John Lovelady

[JimJudy]

What happened to John Lovelady?He quit after the first season of 'The Muppet Show'.Why did he quit?

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Yes, I would also like to know what happened to him.

 

[minor muppetz]

How do you know that he quit?

Of course, I've been wondering this too. I know that he worked on The Muppet Movie a few years later. I have read posts by people who think that his puppeteering was bad, so he could have gotten fired, or he could have thought he wasn't a good enough puppeteer. Then again, a few years later he would have regular roles on The Great Space Coaster.

I also noticed that John Lovelady didn't perform very many major roles. He performed Nigel and Crazy Harry, and both weren't that major. Crazy Harry only appeared in a few episodes each season, and Nigel only talked three times in the first season (and Lovelady only performed him in three episodes). Though the guides section of Muppet Central mentions that he had a great singing voice, I can't think of any major singing roles that John Lovelady had (his most major would have been I'm Looking Through You, and that was a UK spot.... also, in that number he alwasy sang at the same time as Richard Hunt, never getting any solo lines, and both ghosts soundded really similar).

I do know that he was a puppet builder as well as a performer, and he'd been both for a long time, though he seems to have been a puppet builder more. I've read that he built puppets for Sesame Street but seldomly performed on that show. During the first season of The Muppet Show Dave Goelz also worked in the Muppet workshop, but thoguht it was time consuming to be both a performer and a puppet builder (though Goelz did perform way more characters than Lovelady). Perhaps John Lovelady thought the same.

 

[JimJudy]

ABout that

He also played the announcer on Vetrenarian's hospital.He did more of the basic puppets that you never knew.

 

[Xerus]

I remember shortly after John left the Muppets, he started performing Knock-Knock and Edison on the Great Space Coaster. But then, John left in the fourth season and his characters were given to two other people.

Later, he did some puppetry for D.C. Follies and then he performed the Doormouse on the Disney Channel series, Adventures in Wonderland.

 

[Fragglemuppet]

I also thought the VH anouncer was Jerry Nelson. Was John also the anouncer for Pigs in Space?
Poor John; I'm always overlooking him for Jerry...

 

[Princeton]

Was John also the anouncer for Pigs in Space?

John Lovelady (I'd use his first name only, but I don't consider him a Muppeteer) left after Season One. PIS debuted in Season Two, so Jerry not only did the Announcer for PIS, but for VH, as well.

 

[Fragglemuppet]

Haha, you're funny! I only called him John for convinience. Althou

 

[Tim]

I had a long lunch with Joh a few years ago, and we discussed much of his over-all career. At the ime I had counted 9 different TV series he had worked on including the infamous "Mr Smith" (don't ask!). John never told me flat-out what happened, but he did say that Jim felt that his talent lie more in co-ordinating others, and wanted to move him into that area. John comes from a performer's background and wasn't to happy with supervising, and I think that's why he left the show.

Total spec on my part, but I'm sure it was Jim's way of telling him his performance wasn't where they would have liked it, and like Eren Ozker, I'm sure he would have found a way to keep him on the show in some capacity, since he continued to use him later on.

 

[tgscoaster]

I remember shortly after John left the Muppets, he started performing Knock-Knock and Edison on the Great Space Coaster. But then, John left in the fourth season and his characters were given to two other people.

Later, he did some puppetry for D.C. Follies and then he performed the Doormouse on the Disney Channel series, Adventures in Wonderland.

John also worked on the ALF pilot; he supervised the building of the ALF puppet by a professional special effects house and assisted in the casting of the little person who performed the long shots of ALF in the first season. He also helped to oversee the puppet set-ups and shots of the pilot, but he did not continue on with the series.

Jim Martin assumed the role of Edison and Noel MacNeal assumed the role of Knock Knock after John left the Great Space Coaster at the end of the shows third season