How are you a Henson-Muppet fan?

[The Shoe Fairy]

Well, SST is my first and Foremost introduction to the muppets, and still my expertise and favourite world. After that it was Fantasy Worlds, because the main reason I am a fan today is because my 4th grade teacher was a Henson Fan, and she showed us The Storyteller and Labyrinth / The Dark Crystal , and introduced me to the world of retro TV, something I am proud to be nerdy about and enjoy. From here on In it continued, I was a fan of the Henson non-muppet worlds, but I had no Idea they were all Jim Henson, 'til I found the Wiki last year, but even before that I had been a long time SST addict. From the wiki I discovered Fraggle Rock, now one of my favourite TV shows, I can't help but relate with the Characters.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

I only was able to watch Sesame Street at my grandma's house. For some reason, we didn't get PBS.

The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, and various specials such as The Frog Prince and Emmet Otter really blend together as my first stepping stones to the Muppets as I remember watching all of these things on Nickelodeon when I was a small child. Also, Fraggle Rock is mixed in there as well as I used to watch it on Disney. ... Actually, I'm not sure which came first for me.

I probably related more with MB and Fraggle Rock. I sort of remember being disappointed in Gonzo from The Muppet Show, mainly because he wasn't in it as much as he was in MB but also because I just prefered Baby Gonzo. (YES, I have since seen the error of my ways and would like to go back in time to kick myself. Give me a break, I was a kid.)

Not long later came MCC, which became a tradition for me to watch every Christmas.... multiple times. And I remember watching Muppets Tonight on the Disney Channel.

The amazing thing is that I never saw any of the other Muppet movies until October of 2007 when I was 20. Seeing the Muppet Movie really resparked my love of the Muppets and other Henson projects that I had never seen such as The Dark Crystal.

 

[Kiki]

Oh yeah, I also remember watching The Storyteller when I was little, it used to be on ABC. I miss that show. I think The Jim Henson Hour was on as well, but I could be wrong. I just remember being a Muppet fan all my life. Dude, I even remember when I found out Jim Henson was dead, my Dad told me, I think I was about four. I was reading my Muppets Take Manhatten storybook (which I still have) and said I wanted to go to New York and meet Jim Henson and the Muppets, and then my Dad's like, "Sadly you won't be able to meet Jim Henson, he died a little before you were born". My heart sank.

 

[Winslow Leach]

1. The Muppet Show

2. Sesame Street

3. The Movies (TMM, GMC, MTM)

4. Fraggle Rock

5. Muppet Babies (which I don't care for anymore)

 

[Kiki]

Yeah, i was never a big fan of MB. I do have a video which I enjoy watching, a couple of cassettes and I have a very cute baby Kermit toy from the 80s, but otherwise... it wasn't a big fave of mine.

 

[theprawncracker]

You know this is a really, really interesting thread, Jamie! Great idea!

I was introduced to the Muppets when I was a kid watching Muppet Babies on reruns on Nick Jr. or on numerous video tapes that I played to the point of near-breakage (I still have them all, actually, and thankfully they still work). A few of the videos were part of the "Yes, I Can" series which featured the actual Kermit and Robin and Kermit telling Robin stories of his childhood and the life-lessons he learned from that. I suppose you can say that was also my first exposure to the classic Muppets as well. Even from a young age, Gonzo was my favorite character. I guess I connected with the weirdo.

As a kid I was also highly exposed to Sesame Street. I distinctly remember watching a tape called The Alphabet Game I think that starred Big Bird on a game show hosted by Sonny Friendly. Big Bird's opponent was a dog that always seemed to best him no matter how hard poor Big Bird tried. Inter-mixed witht he show were inserts of "Sammy the Snake" and Grover and a character who sounded a lot like Prairie Dawn singing a song about the letter Q. I also remember seeing a "Sing Along" tape with Big Bird, Hoots, and the adults on the roof of 123 partaking in a sing-along. I distinctly remember Grover's "Sing After Me" duet with Madeline Kahn... and that still remains one of my favortie SS songs. (I was lucky enough to find the DVD of "Sing Along" a few years ago, and it's just as great as I remember.) A lot of my Sesame Street exposure came about later as well, when my brother was born. He just loved Cookie Monster... and he actually got me back into SS for awhile. We'd watch the 25th Anniversary special tape for hours on end... (And now I do the same with the DVD of the special.)

