Is Gonzo Being phased out?

[dwayne1115]

I would love to sit and chat with Dave, he is one of the last core Muppeters, and he would just be a dream of mine to sit and chat with him.

 

[WalterLinz]

I would love to sit and chat with Dave, he is one of the last core Muppeters, and he would just be a dream of mine to sit and chat with him.

Yeah...I know there are many interviews about these, but it'd be pretty interesting to ask him how he got involved with Jim and the crew, what was his favorite memory of working on The Muppet Show, or what was his favorite episode of The Muppet Show he worked on...etcetera etcetera...

 

[dwayne1115]

Yeah...I know there are many interviews about these, but it'd be pretty interesting to ask him how he got involved with Jim and the crew, what was his favorite memory of working on The Muppet Show, or what was his favorite episode of The Muppet Show he worked on...etcetera etcetera...

Jim Henson the Bio really says a lot about how Dave got started so I don't think I would talk to him about that. I would talk to him about the now, and the future of the Muppets, Especially Gonzo.

 

[Gonzo14]

For some reason my phone won't let me see the last page of this thread so I apologize if my comments have already been said

I'm not worried about Gonzo, he may not always be as prominent or important to the plot, but that's ok. I seriously doubt he'll ever be phased out to the extent that Rowlf or Scooter were in the 90s. Despite his limited screen time, in the last two movies we had Gonzo blowing up his business, head bowling, the indoor running of the Bulls and more pairing with Camilla. This is all classic Gonzo and was awesome to see!

 

[dwayne1115]

For some reason my phone won't let me see the last page of this thread so I apologize if my comments have already been said

I'm not worried about Gonzo, he may not always be as prominent or important to the plot, but that's ok. I seriously doubt he'll ever be phased out to the extent that Rowlf or Scooter were in the 90s. Despite his limited screen time, in the last two movies we had Gonzo blowing up his business, head bowling, the indoor running of the Bulls and more pairing with Camilla. This is all classic Gonzo and was awesome to see!

You do bring up an interesting point. However there is one part in "The Muppets that I personally fill is out of character of Gonzo. From his very first appearance on the Muppet Show everyone including Gonzo himself knew he was a weirdo.In fact as the show and movies came out he was more and more confident, and proud to be a weirdo. I don't think he would ever hide that, or ever say no to the chance to being a weirdo on stage. Other then that one thing Gonzo was spot on back to his weirdo self in both movies.

 

[jvcarroll]

You do bring up an interesting point. However there is one part in "The Muppets that I personally fill is out of character of Gonzo. From his very first appearance on the Muppet Show everyone including Gonzo himself knew he was a weirdo.In fact as the show and movies came out he was more and more confident, and proud to be a weirdo. I don't think he would ever hide that, or ever say no to the chance to being a weirdo on stage. Other then that one thing Gonzo was spot on back to his weirdo self in both movies.

Personally, I think they should have traveled to Bombay, India to pick up Gonzo. Imagine an epic Bollywood number that would have made!

As much as I appreciate Segel's success with bringing the Muppets back to mainstream audiences, I can't help but feel he was much more of a casual fan who didn't quite get what made them tick. He also skewed more mid-80's retro when the bulk of the Muppets' retroness belongs in the late 70's to early 80's. Nonetheless, an enjoyable film.

Oh, and as for Gonzo's absence. Dave Goelz is the elder Muppeteer these days. Gonzo's not gone, but I think he's letting the younger talent pick up a little more of the slack. That's all this is. Remember back to Muppets Tonight? Gonzo (along with Rizzo) really took on the backstage roles of Kermit, Scooter and Fozzie. There was a lot of him on the program. After the recasts, Scooter, Rowlf, Fozzie and the gang became much more readily available. I think the writers are having some fun bringing them back.

Still, more Gonzo is always a good thing.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm not worried about Gonzo, he may not always be as prominent or important to the plot, but that's ok. I seriously doubt he'll ever be phased out to the extent that Rowlf or Scooter were in the 90s. Despite his limited screen time, in the last two movies we had Gonzo blowing up his business, head bowling, the indoor running of the Bulls and more pairing with Camilla. This is all classic Gonzo and was awesome to see!

I honestly don't get when certain Muppet fans think they didn't "get" the Muppets in the last film, since Gonzo was more Gonzo than he's been in years. Gonzo became the spotlight character in some of the later films before hand, and his wackiness is hinted at, or alluded to, but never on the level of classic Muppets Gonzo. It was like his Steve Martin, too funny to be funny period. I almost swear his appearance in TM when he was a plumber was almost a subtle commentary on that. Of all the nasty things I can say about MWO, they brought back the Camella/Gonzo pairing (at the end, but still...) Then of course, LTS. I like LTS, but he was just Gonzo the Pooh in that one for some reason. Not himself at all, kinda depressed.

I was glad to see his running with the bulls bit in the new film. Sure, Gonzo had some moments of weird in MFS, and that was the best we had at the time. But it seems that, for all his small appearances in the last 2 films, they at least got him to do wacky stunts instead of feeling depressed that he didn't get to deliver a little girl's letter to Santa.

 

[Muppet Master]

It just seems that Gonzo is not doing anythfing anymore, he's one of the core muppets, Rowlf and Scooter are secondary characters, they being phased out in the movies only hurt hardcore muppet fans, no one else really noticed sadly, but Gonzo is one of the five main characters, and him getting barely anything to do in MMW is worrying to see.

 

[Gonzo14]

I can see your point, and as my name suggests, Gonzo is my all-time favorite Muppet and I'd love to see him get more screen-time. I guess when I hear the phrase "phased out" it sounds like he would appear less and less until he eventually disappeared completely (example Seymour the Elephant). I don't think that will ever happen to Gonzo, but I do agree that after look at the earlier films, Gonzo has taken a step back. Part of the reason this doesn't bother me as much is the resurrection of characters that many of us never thought we'd see again. If someone told us 5 years ago that Uncle Deadly would be on the big screen in a major supporting role, our jaws would hit the floor, so that makes it a little easier to deal with downsizing Gonzo. In my opinion that is.

 

[Drtooth]

It just seems that Gonzo is not doing anythfing anymore, he's one of the core muppets, Rowlf and Scooter are secondary characters, they being phased out in the movies only hurt hardcore muppet fans, no one else really noticed sadly, but Gonzo is one of the five main characters, and him getting barely anything to do in MMW is worrying to see.

To be fair, that was two movies. The first he was designated to a brick joke, the second they actually featured him a bit more, and for plot reasons he didn't join the expedition to find the real Kermit. I have not noticed a lack of Gonzo outside of that, and remember, for 3 movies, Gonzo outnumbered Kermit in screen time. And he did the commentary for MFS with Rizzo. So it was very much the Gonzo and Rizzo show up until recently. And then Gonzo got focus again in that Christmas special. Still, if you look at the merchandise, he's still right up front. He has an ornament this year. The character isn't going anywhere.