TV Alert: The Muppets at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

[Daffyfan4ever]

Maybe Steve put his foot down and actually wanted to spend Thanksgiving in Atlanta with his family? Who knows? The focus was probably going to be on Piggy anyway and the opening song was pre-recorded. They really didn't need him there for a just-over-a-minute song.

Yeah. That's what I was thinking. I guess it is a little too soon to be concerned about this. I mean they did advertise 'The Muppets' opening the parade rather than 'Kermit the Frog.' I'm sure Kermit/Steve will be around for future projects.

 

[Mo Frackle]

(it wouldn't have been too hard to have someone else do Beaker and Waldorf)

Beaker and Statler, actually.

Everything else in the parade, save for the Muppet and Sesame stuff, and some of the Broadway numbers (there seem to be more and more every year) was kind of underwhelming. The Muppets are better at lip sync than half of the humans in the parade...

Anyway, great opening number, and loved the throwback to Muppet Caper! A nice way of throwing in an old favorite, and changing the lyrics a bit when there's simply no time to write a new song. And of course, seeing the full-body EM members again was great. Someone else was filling in for Eric as Animal, I guess. And as mentioned, Steve evidently wasn't there, hence the lack of Lips, and that we barely saw Kermit. Heck, for all we know, Statler and Beaker's voices were provided by someone else for the pre-recorded singing. But I doubt it.

I had issues going on at home while Piggy and Tony Bennett sang, so I only caught glimpses of it, but I didn't find out about Tony nearly falling over until later on. I do know, however, that he did not look well! The Muppet crew must really, really like him, and vice versa. Sounds like they were singing live. That may explain the bad audio.

The Sesame float was what it typically is - enjoyable. Even if some of the lyrics to that song seemed like forced rhyming schemes. And of course, the slight emptiness without Gordon, Bob, et al. crammed on board. But hey, a handful of puppeteer acquaintances were filling in for the main group that was busy over on the Muppet segments, so that was something cool to see.

Holy frog, you guys, we just saw the Muppet Show Muppets and Sesame Muppets in the same production! Take that, franchise owners! Although it's rather unfortunate that the Henson company can't even use the "M" word on social media.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Somewhat unrelated but, is it just me or is the "Cats" musical always at the parade? Also, they seem to sing the same song every single time.

 

[D'Snowth]

Must be a tradition. When we used to have Boomsday celebration over here, the fireworks show always ended the same way with the same pyrotechnics.

Then again, look at the Muppets themselves: for a while there, Piggy singing "Santa Baby" was becoming her annual thing.

 

[Oscarfan]

Somewhat unrelated but, is it just me or is the "Cats" musical always at the parade? Also, they seem to sing the same song every single time.

Well, how many songs from "Cats" can you name other than the one they usually do?

 

[CensoredAlso]

Somewhat unrelated but, is it just me or is the "Cats" musical always at the parade?

Lol, I wish!

Also, they seem to sing the same song every single time.

Well those are their two big show stoppers.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well, how many songs from "Cats" can you name other than the one they usually do?

All of them, but, I'm weird.

 

[MUPPETFAN1976]

Speaking of Broadway performances, I loved Cirque du Soleil's performance of "The Hollywood Wiz." Very catchy and fun.

 

[Stephanie Evjen]

Saw the Macy's 90th Thanksgiving Parade, and the Muppets opening was the coolest one ever! What I really enjoyed was Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem's version of Twist and Shout! The band proved that they can make any cover of a classic rock song a great one, and their performances at Outside Lands and at the Macy's Parade are proof of this. It was also cool that the Illinois High School marching band along with the other dancers in the parade joined the band in the song. That performance just made me fall in love with the Electric Mayhem even more, especially Dr. Teeth saying 'baby' a few times in the song as well (which was the first time Bill Barretta has done so, since Love Ya to Death, which had the word 'baby' also, done by Jim Henson). It's official: I'm just wild in love with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. If they kept doing great performances like this, maybe they'll have a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and/or get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well. These shows really made 2016 a year to remember for them, and it rocked.