Top Annoying Misnaming People Do

[beaker]

What are some of the most annoying wrong names, misconceptions, etc people say when it comes to the Muppets?
(this may sound like elitism and whining, but I thought it'd be fun)

For me...

* Muppets are "baby/kids" stuff. Ooof. The Muppet Babies, which isn't canon in the least, hasn't been on air in eons and people still conflate Muppets with Fisher Price Elmo Sesame baby stuff. Elmo does not equal Muppets, thanks

* "such and such" Muppet Show character was from Sesame Street(personified by a recent The Office episode where Kevin Malone said "Swedish Chef is from Sesame Street) No, Gonzo was never on Sesame, though Sesame characters did routinely
cameo in both the Muppet Show and Muppet movies of the 70's and 80's.

* "Hey, remember those two old guys"

* My favorite Muppet was Fonzie the bear"

* I loved Beaker! MEEP MEEP MEEP!"
(WHERE did that "Meep" meme come from? It's meeee meee meee, or meee mee mo, I don't recall him ever saying "meep meep")

* Man I miss the Muppets! Too bad the Muppets never did anything after the Muppet Show"
(*slams my own head on piano ala don music*)

* Wasn't Jim Henson a Scientologist?"

 

[dwmckim]

Your list includes most of mine but i'd also add...

--When someone calls Johnny Fiama "Guy Smiley"

--Mixing up Grover and Elmo

--Not as bad as "Fonzie" but when someone (especially if it's a professional writer) spells it "Fozzy"

--Of course either of those are even worse when they really mean Rowlf

--"Cookie Monster doesn't eat cookies anymore"

--"Mrs. Piggy"

--"Remember the episode when Ernie died of AIDS?"

"Where did that MEEP MEEP come from?" Well, Henson Co itself - they've long had a tendency to spell Meep with a "P" in printed media (including an episode of Muppet Babies when they did a "follow the bouncing ball" bit with Beaker singing) So it doesn't bother me too much (since i never took a course in Beakinese, it's always possible that the "p" is silent in his language) but it does when they refer to him as "Beeper"

 

[Frogster]

--"Remember the episode when Ernie died of AIDS?"

Hey, Hoots warned him to put down the duckie

 

[frogboy4]

The Top 10 Mistakes I Hear:

10. Confusing Gonzo with Grover.
09. Misnaming Jim Henson as Hanson, Hensen, Henderson or so on.
08. Not knowing the names of Statler and Waldorf.
07. Mistaking the Muppet Babies for the classic Muppets when the subject is brought up.
06. Misnaming Bunsen as Bunson.
05. Misnaming Beaker as Beeker.
04. Thinking Jim Henson died of AIDS rather than pneumonia.
03. Not knowing when, how and what characters Disney purchased when buying the Muppets.
02. Misnaming Fozzie as Fonzie, Fozzy or Fozy.
01. Believing Kermit played by Jim Henson's son.

(Runner up - mistaking the whole Kami the HIV positive Muppet situation)

 

[minor muppetz]

I have a t-shirt with Animal on it, and it annoys me when people who see it think that it's Elmo, or acknowledge that it's Animal but then say he was on Sesame Street. Heck, once somebody actually mistook him for Cookie Monster.

 

[MrsPepper]

That whole Jim being left handed thing. He obviously puppeteers right handed, at least in all the pictures I've seen...

 

[dwmckim]

09. Misnaming Jim Henson as Hanson, Hensen, Henderson or so on.

Ooh - good one. Left that one out of my list.

08. Not knowing the names of Statler and Waldorf.
03. Not knowing when, how and what characters Disney purchased when buying the Muppets.
01. Believing Kermit played by Jim Henson's son.

These are slightly annoying but i don't really get bothered by these (unless they pop up in an article by a "professional" writer)...

Statler and Waldorf don't often refer to each other by name or get called by name as much by the other characters - i'm sure a lot of big Muppet fans learned their names last.

The whole Disney deal was such a weird mess with lots of on-again off-again history, the whole "when DID they own the characters" topic can confuse people who even make a serious attempt to keep on top of these things.

Aside from Henson/Oz (and now Kevin Clash to a smaller degree), the Muppeteers are pretty anoymous to most people - even casual fans (the ones that love them throughout their life but not to the degree where they follow Muppet sites or join forums). I HATE seeing the "Jim's son" myth in print from someone calling them a journalist or writer but when it comes from just a random person from the general public, i just shrug it off as a testiment to Steve's talent.

 

[Frogster]

I'm glad I got away with that lol

 

[dwmckim]

When Rowlf gets called Ralph tends to bug me. XPPP It's not that hard, people.

Part of the time it's ignorance, but other times it may just be a regional/accent thing - i'm sure i've heard Brian Henson pull a few "Ralph"'s himself!

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

the name thing fonzie or ralph

and the whole muppets are for kids