• Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum!
    You are viewing our forum as a guest. Join our free community to post topics and start private conversations. Please contact us if you need help.
  • Christmas Music
    Our 24th annual Christmas Music Merrython is underway on Muppet Central Radio. Listen to the best Muppet Christmas music of all-time through December 25.
  • Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
    Let us know your thoughts on the Sesame Street appearance at the annual Macy's Parade.
  • Jim Henson Idea Man
    Remember the life. Honor the legacy. Inspire your soul. The new Jim Henson documentary "Idea Man" is now streaming exclusively on Disney+.
  • Back to the Rock Season 2
    Fraggle Rock Back to the Rock Season 2 has premiered on AppleTV+. Watch the anticipated new season and let us know your thoughts.
  • Bear arrives on Disney+
    The beloved series has been off the air for the past 15 years. Now all four seasons are finally available for a whole new generation.
  • Sam and Friends Book
    Read our review of the long-awaited book, "Sam and Friends - The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show" by Muppet Historian Craig Shemin.

A Miss Piggy Question that Ive had for about 10 years

Teheheman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
3,430
Reaction score
203
Interesting, I never thought of it that way, and I've always been a big MASH fan(even have a M*A*S*H group that I run) but I really never put 2 and 2 together, that would be a very interesting discussion/question for the group. Like somebody said, ask D'Snowth, he'd know more than I do. I'll have to look at the documentary again. Maybe it would say there

Daniel
 

ceresmary

New Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Teheheman (Whew! I am Dyslexic, FOFLOL!) I couldn't copy your name! What a speller! I have got to find D'Snowth! (anyone know??) And Everyone Thanks Ever So Much for the Quick Response! Ru, you are a Godsend! My DH will be so Happy to read this! I tried (in vain) to find a Loretta Swit fan site (Right(!) ) there isn't one. And the only M*A*S*H one I had was a defunked one from a long time ago, So Teheheman, being that we are neighbors (I'm in Snowy Columbus), you need to get my DH on your list! LOL! Immeadiately! He watches Mash daily, dear Lord! I wish I were joking. I know the shows by heart, all seasons. The one thing I've got over him, is that in 1976, I actually toured the Paramount Studio set and saw the tents--no biggy--no one was there. It was the summer, so no one was on the lot, except tourists, but I saw the set of Mash and that was cool--and I remember that, fondly.

Back to all things Muppet, Thanks again folks! I couldn't go through another Episode of Mash without an answer! It was killing me. Any news about Dark Crystal II, anyone? (Getting Greedy!) Thanks.
 

The Count

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 12, 2002
Messages
31,305
Reaction score
2,947
Hi Cerismary... Few things to help you out.
1 Go to the Fantasy section of the forum, there are threads there discussing the status of the proposed Dark Crystal 2 movie.
2 To contact D'Snowths, look for his name on the forums. Click on the link with his name and you'll be taken to his member profile. Once there, because you need to have a total of 10 posts to receive PM's (private messages), I would recommend you send him an E-mail message explaining that you're a new member here and greatly interested in talking all things M*A*S*H with him.
3 If you think Ru or Catherine as we know her is well versed in her Piggy psych, then check out her fabulously ushygushy fanfictional stories.

Hope this helps and have a good day.
 

Teheheman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
3,430
Reaction score
203
ceresmary said:
Teheheman (Whew! I am Dyslexic, FOFLOL!) I couldn't copy your name! What a speller! I have got to find D'Snowth! (anyone know??) And Everyone Thanks Ever So Much for the Quick Response! Ru, you are a Godsend! My DH will be so Happy to read this! I tried (in vain) to find a Loretta Swit fan site (Right(!) ) there isn't one. And the only M*A*S*H one I had was a defunked one from a long time ago, So Teheheman, being that we are neighbors (I'm in Snowy Columbus), you need to get my DH on your list! LOL! Immeadiately! He watches Mash daily, dear Lord! I wish I were joking. I know the shows by heart, all seasons. The one thing I've got over him, is that in 1976, I actually toured the Paramount Studio set and saw the tents--no biggy--no one was there. It was the summer, so no one was on the lot, except tourists, but I saw the set of Mash and that was cool--and I remember that, fondly.

Back to all things Muppet, Thanks again folks! I couldn't go through another Episode of Mash without an answer! It was killing me. Any news about Dark Crystal II, anyone? (Getting Greedy!) Thanks.
You think THAT'S bad, my dad actually has the SERIES on DVD. The Martinis and Medicine collection. When you can, let me know and I'll send you the link to it. Nice to know that somebody in Ohio likes Mash and the Muppets. Well, other than me of course.

Daniel
 

Vic Romano

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Messages
5,161
Reaction score
86
OMG, I totally used to wonder about that connection too! I mean, I didn't watch M*A*S*H* often, and maybe it was just the fan in me, but I always wondered that too.
 

muppet baby

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
1,552
Reaction score
28
ceresmary said:
Hi! My name is Ceresmary and I am new here! This comes from my husband and I watching M*A*S*H for the "Umpteenth" time, and him going off, "Well, is Miss Piggy based on Margaret Hulihan or is Margaret Hulihan based on Miss Piggy? And if you watch Mash for any period of time, that's a real good question!:smile:

They really do share quite a lot of same simularities! When Margaret gets made she has the same (Hi Karate Miss Piggy) temper as Piggy, and when she gets lovey dovey with Frank, she is the same as (Kermit and Piggy!) Piggy.