I'm not exactly sure how my classic Muppet exposure came about. I remember seeing Muppets From Space in an empty theater with my grandma, grandpa, and brother (my grandpa got up to dance during the credits... ) and I owned The Muppet Movie on video when I was younger too, and I also vaguley remember watching the Prince episode of Muppets Tonight. I really think I connected with the classic Muppets due to Muppet Babies. I was walking through a "Suncoast: Music and Movies" store while on vacation and saw a Palisades Series 5 Gonzo figure pegged up on the wall. I bought him up in a spur of the moment decision and the rest is history. That same weekend I bought Pepe, Frog Scout Robin, Tuxedo Rowlf, and Patrol Bear Fozzie. Then I got home and rediscovered the internet... and took it by storm. I ordered Series 1 Kermit and Dr. Teeth. Then I explored other stores closer to me and found other figures. Then I started actually watching the Muppets again. I dug up my TMM video and rewatched and fell in love. Luckily for me this was around 2005 and TMM, GMC, MCC, and MTI were about to come out on DVD. I found Muppet Central from the Palisades Forum... and here I am!

As for Fraggle Rock... I honestly had no clue what the show was about before discovering MC. I had seen ads for the videos on my Muppet Babies videos but I just thought the song was catchy and thought nothing more of it. Then when the first season DVDs came out I decided I should expose my self to the rest of Jim's work... and I loved it.

The fantasy realms are last on the list here... I watched both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth long after my obsession with the Muppets started, and I don't enjoy either nearly as much as SS, Muppets, or FR.

Phew... so there ya have it. Probably too much information... but I'm bored.

 

[AnimatedC9000]

When I was little, I was really into SS and MB. I watched SS a lot on TV and owned a lot of SS videos and a few MB videos (which I still have). I remember playing a SS game when I was a kid. I was always Elmo, my Nana was Big Bird, and the rest of my family was the rest of the characters (the Muppets). Ah, memories...

The rest of my Muppet fandom didn't come along until I heard "The Rainbow Connection" at a birthday party I went to with my mom and little brother. That's when my Muppet fandom REALLY took off. I found out about TMS, the movies, and the specials and instantly fell in love.

I'm currently getting into the FR stage of my life.

(My gosh, I'm so sorry that I'm not able to elaborate on it more. My mind hasn't woke up fully yet... X_X Maybe I'll explain it all later...)

 

[MrsPepper]

Sesame street! I was obsessed with it as a little kid! I watched it a couple times each day, and I loved the monsters, the music, and the bright colours. I have tons of family childhood memories relating back to Sesame Street.

As a kid/teen I got really into the Muppet show and movies, and was re-introduced to Fraggle Rock.

 

[GSmiley2007]

"It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights..." Muppet Show for me! Although I enjoyed watching Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies as a kid.

 

[Kiki]

This is a really interesting thread. I mean, seriously, I really enjoy watching everyone's replies. I know I've already mentioned stuff but, yeah, SST was definately the first Henson thing I got into. I remember when it was on twice a day, and I remember wearing a Big Bird top when I was little and whenever we had our naps in kindergarden we were able to bring a soft-toy, and usually mine were Muppets, like Zoe and Barkley and stuff (ones which I still have today). I also watched FR a lot when I was little, too. I don't recall it being on TV, but I just remember renting out the videos. I've loved FR ever since I was really little but before the DVDs came out Fraggle stuff was really hard to come by, so I didn't watch it very much, I couldn't. I hadn't seen it fer years, until I came across the Fraggle Rock Songs video at an old video shop I used to go to. I was about 10 or 11, and I enjoyed it so much that I asked the guys at the video shop if I could buy it from them, along with The Tale of the Bunny Picnic, Muppet Sing-along: It's not easy being green and I THINK Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, too. I could tell the due wasn't too happy about it, because he kept on saying, "...they're popular around this time of the year. Kids love these..." but eventually he gave in. Only about a month later, the shop went out of business and closed down, yeah... I wish I was kidding. I am evil.

Got into TMS went I was about 9 or 10 I think, but I had been into the Muppets all my life, buying lots of toys and watching their movies.