Your Thoughts: Kermit and Miss Piggy on America's Got Talent

[SJohnson]

This discussion of the deeper relationship between Kermit and Piggy is very interesting, and I think it has a place here. Their relationship dynamic was on display during the AGT piece however brief it was. Hopefully we'll be able to see more of that played out in a longer form, like a television show, or the new Muppet movie (come on Jason Segel, we're all rooting for you).

I think we would all agree that one of the things that made the Muppets so great was the interaction of the characters. Kermit and Piggy relate to each other in one way, Piggy and Floyd relate in another, Floyd and Janice in another and so on.

Like some of the best television shows, those relationships and the unique interaction of the characters grew and developed over time. It's very interesting to watch the very first season of The Muppet Show because many of the now familiar character relationships are missing or are underdeveloped.

It's also interesting to see the writers experiment with new characters in early episodes. Muppets like Uncle Deadly, Scooters Uncle, the janitor, and that other blond pig (oops don't remember her name) seemed like important characters early on, but as the show continued, their importance diminished, and some of those characters disappeared. I think those characters were dropped because they failed to weave themselves into the Muppet's unique tapestry of character relationships.

Lets hope that we can continue to see Kermit and Piggy's complex, funny, often touching relationship continue to grow on television and the big screen.

 

[Ruahnna]

OMGosh! Hogs and Kisses!

This discussion of the deeper relationship between Kermit and Piggy is very interesting, and I think it has a place here. Their relationship dynamic was on display during the AGT piece however brief it was. Hopefully we'll be able to see more of that played out in a longer form, like a television show, or the new Muppet movie (come on Jason Segel, we're all rooting for you).

I think we would all agree that one of the things that made the Muppets so great was the interaction of the characters. Kermit and Piggy relate to each other in one way, Piggy and Floyd relate in another, Floyd and Janice in another and so on.

Like some of the best television shows, those relationships and the unique interaction of the characters grew and developed over time. It's very interesting to watch the very first season of The Muppet Show because many of the now familiar character relationships are missing or are underdeveloped.

It's also interesting to see the writers experiment with new characters in early episodes. Muppets like Uncle Deadly, Scooters Uncle, the janitor, and that other blond pig (oops don't remember her name) seemed like important characters early on, but as the show continued, their importance diminished, and some of those characters disappeared. I think those characters were dropped because they failed to weave themselves into the Muppet's unique tapestry of character relationships.

Lets hope that we can continue to see Kermit and Piggy's complex, funny, often touching relationship continue to grow on television and the big screen.

Bless you! (And welcome to the less-dark-side!)

 

[SJohnson]

haha, thanks.

 

[doc hopper]

I think a lot of us might be saying the same thing. I don't think anyone wants mean spirited muppets, but a little playful antagonism can go a long way.

After all, it's really Statler & Waldorf that make Fozzie's stand up act work.

 

[Luke]

The mobile lab is not totally pre-programed. There is a lot of live interaction, though some parts are pre-programmed with Dave and Steve and I think all of Beakers stuff is pre-programmed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwotf4v53o4

I'm pretty sure that the person doing the live stuff is no Dave, though I could be wrong.

From what i gather they use some kind of voice synthesizing to match the operator's voice to Bunsen's. Obviously it helps if the operator is already fairly close.

As for what I think about theme park performances, I'd rather see pre-recorded stuff with perhaps some alternating lines here and there to give people a reason to come back. It would give consistency to the characters and add something very cool to the theme parks. Plus i am pretty sure a lot of their other shows are pre-recorded anyway.

Thanks for the info, thats really interesting. I know for sure that Dave spent a lot of time in the parks around the development time but it makes sense that there was going to be some live interaction in the day to day running too.

I wonder why they moved it to Hong Kong, whether it was to let their tech people work with it or whether they just didn't think it worked well enough in the American parks? I thought it was quite good.

 

[Super Scooter]

I'd like to point out that Kermit became much, much less "snarky and obnoxious" last year. Did you see the talk show appearance where he was cozying up to and even flirting with Piggy? There was another where he was alone, and actually said something nice about her and their relationship. During the latter half of 2008, we got to see Steve adjust his Kermit to include a bit of affection folr the pig... and I hope I never see an end to comments like "I can't pick her up without a forklift!" (paraphrased) But, we did see a nicer Kermit last year, so you can't say that Artie's Kermit-impersonation-attempt was any better than Steve's embodiment (or enhandiment) of the character in this regard.

 

[chrislynch]

This was NOT STEVE. I noticed this before Kermit even spoke. You could tell it was another puppeteer simply by the way his head looked. I remember when someone else would be operating Kermit, on the Muppet Show, while Henson took other role, and you could just tell it wasn't Henson. Surely Steve is still around? I hope so.

 

[Drtooth]

There was a post somewhere on here about it. Someone asked someone involved in the production about it, and that someone said that they ran behind schedule and had to cancel.

That's just annoying. Really. Well, at least it was some sort of problem, and they had to cancel it because of that, and not because Disney pulled the plug for no apparent reason.

Can't see why they couldn't just finish it and run it next year.

I'm just gonna come out and say it... Am I the only person that was more worried something happened to Steve than the fact Kermit was surprised recast? I still think this was a case of an understudy. And we've had those, even in Jim's day. First season Muppet show, Piggy bounced back and forth from Richard Hunt and Frank Oz. The Cosby Show Cliff's Nightmare episode... various characters were played by 2 performers (or a different performer). Sweetums was played by David Rudman when Richard was playing a sandwich.

 

[JEANYLASER]

I love it! And that song was kinda funny! I love Kermit and Miss Piggy!

 

[dwayne1115]

Here is something to think about:

In the book Street Gang they talk about how Richard Hunt moved up from a "Right Hand" to doing background Muppets then finaly getting a major role like Scooter. This prossess took years Richard would then go off on some of the newer Muppeters that would complain about doing right hands. He would say that it took him eight years to get to where he was and it would be the same for any other new comer.
I think that this is still true to this day, with the posable exception of Bill Bereta. With him though i kind of look at it like he was Brian Henson's Frank Oz. I mean Jim had Frank and Brian has/had Bill.
Now I said all that to say this, to me it seems with this new guy that they have broke that rule. sure he may have started doing small parts on Sesame, but by no means is he ready to do a live prefromence of the most popular Muppet Classic or Sesame. He needs more work not just with the Muppets but if he is going to be doing Kermit for any reason he needs more time.
I think what Greg has said is right, but I want to say that I do care for the Muppeters because I have read so much about them and seen them do so much they are kind of like family to me. If Steve was no longer working with the Muppets for whatever reason it would be almost like loseing Jim or Richard all over again.
Wait something just hit me. The Muppets where filming in disnyland not to long ago right? I've seen pics, did anyone see who was prefroming Kermit in these pics? Was it Steve? I'm going to go look.