What Muppet Fans Are Thinking About

[minor muppetz]

I've noticed that Dave Goelz seems to have performed a lot of characters involved in science or technical work. There's Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, he now performs Chip, and he's performed robots Digit (who was also a technician) and '80s Robot. And while he's not a scientist or technician, Goelz also performs Beauregard, a stage hand.

 

[muppetlover123]

I've noticed that Dave Goelz seems to have performed a lot of characters involved in science or technical work. There's Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, he now performs Chip, and he's performed robots Digit (who was also a technician) and '80s Robot. And while he's not a scientist or technician, Goelz also performs Beauregard, a stage hand.

Matt Vogel preforms 80's Robot

 

[minor muppetz]

Matt Vogel preforms 80's Robot

I can't believe I made that mistake (though to be fair, '80s Robot's voice does sound a little like Bunsen).

 

[minor muppetz]

I wonder what the ratings were like for Muppets Tonight when it aired on The Disney Channel. When Kirk Thatcher was interviewed for The Muppet Mindset, he said that when the show was on ABC, the head of the network was mainly interested in what shows attracted the 18-38-year-old male demographic. I don't know what the ratings were like then (it was on Friday nights, known for being a bad times lot for TV programming, but it was part of TGIF, which somehow managed to be a successful Friday night programming block).

But then it only lasted a year on The Disney Channel, where it was broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays (with the Saturday show being a repeat of the previous Sunday).

Or was the entire second season (well, what we got of it, anyway, considering only nine episodes were produced) completed before ABC canceled it? The second season did air an entire TV season after the first season, and I think I had read about some of the season 2 guests being planned as early as 1996.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

The human cast members on Sesame Street almost always appear less in their last or last few seasons on the show. Either because they are available less to film the show,which is often why they end up leaving,or they slowly get phased out by the writers. This happened with a lot of the long time cast members including Gabi and Miles who each only showed up once in their last season. It also happened with Uncle Wally,Linda,Tarah,Maria and Olivia who probably left so she could film 227.

 

[minor muppetz]

I've noticed that on the new show, there seems to be a small group of characters used (even if it's a big small group). In nearly every episode (until the last two, which have had certain major characters absent), the characters seen in practically every episode are Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rizzo, Pepe, Scooter,Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Animal, Janice, Zoot, Lips, Statler, Waldorf, Bunsen, Beaker, Sweetums, Sam, The Swedish Chef, Yolanda, Chip, Big Mean Carl, Bobo, Andy, and Randy, with Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Beauregard, and a few minor monsters sometimes showing up (rarely at meetings, though). We have seen other characters make appearances, but Denise hasn't shown up as frequently as we expected (though it seems she's there more in the past few and upcoming episodes), and Rowlf's appearances have been scarce (especially considering he's the owner of a tavern, which I think Bill Prady made a big deal about in interviews).

But then something hit me about the shortage of other characters. On this show, nobody has a "standard" outfit. Every day, each character wears a different outfit, though naked characters are still naked most of the time (I don't think we've seen Kermit in any clothing on this show yet). Some characters do wear the same thing most of the time - Uncle Deadly usually wears his original clothes, The Swedish Chef usually dresses like a chef, Bunsen and Beaker usually wear their lab coats (though there was one time in Hostile Makeover where Beaker was wearing a dressy shirt around the office for no real reason).

I'm guessing that could be why a lot of characters haven't shown up, because then they'd have to make a lot of different outfits for many minor characters.

 

[JimAndFrank]

So what exactly are we?

You have Whovians, Bronies, Trekkies and Potterheads, but what are we? For such a bright and crazy fandom, it's rather odd that we are simply known as Muppet Fans. Surely we could be a little more creative than that?

Walters? Weirdoes? Whatevers?

Personally, I like the idea of our fandom being known as 'Whatnots'. That way it's both a reference and referring to the eclectic, different group of people we are.

 

[LipsGF4Life]

I'm thinking about that maybe sometime during a season of the show, they'll have Lips receive more lines annd have a plot of his own. And they'll have special fans on the show, like obsessed fans so Muppets can learn about that/those fan(s).

 

[minor muppetz]

The first episode of The Muppets included a couple of human characters, who I think were supposed to be regulars, but they haven't done much outside of the first episode. I think I saw their names in the credits for a few episodes following the first, but don't remember them doing anything in those episodes. Anybody recall if they did anything in any episodes after "Pig Girls Don't Cry", or if they were just extras, if they did appear again? I believe those two humans were named Betty and Kim, one being Miss Piggy's make-up girl (whose father is an important client to Piggy) and the other being a writer or something. Though I feel like I did see the writer in the background in "Single All the Way" (but didn't notice her name in the credits).

 

[minor muppetz]

I wonder how different the production order for The Muppets differs from the broadcast order, if at all. Nearly all Henson shows have a different production order from broadcast (I know, Henson isn't involved with The Muppets...), and in an age where the average sitcom has plots that regularly continue into the next episodes, each episode of The Muppets is more-or-less self-contained (could this be one of the changes that'll occur next year?), aside from maybe the Kermit and Piggy break-up.