Big Bird on Soul Man (1998)

[CensoredAlso]

It's interesting to see that this show was taped at the same studio that SST has been all these years - that probably made it easy for them to get Big Bird to appear on the show.

And hey, Big Bird is real in any world!

Ohhh, maybe that's why the Sesame Street references were oddly specific (Wolfgang the Seal and the alphabet song). I mean they weren't ones your average viewer would come up with off the top of their heads.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Definitely never heard of this show. It's actually pretty good, had it lasted a few more years i'm sure it would've been a classic.

I think you're right, I've seen a couple more episodes on YouTube and the writing was consistently good. There's genuine laughs (and it's not easy to get me to laugh at a sitcom, lol) and the moral lessons are inspiring without being preachy.

Also, one other thing. They made no mention of Big Bird being a puppet, so is he real in their world?

Well, Carroll Spinney prefers to keep the magic alive when he makes Big Bird appearances, so yes I take it that Big Bird's real. They do mention watching him on Sesame Street, so perhaps this is the same universe as The Muppet Movie, where Big Bird broke into public television!

But, seeing Dan Akroyd, John Goodman and Big Bird all on the same show, I feel like I died and went to heaven.

Well there's another John Goodman episode; minus Big Bird, but at least John and Dan get to sing at the end :

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Ohhh, maybe that's why the Sesame Street references were oddly specific (Wolfgang the Seal and the alphabet song). I mean they weren't ones your average viewer would come up with off the top of their heads.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool that they mentioned specific episodes and even mentioned Wolfgang, this seems to have been written by someone who actually watches Sesame Street.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Found this Big Bird appearance recently! Soul Man was a sitcom in the late 90s (not to be confused with the sitcom The Soul Man from the late 2000s ), about a widowed Episcopal minister and his family. In the episode "The Stan Plan," Father Mike (Dan Aykroyd) and his old army buddy (John Goodman) try to get tickets to see Big Bird conducting the Boston Pops.

Big Bird's scenes are at 16:10 and 19:09. Definitely check them out, Carroll gets to show off Big Bird's little seen sarcastic side, hehe.

The whole episode's worth watching too, btw, Soul Man did well in the ratings at the time, but was taken off the air in its second season, due to studio issues.

Wow! I've been looking all over for that. Thanks for posting.

 

[Erine81981]

OH YEAH!!! This is really great. I have seen this on the Muppet Wiki but couldn't ever find it on YouTube. I'm am **** happy to see this. I kinda remember the show. Like it said it only lasted for 25 shows. What made me remember this show was Anthony Clark. The guy from the other TV show "Yes Dear." Also a great show. Can't wait to download this and share it with friends.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Wow! I've been looking all over for that. Thanks for posting.

Welcome! I'm so glad everyone's enjoying.

 

[CensoredAlso]

OH YEAH!!! This is really great. I have seen this on the Muppet Wiki but couldn't ever find it on YouTube. I'm am **** happy to see this. I kinda remember the show. Like it said it only lasted for 25 shows. What made me remember this show was Anthony Clark. The guy from the other TV show "Yes Dear." Also a great show. Can't wait to download this and share it with friends.

Yup, I saw Yes Dear a couple of times and thought, "That guy's really funny," like this one episode where he had to endure watching Blues Clues with his kid, lol.

 

[Erine81981]

Yup, I saw Yes Dear a couple of times and thought, "That guy's really funny," like this one episode where he had to endure watching Blues Clues with his kid, lol.

I think I remembered that episode. Mine is at the very end of an episode during the credits scene it's with Jerry Van Dyke which I think played it dad or the Mike O'Mally dad in the show. He does this thing with a song where he's mouthing the words to this song. Really funny stuff. But I really enjoyed that show. Did you know that the one who played his wife is the same one from "Uncle Buck" movie with John Candy. She's plays the older sister. I had a crush on her during the time the movie came out.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Tough Pigs posted an article on this:
http://www.toughpigs.com/soul-man/

 

[D'Snowth]

Funny thing about a show where Dan Aykroyd plays a priest is that from what I understand, Dan actually considered becoming a priest before he turned to show business.

And another thing that's amusing too is that his character Father Mike actually looks a lot like the former musical director at our old church, who now has his own church out in California, and he's hoping to spread it across the country.