The RHLC!

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and Holidays! My relative was generous enough to buy me the Fraggle box set for Christmas (so grateful!) : D

If anyone wants RH related spoilers or my own personal musings let me know, hehe.

Same here; haven't had a chance to watch it, though.

And I think I'm going to go ahead and donate my other three box sets to the library, as soon as I can round up all the discs and get them back in their right cases.

Had a good Christmas; the whole family gathered at my grandmother's place for Christmas dinner. It was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, as usual, and this year, I brought along a big box of red and green foil crackers, which led to a good bit of post-dinner mayhem. Then again, when you've got a bunch of us in the same room, things usually get pretty crazy.

 

[CensoredAlso]

And I think I'm going to go ahead and donate my other three box sets to the library, as soon as I can round up all the discs and get them back in their right cases.

Good for you! I'm still deciding on the best place, but I'm definitely donating. Yup, I have to put them all back in the proper cases too, lol.

Had a good Christmas; the whole family gathered at my grandmother's place for Christmas dinner. It was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, as usual, and this year, I brought along a big box of red and green foil crackers, which led to a good bit of post-dinner mayhem. Then again, when you've got a bunch of us in the same room, things usually get pretty crazy.

Sounds like it went well! We had lasagna, lamb and pastries (though not nearly enough hehe!) I love crackers, my grandparents used to send us those for New Years. I love Grandma's Christmas tree every year; it has a ton of vintage ornaments from before even my parents.

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Yeah, it's the same with my grandmother's tree, as well as my parents' tree.

I had a chance to take in some of the box set this afternoon - I skipped straight ahead to the season 4 bonus material, since patience isn't exactly one of my strong points.

I liked the footage of the wrap party - and the laughs were coming fast and furious in there. But it's like we said - get a bunch of Muppet people together in the same room and of course things are going to get pretty crazy.
It looks as if Richard was the emcee, and it looks as if, when the clip started, he was getting ready to roast Jim. "Are we allowed to say all the bad things about Jim Henson?" And he had a list in his hand, but decided that he'd let Jim list his own foibles, and proceeded to introduce Jim.
And during the whole thing, Richard's seated immediately to stage left, and so his laugh is loud and frequent. It also looks as if he was the designated leader of the hecklers - and you know, Statler and Waldorf's box is also off stage left...
Karen Prell read off a list of the "official" laws of working with the Muppets. Examples: the performer will always look ridiculous while working with the puppet, the headset and monitor cables will never be long enough, and if they are, they will become tangled, and the difficulty in finding a performer on set increases in proportion to how much that performer is needed in the scene...
The clip also shows a portion of the speech that Richard gave; he discusses how Junior Gorg was one of the easiest characters for him to play, since Junior represents the inner child. "You kind of lose it after about age seven; that's kind of a drag."

 

[CensoredAlso]

I had a chance to take in some of the box set this afternoon - I skipped straight ahead to the season 4 bonus material, since patience isn't exactly one of my strong points.

Oh I'm the same way, lol.

And during the whole thing, Richard's seated immediately to stage left, and so his laugh is loud and frequent. It also looks as if he was the designated leader of the hecklers - and you know, Statler and Waldorf's box is also off stage left...

I know that's one of the best parts, you hear him after every joke, lol. I was slightly perturbed that he clearly cut off his next introduction following Jim's speech, lol.

If you notice, as Jim is first walking up, you can hear Richard yelling for him to do something and Jim keeps going "No, no" but finally gives in and then yells, "This is Convincing John!" And of course Richard is the first one to cheer, lol. I love the whole group's reaction. Different companies might have just laughed politely. But these guys really embody the Fraggle spirit, hehe.

Karen Prell read off a list of the "official" laws of working with the Muppets.

That was absolutely brilliant, she had me on the floor (and Richard too it sounded like lol).

The clip also shows a portion of the speech that Richard gave; he discusses how Junior Gorg was one of the easiest characters for him to play, since Junior represents the inner child. "You kind of lose it after about age seven; that's kind of a drag."

Easily one of the best parts of the DVD, hehe. You know my first thought was, "Seven? That's a bit soon." But as I thought about it more, it's true. Six to seven is where you start grammar school and to a certain extent, the child-innocence ends.

Did you see the interview with the Gorg performers yet?

I've watched a couple 4th season episodes, I'll comment on that soon. Though I'm still getting up the nerve to watch "Gone But Not Forgotten."

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Took in the interview with Rob, Gord and Trish last night; those guys are practically the Three Stooges, in a way - always making the Ink Spots pop up everywhere, to Wayne Moss's chagrin, and living up to the Karen Prell's first law of Muppetry: "If it moves, upstage it!"

