Early Criticisms of the Count (Vampire)

[BradFraggle]

I remember reading somewhere on the web (here, ToughPigs forum, Muppet Wiki, somewhere) a bunch of letters and early criticisms from the CTW archives about the Count because he was supposedly a vampire on a childrens show. Anyone know where I can find these things again?

 

[D'Snowth]

The only early criticism I ever heard about The Count was from Jon Stone in regards to the very first Count script that was ever written by Norman Stiles: "Good character, bad bit."

 

[minor muppetz]

I remember seeing scans posted on the Tough Pigs forum. I can't remember the title of the thread, though.

 

[Drtooth]

Muppet Wikia has posted the letters of a rambling loon... err... the scribbled writings of an absolute moron... errr... the concerns of some loser who wants to ruin things for everyone... the wasted hours of a total schmendrick seeing things that don't exist....

Start over...

Muppet Wiki has posted those criticisms.

Now... I know I said a lot in the Katy Perry thing, but really... this is the DUMBEST freaking thing I've ever seen. And it may be over 30 years old, but it goes to prove letter writers are the BIGGEST dang fools in the galaxy. Look VERY closely at the guy's prose. It's like he has a vocabulary of like 10 words, he argues his point with utter nonsense that makes NO SENSE whatsoever in any universe where his jumbled whining was written. No doubt he must have wrote similar letters to General Mills and Filmation for Count Chocula and Groovy Ghoulies respectively. Apparently, any representation of vampires in kid's media somehow glorifies Satanic worship and the drinking the blood of virgins... of course, uh... written in the same exact manner as a 4th Grader... one with straight F's.

Here's a sample of his manifesto of stupid idiots everywhere who wouldn't get satire if it smacked him on the head with a cartoon mallet:

"It seems poisonous to make a monster (Dracula) to appear as a competent teacher (even a teacher of numbers) because such an appearance would seem to mislead children into trusting Dracula, and possibly monsters in general."

Read that... teacher of numbers.


(Face palm)

Really, did this guy even have a 5th grade education?

I'm sorry, but if I were at CTW at the time, this is my response:

"It's a TV show you DOLT! If any kids then go forth and worship a fictitious character because of a cartoonish puppet satire of a pop culture character everyone has been exposed to. I suggest you spend your letter writing for trying to get the government to ban Halloween, or to get books out of schools so kids don't get exposed to reading (as you clearly have).

We also at CTW demand you send any and all evidence you actually HAVE kids. If not, a grown man watching a kids show to purposely get offended... well, we HAVE your address. We can call the proper authorities. You sound like a dangerous (and not very bright) individual, and you must be separated from society before you start a cult (go ahead... prove you aren't with that dogma). Kids are smarter than you think. Scratch that. Kids are smarter than you.

Oh... by the way...


BOOO!"

Idiots like that RUIN Television and THEY should be censored.

 

[RedPiggy]

What's amazing about this is that this is basically important to the plot of my new fic, LOL. Sorry for the plug, but I got to thinking about how "scary" Count was initially and how he basically tamed it down. What would happen if ...?

But, I'm not surprised at the criticisms. I grew up having to hear how Smurfs and the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon were of the devil. Yawn. Next.

 

[Redsonga]

I've been wanting to write a Count as a real vampire fic for a while but I was unsure if it would be taken well. Still, I am a fan, so it would not be like some of those nearly bashing jokes where nearly everyone gets killed by him or anything....

To be fair to the olden times letter writer though you don't have to have a child of your own to think about these things, you could be a teacher or an aunt or uncle or even a grandparent or adopted parent...
If you are going to ban a show in your house for any reason however you shouldn't try to take it away from *everyone*. If every POV were taken to heart my mom would have single handedly killed the Simpsons, Beetlejuice the animated series, and Cheers for a generation -.-
Not that The Count even as a vampire is anything to get up in arms about . Goodness he teaches math, how horrible :\!

 

[dwmckim]

You know you're a certifiable loon when you write to Sesame Street complaining that The Count is a vampire.

You know you're a hopeless clueless certifiable loon when you write to Sesame Street complaining that The Count is a vampire yet you never thought twice about all the monsters on the show eating everything for the several years before Count even made his debut.

 

[Redsonga]

Maybe he never said anything about it because up until then none/most of those monsters weren't trying to teach numbers? XD
I dunno, to write an angry letter about the Count it must have been very early in the shows run :\

 

[Drtooth]

You know you're a hopeless clueless certifiable loon when you write to Sesame Street complaining that The Count is a vampire yet you never thought twice about all the monsters on the show eating everything for the several years before Count even made his debut.

I think he mentioned the monsters too. Monsters are INTEGRAL to the Muppets. They were the first major race of creature that came out of Jim Henson, even before Sesame Street. Heck, Yorick was a monster thingy.

I have nothing but disdain for ANYONE who censors anything unreasonable, Monstery cutesy macabre stuff especially. Kids LOVE monsters. Kids like to pretend to be monsters. And the kids that are afraid of imaginary monsters, well, that's what SS had in mind with furry, lovable monsters. Kids like BUGS, for crying out loud. They like to play with ugly rubber giant bugs. That stuff's really scary if you look at it. And disgustingly inaccurate, I might add.

I honestly hate when adults make sick, disturbing accusations to innocent childhood things, reading into their own creepy motives. Sure, I'd like to say this is a teacher or someone... but I get self righteous whackadoo out of this. I wouldn't even mind if he actually had some ACTUAL logic.

If you are going to ban a show in your house for any reason however you shouldn't try to take it away from *everyone*.

Words to live by. I've heard a lot of minus minded illogic trying to liken everything from Spongebob to Pokemon, all basically spreading fear and control... all coming for false prophets.

If SS listened to every loony out there, we wouldn't even have Gordon and Maria until maybe the late 80's. I said it with Katy perry and I'll say it here... SS did a LOT of controversial things, and kids grew up... gasp... accepting and not trying to kill everyone.

Somehow this letter reminds me of ... remember the Real Ghostbusters Halloween special when the bitter old guy tried to kill the holiday, unleashing monsters and demons on Earth? If you truly dislike the black arts, why NOT mock it openly? Think about it, if you tear down fear and replace it with humor, that's a very powerful thing. Look at how Mel brooks deals with Hitler. The Count IS a parody. The best thing to fight evil is not fearing it, but rather snickering in its face.