This is amazing news, even though I probably won't be able to go there for years (if ever).
I wonder if there's many Muppet Wiki contributors who live a close enough distance to make regular trips. I almost feel like maybe Muppet Wiki should have a list of "suggested episodes" for people who plan to go there (it'd probably be redundant to put a note on every episode page that can be viewed there - I feel we'd be better off noting what episodes won't be available for viewing, if any).
The article says "nearly 4500 episodes" will be included, I have a feeling they were rounding the number to the nearest hundred. I checked Muppet Wiki and saw that there are 4526 episodes (does that include season 49 episodes that haven't aired yet?), so if it's exactly that number, they'll only be missing 26 episodes, but with the "nearly" wording, it could actually be less (though I don't expect more less).
Before I read here that both locations require appointments/advance notice, I wondered if there'd be computers with search engines at the location (or even online when not there, which is the case with Paley Center for Media content). I wonder how they'd list everything. Would they list episodes simply by number, or would they also make up some kind of title (like Sesame Workshop has done for digital releases, and I think the Paley Center also has "titles" for Sesame episodes in its search engine)? I also wonder how episode descriptions would be written - a basic description of the plot (if any?) and maybe a few sketch highlights? A full rundown of every segment (maybe not as detailed as Muppet Wiki/s guides, mainly just a list of how each segment is titled in scripts)? I kinda feel it might be cool to just list a basic plot/notable street scenes and all segments that debut in the episodes (though that's a lot for the first episode)? Or maybe a quick description, a few memorable inserts/notable guest appearances, and maybe a link to the wiki page (I have been wondering if episodes will be available there before every guide that can be sourced from the scripts will be made)?
I've actually been thinking that it'd be great if we could see records of what episodes most people request to see (not sure if they would make that kind of info public). I can think of episodes we all would most want to check out if given the opportunity, but I wonder what casual fans will most want to see (probably the first episode, the Hawaii episodes, episode 1839, Maria and Luis' wedding, and maybe segments they remember seeing as kids that they haven't seen in years, and maybe they'll request episodes based on what segments appear or ones with certain guest stars - though I wonder if casual fans would think to search for the clips online first, especially everything I specifically speculated).
IF episode 847 is indeed among the episodes available for viewing, I wonder if Lost Media Wiki will no longer consider it "lost" or if it's lost status will remain since, either way, it still won't be available for viewing online/on home video. And if there are episodes that won't be included, I wonder if Lost Media Wiki will add pages for those (assuming any episode not donated will be ones unavailable on video/streaming/online/in tape trading circles).
Considering there have been multiple edits of many episodes, I wonder if they'll all be the original broadcast versions or if they'll donate any re-edited versions for later broadcasts/releases (or if they'll include multiple versions of the same episode... would that count towards the number of episodes donated?).
The Tough Pigs article about this announcement points out that the official announcement does not say whether it'll include episode 847 or "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce".... but that really makes me wonder if they'll include the test pilots.
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