Anyone have any insight on this, or anyone have anywhere to go to ask Frank Oz about this? We have been "mashing" our brains out on this one! There is too much alike about them to miss.

Just my (our) thoughts. Thanks!


Hi welcome to the forum you are going to love it here, that is a great question that you asked miss piggy does act a lot like HOT LIPS FROME MASH
he he he miss piggy is my faverite muppet of all
:mad: Glad that that you have joined this great forum . it is a great place to be
 

Daffyfan4ever

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
5,043
Reaction score
589
Ruahnna said:
Hey there! I'm willing to be contradicted by someone with a source, but I believe two things are getting mixed up here.

I know I have heard/read that Hot Lips Houlihan was the inspiration for Miss Piggy--I found several sources on the internet that say so, but none that gave an actual quote from Jim Henson or Frank Oz or anyone else. But, growing up with the show and having an avid interest in it, I believe that this may have some basis in fact, simply because it was widely commented on. Keep in mind, though, that Miss Piggy was supposedly based on the character of Hot Lips, not the actress Loretta Swit.

I think the confusion over the Peggy Lee/Piggy Lee came from the fact that when Miss Piggy was originally conceived as a character, she had the last name of "Lee" added to her name. I believe this to be a purely auditory pun, as in "Hey, wouldn't it be funny for Piggy's last name to be Lee, as is Peggy Lee? Ha ha." But the last name of Lee was dropped fairly quickly in cannon, as was Piggy's assertation that her first name was really Pigathius. These anomalous facts show up in Muppet Central's fan fiction as well as numerous fan sites because, well, muppet fans like to show off the weird little things we remember--especially if they are contraditory or odd. Then, when people say, "Her name wasn't really Pigathius, was it?" then the triumphant fan can pounce and say, "Ah ha! She was, too! In the Muppet Show episode with...." (We are beginning to rival Star Trek fans in our mania for trivia.)

Remember, the Muppet Show wasn't the first debut of Miss Piggy. She originally appeared as a singer with Herb Alpert, and at that time wasn't even done by Frank Oz. (Oh, help me here, someone. Was it Fran? I KNOW I wrote this down somewhere, but can't FIND IT NOW!) Anyway, the Piggy that showed up to sing with Herb was not really the Miss Piggy that we saw later. The same puppet was used, and the same name, but personality-wise, it was a different, um, person--at least partly because Piggy had a different muppeteer sitting forward. (I sortof like to think of it like I think of all those different frogs that used to appear on The Muppet Show--they were certainly frogs, but they weren't really Kermit, even though some of them looked an awful lot like him. The real Kermit required Jim--and now, of course, Steve.)

Piggy--the real Piggy--didn't really appear until the first season of The Muppet Show during the glee club skit in which Kermit conducts a whole riser full of barnyard animals. Piggy steps out of the chorus--unrehearsed and unexpected--and takes Kermit by storm by taking over the song--AND declaring her exuberant and fathomless passion for him. This was the start of our girl, and Frank Oz was the genius behind it. Of course, Jim deserves lots of credit too, for marginally holding on to his composure when it happened and allowing the characters--not the actors--to determine what would come of this unexpected declaration. HIs style of leadership not only tolerated this sort of anarchy--it encouraged it and even celebrated it! And he managed to surround himself with people who weren't afraid of pursuing their own ideas about a character, but did it with respect for their fellow talent. This is collaboration of the highest order, and the hallmark of a true leader and a truly creative person. (pant, pant)

(Ru is stepping gingerly off her soapbox and slinking off to bed, where she shoud have been an hour ago.)
Just to clear something up here. It was actually Richard Hunt who performed the first Piggy on TMS in the "temptation" number. Remember she was shared by Oz and Hunt in the first season. It was actually the second season when Frank became her solo performer. Maybe a little bit before that even, since near the end of season 1, Piggy was always performed by Frank, even when another Frank Oz character was in the same scene.
 

D'Snowth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2003
Messages
38,849
Reaction score
12,814
Okie-dokie I'm here now!

First of all, wowie kazowie, so many people recommending me for M*A*S*H-chat, lol!

I've never really compared Miss Piggy with Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, though I have to admit they do have quite similar characteristics and traits: they both do the best they can to make themselves more appealing, they both can have such violent tempers, both can be as tough as nails, BUT they're also different as well: while Kermit is the only man in Piggy's life, Margaret has had several: first Frank, then she later got engaged to a fellow named Donald Penobscott and they later got married but Penobscott cheated on her several times and she filed for divorce and since then she's fallen in and out of love with just a few men, also when Piggy gets made she lashes out at whoever pestering her while Margaret would be like "Frank, aren't you going to do anything about this?!", also Piggy never seems to be afraid to tell what's on her mind while Margaret admits that she's not a very open person. I can't really say that Miss Piggy might be based on Margaret Houlihan, but Margaret most definitely can't be based on Miss Piggy because the original novel of M*A*S*H was published in 1968, the movie was released in 1970, and the series premiered in 1972, while The Muppet Show didn't hit the airwaves until 1976.

But other people are right about M*A*S*H references with the Muppets, and probably the biggest would be the fact that Big Bird's teddy bear is named Radar for Gary Burghoff's character of Radar O'Reilly who keeps his faithful teddy bear near him at all times.

Lastly, my puppet character that I perform also happens to be dyslexic, I don't suppose you'd mind sharing your thoughts on how you deal with this disability, or is that too personal?
 
Top