If you had access to a time machine…

[bazingababe24]

…would you try to save Jim?

My boyfriend and I were watching his final public interview (May 4, 1990, Arsenio Hall Show) on YouTube, and he posed that "if we had a time machine, went back to that day, flew out to Hollywood, rented a car and bought a gun and some ski masks, we could kidnap him after the show and force him to see a doctor at gunpoint."

My first reaction was to laugh and tell him that this was a horrible idea. I also told him that he’d have to hold the gun, since he’s 6'3'' (Jim’s height) and I’m only 5'2''. I love and miss Jim terribly, but I’m not sure if I’d go that far to try and save his life, because I respect the person as greatly as I do the artist. But it got me to thinking: If you had the chance to go back, would you as a fan try to save Jim’s life? How would you try to do it?

 

[Puckrox]

I think I'd do it. I mean, if time machines were invented in this hypothetical situation, yeah, sure. I don't know about gun point though. I think I'd go a day or two before his death and try to reason with him to go to a hospital. And if he doesn't listen to reason? Get back in my time machine, come back to the present, grab a few of you MC Forums people, go back to Jim, and then we could grab him and force him to go to a hospital.

 

[Convincing John]

Crazy as it sounds, I've thought about that, too. Not the gun thing, but to bring along proof that I would be from the future...namely VHS and DVDs of post-Jim Muppet stuff. I have the People and Life Magazines that talk about Jim right after he died...heck even the memorial service footage itself. The first thing I'd do is prove to Jim that I wasn't lying. It would all fit in a duffel bag, just like how Marty did it in BTTF.

I work in a library and we have portable DVD players. I'd go the Arsenio Hall Show with it, meet Jim backstage and ask him for just an hour, or even a half hour to talk about some important stuff. If he said "Well...I don't have time." I'd just give him the duffel bag, open the portable DVD player and do my best Christopher Lloyd impression.

Jim: "What's that?" (pointing to the DVD player). "What do you mean 'the future'?"

Me: "It's the Street, Jim! Something's gotta be done about the Street!"

The "play" button is pressed and "The Street We Live On" begins.

The more I think about it, the more the whole "chalkboard scene" from BTTF II makes sense. If Jim had seen that movie, I'd tell him that the same principle applied to Sesame Street and some of the events with the Muppets. It fits:

"Somewhere around 1991, the timeline of Sesame Street skewed into this tangent, creating an alternate Sesame Street...alternate to you and me, but reality for everyone else."

Jim: "I'd have to see this for myself. What would happen if I went ahead about 10-15 years?"

Me: "No! If we traveled into the future from this point in time, it will be the future of THIS reality, in which Eisner is corrupt, powerful, and Disney cuts Kermit from DVDs...and in which THIS has happened to the Street! (Holds up a huge stack of Elmo's World DVDs) No, our only chance to repair the present is in the past, at the point where the time line skewed into this tangent. In order to put the universe back as we remember it and get back to our reality, you need to take care of that sore throat! That...and we have to find out the exact date and specific circumstances of how, where and when PBS got their hands on those tapes from Sheryl Leach in Texas."

Jim: "Sheryl Leach? Who's that? Tapes of what?"

Me: (shudders) "An unspeakable purple abomination."

Of course, I would also go forward in time at a point where a cure for AIDS would be discovered, come back and fix up Richard Hunt, too.

Convincing John

 

[The Count]

Me: C'mon Jim, let's go!
Jim: But Doc, we don't have enough road to get up to 88 MPH.
Me: Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads. Now let's go, we've got a Muppaverse to save.

 

[Puckrox]

Of course, I would also go forward in time at a point where a cure for AIDS would be discovered, come back and fix up Richard Hunt, too.

I'd join you in a heartbeat.

 

[mr3urious]

And leave the Grays Sports Almanac at the door.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Me: "It's the Street, Jim! Something's gotta be done about the Street!"

LOL, love that!

I hope your adventure goes better than Back to the Future 2.

 

[Justoneperson]

I'd join you in a heartbeat.

As would I.

 

[beakerboy12]

Yes! The Muppets deserve him here today!

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Hahaha- that would be great. Back to the Future meets The Muppets.
"Great Scott! This is heavy, Doc."
Great job, Convincing John- as a BTTF fan, I totally enjoyed that.

In all seriousness though, it is definitely a shame how Jim Henson died- I know every Muppet fan wishes he were still here to guide the company.