Loved what Rob had to say about working with Richard, how the two of them clicked almost immediately, and watched how each other breathed and all that. And then Rob mentioned Richard's comparison of the Gorg performing teams to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: just as Ginger had to do everything Fred did while backwards and in heels, the performer in the costume has to do everything the performer with the microphone does, in a big bulky suit with very limited vision.

(On another topic, is it just me, or did they bleep out part of what Jerry allegedly said to Gord about puppet work? "Got any advice for me?" "Yeah. Don't (censored) it up.")

The wrap party looks like it was the hot ticket in Toronto that night - or at least the funniest place to be.
There were Dennis Lee and his book of poems (the one about "the bundle buggy" doing "the boogie woogie hop"), David Young describing his meeting with Jerry Juhl ("this big-time guy from California") in a sushi bar, the ad that Jim bought in Variety to congratulate the cast and crew, and of course, the Fraggles making their big appearance.

 

[CensoredAlso]

(On another topic, is it just me, or did they bleep out part of what Jerry allegedly said to Gord about puppet work? "Got any advice for me?" "Yeah. Don't (censored) it up.")

You are right, lol. They are assuming kids might watch this after all. Kinda sad but, when I was a kid, the majority of documentaries you saw were on network TV and there was generally no cursing. And even with ones of tape, there was a sense of removing the language. I guess things are more loose now. (No offence to these guys, they were great. )

There were Dennis Lee and his book of poems (the one about "the bundle buggy" doing "the boogie woogie hop"

Yeah I remember they said Dennis was a poet; it reminded me of the unusual poetry my friend is into. Great rhythm!

The last day of shooting section, there's a nice moment between Dave and Richard (wish they'd kept in the dialogue hehe). Don't know if anyone else ever does this, hehe, but if you go frame by frame on the DVD, the expression on Richard's face as that moment first starts is priceless lol.

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

I thought so - I guess my ears are still working then. And elsewhere, there are a few milder curse words here and there during the behind-the-scenes footage. I guess they anticipated that it'd be the adults watching that stuff as opposed to the kids - then again, you never know.

And that scene on the last taping day - oh, yeah, it's the one where Dave's got this blue bag on his head, and he and Richard have their arms around each other's shoulders and they're gleefully mugging for the camera.

On another topic, I think I'll mention that I like the tie that Richard had on for the wrap party.

 

[CensoredAlso]

And elsewhere, there are a few milder curse words here and there during the behind-the-scenes footage. I guess they anticipated that it'd be the adults watching that stuff as opposed to the kids - then again, you never know.

I mean I think in the '80s they never imagined this private footage would end up on a DVD somewhere (VHS's were still a new thing!) Wow I feel old...lol

On another topic, I think I'll mention that I like the tie that Richard had on for the wrap party.

One of the first things I noticed, lol.

Ok, I finally got up the nerve to watch the infamous "Gone, But Not Forgotten!"

I do think the whole thing affected me even more because you know it's Richard playing Mudwell and you can't help but compare and it feels personal (at least for a fan).

I think they did a good job developing Mudwell and Wembley's friendship. Finally, they both find a friend who understand each other's unique qualities. And sadly we know it will be over so soon, expressing the unfairness of death.

I think the part that affected me the most was when Mudwell regrets he can't spend more time with Wembley. Wembley innocently replies, "Then don't go." It's painfully clear Mudwell wishes it were that simple, but he knows it can't be so...That did make me tear up a bit, because we've almost all been there, experienced the finalness of death and wishing we could take it back.

When Mudwell does die I was actually reminded of when I saw my dog when she passed away, which was hard. But it added to the realism. I think that's why this episode was good, it tapped into real feelings.

I think the part where the new creature arrived was a bit anti climatic and took away some of the sting in an easy way. But I feel the next scene where Wembley's looking at the fire and we hear Mudwell's voice brings back the melancholy feeling but this time the hope as well.

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Yeah - during one of the interviews, Laura Phillips said that whenever Richard sings a song on the show, it's always very emotional.

I've not been able to watch that one yet, but I'll have to get to it very soon.

And I know how it is - when my dog died earlier this year, I didn't want to believe it, and I kept having dreams where she was alive and well. I didn't want to go home that weekend because I'd have to see her empty dog bed and her collar, and know that she wasn't coming back...but when I came home for a visit later on, I went out and sat by her grave for a little while, and it was rather comforting - as if she was just lying on her favorite pillow and looking up at me as if to ask "What are you looking at?" (She was a sweet dog, but like most German shorthaired pointers, she kind of had an ego.)

 

[CensoredAlso]

Mudwell's voice is some form of Forgetful Jones, lol. But I do say you do um...forget that (hehe) within the first few minutes.

He talks about being the rarest creature you'll probably ever find, which I thought also described his puppeteer too, hehe.