Frank Oz' latest performance as Cookie Monster

[antsamthompson9]

I just found Frank's latest performance of Cookie from 2004:

and

. Enjoy!

 

[D'Snowth]

If Cookie had a character that he was often paired with since the old school days, I wonder if a ressurrection of that would make Frank want to perform him again? As I've said before, I'm almost certain that had it not been for reviving the old Grover/Mr. Johnson schtick, that he probably would not have started performing Grover again.

It does sort of make me wonder though, now that Jerry has left us, do you think Frank is going to stop doing Grover again?

 

[cahuenga]

I think he should perform Grover again. Not just for us and the show, but if Jerry could remain in the show while he was in a fragile condition and with a tank of oxygen, he should do it too, and he is in a good condition and is ten years younger than Jerry. I think they could paired him with Fran Brill and Parairie Dawn, or with Caroll Spinney, or even with Steve Whitmire, but y think he should keep his Grover alive,

 

[Oscarfan]

There's a song airing in the next couple of weeks that, I'm pretty sure, has Frank doing Grover, so we know he doesn't exclusively do Grover/Johnson bits these days with him.

 

[D'Snowth]

I mean it was probably the revival of the Grover/Johnson bits that made him want to start doing Grover again, because he was just doing Bert there for a short while; yeah, he does Grover in other things, but I just think had it not been bringing that schtick back, we probably still wouldn't be seeing much, if any, of his Grover to this day at all.

 

[Aaron]

I think he comes in one day a year for fun and does whatever character of his has a sketch taping that day.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I think he should perform Grover again. Not just for us and the show, but if Jerry could remain in the show while he was in a fragile condition and with a tank of oxygen, he should do it too, and he is in a good condition and is ten years younger than Jerry. I think they could paired him with Fran Brill and Parairie Dawn, or with Caroll Spinney, or even with Steve Whitmire, but y think he should keep his Grover alive,

Now. That's something I have been thinking about. Does anyone think Frank disliked Steve or anything like that? I know that was mentioned on a You Tube comment so I was wondering if that were really true. I know he has been quoted as saying that he wouldn't perform Bert to anyone else's Ernie and I know that he hasn't been as into it without Jim being around. I'm just hoping that there's no real personal issue there. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Oscarfan]

I think he should perform Grover again. Not just for us and the show, but if Jerry could remain in the show while he was in a fragile condition and with a tank of oxygen, he should do it too, and he is in a good condition and is ten years younger than Jerry. I think they could paired him with Fran Brill and Parairie Dawn, or with Caroll Spinney, or even with Steve Whitmire, but y think he should keep his Grover alive,

Here's the thing: Frank has other projects he's working on. While I don't know what he's doing (his last actual film was 2007 and he directed a TV show ep. last year), he can only come in a day or two. Jerry wasn't as busy. Due to his health, he could only come in as often as Frank, but he still had the time to do so.

Now. That's something I have been thinking about. Does anyone think Frank disliked Steve or anything like that? I know that was mentioned on a You Tube comment so I was wondering if that were really true. I know he has been quoted as saying that he wouldn't perform Bert to anyone else's Ernie and I know that he hasn't been as into it without Jim being around. I'm just hoping that there's no real personal issue there. Any thoughts on this?

I don't think Frank disliked Steve; it's just having to try the same E&B shtick with someone he's not comfortable with. It's literally like Abbott doing a routine with a Costello impersonator.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah. That's sort of what I was thinking. Thanks for that info.

 

[PoisonBadNews]

I've read/seen a lot of interviews with Frank, and it generally sounds like he's done being a puppeteer. The fact that Sesame Street is the only franchise he occasionally moonlights on is telling, especially given that he himself is a father and, I believe, grandfather, and probably has a more sentimental attachment to the show and its characters (though a surprising percentage of his appearances have been voicing one-off Anythings, maybe done out of deference to Eric and David).

This is complete speculation, but I think he stays away because it's just a project he doesn't feel like he's a part of anymore, and doesn't have any more relation to SSW or the Muppets than a forty year old has to their high school (even if a few of his friends now teach there). When you watch old Bert and Ernie skits in particular, the raw chemistry between him and Jim is just so palpable, a lot of the jokes were made up by them in rehearsal and many props were obviously contrived last minute. For him to go in today and read lines he can't deviate from, to do some brief prologue for what usually ends up being a prerecorded musical number by Ernie...I can see how that would be depressing.

I'm a huge fan of Frank, and reading some of the stuff he says in, for instance, the Onion AV Club interview about his lack of sentimental attachment to puppetry, honestly does make me sad. But I don't think that bringing him back will have any miraculous impact, sad to say. Sesame Street today is still a good show, and The Muppets 2011 was a delightful movie but the spontaneous, bizarre magic of the old days isn't there. I don't doubt that somehow it can be approximated, but I don't think that more Frank Oz will accomplish this, at least not alone.