The Jim Henson Company Puppets to perform at the 2011 Grammys

[anytimepally]

I for one am SICK of people saying Puppetry and animation are for kids, and everything that fits into that category has to be cleaned up, neutered, and lobotomized so grouchy old farts don't complain that kids who aren't watching may be watching somehow somewhere sometime. Kids either don't know or don't care. And the one that know don't care.

At the risk of being offensive, Jim Henson's character of Sam the Eagle is specifically a mockery of that view point. Closed mindedness, artistic repression, all in the name of an imaginary state of "wholesomeness" that EVERYONE since the beginning of time thought there was.

I agree. And all the small government people should start by getting rid of the FCC.

 

[Drtooth]

The FCC is a JOKE! It's already "gone" in a sense that they don't do what they should, regulate the business OF communications. Basically any company can purchase as many media outlets as they want (cough cough MURDOCH cough cough), and they don't move a muscle. However, it's their job to overregulate children's programming AND listen to idiotic complaints from self important, self righteous censorship fiends that hate being offended, when EVERYTHING in the world offends them.

As for Small government... chuckle chuckle... I could spend HOURS on that. Basically Small government is 0 government regulation of big business. The businesses pay people to tell people that they want big business... and these are the same people who want the government to regulate who people want to marry, what people can do in public, what we watch on TV... everything but making sure toys aren't doused with lead paint and oil rigs aren't built out of 5 dollars worth of off brand erector sets.

 

[Quesal]

I wasnt sure what to expect myself, but I was very amused by it. I always wanted to put my puppet characters in a rocking band number like that, so to see these puppets do it was awesome and I congratulate them for getting such a cool opportunity. Henson Co. Keep em coming!

 

[dwmckim]

I've seen some interviews with Cee Lo where he mentioned that initially he actually did want to do the number with The Muppets but was unable to pull off getting them in time (his telling of the story makes it seem like he had difficulty getting in touch with "their people" as they were wrapping up the movie which may be true but i also think they may not have wanted to get involved) but Henson Company stepped in and as far as Cee Lo was concerned that was the next best thing/just as good. That may also account for the initial confusion regarding the Muppet name - Cee was probably buzzing about working with "The Muppets" and that's what first got picked up (though, yeah, there would have still been "reporters" who referred to them as Muppets anyway even if Henson was always going to be doing it from the get-go - as evidenced by the write-ups Happytime Murders tends to get).

Given how inspired by Elton John's TMS Crocodile Rock that outfit was, i'm betting Cee Lo's original idea was to totally physically recreate the look of that number, playing with Electric Mayhem.

 

[MelissaY1]

Correct me if I'm wrong but growing up, the back of my Sesame Street records always said "featuring Jim Henson's Muppets" or "The Anything Muppets". So clearly Muppet was the term for the characters themselves, and not so much a brand. Disney probably uses it as a brand and considers MUPPETS the main characters we know and love, but Big Bird was always a Muppet wasn't he?

 

[D'Snowth]

Correct me if I'm wrong but growing up, the back of my Sesame Street records always said "featuring Jim Henson's Muppets" or "The Anything Muppets". So clearly Muppet was the term for the characters themselves, and not so much a brand. Disney probably uses it as a brand and considers MUPPETS the main characters we know and love, but Big Bird was always a Muppet wasn't he?

Jim Henson himself created those characters for SST - Big Bird, Oscar, Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster, etc; therefore, they ARE Muppets.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I do want to say that doing what's technically a cursing song in a :: wink wink :: sort of fashion does not automatically make their performance more adult.

I know the performance wasn't for kids, but frankly I wouldn't have wanted to see it either. Sorry but if I want to see puppets doing adult humor, I'll watch The Muppet Show. Not this.

And I'm saying this as a fan of South Park! There's a difference between using curses in a creative way, and just using curses for shock value.

And while it's true that the FCC overreacts at times, it is still necessary to have some sense of standards. I mean look at TV in general and how low it has sunk. We're one step away from Roman Coliseum entertainment.

 

[D'Snowth]

And I'm saying this as a fan of South Park! There's a difference between using curses in a creative way, and just using curses for shock value.

That's what I've said before regarding adult cartoons in general: that's the main problem with most of them these days, is that all the go for is shock factor, there is no clever and solid writing, all it is is, "Gee, let's see how far we can push the envelope this week with what we can get away with."

I think it's in a sense that yes, a lot of people DO seem to clump cartoons and puppets into a "kids only category" (you how when growing up, once you reached a certain age, Muppets were "for babies only"? Well, when I was growing up, but middle school, cartoons suddenly became "for babies" too, even though ironically, the same kids who said that always watched SpongeBob), and because of that, I think people who do adult cartoons, especially Seth MacFarlane, exploit that, and use it to their advantage, by doing the raunchiest, foulest, most vulgar things imaginable to ordinary people, just to say, "Think cartoons are just for kids now?"

 

[Drtooth]

And while it's true that the FCC overreacts at times, it is still necessary to have some sense of standards. I mean look at TV in general and how low it has sunk. We're one step away from Roman Coliseum entertainment.

Which bugs me... how come THIS is offensive when Biggest Loser, a show that subjects fat people to humiliating mud-wrestling and crying to lose weight is "inspiring", even when contestants are double dealing and conniving. The worst in humanity it in reality TV and NO ONE is doing a thing to stop it. Yet, if a musician writes "offensive" lyrics, they should automatically be branded worse than pornographers. And Maury Povich's Parade of Promiscuity still goes on the air without a hitch.

Maybe it's just me, but everyone is making this out to WAAAAAAAAAY worse than it is. Other than a huge chunk that was bleeped out, and the "a" word, the song was cleaned up into an unrecognizable mush. Now, I want to make it brutally clear, this wasn't a song about "smackin' hoes" or any of that violence promoting stuff... nor was it sexually explicit. This song is literally Pat Boone compared to stuff I've heard. And for the record, the puppets sang back up, and played instruments. They didn't bump and grind, they didn't do anything suggestive, they didn't even make a rude gesture beyond singing cleaned up lyrics. This is clear and utter overreacting to something that's Pg-13 at best.

How come we're suffice to jump over and attack that and let Jersey Shore and Teen Mom Happy Fun Bad Role Model hour on TV in peace? How come we're so excited to punish Seth MacFarline for a show he basically just does voice work and collects a pay check over (the current episodes are NOT his style of humor) but we can let Jerry Springer be the host of a family friendly competition show? It's completely and utterly hypocritical.

I know what you're getting at, but when something like this happens, very prudish people start over reacting, and it trickles down to the modest people. Then it just builds outrage over nothing when junior can't even walk the streets alone with drug dealers, gangs, child molesters, and whatever else is on the streets.

Above all, you're kid is always in danger of hearing bad words.... there's always a barefoot guy about to drop a hammer on his foot somewhere. I defy someone to say "Phooey" when that much pain hits you. At least, that's when I let them all out.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Which bugs me... how come THIS is offensive when Biggest Loser, a show that subjects fat people to humiliating mud-wrestling and crying to lose weight is "inspiring", even when contestants are double dealing and conniving.

I'll say that both are offensive.

I know what you're getting at, but when something like this happens, very prudish people start over reacting, and it trickles down to the modest people. Then it just builds outrage over nothing when junior can't even walk the streets alone with drug dealers, gangs, child molesters, and whatever else is on the streets.

Like I said I agree that some people overreact. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to react to in the first place.