be remembering behind the scenes drama rather than the actual credits as aired.

Would she have played Wilhemina in "Gonzo's Talent Hunt," for example?

I have basically completed a restoration of episode 1. It's been a lot of work. I am restoring the Muppets, Babies and Monsters opening titles (again), which is a crazy amount of work for one minute of footage but is about 80% done now. Episode 2 will probably go much smoother.

Really minor things you notice when restoring footage -- different edits.

In CBS' 1985 saturday morning preview special, Pee Wee Herman and Rowdy Roddy Piper introduced a scene with Piggy, Kermit and Gonzo from an unaired episode. Other clips shown were from slightly different edits of scenes. A different take of the penguins from the beginning of "The Great Boodini," and a different take of Gonzo saying "see what I mean?" without music.

Footage from "Kermit the Frog: Private Eye" in the MB&M opening sequence is photographed differently than in the final show. The camera is pointed higher, it's browner and the blimpcar shakes as if hitting a bump.

 

[minor muppetz]

Kathryn Mullen is credited as a performer in both episode 1 and 3 (I have no credit sequence for episode 2). She is credited in a place of honor alongside Jim, Frank etc.

I see it now. I guess I was expecting to see her in the "with" section and assumed that final section was just crediting Jim, Frank, Jerry, and Dave, the performers who just shot their scenes separately from the rest of the show.

I've seen that you've posted other Muppet things besides LMM in the Henson Rarities channel. I don't know if you're accepting requests or what all you have, but if you happen to have them, I'd like to see some of the Playhouse Video compilations not online (The Muppet Revue and Children's Songs and Stories are currently the only ones on YouTube, while Rock Music with the Muppets is on Daily Motion).

 

[tygerbug]

I don't have any of the Playhouse compilations personally -- though I did release stuff from the singalongs on some of my DVD releases recently. Billy Bunny on Tale of the Bunny Picnic for example. I could ask for help like I often do, but I'd rather post what I've actually restored.

It's worth looking at those Muppets, Babies and Monsters end credits, which are incomplete in - I think - every copy online until now.

Here's a typical Youtube upload of the end credits:

My restored versions:

 

[tygerbug]

Episode 1 edit is done. That was tough.