A Muppet Central Watchalong: Friday night at 9pm eastern/8pm c

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

What is up with Mahna Mahna's floppy eye sockets?

Oh, you're right. That's creepy.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I've never heard In N' Out Burger get such a big applause.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

Not a fan of Jon Voight in this. Sorry.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Well that was fun. A few thoughts I wrote down while watching:

• I love Pepe. He says all the things none of the other characters could get away with.
• It's very unnerving watching a Muppet play with a "puppet", especially when that puppet turns out to be alive. Hey, wait a minute, where was Fozzie sticking his hand?!?
• The only crowd that cheers for Jim Henson's Jack and the Beanstalk
• Ah, there's something so soothing about Kermit's voice.
• Is it bad that I skipped past most of the guest star stuff. Not the montage, just Brooke Shields, John Voit, and that terrible stand up comedians.
• Still can't get over Mahna Mahna's creepy eye sockets
• There seemed to be a lot of issues with the audio
• The absence of Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Scooter, and a few others was very much felt.
• This must've been one of Jerry's last performances.
• Steve really did like to laugh at his own jokes.
• I could listen to the Muppeteers talk for hours.
• Watching them all together really makes me want to watch that Muppet Guys Talking documentary
• I really love Jerry's voice.
• Take a shot every time they use the That Ole' Black Magic clip in something about Jim or the history of the Muppets
• I wonder who puppeteered Dr. Teeth in this.
• It's always really exciting seeing The Electric Mayhem perform live
• Man, nothing can top Paul Williams. I actually almost cried a little a couple of times when they did that medley.
• I'm not sure if Elmo enhanced that medley in any way, but my inner nerd loved it . It seemed a bit odd that he was the only Sesame Street character that appeared.
• I love the little shot towards the end when you can see all the performers.
• I hope the guys at The Hollywood Bowl had as much fun as this audience did.

You know, I think the Muppets have probably changed more in the last sixteen years then any other 16 years in their history.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

Well that was fun. A few thoughts I wrote down while watching:

• I love Pepe. He says all the things none of the other characters could get away with.
• It's very unnerving watching a Muppet play with a "puppet", especially when that puppet turns out to be alive. Hey, wait a minute, where was Fozzie sticking his hand?!?
• The only crowd that cheers for Jim Henson's Jack and the Beanstalk
• Ah, there's something so soothing about Kermit's voice.
• Is it bad that I skipped past most of the guest star stuff. Not the montage, just Brooke Shields, John Voit, and that terrible stand up comedians.
• Still can't get over Mahna Mahna's creepy eye sockets
• There seemed to be a lot of issues with the audio
• The absence of Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Scooter, and a few others was very much felt.
• This must've been one of Jerry's last performances.
• Steve really did like to laugh at his own jokes.
• I could listen to the Muppeteers talk for hours.
• Watching them all together really makes me want to watch that Muppet Guys Talking documentary
• I really love Jerry's voice.
• Take a shot every time they use the That Ole' Black Magic clip in something about Jim or the history of the Muppets
• I wonder who puppeteered Dr. Teeth in this.
• It's always really exciting seeing The Electric Mayhem perform live
• Man, nothing can top Paul Williams. I actually almost cried a little a couple of times when they did that medley.
• I'm not sure if Elmo enhanced that medley in any way, but my inner nerd loved it . It seemed a bit odd that he was the only Sesame Street character that appeared.
• I love the little shot towards the end when you can see all the performers.
• I hope the guys at The Hollywood Bowl had as much fun as this audience did.

You know, I think the Muppets have probably changed more in the last sixteen years then any other 16 years in their history.

I'm glad that I didn't watch the guest star stuff either.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Well that was fun. A few thoughts I wrote down while watching:

• I love Pepe. He says all the things none of the other characters could get away with.
• It's very unnerving watching a Muppet play with a "puppet", especially when that puppet turns out to be alive. Hey, wait a minute, where was Fozzie sticking his hand?!?
• The only crowd that cheers for Jim Henson's Jack and the Beanstalk
• Ah, there's something so soothing about Kermit's voice.
• Is it bad that I skipped past most of the guest star stuff. Not the montage, just Brooke Shields, John Voit, and that terrible stand up comedians.
• Still can't get over Mahna Mahna's creepy eye sockets
• There seemed to be a lot of issues with the audio
• The absence of Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Scooter, and a few others was very much felt.
• This must've been one of Jerry's last performances.
• Steve really did like to laugh at his own jokes.
• I could listen to the Muppeteers talk for hours.
• Watching them all together really makes me want to watch that Muppet Guys Talking documentary
• I really love Jerry's voice.
• Take a shot every time they use the That Ole' Black Magic clip in something about Jim or the history of the Muppets
• I wonder who puppeteered Dr. Teeth in this.
• It's always really exciting seeing The Electric Mayhem perform live
• Man, nothing can top Paul Williams. I actually almost cried a little a couple of times when they did that medley.
• I'm not sure if Elmo enhanced that medley in any way, but my inner nerd loved it . It seemed a bit odd that he was the only Sesame Street character that appeared.
• I love the little shot towards the end when you can see all the performers.
• I hope the guys at The Hollywood Bowl had as much fun as this audience did.

You know, I think the Muppets have probably changed more in the last sixteen years then any other 16 years in their history.

Yeah, I guess Mahna Mahna's eye popped out right before it was time to go on stage. You know what they say - "the show must go on."

John Kennedy puppeteered Teeth, assisted by Steve Whitmire. Kevin Clash did Janice. Bill Barretta puppeteered Animal, assisted by Drew Massey.

Elmo seemed to be there primarily to give Kevin something else to do - his only regular Muppet character from this period being Clifford. Incidentally, Kevin also filled in as Beaker in that early backstage scene where Steve was busy with Kermit.

And yes, this was one of Jerry' last non-Sesame performances. I think he announced his retirement the night before.

Agreed, this is somewhat of an awkward period for the Muppets, given the downsized cast of classic characters. You know, for a lot of people, seeing Rowlf in anything during this period was a pretty big deal. He was hardly seen (much less heard) in between Jim Henson's passing and TM11. Really great that they gave him a bit more to do in this show.

Also worth nothing that this marked Eric Jacobson's first public appearance as Miss Piggy. Evidently, the appearance was done via satellite to keep Eric a secret from the audience. As we've seen over the years, Muppet freaks are not at all unlike escaped mental patients. Any kind of change drives them nuts.

They'll also applaud almost anything...

"You've all heard of DVD technology..."
"WOO!"

Okay, okay, DVD was a bigger deal in those days, yes. But you get what I'm saying!

Oh, and trivia note - the Newsman is the only one of Jim Henson's characters that Brian has also performed.

I'd really like to see the full Q&A segments from the convention.