Kermit and Herbert together?

[LittleJerry92]

You know, Herbert may appear to be a straight man, but if you actually watch him closely, he comes across to me more like a cheerfully friendly sadist. He doesn't bat an eye when his lectures cause somebody excruciating pain ("Over and Under" with Grover), or keep somebody waiting for ages ("The ET Family" with that UPS guy).
(Dig this exchange:
UPS guy: "Aw come on, fella! Charlie's in the truck there watchin' me! He's laughin' his head off!"
Herbert [cheerfully]: "Well, that doesn't matter!")

He strikes me as the type who pretends to be obliviously goal-oriented, but secretly enjoys driving people nuts.

Thus, it's not hard for me to picture a sketch where he and Kermit would be co-lecturing, but Kermit would somehow be made the unwitting goat, and end up flipping out at the the way our green friend is famous for doing.

Lol yeah Herb is just like Ned Flanders even though Ned came second after Herb.

 

[minor muppetz]

In the few Herbert Birdsfoot sketches that I've seen or heard, he doesn't seem to get upset at all. Seems like he is a bit friendlier than Bob.

 

[Drtooth]

But even still, I doubt he would work comedically well with Kermit, anyway. I can't see a reason they can't get along perfectly.

I think Kermit's best stuff aside from tenderness (I.e. Singing Bein' Green or African Alphabet) is when he's either joking around with someone (i.e. Grover, Don Music, Gonzo) or when he's over exasperated by someone (Fozzie, Piggy, etc). I can't see him doing either with Herbert and having the same effect.

Sometimes Herb can be funny, but I don't know. Somehow I feel the same way as Jerry with the character. i can't do anything with him.

 

[minor muppetz]

I haven't seen that sketch with the delivery man, but I've been wondering who performed him. Was it Jim Henson or Frank Oz?

 

[mikebennidict]

But even still, I doubt he would work comedically well with Kermit, anyway. I can't see a reason they can't get along perfectly.

I think Kermit's best stuff aside from tenderness (I.e. Singing Bein' Green or African Alphabet) is when he's either joking around with someone (i.e. Grover, Don Music, Gonzo) or when he's over exasperated by someone (Fozzie, Piggy, etc). I can't see him doing either with Herbert and having the same effect.

Sometimes Herb can be funny, but I don't know. Somehow I feel the same way as Jerry with the character. i can't do anything with him.

How do you even know what Jerry thought about Herbert?

 

[SesameMike]

There was also the skit in which Grover was struggling with an incredibly heavy, brick-like block marked HELP. When Grover asked Herbert Birdsfoot for help, Herb returned with an identical block and placed it atop the one Grover was carrying. "Two helps? Help, help..." Herb then did it again. "Three helps?". At the end Grover collapsed under all that weight, and uttered one last, subdued, "Help...!"

In another skit, Herb was talking about the number 5, and asked Grover to walk to the table in the background and bring one of those brightly-colored cubic building blocks. He keeps asking Grover to bring another one until there are five on the wall. While the blocks weren't heavy, Herb insisted he bring them one at a time, wearing Grover out with all the pacing back and forth. After all five were there and counted, Herb said something like "Now we're going to talk about a hundred. Bring me another block." Grover fainted on the spot.

Note that when Ernie is about to ask Herbert Birdsfoot to borrow a vacuum cleaner, Ernie mentally constructs a scenario in which Herb is openly mean, telling all of Ernie's friends not to loan him anything. This is not in character for the Herb we know (in fact he was congenial and friendly when he did answer the door, and didn't retaliate when Ernie chewed him out -- just reacted with confusion), but perhaps Ernie is aware of a side of Herb's personality that we aren't.

 

[mikebennidict]

Actually that was Kermit with Grover in the 5 blocks skit and with Ernie borrowing the vacuum, think it they just decided to make a goofy skit.

 

[minor muppetz]

In another skit, Herb was talking about the number 5, and asked Grover to walk to the table in the background and bring one of those brightly-colored cubic building blocks. He keeps asking Grover to bring another one until there are five on the wall. While the blocks weren't heavy, Herb insisted he bring them one at a time, wearing Grover out with all the pacing back and forth. After all five were there and counted, Herb said something like "Now we're going to talk about a hundred. Bring me another block." Grover fainted on the spot.

That sounds similar to the skit where Big Bird had Grover do two chin-ups, over and over again, until finally, Grover was done demonstrating the number two, and then Big Bird wanted Grover to do 18 chin-ups.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

So does anyone know offhand if Herbert Birdsfoot did in fact actually show up in the crowd scene in "The Muppet Movie"? I tried to take a look at it on my copy but couldn't quite make him out. (Though I noticed quite a few other interesting characters in there I didn't realize were there)
I guess it's possible he could have been in the wedding scene at the end of "The Muppets Take Manhattan" or in with the Sesame Street Muppets in "Muppet Family Christmas" or possibly even in "Follow That Bird"- but since he was mainly used in the 1970s, I'm thinking "The Muppet Movie" would be the best bet for finding him. (And by the way, I just rewatched "Follow That Bird" last night and I can say that I did not see Herbie in there. Though I did briefly notice Sherlock Hemlock, Gladys (who even had a brief line!), and Elmo, amongst others. Herry and Bruno were around too and both of them spoke a quick line too! That was cool.)

In any case, if Herbert Birdsfoot did show up in any of these productions, (and of course, Kermit showed up in all of them) then we can technically say they've appeared together of sorts, in a really long stretch. Unless someone actually does recall a sketch of the two together or random street scene where they may have walked by each other or something. It's possible.

 

[mikebennidict]

May I ask an honest question?

Without meaning anything,

Why would they have shown some SS character in the Muppet Movie especially when the character was dincontinued several years earlier?

And I'm pretty sure it was just the muppets from the movie that were in the film and in the main story line.