I don't like Clifford, do you?

[SSLFan]

Clifford has to be one of the most coolest Muppets! He is definately a favorite of mine.

 

[anytimepally]

Clifford's pretty great

 

[peyjenk]

Frank's work was always more about the puppetry and movement than anything else.

That makes sense. I've never thought about it before, but it makes sense. When it gets down to it, Oz might have been the weakest of the core five when it came to voices, but the way his characters move are really amazing.

Also, Kermit's lack of interest in the show was too jarring. I really think they should have just let Gonzo and Rizzo host the show and had Clifford be the band leader and a highly visible character that shared the burden of Gonzo and Rizzo. That's kind of how it appeared to be anyway. I guess they weren't ready for Gonzo to step up for that mature assignment, but that's where Rizzo evens things out. They could have always had Kermit directing from the booth in cutaway shots.

I totally agree. If Clifford had been more in a "Rowlf-like" role, it could have clicked better. It would have had the punch of a new character combined with the kick of familiar territory in a great one-two karate move of Muppety awesomeness.

Okay, that might have been the weirdest metaphor I've ever written.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I don't agree about Frank being weaker on the voices, but we all have our opinions.

I think Clifford was great in JHH, hip and cool but at the same time the regular guy observing chaos. I still remember him narrating the fish story with Ted Danson.

 

[ploobis]

I love Clifford too!

He was great on TJHH, MT and MFS!

One of my favorite moments with Clifford is on TJHH when Clifford was a member of the Muppet band "Solid Foam" and they sang the song "The Music Keeps Rolling Along"!

That is one of my favorite songs by the Muppets!

 

[theprawncracker]

Also, Kermit's lack of interest in the show was too jarring. I really think they should have just let Gonzo and Rizzo host the show and had Clifford be the band leader and a highly visible character that shared the burden of Gonzo and Rizzo. That's kind of how it appeared to be anyway. I guess they weren't ready for Gonzo to step up for that mature assignment, but that's where Rizzo evens things out. They could have always had Kermit directing from the booth in cutaway shots.

I think that's a great idea Jamie, and really wish they would've taken that route. It looked like they maybe even thought about it, since Gonzo and Rizzo were there so much. I guess they just couldn't envision Gonzo in a hosting role, but I agree, that's where Rizzo comes in.

I still think Clifford was a fantastic character in his own right. I think he gets way too much flack for his role of host of Muppets Tonight, but I liked his role in Muppets From Space a lot more. Hip, cool, funny, and a part of the gang. Clifford doesn't have the Kermit qualities that allow him to hold together all these crazies in one place, he is one of those crazies! (Albeit a lot more level-headed than most of them.) That's why I don't think Clifford as host worked, it just isn't in his character.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

As much as I love Gonzo, I don't think I could see him in a hosting role, with or without Rizzo. Yes, I can see Gonzo with a lot of responsibility, especially considering how he has "matured" over the years, but as a host?

Though I love Gonzo and would personally love a project that featured him as such a major character, I feel that he already got that chance with MCC. And as much as I like Rizzo, and think that Gonzo and Rizzo are a fun pair, they need to have some room apart. They always seemed to be together, especially in the projects in the 90s (Not -so- much in the past decade) and I feel that if they were the co-hosts of Muppets Tonight, that would be somewhat exhausting. Give them some room apart and let them mingle with the other characters.

I liked Gonzo's role in VMMC. He seemed somewhat like a second in command next to Kermit. It may have just been the way he was dressed, but he seemed professional.


I'm sorry. I just went completely off topic. Heheh. Going back to Clifford, I think he was what the Muppets needed at the time. I think it was okay to not have one of the older, core Muppets at the helm and for things to be a bit new and different.



EDIT: Just for the record, I would love to see Gonzo in the role of the host, but I tried to come at this from another mindset... A mindset of the Muppet fan of the 90s who thinks that Gonzo has taken over the Muppets, considering his major roles in at least two out of three of the movies of the decade.

 

[Frogster]

Some people on here will enjoy ANYTHING the people at Henson throw at them. For instance, there's still people who think that Muppets Tonight was awesome, and that Andy & Randy were sensational. Having said that, Clifford was kinda cool during the JHH days. But ever since MCC characters started shifting; we saw Gonzo be normal for well over a decade, we saw someone host a Muppet program that wasn't Kermit (and Brian's even admitted that he was the only real choice back then... umm, DUH Brian. Maybe you shoulda stuck to your dad's game plan instead of bein too caught up in owning a franchise that's bigger than you), and characters like Bunsen and Beaker, who are OK characters, came to the frontline, replacing faves like Scooter, Rowlf, Floyd, Robin, and others. Those two shouldn't be in the front cuz there's really not a whole lotta depth to them (although I do cry everytime I see Beaker give Scrooge his scarf). These guys fall in line somewhere between Sam The Eagle and Crazy Harry. The only reason Clifford was given the hosting assignment is because Sesame Street was high off their craze about how well Elmo seemed to be doing so they decided to see how popular he could make his ONLY other character be with the other Muppet crew.

LOL I do get passionate about Muppets, but it's because nowadays when my family sees Steve Whitmire do a terrible impersonation of Kermit on The Today Show or Elmo confusing my young relatives with his third-person dialogue, I cringe, because whenever my family sees Muppets, they associate them with me, and I absolutely hate that. So it doesn't matter if people like Clifford or not, cuz they all stink to high heaven, and no director or film project will ever change that.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well I can't say I've been a fan of all the new stuff. But I'm usually so vocal about it that my friends know the difference and don't associate everything they do with me, lol. And anyway, I can't take it too seriously. I know what parts of the Muppets I enjoy most, and that's all that should matter.

 

[Frogster]

I find it interesting that, after I said what I said, this post came to an abrupt halt, save for heralde's response lol...