Lips and Gaffer

[caper]

Hi,

I just have a question:

I've watched the whole Season 5 of the Muppet Show and Lips and Gaffer were never named on any episode.

How did anyone (besides Jim Henson and Co. of course) know their names at all??

I only knew because when I was a kid, I had this coloring book Meet The Muppets that said their names.

But other than that, Lips and Gaffer the cat were never mentioned on the TV show and the movies.

Did I miss anything?

 

[minor muppetz]

Well, The Jim Henson Company helped the fans know the names by having them included in that coloring book!

Actually, for a long time I kind of did wonder. Over the years I thought it strange and pointless that characters would get proper names (as opposed to their official names being descriptive like "Comic Book Guy") without being mentioned on-screen, but then realised they may have planned to eventually mention the names but it never came up. And realised that just because a writer/producer wanted a character to have a name in a movie doesn't mean they thought before writing the script how the names would be mentioned ("okay, we'll call this guy Ted. He's only in a few scenes and not really important to the plot, but we've got to make sure he's mentioned by name somewhere").

On the Muppet Wiki talk page I asked about where Gaffer's name had been mentioned and I was told it's mentioned in a caption in The Art of the Muppets (a few issues of The Muppet Show Fan Club Newsletter refers to it as "Theater Cat").

I haven't read Of Muppets and Men but based on somethings I've read I'm assuming Lips is referred to by name there. Lips is listed in the credits under Steve Whitmire's characters in The Great Muppet Caper (does the same apply to the soundtrack credits?). I remember when I first noticed his name in the credits, it was after I'd known the names of all the other credited Muppets, so figured it must have been him, but also figured it best not to assume until I saw a real confirmation. But it is a little odd, and quite a few other characters aren't mentioned by name at all in the movie (Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Janice, Zoot, Bunsen, and I don't think Scooter is called by name). I know they didn't need to introduce everyone by name again (since so many of them were "introduced" in The Muppet Movie), but still...

And while we're on the subject of The Great Muppet Caper, I think that Lips should have responded to Fozzie checking off "wax lips". Though for whatever reason Lips wasn't in that scene at all.

Steve Whitmire talked about performing Lips in his interview at Muppet Central, which definately confirms the character's name. And both Lips and Gaffer were made as action figures (Gaffer an accessory for Pops), with their names written on the label. All that should be enough proof of their names.

By the way, I don't think I'd ever heard about that Meet the Muppets coloring book before. Sounds cool. What other characters appear?

 

[caper]

Oh ok so they were never mentioned on the Muppet Show.

Thanks because I thought I missed something.

Because of all the Palisades Figures ONLY those 2 (I think) were never mentioned by name on The Muppet Show OR ever in any movies and specials.

Even Big Mama, Timmy Monster and lots of more Muppets has their names mentioned but yet Lips has his own figure. Lips was prominent on Season 5's new intro and I was waiting for someone to call his name.

I was not born yet when the Muppet Show and first 2 movies came out and the first movie as a child that I watched was the Muppets Take Manhattan. Then I have that Meet the Muppets coloring book and their names got stuck on my psyche so when I saw the rest of all things muppets...I just assumed Lips and Gaffer's names were mentioned.

Until now, when I watched the whole Season 5 of the Muppet Show as an adult. I knew before they were not mentioned on the Great Muppet Caper Except for the End credits Steve Whitmire as Lips.

But in retrospect, without that coloring book I would have never known their names UNTIL their figures came out. Which is weird because Palisades released someone like Lips whose name was never called or introduced in any medium yet his figure is the most expensive and most sought out Muppet figure!!

And YES that Meet the Muppets coloring book is the best!! It was on ebay for like $2.00 and I did not buy it and now it's gone.

It has ALL the MAIN Characters plus ALL the secondary characters from Statler and Waldorf to Beauregard and Pops even Annie Sue Pig.

I don't think Lewis Kazagger was in it or Marvin Suggs but almost every SIGNIFICANT character on the Muppet Show was introduced on that coloring book.

 

[minor muppetz]

Even Big Mama, Timmy Monster and lots of more Muppets has their names mentioned but yet Lips has his own figure. Lips was prominent on Season 5's new intro and I was waiting for someone to call his name.

Actually Big Mama was never mentioned by name on-screen. She was only referred to as Big Mama in a number of merchandise (including one of The Muppet Show annuals and a card game), while somebody who worked on the show once revealed on Muppet Wiki that the Henson people really officially called her Mean Mama, stating that the "Big Mama" name was a mistake made in merchandising.

I haven't seen all of the season five episodes, but I've watched all the Lips scenes on YouTube. I feel his name could have been mentioned in "Barnyard Boogie". Dr. Teeth tells Lips "Take it!" right before his trumpet solo, I feel he should have said "Take it Lips!" I also feel that others could have used that kind of line before other trumpet solos, and it is a shame Lips was never given his own full trumpet solo number (which could have had an introduction mentioning his name). Unfortunately, on The Muppet Show Lips was only used whenever a trumpet player was needed. Steve Whitmire was uncomfortable with the voice, but they still could have used him backstage or as an extra in group scenes, sketches, or numbers.

 

[LipsGF4Life]

I say Lips should talk more in movies. I really do.

 

[Hubert]

This reminds me of when I watched TMS when I was little. I always wanted to know Lips's name, but at that point we really had no way of finding out. I remember referring to him as "that clown guy," since Lips kind of looks like a clown. *insert Lips smilie here*