Jerry Juhl and MTM

[D'Snowth]

I've noticed that of the original (theatrical) Muppet movies, MTM is the only one that didn't have Jerry Juhl as a writer, and I'm curious as to why? I never really thought about it before, but it does kind of show: while still a good one, MTM seems to be in a league of it's own, it doesn't quite have the same feeling as the other Muppet movies... even MFS.

So yeah, I mean, Jerry Juhl just about wrote or co-wrote everything for the Muppets, so why wasn't he involved with MTM?

 

[MissMusical12]

What a coincidence. I actually was just watching MTM for the past few days...and trying to learn a few of the songs from it on my keyboard. Kinda random, I know. Anyways I'm not really sure. Maybe Frank Oz as director had something to do with it....

 

[minor muppetz]

Maybe he was busy with Fraggle Rock.

 

[D'Snowth]

And Jim, or Jerry (Nelson), or Richard wouldn't be?

 

[minor muppetz]

And Jim, or Jerry (Nelson), or Richard wouldn't be?

Well, we all know that Jim wasn't as involved with Fraggle Rock as other productions, and during the 1980s Jim was busy with many projects at the same time (I think the red book site has mentioned a few times that Jim would spend weekends flying from his new york office to toronto and then to england). Also, Richard was more involved with Sesame Street (also made in new york) than Fraggle Rock. And I've seen some people on toughpigs speculate that part of the reason the characters split up for a good chunk of the movie could have been to allow them to work more on Fraggle Rock and/or Sesame Street. Richard and Jerry hardly get any original characters in this movie (then again, with the exception of Jerry Nelson most of the movie's new characters were performed by the main performers from Fraggle Rock).

 

[CensoredAlso]

while still a good one, MTM seems to be in a league of it's own, it doesn't quite have the same feeling as the other Muppet movies... even MFS.

I agree; it does have a different feel. I think that's usually credited to Frank Oz having a more wry sense of humor.

 

[Hubert]

Adding on to the FR thing, we have to remember that writing these productions are much more time consuming than performing. The performers may have been able to do both, but Jerry may only have had time for the show, where he had a large writing job. Movies take a while to write, edit, and perfect.

 

[mupcollector1]

Maybe he was busy with Fraggle Rock.

I was thinking that also. Though this reminds me, how come Jerry Juhl wasn't involved with Muppets Tonight? Was that around his retirement? I remember hearing something about him retiring before he passed away.

 

[minor muppetz]

I was thinking that also. Though this reminds me, how come Jerry Juhl wasn't involved with Muppets Tonight? Was that around his retirement? I remember hearing something about him retiring before he passed away.

He talked about it in the Muppet Central interview. It's been a long time since I last read it (maybe I should have read before replying ), but at the time he had moved somewhere and wanted to be at his new home as much as possible, as opposed to spending a great deal of time away to write for a TV series.

 

[mupcollector1]

I wish Jerry Juhl wrote for Muppets Tonight. I loved Muppets Tonight, so well written. I remember I had to order Disney Channel just to watch the Season 2 episodes because ABC forgot all about it and it was on their shelf for about a year from what I remember the newspapers saying at the time.