Favorite non-Henson puppet shows growing up

[mr3urious]

I enjoyed The Puzzle Place most often as a kid.

 

[Speed Tracer]

I watched Eureka's Castle and Puzzle Place, but I don't remember them very well. I only remember one episode of Puzzle Place where they all had donuts, but one of them - a girl - couldn't pick which she wanted. And it was a really big deal. I got pretty invested.

I don't think I ever found out what happened.

 

[Dominicboo1]

I rememember the Puzzle Place, but not too well. I remember the Piece Police best.

 

[Fragglemuppet]

Easily Welcome to Pooh Corner and Under the Umbrella Tree! I got the UtUT DVDs for my birthday a couple of years ago, and had to laugh a bit. It just all seemed so much..smaller than when I was a kid. Know what I mean? The episodes were short, the Canadian accents were strong, (somehow I didn't pick up on that at all when I was a kid), and it was kind of obvious that it was low-budget. Still, it remains a nostalgic favorite!

 

[CensoredAlso]

Easily Welcome to Pooh Corner and Under the Umbrella Tree!

Loved both of those!

the Canadian accents were strong

Yeah when I was a kid I always wondered why the Care Bears talked like that, lol.

 

[Drtooth]

Also I keep forgetting Between the Lions isn't a JHC or Sesame Workshop production

Considering how many creative types that worked for Henson and Sesame Street, there's no need to question why. Even Henson puppet designer/illustrator Michael Frith did some designs and helped shape the show. I consider it the Muppets' closest cousin. if nothing else, a cousin show to Sesame Street.

Wait...anyone remember puppet/kids shows from when you were little, where the memory is so scant, you almost think you just imagined it because it seems so obscure?
I call it the "magic witch pancake" syndrome...where there's a show you're convinced you actually saw even though noone remembers it. I also remember seeing a lot of odd Canadian puppet shows for some reason in the early 80's

I swear to frog there was a show with either a cat or a wolf... no... it was a cat and... oh great, now I forget all the details. I wanna say he lived in a New York style basement apartment with some human woman. Someone's gotta know what I'm talking about.

Yeah when I was a kid I always wondered why the Care Bears talked like that, lol.

Off topic, but you know what's fun? Watch a cartoon with Canadian voice actors and listen to them try VERY hard to say "about" with an American accent. Heh.

 

[robodog]

Dumbo's Circus and Alf are the only two that spring to mind. Frankly I've found most non Henson puppet shows to be overwhelmingly creepy. I can't see the charm of HR Puffenstuf for example. He looks less like a benevolent and friendly creature and more like something that would stalk you in a nightmare. I have great respect for the art of puppetry and spent a great deal of my childhood playing with puppets and learning how to perform them realistically. However if not for the various Henson shows and Making of specials that showed how puppetry was used to bring movie monsters to life I may have grown up hating puppetry as I found most puppet show characters unappealing at best and downright creepy at worst. Fortunately there were things like Alf, The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock out there to show me how cool puppetry was if done right. I may have been a very different person if not for them.

 

[Drtooth]

Unless I said it before in the thread, anyone remember Mr. Potatohead Show?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy7FE2JBRGY

That was the ONLY clip I could find. Too bad that show never caught on. There was like a VHS of episodes crushed together to make a movie, but I never found it. But a BRILLIANT show.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I swear to frog there was a show with either a cat or a wolf... no... it was a cat and... oh great, now I forget all the details. I wanna say he lived in a New York style basement apartment with some human woman. Someone's gotta know what I'm talking about.

Hmm, have you tried typing in key words on Google or something?

Off topic, but you know what's fun? Watch a cartoon with Canadian voice actors and listen to them try VERY hard to say "about" with an American accent. Heh.

Exactly, hehe.

I can't see the charm of HR Puffenstuf for example. He looks less like a benevolent and friendly creature and more like something that would stalk you in a nightmare.

Yeah I mean I didn't grow up with Pufnstuff, but I did stumble upon it once in reruns as a kid and was...yeah kind of underwhelmed, heh. But I will give them an A for creativity as far as the sets and character designs.

Unless I said it before in the thread, anyone remember Mr. Potatohead Show?

Huh, I actually hadn't seen that before!

 

[Drtooth]

Huh, I actually hadn't seen that before!

It was on Fox Kids and it wasn't Power Rangers. That's probably why.

GRRR! I respect Power Rangers and their larger than you think fan base, but I ALWAYS hated the fact that they made it the only thing on the network. I mean, I LOVED stuff like Bobby's World, Eek The Cat, The Tick, Mad jack the Pirate, 1996 Casper, Oggy and the Cocroaches, Ripping Friends, Space Goofs, Toonsylvania and stuff like that... once they weren't getting Power Rangers ratings, even ones that were popular, they'd kick'em off the line up.

But the Mr. Potatohead show was great. It had these great inside jokes about network notes. I remember one episode Mr. Potatohead was trying to do a western, and the network guys were complaining about the prospect of gunplay, and Mr. Potatohead argued with them, and they refused. Then they did the show, and the network guys said "You can't have a Western without a gun fight!" Then there was a bit where they forced his show to be educational... so he does this super hero show where he defeats the badguy by awkwardly singing about the Pythagorean Theorem... And the Sweet Potato character was performed by Debra Wilson who'd later go on to MadTV... great stuff. I wish more people saw it.